Dealing with slow play

Most leagues have a time limit, and for good reason. Most people have to go to work the next day!!!
 
fish on said:
APa has a rule against slow play!
look it up on website also under FAQ !
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Thanks for that...however, putting 'APA' and 'rules' in the same sentence is kinda....well....sorta....forget it.....anyway, thanks.]

Jeff Livingston
 
Andrew Manning said:
This thread has yielded a lot of really excellent advice. Although well-intentioned, I don't like the advice involving me concentrating on his run, even if only to do mental exercises involving shots he's faced with. Concentrating on his run was what got me so frustrated in the first place.

I like the idea about finding a way to get my mind off the game in between turns at the table, and not watch him if possible, although someone pointed out that this wouldn't be feasible unless there's a ref or teammate to watch for fouls.

And I really like the idea of playing my safest, most conservative strategy against him. In 8-ball especially (which is what I play), if you've got more than 4 of your balls on the table, it's usually easy not to give the other guy a makeable shot. Instead of being frustrated and careless and giving my opponent opportunities, I could have reversed the roles in that situation.

Thanks for all the tips, and welcome to posting, Tommy Tube Sock. That was very insightful for a first post.

-Andrew
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Andrew,

This guy is good training for you. You have just found a weakness in your game - you hate slow play. A lot of players do. With this guy, you've got a built-in trainer to help you get over your weakness. Turn that into an advantage. You've been focusing on the wrong thing - instead of being concerned with and irritated by your opponent, focus on the TABLE. Regardless of tempo, you should always do that. If you don't focus on the table, when your turn does come, you're not in the game. Do NOT change your strategy, personal rhythms/tempo, or anything else to accommodate a "slow" player. If you do, you just got sharked.

If you allow yourself to get sharked by someone who isn't trying to shark you, what are you going to do when someone actually IS trying to shark you?

-djb
 
I used to use the newspaper approach; now in the modern era, I just read the news (or AZB) on my cell. The newspaper, being much larger and noticeable, was probably more effective at getting the message across.

You're in Lee's league, and I think he will enforce the time limits. When I have to discuss pace with the other team's captain, the way I frame it (especially effective late in the season) is that slow play won't be tolerated in the playoffs and even less so if they make it to tri-annuals. So the time for your player to get used to shooting faster is now.

Cory
 
me too

tom said:
I used to make the mistake, when frustrated by my opponent's slow play, to rush my shot when it was my turn. Even if you are a fast player, take your time at the beginning of your run, look carefully at the table and increase gradually your pace until you reach your normal speed. But no hurry in your first shots. Just my 0.02. :)
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Exactly what I used to do.....I'd get up to the table, a bit angry, and start shooting faster than I normally do, as if to show him something, but I always ended up missing, sitting, and stewing some more....

It's funny how it seems like in every tournament anywhere, there's one or two guys like that....I just dread playing against them....what's really funny when the 2 guys that are the slowest play each other.... a race to 5 in 9 ball could last 1 and a half hours and I think it has in the past........
 
Very difficult to fade slow play. Even on the highest level, slow play is an effective way to throw the other player out of rhythm. Recent examples of this are Alex v SVB where at the end of the race to 100, Alex slowed the game down alot and took a break everytime SVB ran a rack. Kid D has put the screws on many a pro player by moving the pace to a snails crawl. There is a player named David Vaughn that I have seen play on the Florida Tour that is a great player but one of the strongest weapons in his arsenal is his slow pace. Its a real grind to play someone who takes 1.5 to 2 hrs to race to 9 and never really misses too.
 
I haven't read this thread, so I apologize if I'm redundant with "the move."

The move is.... if someone is slowing-ya-to-death, play not 2x as slow, but 10x as slow. I mean REALLY put it on. On cosmo outs, walk around the table a gazillion times, step into your shot, step off your shot, walk a little more, step into your shot again, step off, pull some lint, get down and MAYBE pull the trigger. Repeat this on every single shot - maybe even slower yet.

If someone is gonna slow-play me, have at it. It won't shark me. I can play just as well 1-shot at a time at the pace of tectonic plate shifts.
 
DoomCue said:
Andrew,

This guy is good training for you. You have just found a weakness in your game - you hate slow play. A lot of players do. With this guy, you've got a built-in trainer to help you get over your weakness. Turn that into an advantage. You've been focusing on the wrong thing - instead of being concerned with and irritated by your opponent, focus on the TABLE. Regardless of tempo, you should always do that. If you don't focus on the table, when your turn does come, you're not in the game. Do NOT change your strategy, personal rhythms/tempo, or anything else to accommodate a "slow" player. If you do, you just got sharked.

If you allow yourself to get sharked by someone who isn't trying to shark you, what are you going to do when someone actually IS trying to shark you?

-djb
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Well, I wouldn't say I just found a weakness; I posted this thread over 2 1/2 years ago and someone just dug it up.

But you bring up valid points. I've actually gotten much better at this in the past couple of years, and these days I would say the only thing that consistently sharks me is my own inconsistent execution. I get mad at myself for missing routine shots that should be 98% shots for any good player, and yet they're still 80% shots for me, much to my dismay. That percentage means I can't get out of a 9-ball rack even if I play excellent position. If I've missed a few of these in my first few games, I can get to the point where I'm so angry at myself I can't see straight.

Anyway, having identified "lining up easy shots correctly and maintaining focus" as my biggest weakness now, I have been focusing a large portion of my limited practice time on that.

-Andrew
 
Andrew Manning said:
Well, I wouldn't say I just found a weakness; I posted this thread over 2 1/2 years ago and someone just dug it up.

(snip)

-Andrew
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And, damnit!, I had something witty to say back then, but this thread is so gorl-darn slow that I forgot what it was!

Jeff Livingston
 
Andrew Manning said:
I'm looking for advice on how to keep slow play from throwing me off my game. I played a guy in my league last week who is absolutely glacial on the pool table. He looks at the shot forever even when there are very few decisions he could possibly be making about how to shoot it, he lines up on the object ball with his cue to find the contact point, and looks at that for a long time, and then finally lines up on the cue ball, only to take about 58 practice strokes.

Thing is, after all those signs that he has absolutely no confidence in his decisions, his aim, his alignment, or his stroke, he shoots pretty accurately, and plays position decently for shots with easy position. So he's likely to run 4 or 5 balls at a time at this pace, and so every time I let him to the table, by the time I get back I've forgotten what day it is, much less my shooting rhythm.

Not only does it destroy my rhythm and take me out of stroke, but it exasperates me to no end while I'm sitting and watching, meaning when I do get to the table, I'm playing frustrated, and missing easy shots because of it. Furthermore, I can't find my natural speed anymore, and I end up shooting way too fast as if to compensate for his slowness.

Now this guy is an extremely nice guy, and I'd feel bad if I told him to speed up, since he's just trying to play his best game, and since I generally shoot better than him, it would seem like I was just picking on him. But I lost the match even though anyone in the league would say I'm the far stronger player, because I beat myself mentally. What do you recommend I do to stay calm and play my game when the other player is that slow?

-Andrew
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If you know the guy is slow before hand, sit back, relax and and don't let it bug you. This is as easily done as said. A couple of years ago I was playing in a tournament and saw this guy who was a good player but painfully slow. Sure enough I drew him. I told myself there is nothing I can do to hurry this guy up so I'll just wait my turn. I ended up winning. On the other hand, I was at a tournament a few months ago and was playing a guy who was taking 2-3 minutes between each shot. Our score was 3-3 and the tables around us were 7-6, 8-6. I told him if he didn't pick it up I was going to turn him in to the tournament director. I don't see anything wrong with suggesting someone pick it up a little if you do it in a nice way.
 
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