Gotta love the poor sportsmanship in pool sometimes

I found out long ago that there are two kinds of billiard players: those who play to win, and those who play for the joy of playing well.

The former tend to become bitter and turn nasty as soon as they loose one game or two. Those are the ones that go tell their friends how lucky you were, or how unlucky they were, during the match.

The latter tend to become annoyed *at themselves* when they miss shots. They are the ones who'll tell you how sloppily they played, or if you tell them that it happens, answer that no, it was entirely their fault.

I tend to use the former's quick temper and nasty personalities against them: I slow down my game, concentrate on all my shots from the get go, play safeties, act like all balls were really easy, and quip lightly in between games, as if the match was a walk in the park. It really gets them excited, which in turn makes it even easier to win. Often enough, when the match draws to a close and there's one or two games left, they'll unscrew their cues angrily and forfeit, which means less work for me to win.

As for the latter, I feel sorry for them (I'm one of them), especially when they really do have bad luck. But if I have a match to win, I'll try to say things like "really, bad luck man..." or "sorry I counted a point at that moment, I was so sure it would go in!" in between matches, to increase their sense of despair and prevent them from getting ahold of themselves and start playing well again. That type of player rarely forfeits though, and usually endures the self-inflicted mental torture to the very end.


Based on the way you change your game to get under a players skin to gain advantage, I dont think you are one of the ones that plays for the enjoyment of playing well. But thats just my translation of your post :wink:

Woody
 
if u re not able to loose- you ll never really learn to win!
I always recommend/teach guys if they start to play tournaments or even in league. If you re sitting: Try to enjoy what your opponent does!! No matter just enjoying his good pool, or just watchin his mistakes- YOU always learn. Thats all!

lg
Ingo
Buddy, you hit this one on the money. Too bad most people can't do that.
 
I am of the belief that you owe nothing to your opponent after a game is over other than a handshake or some form of congratulations. After that, I have no problem if they or I am pissed. I play to win, no other reason to spend time trying to be the best if anything less is acceptable.
 
Based on the way you change your game to get under a players skin to gain advantage, I dont think you are one of the ones that plays for the enjoyment of playing well. But thats just my translation of your post :wink:

What I meant was I don't care about losing or winning (at least during the match), but I do care about making correctly executed shots. This said, that doesn't mean I don't care about my performances in the league.

When I play against someone who is under or on par with me, or if I play for fun, I don't do anything to encourage or discourage my opponent. However, if my opponent is tougher than I am, I need an edge to win. I find the edge in playing with my opponent's psyche. The mental part of the game is important, if they can't control themselves at the table and I can, I reckon I can play better than them in that respect, and so I have no shame in exploiting that aspect of the game when I need it.
 
What I meant was I don't care about losing or winning (at least during the match), but I do care about making correctly executed shots. This said, that doesn't mean I don't care about my performances in the league.

When I play against someone who is under or on par with me, or if I play for fun, I don't do anything to encourage or discourage my opponent. However, if my opponent is tougher than I am, I need an edge to win. I find the edge in playing with my opponent's psyche. The mental part of the game is important, if they can't control themselves at the table and I can, I reckon I can play better than them in that respect, and so I have no shame in exploiting that aspect of the game when I need it.
I don't agree with you. If your opponent is better than you, then you should try to
play harder. The mental part of this game is NOT trying to get to your opponents
head in order to win.
 
Thanks, Smoooothstroke... I was very satisified with the way I had played, considering that this entire session I had been playing really lousy, only achieving a 30% win ratio in my matches.

Poolmaster, you bring up an interesting point. While I feel it's a no-no to shark or say anything to the opponent to offset him (example: "It's like a nightmare, isn't it? It just keeps getting worse and worse" when opponent misses a couple of shots), what about riding the 9 in a legitimate way? That is, no slop but executed via deliberate caroms or combos?

Keeping the pressure on the opponent by having him rack all of the time, in between riding the 9 and running out the table? Some people in that constant position of being a rack boy could lose a bit of morale during the match. Do you think that's acceptable or do you consider that as getting into the opponent's head?

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, just wondering what you think.

The above scenario is in context with APA 9 Ball, where points of each ball matter more than actually sinking the 9, not regular 9 ball.
 
There is no need to *love* your opponent-in any case of loosing or winning against him. But one thing is important imo- and has nothin to do with our common hobby-
and this is to have RESPECT!
Nothin else and nothin more.
 
My whole life I've always thought that if you are a good loser thats all you are ever going to be. Second place is the "first" loser. Love me or hate me.
 
Back
Top