Do the pros do stupid sh*t like us amateurs do???

Maniac

Maniac

2manyQ's
Silver Member
I'm talking about the upper echelon players here. Do they do dumb things like miscue on a draw shot and jump the cueball OVER the object ball and into a pocket? Do they ever mess up the perfect rack by bumping the balls with the triangle when removing the rack? Do they ever accidently drop a cube of chalk into a pocket? How about when they clear the pockets, do they ever roll the balls downtable and BACK INTO a pocket? Has anyone ever seen a pro scratch on a lag shot or hit the other players ball when lagging? I wonder if a pro ever tries to chalk his/her cue with the paper side of the chalk?

I watch a LOT of pool live, on streams, YouTube, and on television (well, it USED to be on television :frown:). Other than missing a VERY easy shot on occasion, or missing a ball COMPLETELY every once in a while, I cannot remember ever seeing a pro make some of the stupid mistakes that we amateurs make, and make fairly often :embarrassed2:.

So tell us, what kind of gaffes have you ever seen a pro commit while in a match? And....tell us about something stupid you did at one time or another.

Maniac (does stupid sh*t all the time :()
 
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One of the Mosconi-Fats matches, I saw Mosconi miscue on a fairly easy shot. I think everyone does the dumb things... some just have better luck with who's watching when it happens.

And, even if everyone else denies it as a possibility, I'll admit that I've totally done the draw-shot-jump into a pocket. It makes me feel like I should be wearing a helmet and a drool bib.

Most impressive extremely dumb thing I've done: Before I learned how to break properly, I managed to jump the cue ball off the table and send it sailing across the room into the ball return of the next table.
 
I don't think you can spend hours of time at a pool table without doing something outrageously stupid once in a while.

That being said, I don't think the pros screw up at the same level as we do. Beginners get monstrously perturbed at missing a ball completely. Amateurs get pissed off missing an easy shot. Pros get upset missing an easy run out.

The other day, I chalked my cue with the paper, grabbed the cue ball when I was reaching for the chalk, lined up on the 9 ball thinking it was the cue ball, and flew the cue ball completely off the table into the back wall on the break. All sober, all in one match. I lost by one rack in a race to 5.
 
walrus_3d said:
I don't think you can spend hours of time at a pool table without doing something outrageously stupid once in a while.

That being said, I don't think the pros screw up at the same level as we do. Beginners get monstrously perturbed at missing a ball completely. Amateurs get pissed off missing an easy shot. Pros get upset missing an easy run out.

The other day, I chalked my cue with the paper, grabbed the cue ball when I was reaching for the chalk, lined up on the 9 ball thinking it was the cue ball, and flew the cue ball completely off the table into the back wall on the break. All sober, all in one match. I lost by one rack in a race to 5.
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This post makes me feel a LOT better :thumbup:!!!

Maniac
 
Maniac said:
I'm talking about the upper echelon players here. Do they do dumb things like miscue on a draw shot and jump the cueball OVER the object ball and into a pocket? Do they ever mess up the perfect rack by bumping the balls with the triangle when removing the rack? Do they ever accidently drop a cube of chalk into a pocket? How about when they clear the pockets, do they ever roll the balls downtable and BACK INTO a pocket? Has anyone ever seen a pro scratch on a lag shot or hit the other players ball when lagging? I wonder if a pro ever tries to chalk his/her cue with the paper side of the chalk?

I watch a LOT of pool live, on streams, YouTube, and on television (well, it USED to be on television :frown:). Other than missing a VERY easy shot on occasion, or missing a ball COMPLETELY every once in a while, I cannot remember ever seeing a pro make some of the stupid mistakes that we amateurs make, and make fairly often :embarrassed2:.

So tell us, what kind of gaffes have you ever seen a pro commit while in a match? And....tell us about something stupid you did at one time or another.

Maniac (does stupid sh*t all the time :()
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I saw Charlie williams shoot the wrong ball with ball in hand not long ago at Emeralds tournement:smile:
 
That makes me feel better.....I was down to my last shot against the best player on the other team Wed. night when I proceeded to bank the ball beautifully into the side pocket. The problem was I hit the wrong ball!:angry: His ball and my ball were so close together that my team couldn't tell I was lined up on the wrong ball. Live and learn.......
 
It seems to me that there is a story in "Hustlers and Heroes, Legends and Lies, and the Search for Higher Truth on the Green Felt" by John Grissim about a well known money player in the late '60s or eary '70s playing in his first big tournament. He got up to shoot in his first inning and as he was walking around the table {Straight Pool} the referee yelled "FOUL!". The player looked up, dumbfounded, and asked why. He was chalking his cue with the 3 ball:D
 
Maniac said:
I'm talking about the upper echelon players here. Do they do dumb things like miscue on a draw shot and jump the cueball OVER the object ball and into a pocket? Do they ever mess up the perfect rack by bumping the balls with the triangle when removing the rack? Do they ever accidently drop a cube of chalk into a pocket? How about when they clear the pockets, do they ever roll the balls downtable and BACK INTO a pocket? Has anyone ever seen a pro scratch on a lag shot or hit the other players ball when lagging? I wonder if a pro ever tries to chalk his/her cue with the paper side of the chalk?

I watch a LOT of pool live, on streams, YouTube, and on television (well, it USED to be on television :frown:). Other than missing a VERY easy shot on occasion, or missing a ball COMPLETELY every once in a while, I cannot remember ever seeing a pro make some of the stupid mistakes that we amateurs make, and make fairly often :embarrassed2:.

So tell us, what kind of gaffes have you ever seen a pro commit while in a match? And....tell us about something stupid you did at one time or another.

Maniac (does stupid sh*t all the time :()
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The difference between Pro's and Armatures are really simple. When your an armature and you screw up it is stupid shit in almost all cases, and when a Pro screws up it is a mistake. While this is nothing but a simple twist of terminology it makes a bunch of sense when you stop and think about it!!:smile:

JIMO
 
Alex is the owner of one "unbelievable" shot in the match SVB vs. Alex race to 21.

Alex had ball in hand after SVB scratched on the break.

Alex was manuevering the cue ball with the cue stick to get the optimal angle for his next shot, and Murphy's law took over. Alex lost his concetration on what he was doing and drove the cue ball into the one ball. It was like a nightmare in slow motion.

The one ball came out of it's difficult position (frozen to long rail) laying perfect for SVB with ball in hand.


Another:
Seen Paul P. from Canada miss a ball 4 inches directly in front of side pocket with ball in hand. The heat, shall we say, was on him.

Jay P.
 
Faulty equipment.

Blue Hog ridr said:
Have you been taking lessons from me?
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It happens to everybody who plays. The more you play the more it happens. Everyone on our team has been trained to immediately look at your tip like what the hell is wrong with this damm tip! Saves face.
 
Everybody makes stupid mistakes.....all the way up to Efren, who I've seen miss with bih.

However, the upper echelon players do it far-less often than everyone else.
 
I'm not a pro, but 3 of my most embarrasing moments in pool have happened in pro/am events and against pro opponents.
1) Farted while breaking the oppening rack against a Japanese ladies pro. She obviously heard, but kindly pretended that she didn't. I went on to win the match.

2) Ball in hand against Keisuke Hanawa (Japanese Pro). Made the five with extreme left draw to go 3 rails around the table back to the same rail to land perfectly within a 4 inch area..............the only spot on the table I could possibly put the CB for a shot on the 7...............then I realized the 6 was still on the table and I was now hooked. Lost that match.

3) After pocketing the 9 against a lower tier Japanese pro, I start pulling balls out of the pockets to kindly roll the balls towards the foot area for my opponent to rack them. One of the pockets had 3 balls in it, and I reached my hand in, grabbed all three balls and couldn't get my hand out of the pocket while gripping the 3 balls. I did this as I was walking around the table with some nervous momentum, so my body kept going as my hand with the three balls remaind stuck in the pocket nearly tearing my arm off. Ever see thos monkey traps where they dig a hole in a mound of dirt just big enough for a monkey to stick his hand into, but once the monkey grabs the goodies and cups them in a fist, can't break free unless he drops the goodies in his closed fist? That was me!

dave
 
How about falling asleep in the sports book and missing a match time? I don't know if that has ever happened to an amateur.
 
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At this years Fatboys challenge 10 ball event at DCC in the SVB vs Soqueit (sp) match Shane played a fairly easy safe and sank the cue. Needless to say I doubt it will ever happen again.
 
I've seen all of the above happen by pro's except the lag part, I think if a pro ever scratched or ran into the other players ball on the lag he/she should just take their cue apart and go home cause it wouldn't be a good day lol. In a video on youtube of something like 10 of the best shots or something like that, I cant remember his name, but a top ranked asian player clearly is chalking his cue with the paper side and looks at it and flips it over, there are TONS of videos that show pros miscueing, although it would be extremely rare that a pro would miscue so bad the cue ball jumps another ball because by the time they have reached that point in their pool game their strokes are so well developed and staying down is no problem for them (even though it does happen). I'm sure you can go on youtube and start watching pool videos (not the stupid ones) and you will see all of this.
 
I saw Jeanette Lee miscue on a draw shot and jump the CB over the OB.
I saw another female miscue on a break shot and miss the rack entirely with the CB not even making it to the rack.
 
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