Confidence shaken

S

Stretch

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I shouldn't be writing this soon after a loss but i need to vent. The last two 9-ball tournaments were a horror show. I couldn't do anything right, and my opponents couldn't do anything wrong! Even the tables i got were against me. In a short race to three i have a routine 9 ball to the corner pocket to go up 2-0 instead the 9 ball hits the back of the pocket and comes back out! So now it's 1-1 the guy catches a gear and i don't even get a sniff till it's over and i have that damn 9 ball haunting my dreams. The last tournament went the same way. Only i'm missing key shots now and killing any momentum i'm getting. this time it's a race to 7 which only prolongs the agony. I went two and out....humiliated i'm the first one leaving.

The funny thing is, i'm tearing up the 8 ball leauges. But 9 ball? i suck! i suck so hard i don't even want to play it anymore. (i know this will pass) but MAAAN there's just something about 9 ball that drives me retarded. I can't even BEGIN to sort out what it is. It would be different if there was a key shot, or a situation that i could identify to work on in practice. But when i look back on the last couple of times out. It's like EVERYTHING.

So i swore off 9 ball in order to protect my cue from being snapped over my knee as well as my sanity. I feel much better now that i know that this aberation of a game will not torment me anymore and i can play my one true love 8 ball up to the level that i now enjoy.

9 ball is a cruel cruel game. St.
 
It's not the game, it's you. Don't blame the game nor the table for your mistakes. The pocket spit the 9-ball back out? Why did you slam the 9-ball? If you hit the shot at normal pocketing speed, then your beef with the table is legitimate, but even trick tables with tricked pockets wont spit a ball back out unless you hit it at warp speed. I don't mean to sound belittling or anything in that manner, so don't take that the wrong way. I know exactly how you feel and have been in your position. Don't even let the thought of snapping your cue cross your mind. It's YOU, it's ALL YOU, and has nothing to do with anything else. You've got to get out of the state of mind that it's because you have bad luck and everything is against you. The longer that you keep placing the blame somewhere else, you will never be able to play a lick of 9-ball.

You say you are tearing them up in 8-ball. You need to sit back and analyze your playing ability. Can you run racks in 8-ball? Do you do better in 8-ball because when you mess up position you were trying to play, often you have another shot? If this is the case, then your position is hurting you. Do you plan your patterns in 8-ball, or do you just play the game shot by shot? If you do the latter, then you probably see patterns very poorly. If you find yourself missing *key* shots in 9-ball, I think it's mainly because of indecision. I think you should start playing 6-ball by yourself, take ball in hand on the 1 ball and try to run them out. When you start seeing patterns for 6-ball and start running out, go back to 9-ball.
 
i was thinking the same thing as cuetechasaurus, its probably your position play. I mean of all the games 9ball is really one of the simplest, it just doesnt afford you must margin of error versus 8ball where you have 7 targets to choose from 9 ball you have only the object ball, or some type of roll on the 9 or a safety. But yeah everybody has bad days at the table, days where you dont get the rolls and the other guy does, etc etc etc. As i get better at keeping control of the table i find i have less of these days.
 
Position ...

"Controlling the cue ball is 70% of the game" Jimmy Caras,
as told to me when I was 14.
 
Snapshot9 said:
"Controlling the cue ball is 70% of the game" Jimmy Caras,
as told to me when I was 14.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys, don't worry about pullin punches. I'm way harder on myself than anyone else is. I've had this love/hate relationship with 9 ball for quite some time. I'm in hate mode now till the pain of my last pathetic attempt at competeing subsides. I probably put TOO much pressure on myself. It's a charactor flaw or something. All i expect is perfection, is that too much to ask? lol

Later all. And thanks for the drill tips. Think i'll go out and work on speed control and position play today. Slo out.
 
If you were playing below your usual level, then just try and forget about it. Practice your position play sure, but forget about those bad showings. If you go into the next tournament with negative thoughts like "I suck, I suck", then you will. That is probably the most important thing I have learned in pool.
 
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