Do you still love pool?

bigshooter

bigshooter

<--vs Chuck Norris on TAR
Silver Member
I grew up with a pool table in the house, when I was around 14 a very strong player took me under his wing and mentored me, I was in love with the game, I watched every match I could, went to every tournament, subscribed to every magazine, read every book, watched every video tape, took every lesson, if it had anything to do with pool I studied it.

I practiced and played day and night for years until I got very good at the game, I cashed in most tournaments I traveled to in my late teens into my late 20's but after a period of time I found myself playing pool just because I was good at it not because I really loved the game anymore so I laid off for a few years then started playing again.

Has anyone else ever lost their love for pool?
 
No I still love the game. There are times when I hate playing but i figure thats just part of it. I can actually feel myself getting better and the results are showing. It keeps me practicing, and motivated.
 
My very first game was with my dad at a pizza place that had a few tables. I was 7 years old and he talked to the owner and got me one of those old wire milk crates to stand on so I could reach the table good. Im 36 years old now and still feel the same joy as I did when I was 7.

There has been a few periods where I would not play for a few years ( work, etc) but the love for pool has never left me.
 
Pool locations, no problem-free flights anywhere for me

Delta and NWA merger will allow my Pool travels to go world wide on a more steady basis. I will be able to fly to watch the mosconi cups in Europe,East coast, West coast, phillippines to if I wish.Fly to the open every yr. But cuemaker travels are the most fun. Seeing the shops,cues,and the people from locations. I can get some to some far away places,and bring home woods,from Australia, Africa,Hawaii.to name a few. I have met some great players and have many great memories- met willie in the 70's, mizerak,Varner, strickland,Pucket, Dallas West, Jimmy Rempe, Jimmy reid, Keith Mccready, Munson,Eddy Taylor, Johnny Archer, mark Tad,Buddy Hall,the whole phillipino group- played in the banks at the derby, another great time looking at and buying cues,tips ,ferrules etc. I definely see better today than yesterday- new contact pre. thanks for any and all comments. mark
 
I've been playing for almost 25 years and I must say for a little while it felt more like going to work then something I enjoyed so I stopped playing for a couple years and started playing golf. This game though..when it's in your blood it's in your blood. The tables always call me back and now I'm back playing every day and loving it.
 
yeah i can dig it....

bigshooter said:
I grew up with a pool table in the house, when I was around 14 a very strong player took me under his wing and mentored me, I was in love with the game, I watched every match I could, went to every tournament, subscribed to every magazine, read every book, watched every video tape, took every lesson, if it had anything to do with pool I studied it.

I practiced and played day and night for years until I got very good at the game, I cashed in most tournaments I traveled to in my late teens into my late 20's but after a period of time I found myself playing pool just because I was good at it not because I really loved the game anymore so I laid off for a few years then started playing again.

Has anyone else ever lost their love for pool?
Click to expand...

bigshooter,

the thing about it is, you still keep coming back.

its weird for me. i pick it up...

i put it down...

but i am always wanting to play.

-T
 
Yes, I can relate.

I stopped playing pool almost entirely for 4 years. I was at the top of the key in trick shot competitions. I had a full sponsor, not some bs sponsor that just gives you a shaft either...I had a sponsor that paid for everything...I didn't even have to buy my bad habits...

I had had enough pool, and I just stopped playing. I could not even look at pool without getting mad, and I could not figure out why...I now know why...

I could not find any motivation to play, and I thought I was finished forever. This lasted well over two years, I very rarely played at all. Hated the thought of pool. That was my most recent fight with the game...



Before that years earlier I hated pool with the passion, and my good friend Harry Sims fixed me that time...this is what introduced me to tricks. The game itself had started to grow old...He really helped me find my passion for the game again...Thanks Harry!

This game is a life long passion, and you can never really quit until the day you die. Maybe you just take a break here and there. My average now is one hour a month, and I promise you that is because of where I live. Not cause I don't want to play. I want to play so much I spend hours a day on here day dreaming of playing. Then if I am not on here I watch video's about pool...I never did any of this before I would just go play.lol where I live in NC there is no pool halls any where close.

So in short to answer your question...Yes, I still love pool!!!!!! It's part of my family, sometimes I am mad at it, but I will forgive it if it forgives me.
 
> Damn right I do....I'm just not as involved as I'd like to be,based on the fact that where I live is the most primitive area in America,or at least close,to be a pool player.

There are precisely 2 players in NW Tennessee that I could bang heads with skill-wise on anything resembling a regular basis,and even then we have to drive an hour or so to get in the box. I'm close friends with one of them,so not much gambling there. The other,Charlie from an above post,is about an hour away. He'll gamble,but I can't afford to make a game with him that would help both of us in terms of combat and expenses. Stepping out of this area a little would net tough action,but i don't have the 1000 to go get it.

We'd have to play at Charlie's place,since he has the closest 9 footer. Other than that,or if I wanted to go play on a Diamond,it's a 2 hour drive.

No one around here cares about pool other than my boys,which is why there are so few players,and such bad equipment.

I'd still play 8 hours a day if I could. It hasn't been that long since I watched the whole COM match in it's entirety either. Tommy D.
 
Pool will always be back in your life. Once you got hooked, you can stop but you can't quit.:smile:
 
I have a love/hate relationship with pool. Right now, I love to hate it. The thing about pool, it is in your veins, whether you like it or not, you will be back.
 
I wonder if you are playing mostly 9 ball? If so, I can fully understand how you feel. It's such a finite empty game compared to others like 1pkt or 14.1

If that happens to be the case, try some 14.1, it's very challenging.
 
I get discouraged because there is so little time to play and because, outside of practicing a little here at home I don't play. I just don't take the time to go to the ph and actually play pool with other people.

It's too easy to just stay here and practice so I just don't get out.

My recent lessons with Little Joe lately have really re-inspired to bear down and practice in a more regimented fashion. He's so full of passion, energy and love for the game, as well as a love for people and a love for teaching the game, that after being around him I always feel re-energized and feel a resurgance of the drive to improve.

If you live anywhere close to Little Joe Villalpando and want to have your love for pool re-energized you owe it to yourself to take a lesson from Joe. I honestly believe he knows most everything there is to know about the game. He has spent years developing precise methods of teaching the precise movements needed to play at high levels of expertise. If the student will open their mind and be willing to put in some hours of work Joe's methods of teaching the game will enable them to move into the upper echelons of pool playing.

I know I sound like a shill for Joe but he really is inspiring and his energy comes bursting forth when he gets a chance to teach what he knows.

Call him for lessons and/or get his DVD's. Your love/passion for the game will be all-encompassing. :thumbup:
 
I think a lot of us played pool for the first time with our Dads, and that brings back fond memories of him and those carefree days of youth for most. I fell in love with pool the first time my Dad let me hit some balls at the firehouse. It has been a 60 year love affair with pool. For the five years I couldn't play for health reasons I became really bitter with life in general. I've been playing again less that a year now and it has changed me for the better. I also contribute pool to helping get a lot of my health back. Johnnyt
 
I first picked up a cue when I was 4 and won my summer school's mini-tournament. I had seen it played before once or twice, but that was the first time I had ever played, and I did well all things considered.

The only times I have NOT played since then are when I didn't have access to a table. That was between 4 and 14, 15 and 18, and 19 and 20. So really I only played for a total of two years before I started dedicating myself to improving my game. It's been almost 5 years since I really got into it, and I have never stopped since.

I will never stop playing pool. I'm going to leave my table to my son when I die, but I'm going to be buried with my cues because they won't be able to pry them from my cold, dead hands.
 
I haven't stopped playing at least semi-regularly since I started 12 years ago. Maybe 2 weeks went by during the honeymoon where I didn't hit a ball :)

But, I do worry the flames have died down a little. I used to love it enough to just show up 3, 4, 6 days a week and if nobody was there to play, I'd rent a table and practice alone. Now I can't bring myself to do that, I need someone to shoot with. And it's more like 1-2 days a week.

But I have never been angry at pool or quit it for a while. And I've always felt glad I'm someone who can enjoy the game for what it is and doesn't waste even a second worrying about whether my playing session is gonna be profitable.
 
I've been around the game for forty-six years. I quit twice for five years. The first time, I couldn't find a game, in my neck of the woods, so I played three-cushion billiards, for five years. The second time I quit, I did it to spend more time with my two sons during their formative years.

At fifty-nine years old I still look forward to playing as much as I can. How many games can a person, my age, still compete with people much younger than myself.

The game still excites me. I love playing and I hope I always will.

_____________________________________

http://tommcgonaglerightoncue.com
 
bigshooter said:
Has anyone else ever lost their love for pool?
Click to expand...

I have. I mean, I still love pool, but I've stopped loving the game like I used to for a few years. I don't crave going to the table to knock some balls around. I don't search for pool on TV. I dread going to league night. Sometimes, you just get burned out.

Fred
 
In the past few months, I feel like I have been cheating on pool. I seem to be focusing much more on 3 cushion billiards rather than 14.1 and one pocket.
 
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