Getting Back That Old Magic...

P

poolplayer1988

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've been playing pool now off and on for over 15 years, starting when I was in my mid-teens. In my early twenties, I could run 4-5 racks of nine ball in a row on a pretty good day without missing. As the years have passed and I have taken time off from pool for various things and have a full-time job now, my game has declined. Now, on a good day I can run 2-3 racks without missing. My problem is; how to I get back to where I was before and beyond? I was learning and getting better at a breakneck pace in my heyday, and now it seems like I can't do crap, no matter how much I practice. I do drills, I watch tapes of the pros play, I've watched myself play, but I can't quite put my finger on what the problem is. Don't get me wrong, I'm still no slouch, since then I've added better defense to my game and better shot-making, but I can't seem to run the racks like I used to. I win by using more offense and defense now. Anybody got any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!!!

Doug Talbot
"the White Elephant"
 
Just guessing here...

Who were you playing when you were shooting so well? I know I do well when playing certain people and do bad when playing others. It has something to do with having fun or not.

Another guess... Has the equipment changed? Balls, table size, cloth, cue stick???? I know a guy who played with the same stick for many years, then got a new one and did quite bad with it.

Other than that, has the amount of time you can devote to practice changed? i.e. What things did you do before, and what has changed? Also is more stress a factor????
 
bill190 said:
Just guessing here...

Who were you playing when you were shooting so well? I know I do well when playing certain people and do bad when playing others. It has something to do with having fun or not.

Another guess... Has the equipment changed? Balls, table size, cloth, cue stick???? I know a guy who played with the same stick for many years, then got a new one and did quite bad with it.

Other than that, has the amount of time you can devote to practice changed? i.e. What things did you do before, and what has changed? Also is more stress a factor????
Click to expand...

Back when I was younger there were three or four pool rooms in my hometown, so there was no problem finding a game. I always tried to play people who were tougher than me so I could learn from them. And yes, playing the older, tougher guys was pretty fun. Now, there is only one pool room in this one-horse town, and it's only open from 5 or 6pm till about 2am, if it opens at all. If they don't open, then there is NO WHERE to go to practice or play. If someone moved into this town with a few dollars and a love for pool and opened another pool room, they could make a mint. The poolplayers are here, the pool rooms are not. Two of the pool rooms closed down because of the owners health problems, and one retired, so all we have is the one lame pool room. Tables haven't been recovered in years, holes and crap everywhere.

As far as equipment goes, I'd have to say it has changed some. I used to play on REALLY old Brunswick tables, real nice equipment, but OLD. Now, I play on Kim Steels, which is a decent table, but like I said earlier, haven't been recovered in years. I used to play with a very nice Meucci Original, which I loved, but now I play with an Auebach Custom Cue, so there's no problem on my end as far as equipment.

I can practice nowadays about 2, 3, sometimes 4 hours a day, a 4 to 5 days a week if I need to, and normally I do every chance I get. But the older guys who used to give me the tough competition are no longer around, and now I'm normally the toughest player in the room because the skill level isn't there like it used to be. I have no one to sponge any knowledge or skills from and ask questions about what I'm doing right or wrong, etc. And yes, since I'm working full-time and married now, I do have more stress than before, but it's not like it's overwhelming by no means.

Doug Talbot
"the White Elephant"
 
Get the Magic Back

Is there a certified instructor or trainer around your area? I had hit a wall in my game and thought I would iron it out with more practice. But bad practice is just that bad practice. I paid for a couple of lessons from a former world champ here and he improved my game almost over night just by working on a few things. Sometimes a different pair of eyes on your game is what it takes.
 
I have a similar problem of living in "a one horse town". I'm getting to where I can win most of the games playing the locals. I've tried losing on purpose so they will keep playing me, but this is not helping to improve my game any, except leaving them with straight in shots (position) so they can win. (Actually this is a good safety play - leave them with a straight in shot and they will miss it every time!)

I recently took time to travel to nearby (and not so nearby) big cities and check out all the tournaments. The publications which list the tournaments are sometimes outdated, so it took a lot of asking about tournaments, showing up and finding out there was no longer a tournament someplace, etc. But I finially found out where all the tournaments are.

I'm glad I did this. I found a couple of tournaments where if you miss one shot, you can count on losing the game. One tournament does not allow safety shots while at another, that is all they do. The players at the different tournaments vary from mostly beginner/intermediate to mostly class "A" sharks.

In my case, I can travel to these other cities ranging from 30 miles to 70 miles away and at least play a few games in the tournaments.

If it is a week night and I can't stay up too late, I go to the tournament and play a few games, then lose on purpose (if needed) so I can get home at a reasonable time. Then at least I've played a few games with the really good players. Usually it is all I can do to win just one game though. Needless to say, I have a lot of fun and playing these expert players has really helped my game.

I've just finished finding all the tournaments. In the future, I plan to only go to the tournaments with the best players and play little or none in my small town. (I recently bought a used pool table, so I can practice at home.)

I don't know if you can do this. Maybe once a week or once a month travel elsewhere?
 
Just last night...

I spoke to a friend of mine whom I consider the best player in my town. He suggests that I possibly may be playing too much pool and practicing too much. I agree, saying I'm going to take a few days off and see if that helps to clear my mind. Last night about 9:00pm I call up the PH just to see who's hanging around. There's a ring game going. That's me. I tell them I'll be there shortly. I go in and get in a 4 man ring game, and wonder of wonders, i played magnificently. I won the first dozen or so ganes easily. In that stretch, I ran several racks and even ran two in a row several times. Once, I almost ran three but ended up missing an easy shot. Lack of concentration after a few games is what I'm missing. I get down and just fire instinctively, but miss by a gnat's ass and the ball bobbles up in the pocket. Oh well, I'll take a break later. :)

Doug Talbot
"the White Elephant"

PS: Won a litle over a hundred in a 2-2 9 ball ring game in about 2 hours. :D
 
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