First, “Oldschool1478” mentions the principal hazard of clothing: catching the thumb of your stroking hand in your shirt front. Also, the pants pocket can be a hazard for the same reason.
Hats, or, more likely, caps I have always had the same reaction to as “Itsfroze.” How do you see the path to the pocket? Anyway, gentlemen do not wear headwear inside a building unless they are in an elevator or in a public area moving to an interior room, such as an office. (Source: Amy Vanderbilt, Complete Book of Etiquette, 1952 edition, illustrations by “Andrew Warhol” et al.).
As for shoes, you should practice in the same shoes you are going to play in, as “English” recommends. Perhaps this is incorrect, but I believe I read somewhere that Joe Procita had three pairs of shoes he practiced in and played pool in. He had two identical pairs of lace-up shoes, one pair brown and the other black. The two colors allowed him to have his shoes match his suit and trousers. His third pair was a pair of black formal shoes he could wear in tournaments when he had to wear a tuxedo. I believe the idea was to always have the same height at the table and hence the same angle of his eyes to the balls when he bent over. As “Dallas Hopps” points out, the idea is to have as much consistency as possible.
(I have also been told that Procita would move around from one pool room to another playing for only one week in each and usually not on the same table each day. He did not want to become too accustomed to one set of playing conditions and then wind up playing in a tournament where everything was new and unfamiliar. He trained himself constantly to adjust to varying playing conditions.)
Of course the shoes have to be appropriate to playing pool, not the great clodhoppers you see some guys wearing, as “Tashworth19191” and “LHP5” mention. Danny Harriman is an exception. He sometimes shows up wearing construction boots and shoots gorgeously, but for most people boots are a mistake.
I am grateful to “3andstop’s” suggestion about the coin or button in the shoe. If you believe in Galwey’s Self One and Self Two, it might be of value. I’ll try it.
As for bow ties, I spent most of my life in a tie and still enjoy wearing one, often a bow tie. Of course, I dress for myself and not for others. If I dress too far down, I feel uncomfortable. A golf shirt and chinos is the lower limit.
On the subject of sleeves, which “Altalien” raises, take a look at a three-cushion tournament from Europe. You’ll notice that a lot of the players roll the sleeve of their stroking arm up a bit. (Called, I think, “shooting” a cuff.) Also, a surprising number of them wear some kind of bracelet on their stroking arm. That would drive me nuts, but I think it may give them some extra sense of where their stroke is. I’m not sure snooker players do the same. I haven’t looked. I don’t like snooker, although I admire the skill of the players.
About vests and jackets, I’m not sure they aren’t an advantage rather than a hindrance. I think they tend to keep you stroking “within yourself,” as the golf and tennis guys would say. It’s hard to have a loopy stroke if you have a jacket on, although Cisero Murphy certainly managed it effectively even in a tuxedo. Of course, with all-ball fouls, that sleeve and the overhang can present a challenge.
And now I shall violate the principle that you should never “wise up a sucker” and give away a great pool secret. Buy a pair of suspenders. They are wonderful to play pool in. The motions of pool are such that it is as if they had been designed to pull your shirt out of your pants and let your pants slip down off your hips. With suspenders those two things don't happen nearly so much and you don’t get things clumped up around your waist. But remember that a gentleman does not let his suspenders be seen. Cover them with a sweater, a jacket or, in summer, a sweater vest.
Hats, or, more likely, caps I have always had the same reaction to as “Itsfroze.” How do you see the path to the pocket? Anyway, gentlemen do not wear headwear inside a building unless they are in an elevator or in a public area moving to an interior room, such as an office. (Source: Amy Vanderbilt, Complete Book of Etiquette, 1952 edition, illustrations by “Andrew Warhol” et al.).
As for shoes, you should practice in the same shoes you are going to play in, as “English” recommends. Perhaps this is incorrect, but I believe I read somewhere that Joe Procita had three pairs of shoes he practiced in and played pool in. He had two identical pairs of lace-up shoes, one pair brown and the other black. The two colors allowed him to have his shoes match his suit and trousers. His third pair was a pair of black formal shoes he could wear in tournaments when he had to wear a tuxedo. I believe the idea was to always have the same height at the table and hence the same angle of his eyes to the balls when he bent over. As “Dallas Hopps” points out, the idea is to have as much consistency as possible.
(I have also been told that Procita would move around from one pool room to another playing for only one week in each and usually not on the same table each day. He did not want to become too accustomed to one set of playing conditions and then wind up playing in a tournament where everything was new and unfamiliar. He trained himself constantly to adjust to varying playing conditions.)
Of course the shoes have to be appropriate to playing pool, not the great clodhoppers you see some guys wearing, as “Tashworth19191” and “LHP5” mention. Danny Harriman is an exception. He sometimes shows up wearing construction boots and shoots gorgeously, but for most people boots are a mistake.
I am grateful to “3andstop’s” suggestion about the coin or button in the shoe. If you believe in Galwey’s Self One and Self Two, it might be of value. I’ll try it.
As for bow ties, I spent most of my life in a tie and still enjoy wearing one, often a bow tie. Of course, I dress for myself and not for others. If I dress too far down, I feel uncomfortable. A golf shirt and chinos is the lower limit.
On the subject of sleeves, which “Altalien” raises, take a look at a three-cushion tournament from Europe. You’ll notice that a lot of the players roll the sleeve of their stroking arm up a bit. (Called, I think, “shooting” a cuff.) Also, a surprising number of them wear some kind of bracelet on their stroking arm. That would drive me nuts, but I think it may give them some extra sense of where their stroke is. I’m not sure snooker players do the same. I haven’t looked. I don’t like snooker, although I admire the skill of the players.
About vests and jackets, I’m not sure they aren’t an advantage rather than a hindrance. I think they tend to keep you stroking “within yourself,” as the golf and tennis guys would say. It’s hard to have a loopy stroke if you have a jacket on, although Cisero Murphy certainly managed it effectively even in a tuxedo. Of course, with all-ball fouls, that sleeve and the overhang can present a challenge.
And now I shall violate the principle that you should never “wise up a sucker” and give away a great pool secret. Buy a pair of suspenders. They are wonderful to play pool in. The motions of pool are such that it is as if they had been designed to pull your shirt out of your pants and let your pants slip down off your hips. With suspenders those two things don't happen nearly so much and you don’t get things clumped up around your waist. But remember that a gentleman does not let his suspenders be seen. Cover them with a sweater, a jacket or, in summer, a sweater vest.
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