Desire to play

mr8ball

mr8ball

Active member
I have been playing pool for about 20 years and have lost my desire to play anymore. Anyone else had this happen? If so what have you done to get it back. I have not played for a few weeks now and figured a little time off might help but so far nada. Seems like all you here in the pool rooms anymore is bickering and auguring among everyone. Around here it is hard to just go and play anymore. I don't gamble but do not want to listen to a bunch of crap while I am there to practice. People that are gambling for 1 and 2 bucks a ball will throw sticks, kick tables and act lick children when loosing. Its kinda sad to see what this is doing to such a great game. Any thoughts?
 
Watched the DCC and it got me pumped up. Maybe just wait around for the US bar table championships and it will motivate you.

I also have the problem with local tournaments in my area. Seems like if you win someone is barking at you or telling you how you got lucky. Always seems to be someone drunk wanting to start trouble. Gets me down on pool also.

Good Luck!
 
Inspiration

I have found myself in this slump as well. I can usually throw in one of my favorite videos though to get me going. You know, color of money, pool hall junkies.... I am always ready to hit the felt after watching.
 
I watched the DCC all week but it never gave the itch . I use to go to that every year and clean the tables for that tournament with Quick Clean. We also do the expo. I love going to the tournaments but the negative side of things has really got me to where I don't care for it as much as I use to. It seems unless you gamble you never get the respect you deserve when you do win. I am no pro but have always had a pretty good game and I have won quite a few tournaments around my area and it seemed that every time I won it was always lucky rolls or the other guy played bad. I played a guy run 4 racks of 8 ball and he tells me I got lucky that he did not shoot or he would have won. LOL. I had seen the guy play a few times and had never seen him run a rack of anything. Anyway I am hoping that I can figure out what is going on and fix it before the expo. We will have a booth there so you guys feel free to stop by and say hi. I will be in the Quick clean booth. Thanks for the advice
 
mr8ball said:
I watched the DCC all week but it never gave the itch . I use to go to that every year and clean the tables for that tournament with Quick Clean. We also do the expo. I love going to the tournaments but the negative side of things has really got me to where I don't care for it as much as I use to. It seems unless you gamble you never get the respect you deserve when you do win. I am no pro but have always had a pretty good game and I have won quite a few tournaments around my area and it seemed that every time I won it was always lucky rolls or the other guy played bad. I played a guy run 4 racks of 8 ball and he tells me I got lucky that he did not shoot or he would have won. LOL. I had seen the guy play a few times and had never seen him run a rack of anything. Anyway I am hoping that I can figure out what is going on and fix it before the expo. We will have a booth there so you guys feel free to stop by and say hi. I will be in the Quick clean booth. Thanks for the advice
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The first thing that came to my mind was, find a kid that is interested in the game and teach them all you know. This has a double benefit.
First by teaching someone you get to re-experience the game through new eyes. this can revive your desire because it gives you a new purpose and goal.

And by helping someone to learn the ropes you can guide them and teach them not to act like the tantrum throwing punks that you are tired of seeing.

You would be helping the sport and some kid at the same time, not to mention yourself as well!
 
Richardson said:
Watched the DCC and it got me pumped up. Maybe just wait around for the US bar table championships and it will motivate you.

I also have the problem with local tournaments in my area. Seems like if you win someone is barking at you or telling you how you got lucky. Always seems to be someone drunk wanting to start trouble. Gets me down on pool also.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...

" Luck is an art itself" :-) To clowns who re talking just about luck i learnt to just smile and say yes-as time goes by, the luck perhaps may change the owner :-)
 
I'm almost there with you. There is only one bar with good tables that I have found that regularly had fairly decent shooters but now many evening there isn't any and the local billiard hall stays mostly empty except for the occasional noisy bangers and kids. The only thing that still holds my interest is a weekly bar league. I don't like APA's format and all the local tournament never get started before 9:30pm, so I don't play them, either.
 
lack of interest

Pool means different things to different people. Some use it as an outlet to relax...others play because of the challenge and are excited about the prospect of becoming a better player.

If you are not excited about the challenge, then you will find yourself losing interest.

Ask yourself...are you content with the caliber of your game? If so, then your done. The excitement is gone.

If you're not content, then you need to figue out why you have lost your desire for the challenge. Do you believe that you have gone as far as your abilities will alow?
 
Maybe you could change rooms, or go on different days or times to escape the shinanigans that you discribed. If not, how about getting a practice buddy. Lastly, don't be afraid to take some time off. You may be gone for a month or two even. If you get the urge again, you'll be back. If not, start a new chapter.
 
mr8ball said:
I have been playing pool for about 20 years and have lost my desire to play anymore. Anyone else had this happen? If so what have you done to get it back. I have not played for a few weeks now and figured a little time off might help but so far nada. Seems like all you here in the pool rooms anymore is bickering and auguring among everyone. Around here it is hard to just go and play anymore. I don't gamble but do not want to listen to a bunch of crap while I am there to practice. People that are gambling for 1 and 2 bucks a ball will throw sticks, kick tables and act lick children when loosing. Its kinda sad to see what this is doing to such a great game. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

I would recommend either get your own table and control the experience or move to Chicago and join the Illinois Billiard Club, the place is like billiard heaven and the people are so welcoming and helpful.
 
I think Dash is right! I don't think many people ever lose the love of the game!
Personal things might get in the way, but it sounds like you need to find a new place to play is all!!
 
Ok, I haven't read any of the replies, so I might repeat what others have already said.


First of all, if you want to practise by yourself and everyone is disturbing you, the easiest solution what works for me is to use earphones and simply listen to some good relaxing tunes. Don't use some cheap earphones, use the one with little rubber things on them, they really mute everything around you away even at 20% vol.

If you are looking to motivate yourself, find someone new to play with. Or play a totally new game. Or try out some new drills.

Take some tests and mark up the scores for future reference.

VIDEOTAPE yourself playing. It's kinda nice to watch yourself on the video and go like "ooh you stupid, that's not the shot you are supposed to take" :p

Good luck!
 
Autist said:
Ok, I haven't read any of the replies, so I might repeat what others have already said.


First of all, if you want to practise by yourself and everyone is disturbing you, the easiest solution what works for me is to use earphones and simply listen to some good relaxing tunes. Don't use some cheap earphones, use the one with little rubber things on them, they really mute everything around you away even at 20% vol.

If you are looking to motivate yourself, find someone new to play with. Or play a totally new game. Or try out some new drills.

Take some tests and mark up the scores for future reference.

VIDEOTAPE yourself playing. It's kinda nice to watch yourself on the video and go like "ooh you stupid, that's not the shot you are supposed to take" :p

Good luck!
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I agree.. Personally, I own the Bose QC15 Noise Cancelling Headphones. These babies clear all sound around you when you put them on, literally everything goes silent, they're great for airplanes and the assholes at the poolroom around you, ;-)

They're not cheap but worth every penny, and if you don't like them there is a tryout return policy, look into them if you want.
 
DASHZNT said:
I would recommend either get your own table and control the experience or move to Chicago and join the Illinois Billiard Club, the place is like billiard heaven and the people are so welcoming and helpful.
Click to expand...


And I bet they don't lick children there either. That's just worng.

mr8ball said:
I have...lost my desire to play anymore.

People that are gambling for 1 and 2 bucks a ball will throw sticks, kick tables and act lick children when loosing...
Click to expand...
 
Gold Crowns can be had for cheap in today's economy. I recently got my dad's old brunswick kling ...i hadn't played in years...now I play 2-3 hours a day. I don't think I even new how much I loved the game until I got my own table.

My motivation also comes from the fact that if I don't play for a few days it takes a bit of time to get my game back ....
 
I lost the desire to play in the 90's. I put my cue down and did not pick it up for close to a year. Then one day a friend asked me to play at a bar and during the game I made a fantastic shot that blew the people watching away and even re-fired the interest I had lost.

Give yourself some time to relax, maybe it will come back to you. Just don't force it.

Good luck.
 
Thanks for all the responce guys. I was a pretty good player at one time. I had a new diamond table and played 4 to 5 hrs a day. (Sold it on here) I have run 9 racks of 9 ball in a tournament and 8 racks of 8 ball. (Not bragging) I broke and ran 8 N out in one pocket and got to 7 quite a few times. I felt I was as good as I could be at that time. I was giving lessons to a few and did teach and help some kids. As some may know I developed the first Stroketrainer back in the late 90's and as I would travel and sit up booths at tournaments. After a while I noticed that I was loosing my desire to even be around pool at all. As time went on I quit selling the ST hoping that without being around it so much I would start to love it again. I was doing pretty good playing in a league here and was starting to love the game again. We had a new pool room open here with all new Diamonds and I thought it was great. As we played in the league we were winning and only lost 2 matches all season and we could not even make the play offs. That sucked. While talking with the guy that run the league he said something that just made me sick As we talked about the scoring system he used he said my team had played to good and we need to get a weaker player to get our handicap down. Well, screw that. I do not play to lay down and I want to play with my friends and we want to win. I felt like it was the last straw and I have not wanted to play a game since then. I did play in a Shannon Dalton tournament and finished 8th I think but I could never get in gear. I guess I do need a break. Sorry for the rant but I needed to do it. Only pool players understand. Thanks to all.
 
Interesting thread, my problem is that i want to play but when it comes tourny night and time to make the decision on whether to go or not i usually find an excuse not to go lol.

But when i do go im always happy i did, so i don't know it's wierd. I know sometimes in a tournament during my first match im deciding whether i want to try and win or just play and if i win ok if not i can go home and relax.

So yea i need to figure out what my prob is to just not sure. If i go to a regional event like gsbt or something then im excited and trying to play my best but in local weeknite tournies i tend to have alot of give up in me.
 
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