Do you play better now or when you were younger?

The King

The King

Here's Jimbo....
Silver Member
Maybe my situation is unique? I know I have said it before but I fell in love with the game when I was 14 or 15 . I had a great teacher who loved the game also a older man in his fifties when I first met him . He had grown up in Owensborro Kentucky and was living in Calif. when I met him. He taught me most of what I know today and we would shoot every chance we could. If not in school you could find me at the pool hall and sometimes I would skip school to play at the pool hall. At nights you would find me in bar rooms playing , playing round the clock if I could . More then once my mom came into the bar to pull me out by my ear saying her son did not belong in a place like that.

Funny thing is my Mom met my Step Dad in a pool Hall and he was a good shot . I never knew it till I was older (over 21) and he would ask me to go out to the bar and shoot some with him.He was my step Dad but I loved him like my father as my father abandoned us when I was 10 . As my cheap trophies began to mount up from winning pool tournys my parents would come watch me play. Though they were never happy about me playing in bars in my young youth they grew proud and loved to watch me play. My Moms sister married a man who owned a pool hall up in Pennsylvannia and would become the 9 nine ball state Champion. Mom has often told me I need to go see him and learn what I can from my Uncle Willie ... It is funny how my parents stance changed on my pool playing my dad supported me in it till he died a few years ago . My teacher and I hung out till I left California at the age of 28 and moved to Georgia.

I got a understanding of it all once my own son was born and his Mother did not want anything to do with him and I gave up pool to raise him. I was not going to do what my father did to me so I gave up pool to raise my son. Now I'm 48 and had not touched a cue in close to 18 years . In fact I threw my 300.00 Schon in the closet when I quit it was a R-11 ... Was i surprised to find out it's value 18 years later...lol... I've take my son out to play a few times since I started back. And he has started coming over since I'm getting my own table here in the house. I told him I want to teach him this great game and he is developing a great love for it too. Ironicaly he also has a son on the way ...

Now I'm back at it and playing ... And my question is this ... Do you play or see the table better now that your older?

I was playing last night and my opponent thought he shot me a great safe. But I looked into the jumble of balls and saw a combo that was dead in the corner though I doubt some could of seen the shot I knew all I had to do was hit it and it was gone . I called it and made the shot broke out the balls and ran out. My opponent got so frustrated saying it was a great shot but a one in a million shot . He put up his cue and left the place mad as heck. All I could do was smile

I seem to see shots more like that now . I see the table a whole lot better now that I'm Older. I don't think my shot making ability is there where it was when I was younger cause I don't spend the time on the table I use to. But I think I see things on the table now that I never saw before. Things that catch some of the local players by surprise.

So the question is do you see the whole table now better when you were younger or as you have grown older. Again my situation may be unique to some as I gave it up for so long ... But I bet it is not so unique that some of you have not done the same.

I know coming back into the game my love for the game is just as strong as before if not stronger ... It is like it has been reborn.
 
Your title and your post ask different questions. The title asked if you played better when you were young or old. In the post it sounds like all you really want to know is did you see the shots better when you were young or old, not how you actually played. Which were you looking for, or both?
 
I'm playing way better now than in '60 to '64 when I was in college. After school I entered the Dark Ages of No Pool for 40 years, while I worked, married, had kids... then I took up the game again in '04. This time around I submitted to lessons, and that has made a huge difference. Also, there are instruction books available now, and there were virtually none then. And video, which didn't exist then!
 
Your correct ...

Poolplaya9 said:
Your title and your post ask different questions. The title asked if you played better when you were young or old. In the post it sounds like all you really want to know is did you see the shots better when you were young or old, not how you actually played. Which were you looking for, or both?
Click to expand...

I thought of that when I was wrighting that article ... I guess I'm actualy asking both ... Do you see the table better now ? ... And do you play better now ? I see the table better now on both defense and offense I never forgot what I was taught... When I was younger I was kind of a hot dog ...Shooting quick and fast like a machine gun trying to look cool as heck as I beat my opponents now I'm older and take my time look over the table and think more about what I'm doing

... But I think I was a better shot maker back then ... so I have purchased a table and that will soon change also I will have more time to practice ... Seeing as before i just relied on pool for a living after I got out of the Navy and never had a real job till I was 26 just something to tide me over . Now I have to work I'm older more mature so it is impossible to spend all that time in a bar or pool hall. So my remedy is putting a table in my house and playing outside of the house as much as possible at least 2 or 3 nights a week. And hanging out in the pool hall on weekends through the day where I am headed now ...
 
Last edited:
Well, I'm only 39 so I can't say there is a 40+ year lab experiment going on with my game but here goes...

After taking about 9 years away from the game I returned to the game seriously about 3 years ago.

Here is what I noticed:

I **play** better now than I ever have. I'm smarter, I play better patterns, and I see the table better.

I would say I am a better player now than I have ever been.

HOWEVER...

I miss more now then I ever used to when I was 23 and sometimes I play too tentative and wind up costing myself in competition.

In summary - - -

I wish I knew then what I know now, but I wish I shot now like I shot then...
 
Poolplaya9 said:
Your title and your post ask different questions. The title asked if you played better when you were young or old. In the post it sounds like all you really want to know is did you see the shots better when you were young or old, not how you actually played. Which were you looking for, or both?
Click to expand...

I used to think I was a great pool player at my neighborhood tavern, until I met the players from the local neighborhood pool room.

It was at that time that I came to realize the more I know about pool, the more I realized how much I really don't know.

I was getting by just fine using my low english, navigating my way around the field of green on a 7-footer.

When I began to shoot on a regulation size table, it seemed like I had to learn the game all over again. Then there was left and right, high and low, inside/outside low, inside/outside high englishes.

Bus Driver Ronnie, a local pool phenom, showed me how to bank a ball one rail, a bank shot that is a little off kilter, using low inside english and the right speed in tandem. The bank shot looked impossible, but if you use that inside low english and hit it hard, that sucker slams into the side pocket like it had eyes.

I did used to shoot better when I was younger, but it was only because the majority of people I was shooting against were ball bangers. When I began to play in the leagues is when I stepped up my game. I eventually became a 6 out of 7 on the Busch league back in the day. Man, I sure did have more fun with pool then than I do now.

I might just have to check out my local BCA League and join, so that I can have fun with pool again. The way Mark Griffin is stepping up to the plate to support American pros, the BCA League is definitely the one for me! :)

JAM
 
McKinneyMiner said:
I wish I knew then what I know now, but I wish I shot now like I shot then...
Click to expand...
That sums up my game also. I'm an older player with less stamina than I used to have and a few aches and pains. I've got the best equipment to play with i've ever owned and I recently learned an aiming system (in the last couple of years) that changed my game and gave me more confidence than i've ever had. If i'd just known that aiming system when I was younger I don't know how good I could have become. When I was younger I played most of my shots by feel and I didn't do too bad, but I couldn't get over the hump to move up a level in my play. Ever since I learned how to aim medium hard and hard cut shots my game has picked up quite a bit over where I was, but now my back isn't strong enough for me to play long sets.

James
 
Great post. That is so cool that you are teaching your son to play. I have a lot of father and sons come to the poolroom together. I think it is a great way to bond.
Jam you are so right about the bar player vrs. the poolroom player. I used to meet players who look like God on the pool table at their little bar. But, when they finally made their way to the poolroom they were just guppies. There is such a difference between the two types of players and so much knowedge to be gained in the poolroom.
As for do I shoot better, I think I do after 30 years, like McKinny I am more tenative but, I know so much more. When I was young I was fearless and had more confidence not to mention good eyes-but, I'm a whole lot smarter now!
 
  • Like
Reactions: JAM
Today, I blew The Horn Twice And Gave Them 'The Finger'

"Do you play better now or when you were younger?"


I played better when I was younger.
Now, I just drive by the poolroom and blow the horn.

Doug
( on a good day, I blow it twice ) :)
 
Younger for me was ages 8 to about 22, I played OK back then because I had a snooker table in the house. Didn't play very many games again until I was 45, now I'm 48. The past 3 years I play once or twice a week and I am so much smarter than the younger me it is mind boggling. So the answer is, I am a much better player at 48 than I was in my younger days. The eyes aren't as good but the thinking and focus is much more consistent. The stroke hasn't changed much between the young and old me, just the mind.
 
Better when younger when I played with a bar stick....didn't usually miss an open shot. Now I'm more concerned about the frickin pool stick I'm using than making the shot. Old age and eye sight didn't help either.

jED
 
When I was younger my eyes were better.... I could make shots I cant make today.... but today I am smarter and that more than makes up for the loss of some shots. My game today could give the younger me the 7.

-Back2good1
 
McKinneyMiner said:
Well, I'm only 39 so I can't say there is a 40+ year lab experiment going on with my game but here goes...

After taking about 9 years away from the game I returned to the game seriously about 3 years ago.

Here is what I noticed:

I **play** better now than I ever have. I'm smarter, I play better patterns, and I see the table better.

I would say I am a better player now than I have ever been.

HOWEVER...

I miss more now then I ever used to when I was 23 and sometimes I play too tentative and wind up costing myself in competition.

In summary - - -

I wish I knew then what I know now, but I wish I shot now like I shot then...
Click to expand...
What he said..........
 
The King said:
Maybe my situation is unique?...
Click to expand...

Like you, we put away the games to raise the kids. Fifteen years later, we visited a pool hall owned by a friend and one of our boys found out we played, so he came to play. He thought he was real good. Never could be his mom! He'd make a lousy shot and miss a very easy one. I'd tell him it was just a mom thing. He learned how to make a side pocket shot from us. Next thing we knew, he was in Minnesota, playing the big tournament with a junior team. It was his last year as a junior player. Wish we'd realized kids were playing pool before. We'd have been taking the kids to the pool hall, long before they grew up.

Our game changed, too. When we were young, we could make those shots so well! Never missed a good angle. Now, we see the table differently. You get older and you get strategy. Strategy is not only more fun, but it's easier than being such a great shot, nowadays!

I have a bad wrist injury that prevents my game from being reliable, anymore. When I can play, though... I can really play. I'm glad the pool halls aren't all smoke and alcohol, anymore. I hope they keep up the family thing.
 
"Do you play better now or when you were younger?"
Click to expand...

When I was younger.......before I met any of my current pool friends I was an under the radar world beater. Now I can just play a little:D
 
I'm sort of a composite of several posters. Like JAM I always felt I was better than I was only because as I got better I tended to match up with better players and then lost when before I had been winning.

I also had LONG gaps in playing competitively...and sometimes playing at all.

When I turned 55, I decided I was going to make a major effort to see just how good I could become. That led to a serious investment in time and money including taking lessons from and playing thousands of racks with several world champion players and instructors.

Now, at 63, I play WAY better than ever.

I still don't have the time or the willingness to play in tournaments where smoking is allowed. I have had to forfeit twice in the semi-final rounds due to severe headaches and dizziness due to a fog of smoke.

At home I can play at near-shortstop speed...not so much at the occasional tournaments or money matches I get into where I seem to dog it enough to slow down to strong B speed.

I am in excellent health and have always been pretty athletic and I honestly don't feel the age YET. So, I think I have another 2 years to "peak out" due to a deterioration in vision and motor skills.

Regards,
Jim
 
Agreed...

I agree with Jam there is a world of difference between bar room play and the pool hall... Not only are the tables tougher but the players that hang out in a pool hall are much tougher also. I know several of the guys that hang out the pool hall also go into the bars to play at night. But here you never see some of our best shooters that play here in the pool hall in the bars at night... If you want to play them you need to go to the pool hall or you will never know they exsist.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top