Ever stopped playing pool and then started back again?

Have i quite??? YES.... :)

I played way to much and got burned out. I played 5-6 nights a week.
Then when i was down to one night a week went through the big "D".
So it got shelved do to time and wanting a total change. I really getting ready to get back into it but now the problem is.. my skill no longer matches my ability so at times I get mad at myself.
Last friday I did really well with the old attitude of just enough to get he job done on stroke.. makes the game look boaring but at 46. just getting back into the game and I can still 7-8 balls straight (in 8 ball) im not doing to bad. I am going to work with 9 ball to work more with shape and leaves in the next week or so. I learned at a young age everygame has a reason.
I still cant see me doing the almost touching the cue to my chin thing though? It doesnt feel right to me.
 
Have you ever quit playing pool for an extended time and then started back again? If so...
- why did you stop?

I decided to change things up, and after the passing of my father I didn't really feel like playing.

- how long did you quit?

3 years, stopped in August 2009, and started up August 2012.

- what made you decide to start playing again?

Just wanted to change things up again.

- what makes it more enjoyable the second time around?

It isn't yet. But it will be at some point...

Pete
 
JMW said:
Have you ever quit playing pool for an extended time and then started back again? If so...
- why did you stop?
- how long did you quit?
- what made you decide to start playing again?
- what makes it more enjoyable the second time around?
Click to expand...

1. Stopped as I had my own business, and it required 7 x 24 x 365 of my time. I never could plan anything long term but work.:)

2. Quit 25 + YEARS.:wink:

3. Retirement gave me the opportunity to start playing again.:smile:

4. FREE time allows me to have fun, with no phone, beeper, or cell phone ruling my life 7 x 24 x 365.:cool:
 
Quitting and retirement

JMW said:
Have you ever quit playing pool for an extended time and then started back again? If so...
- why did you stop?
- how long did you quit?
- what made you decide to start playing again?
- what makes it more enjoyable the second time around?
Click to expand...

After one of my best seasons (1986-'87), I let down my team (defending VNEA champions) at the nationals, and quit completely for several years. I began again, when another team in another state asked me to play.

I quit playing several times in recent years, because there was no place to play other than smokey venues.

I've always returned to playing because I love the game. I must admit, I enjoyed playing more when I was in my physical prime (my fifties, a long time ago). I've done more teaching now than playing the past few years...
 
I quit playing to establish my career, buy a home, etc. I quickly found that staying out until all hours of the morning playing pool and having a 9-5 job didn't mesh. One of them had to go and I think I chose the right one.

I quit for roughly 15 years. About two years ago, a guy my wife works with was telling her they needed someone for their APA team. That was the beginning of the end; I caught the bug immediately. I was, however, frustrated as my level of play was not as strong as it once was. I was a 9+ back in the day in APA 9 ball and found myself a 6 when I came back.

I put my table up in the garage, had new Artemis rubber installed with subrail extensions and 4" pockets. After some lessons to get me back on the right path, I am happy to say my game has progressed nicely. I am am about where I once was and looking forward to taking my game to the next level.
 
JMW said:
Have you ever quit playing pool for an extended time and then started back again? If so...
- why did you stop?
- how long did you quit?
- what made you decide to start playing again?
- what makes it more enjoyable the second time around?
Click to expand...


I quit around 2000 because my cue got broken.

I did not start again till the end of last year.

I started again because I finally pulled the trigger and had a buddy of mine build me a cue.

Well I have been out of it for so long I am learning everything again so I am not sor sure it is more enjoyable this time. LoL Dave
 
Yes, I quit yesterday. I lost so bad playing One Pocket that I'm never playing again.

Until Friday afternoon. :)
 
At the age of 31, I quit playing in 1982. The excitement just didn't counterbalance the frustration of progress slowing as I learned more. Wanted to be a worldbeater and it wasn't coming fast enough.

Quit for 28 years.

in 2010, My nephew talked me into making a one day trip to Super Billiards Expo. This was enough to rekindle the interest.

Now at 61 I play about once a week. Playing pretty decent, but no longer having aspirations of worldbeater. Now I can appreciate how tough the game is and take pride in my level of play. As you go through your daily activities, ask yourself "How many of the people that I dealt with today can play this game as good as yourself?". No matter your level of play, take pride, you are probably better than most people.

One ironic note, had my Grandfather never owned a poolroom, I probably would never enjoyed this game. Thanks Pap.
 
JMW said:
Have you ever quit playing pool for an extended time and then started back again? If so...
- why did you stop?
- how long did you quit?
- what made you decide to start playing again?
- what makes it more enjoyable the second time around?
Click to expand...

I remember seeing the first pool table at the age of 7, at that time i was too young to play but i knew i was interested in it right away. it wasn't till i was in high school where i actually started playing pool and my god did i love it. i played for about 5-6 years and stopped suddenly without a reason.

i quit for about 1-2 years and one day me and my friends decided to visit the pool hall again. ( i do not own a pool table so the only time i played pool was at a pool hall which costed 10 bucks per hour)

And very recently we been occasionally going to the pool hall again we bumped into a friend who we haven't really seen for a while. He starts jokingly trash talking how he used to be the best at pool (High school days Everyone we knew played pool) and that is when things started to get interesting. We would argue which of us were better and one thing led to another we decided to get back in to pool. i, being the most enthutastic about this bought a brand new cue 2 days ago(still being shipped. its a lucasi hybrid lh-40) watch endless videos and just became a new member to azbilliards literally 6 minutes ago.

its more enjoyable the second time around because you still retain some of your skills. you don't lose everything you worked and practice for and plus there is just something about sinking those balls that are just that much more satisfying.

Last but not least i was a little afraid that azbilliards wasnt going to be active but it turns out it is! and im very grateful for that. i see a lot of knowledgable players on this site and very much grateful to learn a few tips and tricks from the pros. im very glad i found this site and happy ball sinking to all of you. :grin:
 
I quit September 11, 2001. I was in the poolroom all that day and decided I was wasting my life in a poolroom when thousands of "better" people than I had just died. I late registered for the school the next day to become a teacher so I could contribute to society and live a more productive life.

I didn't play again, minus a 6 week relapse of pool, until 2009 when I was teaching on a pretty isolated reservation on the prairie in Montana. The winter that year was so cold that I had to do something and that something was talking my way on to a team in the town's pool league.

I played pretty seasonally until last summer when I found myself back in Michigan with more time than money for a while so it seems natural to once again waste days sitting in the poolroom.

I like it better now because the only people left in the poolrooms around here are degenerates so I really feel at home. When I was younger I just didn't realize how nice it was to be part of a large group of people with no income, future, or rational goals.
 
Just started back after a 5 year layoff

I just started playing again after a 5 year layoff. I lived on an island in WA State with no good place to play so I sold my Coker on here and stopped other than a occasional bar game. I got a divorce, moved and decided to start playing again.

The thing that is hardest to get back is the feel for position play. I bought CJ's TOI video on PPV and the actual DVD. I really like it and look forward to getting my game back to a respectable level.
 
I quit for nearly 20 years.

Before I got married I lived in the pool halls. Every place in town knew me and I've seen my share of sun-rises with a cue stick in my hand. For many years it was my life.
But we all know that you can't live in a pool hall and have a wife or family life... so... I gave it up and played golf once a week instead.

I kept all of my cues and even got out 5 or 6 times a year for 3 or 4 hours at a time. It always depressed me when I saw how badly my game had fallen off over time, away from the tables. Just a rare masse (or something else) here and there to remind me of once upon a time.

Then about 4 years ago my health took a really bad turn (from severe emphysema) and I later had to quit working. I was going bat-sh*t crazy sitting around the house so I started going out once or twice a week with my old playing partner (from nearly 20 years earlier), who had also dropped off due to family life.
After several months we both started to see our games coming back to us once again... but I would often have respiratory attacks while shooting. My wife was understanding about what I was dealing with and gave me our den so that I could put in a 9' GC-IV.

I still go out once in awhile, but now that I'm back to playing every day... (even though I'm not quite as consistent as I once was), I find that I have added even more shots to my game and when I'm on... I'm as good as I ever was. There's (almost) nothing better than when you're seeing everything on the table... and being locked into each shot perfectly.
 
I quit in '95 and started back about 2 years ago. Both times it was the best decision I ever made.
 
Chacer said:
I remember seeing the first pool table at the age of 7, at that time i was too young to play but i knew i was interested in it right away. it wasn't till i was in high school where i actually started playing pool and my god did i love it. i played for about 5-6 years and stopped suddenly without a reason.

i quit for about 1-2 years and one day me and my friends decided to visit the pool hall again. ( i do not own a pool table so the only time i played pool was at a pool hall which costed 10 bucks per hour)

And very recently we been occasionally going to the pool hall again we bumped into a friend who we haven't really seen for a while. He starts jokingly trash talking how he used to be the best at pool (High school days Everyone we knew played pool) and that is when things started to get interesting. We would argue which of us were better and one thing led to another we decided to get back in to pool. i, being the most enthutastic about this bought a brand new cue 2 days ago(still being shipped. its a lucasi hybrid lh-40) watch endless videos and just became a new member to azbilliards literally 6 minutes ago.

its more enjoyable the second time around because you still retain some of your skills. you don't lose everything you worked and practice for and plus there is just something about sinking those balls that are just that much more satisfying.

Last but not least i was a little afraid that azbilliards wasnt going to be active but it turns out it is! and im very grateful for that. i see a lot of knowledgable players on this site and very much grateful to learn a few tips and tricks from the pros. im very glad i found this site and happy ball sinking to all of you. :grin:
Click to expand...

Good first post. Welcome to the forum!!!

Maniac
 
Stop/Start

1-Stopped at age 20 --Tom Cosmo my coach died.
(He was the guy racking and keeping score in the movie the Hustler)
2-35 years
3-My Daughter
4-that's the tough one to answer-- it was really amazing back in the 70s
In NYC great rooms, great players, all kinds of action.
Present day well, I have met some really nice people and enjoy my time at the table also I enjoy AZ. I am a little hard on myself and I realize I am not 20 but I would like my game to improve. I say I am about 35 to 40% of what my game was. So I keep practicing and hope to get to 50 to 65% that would be nice.
MCP
 
I had two major stoppages in play. The first was close to seven years. The second time was a little over five years.

The first time I stopped I was not by choice. I was playing really well and I found it harder and harder to find games. It was in the early seventies. Pool was at a major decline, in my area. I lived just outside of Boston.

A lot of players I grew up with had either started families or had gone to Vietnam and never returned to the pool rooms.

I started playing a lot of three cushion billiards. I was good at it but it just never gave me the same feeling of accomplishment, playing pool gave me.

In 1978, I went back to playing pool. I entered a nine-ball tournament and won one game out of fifteen.

I stayed and watched and I knew I could play as well as the top players there.

I won the third tournament I played in. It was a fluke.

I won my next tournament three years later. I went on to win many more.

When I was fifty years old I put my cue down for five years.

I was tired of the pool scene at that time. It wasn't fun for me anymore.

The clincher for me was a night in Woburn Mass.

I went out to play only because I needed to take my mind off things. My dad was on his death bed and I thought pool would be the answer. How wrong I was.

I started playing and I was missing a lot of shots but I was getting lucky with my leaves. My mind was everywhere. I kept hearing, in the back round, "That McGonagle, He's a lucky bastard. It was either hit someone over the head with my cue or walk out the door. I chose to walk. I stayed away for five years.

It worked out well. I spent more time with my children and my wife. Although, I did play a lot of golf.

I came back at fifty-five. I'm now almost sixty-three.

I have a BCA National title to my credit since then and I recently finished in the top twenty-four at Turning Stone.

I back to stay. I can't afford another long lay off.
 
I quit for 26 years due to bad eyesight. Back in those days they didn't have any good contacts and I just could not play with my coke bottle glasses where the cue balls looked half the size and were warped like eggs due to my astigmatism. I loved the game but was depressed about never getting to reach my full potential.

At the end of this sabbatical I moved on to an apartment in Germantown during a divorce. Then one day I wondered over to the Magic Cue. I thought it was amazing that EVERYONE had their own pool cue and case. It didn't take me long to figure out that these were the same ole fish to be had LOL. So I got some new fangled contacts and got back to enjoying life again.
 
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