am I too smart??

ShootingArts

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
Silver Member
Years ago I shot pool. I didn't know a thing about stance or stroke or aiming or swerve or deflection or eye motion or any other of the endless list of things we discuss here. I simply shot the balls into the holes in the table and got shape on the next ball any way I could. Worked well enough that I made a lot of money and beat some name players.

Now I am so smart I can't make a ball anymore. I play like crap. I play with style and grace and impress the folks that don't remember that the idea of the game is to put the balls in the pockets one after another, but my game is roughly 50% of my best when I didn't know jack chit except how to make balls.

I practiced hard for a few hours today. I made a few balls but it wasn't a banner day. It was hot and sticky inside and out with Humberto pitching rain my way. The balls were dirty, the table not the best. It was an eight foot Gandy that I should have handled with ease though.

I shot nine ball, stunk, one-pocket, up and down, and 14.1, mediocre. About twenty minutes before I left something snapped. I was hot, sweaty, tired, and disgusted. I started using strokes that I developed thirty-some odd years ago that would make an instructor puke. I turned loose and shot purely by instinct, too fast to let doubt sneak in or think about the "proper" way to shoot the shot. Balls fell faster than the rain and the cue ball did what it was supposed to.

The last rack was totally unimpressed with my should have been solid break shot and only came apart a few inches with three or four balls loose around the edges. I took out a few loose balls and then deliberately rooted up into the pack while I still had an insurance ball or two.(thanks John Schmidt) Fired three or four balls into the left foot pocket like I was playing one pocket, using an air bridge over most of the cluster and machine gunning away the outside of the cluster, drawing the cue ball back into the heart of the mess over and over. Aside from everything else, I was having fun with a cue stick. The last rack went down in seconds and I did leave a break ball until last and get good shape on it and to break a new rack open before just pocketing it.

Deep down I still believe in stance, stroke, and understanding the science of the game but some days I have to wonder if any of this applies to an old five and dimer like me. :confused:

Hu
 
I don't know about too smart, but the last time I tried to make a comeback after a long layoff I couldn't. I watched videos, read books, practiced at least 6 hours a day for 6 months...I got back as far as C+ and hit a wall. Then I tried too hard and slid back to a C. Maybe I should never have picked up a book or watched a video. I'm sure I was trying to change too many things at once. The funny part was that my game wasn't broke when I quit...I just got into something else for awhile. I'll never know now as my health won't allow me to play anymore.:mad: Johnnyt
 
ShootingArts said:
Years ago I shot pool. I didn't know a thing about stance or stroke or aiming or swerve or deflection or eye motion or any other of the endless list of things we discuss here. I simply shot the balls into the holes in the table and got shape on the next ball any way I could. Worked well enough that I made a lot of money and beat some name players. ...
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I also played a much better game about 20-25 years ago, when I was just beginning to learn what had already come naturally about angles and setting up the next shot, etc.. I used to have a game that totally blew some minds, but then I didn't play for a few years, because we had a family to raise and a houseful of kids sometimes take up your time and money. They were a joy to raise, but I did miss the game.

When I finally picked up another cue, having a personal pool cue had become a popular thing... like owning your own skates, or bowling ball, or something. It seemed like a great idea to pick up a cue for my own, because it should make my game more consistent. It didn't really help. I had played a great game by instinct when I was young, but everybody had a rule or two about how to make things happen, now. And they were making me awful upset with this ball-in-hand newfangled game they were playing. Seemed to me that it made more of a player if you had to come from the kitchen on a super-hard shot. I beat a lot of guys in the old days, just because I could make a lot of great shots from the kitchen. If they scratched, they were toast.

I finally found some cues that really help my game come together, but it still isn't the top game I played by instinct so long ago. It just doesn't have the same "I know what I'm doing" pizazz that only comes with being young.

I don't dare say the rules and tactical stuff is wrong, so I just chalk it up to old age! :D
 
ShootingArts said:
Years ago I shot pool. I didn't know a thing about stance or stroke or aiming or swerve or deflection or eye motion or any other of the endless list of things we discuss here. I simply shot the balls into the holes in the table and got shape on the next ball any way I could. Worked well enough that I made a lot of money and beat some name players.

Now I am so smart I can't make a ball anymore. I play like crap. I play with style and grace and impress the folks that don't remember that the idea of the game is to put the balls in the pockets one after another, but my game is roughly 50% of my best when I didn't know jack chit except how to make balls.

I practiced hard for a few hours today. I made a few balls but it wasn't a banner day. It was hot and sticky inside and out with Humberto pitching rain my way. The balls were dirty, the table not the best. It was an eight foot Gandy that I should have handled with ease though.

I shot nine ball, stunk, one-pocket, up and down, and 14.1, mediocre. About twenty minutes before I left something snapped. I was hot, sweaty, tired, and disgusted. I started using strokes that I developed thirty-some odd years ago that would make an instructor puke. I turned loose and shot purely by instinct, too fast to let doubt sneak in or think about the "proper" way to shoot the shot. Balls fell faster than the rain and the cue ball did what it was supposed to.

The last rack was totally unimpressed with my should have been solid break shot and only came apart a few inches with three or four balls loose around the edges. I took out a few loose balls and then deliberately rooted up into the pack while I still had an insurance ball or two.(thanks John Schmidt) Fired three or four balls into the left foot pocket like I was playing one pocket, using an air bridge over most of the cluster and machine gunning away the outside of the cluster, drawing the cue ball back into the heart of the mess over and over. Aside from everything else, I was having fun with a cue stick. The last rack went down in seconds and I did leave a break ball until last and get good shape on it and to break a new rack open before just pocketing it.

Deep down I still believe in stance, stroke, and understanding the science of the game but some days I have to wonder if any of this applies to an old five and dimer like me. :confused:

Hu
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I agree to many words. too many thoughts, complications etc. everything is becoming so complicated recently. ignorance is bliss.
 
The voices

"The voices" have been telling me what to do for a long time but mostly I ignore them. When I argue with them in public people look at me funny! :D

Hu

Klopek said:
The key is to learn all the right moves and then forget them. Let the right moves become your normal game without thinking at all.

Some people, once they know, they can't "Un-know". They become cursed by the many voices in their head offering all the advice in the world but the right stuff.

I've been there, after a year of solid work on my game. I sucked for a while, battling the war going on inside my head. After a while the voices all started to sound like mine, and they sounded like one voice. A voice I could understand under pressure.

Now that i have a strong understanding of good fundamentals I find those up and down days are a thing of the past. I may shoot mediocre, but at least I'm consistent in my mediocrity.:)
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I wonder how many top players just played not so great, and read books, practiced proper fundamentals, and such -- and then jumped to that top level.

And I wonder how many just hit balls and gambled all day with out a single thought going threw their head.
 
You play your best pool when it becomes instinctive and by feel and touch. When you are not concentrating too hard and just letting it flow. And this often happens after hours of play, when you are a little tired and worn out. I always say that improvements are made when you have played a long time. Don't ask me to go into the reasons why, it just happens.
 
It hurts when I think

Hu.
I feel your pain. I am doing exactly the same thing right now for pretty much the same reasons. We can only hope that it is one step back and two steps forward.
If things don't change soon I will have to find a way to silence the voices once and for all :) .

Andy

There ain,t no voices louder than the ones inside my brain.
 
Some of the best games I've ever played have been when I was dead tired. Too tired to think of anything but making shots.

Like 3andstop said "paralysis by analysis" Our game/body can't flow if we're thinking of all that stuff we have to do. And Klopec said Learn all he right moves, then forget them.

Having said all this I can feel your pain.

Thanks for the post. I'm on my down to my table and just start making shots. Forgetting all that stuff.
 
Buddy Hall was the master at keeping things simple, and IMO, he is a genius.

I had never really thought about issues such as dominant eye, squirt, swerve, deflection, english transfer, etc until I saw these topics discussed on the internet. I really don't pay any of these topics any mind because I think it just clogs the pipes.

When I was younger, most of my instruction dealt with shooting accuracy, controlling the cue ball, shot sequence, speed control, and the mental game. There wasn't a lot of talk about mechanics, nor did I receive any scientific explanations for what I was supposed to do. I was told to keep it simple, so I did. I hope that my style of instruction refelcts that.

A couple of years ago I gave a class to a gentleman that was an aerospace engineer. He was a real nice person, loved playing in his 8 ball league, and he seemed excited to learn. The trouble was, he didn't comprehend simplicity. He required a scientific expanation and factual physics equations for everything I was trying to teach him. He couldn't learn anything because he wouldn't get out of his own way. He had a tendency to "overthink" everything. Needless to say - he probably still can't run a rack of 8 ball or 9 ball. On the other hand, I have stories of many people that keep it simple and do great things with their game.
 
Shooting Arts, I know exactly what you mean too.

A year ago I knew nothing of fundamentals. I had heard of them, but didn't know how they applied to my game. My stroke was straight, but that's about all that could be said for it. I was ugly to see. But I could shoot straight. The cue was part of my arm, and if I missed I could usually figure out why. I was comfortable.

Now I've learned many new things about mechanics and what makes good fundamentals. I can't bend over and take a shot anymore. I think to myself "is this right, is that right, how about this part?" When everything seems right it's great. When something (anything) feels wrong I can't shoot at all. It becomes the focus of my attention.

So now, I shoot far better on my best days, but the bad days feel worse than they used to. This has really affected my confidence level.
 
Good point.

AZBilliards has ruined my game!!!! :D :D But I would not trade the comaraderie to get the consistency back. When I go to shoot now I just try to put all the hints and clues about stance, chin position, arm position and everything else I have comsumed on this forum back into the filing cabinet. This is the only internet forum I have ever posted on and it renewed my love for the game then, when I applied all the expertise it ruined my mechanics and thought process. I think from now on it will be BREAK, SHOOT AND RUN, that's it. It will be a "NO AZB THINKING ALLOWED" zone. I glad others feel this way. I thought that I was incapable of improving my game. :D
 
this is the main reason why i taught myself how to shoot. i didn't fool with any books or videos. heck, i dont even know a thing about the diamond system. all i think about when i'm shooting is pocketing balls, getting shape, and playing defense when it's needed. that's as simple as you can get. all that other stuff is just a distraction and really, i think, not nessesary.(just my opinion)
 
Well. I went through your pain a few years back, Hu. I'm an engineer and programmer, and I enjoyed learning all the physics and such. For the longest time, there were two different Steve's who would play. I didn't know which one would show up, and they didn't agree very often.

Slowly, (ok, very slowly) these two sides of me learned to get along. For the most part, I'm back to my fast-n-loose style, but it's backed up by all that knowledge. And I play 2-3 balls better :D

Keep plugging, and someday (we can hope) you won't have to referee the voices.

-s
 
I've been around pool about 60 years. I can't think of any A players or pros that I knew or knew of that didn't have a lot of natural talent to start with. I never heard of anyone becoming an A player or better with a book or even an instucter w/o natural talent to start with. Johnnyt
 
Old dog new tricks

Well I'll be 64 next month so that qualifies me for an old game to a new game. I believe that people should change their occupation every five years and I have done that all my life. Oh, I may get paid by the same employer, but my emphasis changed as I took on new interests and challenges. This makes life exciting, always learning and involved with something new and challenging.

The research literature shows that the best way to keep yourself young is to take on new things with the seriousness that a younger person does not appreciate. I am looking down the barrel of life's other end and it has a way of increasing one's awareness of what is and is not meaningful as old age approaches (in another 20 years).

Playing pool is meaningful as the art and science and human frailties are tremendous obstacles to overcome. This is a personal challenge, not for family, friends or success simply back to basics like when I was a competitive diver many years ago. I just loved diving, others got me to compete. So as life comes to the last years I come full circle and enjoy life for what it should be. (For me this also includes wood working, oil painting, and family life).

In this new quest of playing a great game I now am more aware of how to go about learning and I do play better, much better than I did as a young man. Now I know what it means to take a chess game seriously but flip over the board when it needs to be done. It is similar to sex, it is wasted on the young who are driven by hormones and do not often stop to appreciate the beauty, sheer joy, and sharing that is what it is really about.

When we are young I think that we are so busy "doing things" that we fail to appreciate what is in front of us. One of my daughters recently went through a very bad nearly fatal year and has learned a great deal about appreciating her life and family. In reflection I think that many people need this type of experience to learn to appreciate life.

To truly study the game, to know what makes it tick, and then to learn the self discipline to make it all work is a beautiful thing. It is not really a matter of how many balls you can run as there are physical limitations on everyone. It is to learn, to play and to appreciate the beauty of the game and then to play like a kid with the appreciation that no kid can have because they simply do not have the experience and are driven by too many monsters.

Throughout my life I have enjoyed every age I found myself in. There are good and bad to each period. My current stage has always been the best one as I know more than before and these past experiences are brought to the new endeavor. I would not want to go backwards for anything. Here is hoping that your life is lived in some similar fashion - no regrets and loving every minute of it. Yeah, my game is better but in ways that no kid can appreciate.

Age and treachery wins every time :D
 
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