An interesting thing happened to me on Saturday and i'd like to share it to see if anyone else has had a similar experience.
ok, setting the scene;
Handicap KO, rounds first to 7 then 9 in the final,
The top guy who has just turned pro is on a -2 start,
I'm off scratch,
English pool on 7ft tables.
So, my first round i draw a guy who I've never seen before but my mates all purse their lips and say "oooh that's a tough game, Stevie knows what he's doing". Oh great i think, £10 for a 1st round whooping. He is off -1 and i'm off scratch, first to 7.
The match starts, we lag and I win so i elect to break.......dry! He then dispatches all 7 and the black to win the first frame. Now we're tied at 0-0. At this point i'm looking over at some of the guys and their all giving that nod of approval gesture with the "i told you he was good" look in their eyes.
Then i thought back to a game i had a few weeks ago against a super tight player and decide to change my game and tie him up in knots. It works, I end up winning 7-1 and the bar props are all saying what a great scalp that was and I'm close to having my handicap moved to a -1. Needless to say, I'm over the moon at showing a bit more discipline for the game rather than just trying to clear the board every frame.
Ok so here I am, I've just beat a -1 well respected player 7-1 and my next opponent is another -1 (Tough field that day, a LOT of -1's). This guy is a machine and in about 20 minutes including getting a pint and setting up each frame he bashes me up 7-0
. He also went on to beat the top guy 7-6 then split the money with the other finalist as it was getting late.
I played the same way vs each guy but the second guy destroyed me because he had a much more aggressive yet controlled playing style. They both play off -1 but the second guy in many peoples opinions is way ahead.
The problem is, a handicap is only as good as a generalisation. Is there any system out there that takes a players style into account? I can confidently say i can beat the first guy on a regular basis but i'd be happy to take 2-3 frames vs the second guy.
Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this...
Exile
ok, setting the scene;
Handicap KO, rounds first to 7 then 9 in the final,
The top guy who has just turned pro is on a -2 start,
I'm off scratch,
English pool on 7ft tables.
So, my first round i draw a guy who I've never seen before but my mates all purse their lips and say "oooh that's a tough game, Stevie knows what he's doing". Oh great i think, £10 for a 1st round whooping. He is off -1 and i'm off scratch, first to 7.
The match starts, we lag and I win so i elect to break.......dry! He then dispatches all 7 and the black to win the first frame. Now we're tied at 0-0. At this point i'm looking over at some of the guys and their all giving that nod of approval gesture with the "i told you he was good" look in their eyes.
Then i thought back to a game i had a few weeks ago against a super tight player and decide to change my game and tie him up in knots. It works, I end up winning 7-1 and the bar props are all saying what a great scalp that was and I'm close to having my handicap moved to a -1. Needless to say, I'm over the moon at showing a bit more discipline for the game rather than just trying to clear the board every frame.
Ok so here I am, I've just beat a -1 well respected player 7-1 and my next opponent is another -1 (Tough field that day, a LOT of -1's). This guy is a machine and in about 20 minutes including getting a pint and setting up each frame he bashes me up 7-0
. He also went on to beat the top guy 7-6 then split the money with the other finalist as it was getting late.I played the same way vs each guy but the second guy destroyed me because he had a much more aggressive yet controlled playing style. They both play off -1 but the second guy in many peoples opinions is way ahead.
The problem is, a handicap is only as good as a generalisation. Is there any system out there that takes a players style into account? I can confidently say i can beat the first guy on a regular basis but i'd be happy to take 2-3 frames vs the second guy.
Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this...
Exile