Good strategy or poor sportsmanship?

[Big Perm]

I have been against the "slow play" tech. I find the best cure is to play a deep safety. Wait for ball in hand and play safe again. Wait for another ball in hand and play safe. Eventually they say something like this is BS, in which case I remind them that both slow play and continual safeties are both legal but neither are fun. Problem solved.

LOL, I like this....

 

[inside_english]

Thanks for all the feedback.

Good suggestions (except for the airplane move...

Luckily I only endure this on league night which starts at 7, hence the frustration. And some of you are right in that I should be able to handle this mentally given how long I have been playing...but I took it personally since he boasted to my teammates of his pathetic strategy and also because we do play on the weekends at times...and he is not that slow.

So I have choices, give it back to him or just steamroll him like the 7 I KNOW I am! Or I could choose to never play him again. I hate hustling, sharking etc. to begin with, so #$@! with a player to mess with their performance or abilities offends me (which is probably why I am not a serious gambler).

Anyway, thanks again.

 

[march11934]

I think you're onto something about your game that you can overcome and carry the knowledge there after. I had the same issue with slow players and had a friend to point it out for me.
Two things:
Teach your self how to play a slower speed first before going into a competition and trying it. Run some racks on your own with no pressure and start adopting some habits to slow yourself without losing your rythm. There is nothing like getting through a rack with confidence and focus. Paying little time to the shot and just moving through a rack can be a rush. But I bet your rythm is off because of him. You're probably doubling your speed to make up for how slow he is. I'm assuming this because I was there and have it beat for the most part. Practice playing slow and you will have it to fall back on when you need it. You might even find slowing down might avoid that occasional "I can't believe I missed that" shot.
Another thing. If your bent on beating this guy. Watch him play other people during the tournament. Don't stalk him. But if he's playing on a font table, hey, all the better. You might find a few weeknesses in his game that you missed when you were busy getting pissed.
And if all else fails, I like the airplane thing too!

 

[mdbarboxplayer]

You need to control your anger and emotions. If he plays slow so be it, but when he misses take your time and focus on the first shot. I used to find myself rushing when I played someone who was dreadfully slow and I would end up losing. I didn't lose because he was slow I lost because I failed to execute while I was at the table.

 

[TheBook]

I was watching Johnny Archer play in the early round of a tournament. I didn't see the beginning of the match so I don't know what was going on during it. Archer was on the hill and shooting at the 9 ball. It was a very easy shot. He laid his cue down and called time out. He left the table and came back 20 minutes latter and made the shot to win the match. I don't know if he did this as a pay back for something or if he was ticked that the player didn't concede.

 

[Spimp13]

I can absolutely relate to this. I am a locked APA 7 and see this happen all the time. It is very annoying and shows lack of class on his part when he intentially does it because he knows it bothers you but it is unfortunately part of the game. There is a set time limit on shots which is previously mentioned, but even then the match can drag. I kind of shoot fast myself so I know exactly what you mean when someone shoots slow, and not to really try to figure out how to run out but just to look cool or annoy you. I am not the captain of my team, but co-captain pretty much and preach taking the high road. He will get his. APA league is full of sandbagging, cheating, and things like this so it will never change, but still try to take the high road IMO no matter how hard it may be. Of course robbing him in a money game might also be fun lol ...Good luck!

 

[blueridge]

You opponent is not doing anything against the rules. He may be sharking you, but if you let it bother you that much he's just exploiting a weakness and is doing a smart thing. There's a simple way that you can counter this sharking move during league competition. When he's at the table, just sit in your chair, put your head on your hand, and close your eyes. Have one of your teammates tell you when it's your shot. Out of sight, out of mind. You'll reduce his move to nothing.

I play in an in-house APA 8-ball league every Monday night.
I am a 7.
I had to play a 5.

I play this guy on the weekends sometimes but have always thought he was slow.

Well, last night he was *very* slow, and I suspected he was doing it on purpose. I allowed it to aggravate me to the point of me losing the match. The fact that he cheered when he got a few lucky rolls did nothing for my mood.

Anyway, as I was leaving one of my teammates came to me and said she wasn't going to tell me anything (for fear of what I would say, I suppose) but he had been telling my teammates that he plays slow on purpose when he plays me because he knows it bothers me.

Well, that *really* ticked me off. I said nothing, just quietly went home with steam coming out of my ears. This means that when he would ask me to play on the weekends (which are supposed to be sociable), his intent then was also to aggravate me!

So, did he have a good winning strategy to beat me or was he displaying poor sportsmanship?

It's pretty clear where I stand. And no, I will NEVER play this guy again, unless we cross paths in a tournament.

Feedback always welcome (unless it's from oasisbilliards...LOL)