First Tour

railfirst

railfirst

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
July 19th and hopefully 20th I am playing in my first tour event, I have played in several smaller tournaments doing ok. I'm figuring I might win a round or two at this tournament and am wondering if there is anything specific you guys would recommend I practice in the next two weeks.
The event if 8-ball. The only way to get better is to play against tougher competition and league just isn't enough to push me anymore.

Thanks,
Ben
 
Who is sponsering the tour? Do you have the contact info? And do you know Gary Waters?
 
Where in Mass are you? We have a great weekly tournament at Country Club Billiards in Chelmsford every Thurs. Night. Lots of good players to practice with. I for one am always looking for new people to play as I think that is the best practice. When you now how someone plays sometimes you don't give it all. PM me if you are interested and I'll give you my number.


Good Luck with your tournament
Jason
 
I would make sure you can runout when you should (ball in hand, open shot type of siturations) and can beat players that can do the same. Usually when one goes from a group where 3-4-5 inning games are common, it's a stunner when you play against someone that can break and run out on you. All of a sudden you go from being top player to a 2-and-out. If the tournament is soon, practicing a specific shot may be useless, maybe try to play the Ghost as practice? That would give you a good idea of how you would fare agains a run-out player. Country Club is a bit of a hike from Western MA, it's an hour or more for me from Worcester. There is a new Boston Billiards in Western MA, I am thinking that's where you play? I was there a few times when working in the area, not bad tables (although pockets are typical GCIII types that make you think you can make shots when you are actually hitting into the rail and it slops in).
 
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Thanks for the advice guys, Chemlsford is just about as far away as any of the rooms they play at on the ECPT. Boston Billiards in West Springfield can suck a fat one. They don't let me in even when im with my dad or someone older because i am not 21. I play mostly out of Snookers in Springfield or Pool Table Magic in Windsor Locks, CT. But i am always open to meeting an AZer somewhere sometime.

Ben
 
railfirst said:
Thanks for the advice guys, Chemlsford is just about as far away as any of the rooms they play at on the ECPT. Boston Billiards in West Springfield can suck a fat one. They don't let me in even when im with my dad or someone older because i am not 21. I play mostly out of Snookers in Springfield or Pool Table Magic in Windsor Locks, CT. But i am always open to meeting an AZer somewhere sometime.

Ben
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Hey Ben, two things, first off what kind of equiptment are you used to playing on? Playing on a similar table may help you prepare. Other than that with two weeks to go just stay confident and try to have fun. They have a bunch of GC3's at this tourny and last I was there they were in decent shape. The other thing is that this place is considered a private club. The first thin they do is card you when you walk in the door. You should call them am make shure you are going to get in without a problem. Good luck....
 
SoundWaves said:
Hey Ben, two things, first off what kind of equiptment are you used to playing on? Playing on a similar table may help you prepare. Other than that with two weeks to go just stay confident and try to have fun. They have a bunch of GC3's at this tourny and last I was there they were in decent shape. The other thing is that this place is considered a private club. The first thin they do is card you when you walk in the door. You should call them am make shure you are going to get in without a problem. Good luck....
Click to expand...
I play on some nice equipment, a kasson table with nice tight pockets and simonis 860 tournament blue cloth.

Thanks for the replies guys.

Ben
 
railfirst said:
July 19th and hopefully 20th I am playing in my first tour event, I have played in several smaller tournaments doing ok. I'm figuring I might win a round or two at this tournament and am wondering if there is anything specific you guys would recommend I practice in the next two weeks.
The event if 8-ball. The only way to get better is to play against tougher competition and league just isn't enough to push me anymore.

Thanks,
Ben
Click to expand...
3 pieces of advice I always give out to my students:

1) Never practice while you play
---[don't experiment, don't shoot shots that you don't know, don't try something for the first time]
2) Play smarter, not harder
---[don't shoot low percentage shots, don't shoot fliers - play safety instead, don't get mentally lazy]
3) Remember to forget
---[don't get upset because of mistakes, everyone misses shots - you have to move on]

And for tournament play:
-You win tournaments by grinding matches out with your B game, not by running over people with your A game.
- You will lose more games missing easy shots than you will win by making hero shots
- Eat, stay hydrated, relax when you're not playing.

-td
 
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