Distractions

L

ledrums

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I play in a town with no pool halls so I'm forced to play in bars. The main bar I play at has bathrooms right by the the table. People walk in your line of sight as you shoot and a lot of people congregate by the table. My question is this. I get extremely frustrated and distracted in this situation. I start choking because I feel I have no personal space as I'm shooting and people moving directly in my line of vision. Is this an excuse? I am very capable of stringing racks together etc etc, but I am far from the best. That being said, would a pro and/or a shortstop level player be thrown off by this? To the point they blow easy shots/position? Of course the simple answer is to play somewhere else, but it bothers me that I get distracted by this stuff. It makes me feel mentally weak.

Would Mr. Incardona, Grady, Lil Jon etc gladly play in these conditions or am I just putting myself in a bad situation? Hoping to hear some opinions from bangers to pros. Thanks
 
distractions

IMO, of course you'd want to play in ideal conditions. But since you don't have much of a choice it would seem that you're going to have to overcome your conditions. Focus would seem to be on your list of priorities for your game. The good thing is once you can block out all this you will be ready for anything else. I know Max Eberle pays a lot of attention to meditation and focusing.. or 'detaching' from the moment. He just came out with his book Zen Pool which I'm sure has some good helpful tips on this subject. The Monk books also spend quite a bit of time on this as well. Good luck. :R:
 
I think it's hard to compare to what a pro would do because a pro would not settle for bar pool, or may not care about the outcome if it's his only option.

A pro would drive to the next town if necessary. I'm not a pro but for several years I drove 45 mins every day to play somewhere nice when I didn't like the alternatives. Even if you're some kind of genius at blocking things out you can't play your top game in such an environment, and you'll never know whether your top speed on a 7 footer can be recreated on a 9 footer.
 
I think you can use it your advantage. Heigthen yuor level of focus, and do not let it bother you. The more you think about it as a factor of your game, the more it will be. If you can overcome these distractions, your level of focus in more ideal circumstances will be that much better. I do not think it is a good excuse to choke though.
 
Unfortunately, this stuff happens alot. The fact of the matter is, many lesser skilled players or bangers, have little or no etiquette when it comes to pool. Reguardless of what type of place you are playing in.
 
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