Have you ever considered to quit?

I quit and walked away in 1993 and never hit one single ball again until 1999.
Not one day went by that I didn't think about it. Not one single day.
i have never regained form and with 59 coming real soon, let's face it, it ain't happening. i came pretty close a couple of times with a couple of decent finishes in some tournaments, but just not quite.
The game overall has been good to me and taught me so much about life and about people. Some of the most interesting people I have known come from the game.
I have also learned more about excuses than I would have ever known. So don't quit,,,get to work.
Those who claim you maintain and improve with moderation are too lazy to ever be very good! Take a look around!
 
Never.
When they pry my pool cue out of my dead cold hands.
Even then it will temporary until I see whats happening on the other side.
 
Stones said:
Quiting pool is easy!

I've done it at least a 100 times!

Stones
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I hear ya Stones. I started out in the early 60's and played non stop for the next 15 years! After I sold my first room I took a two year hiatus from pool. Came back in '78 or '79 to play in one of Richie's big ones at the Tropicana Hotel. Since then I've probably quit a few dozen times for periods from weeks to months. I've made so many come backs that my head is spinning permanently! :grin:
 
From around the time I graduated from college until I moved to OH, so we'll say 1996, I quit until 2009. I literally, let my cue sit in the back of the closet.

I would think almost everyday, I should buy a table, I should go shoot pool today, but it never happened. I spent that time raising kids. It was time well spent.

Now, I am frantically trying to get my speed back. It is amazing how the mind and muscles can regain fairly quickly, but still, I was terrible when starting back at it.

I don't think I will take this kind of break again, even if I cannot put 100% into it.
 
Quitting

Well for what its worth here is my tale of giving up the game.

I played pretty much everyday from about age 17 to 23 I wasnt the stoutest player around but I could hold my own with the top young talent running around South East Texas and Houston in the late 80s but after a time i got kinda frustrated with the gambling and the road trips and the all the BS that goes along with that side of the game.

Pool had become work to me. I walked in a pool room looking for Action or to practice I had forgot the fun that drew to the game to begin with and because of it I hit a certain level and didnt get any better

So Life and an ex or two came along and i just faded away from the scene all together for long stretches at a time 3-4 years , then my addiction to the game would draw me back for a year or so and i was gone again

then in 2002 i bought a table , then next thing you know i was playing in a couple of weekly tournemants , work took me all the US and be damned if I was any city for more than a week I found myself in a Pool Room .

I had found the fun and the Passion again

Now at 41 I find myself learning more and playing better than I ever did My stroke may not be as smooth as it was , and I may have to pull out my glasses before i try that paper thin side pocket cut but I am a alot smarter player than i was 20 years ago.

Pool can be a heartless mistress , but if she wont ever abandon you , She dosent mind if you leave because eventually we all come back to her
 
Develope a zen like approach to perfecting your fundamentals. Don't be judgemental or hard on yourself on your journey. Watch, observe, and be willing to change. Find good instruction.

Lastly, it might help to broaden your variety of games. Play 14.1, one pocket, bank pool, etc...
 
BWColeman said:
Well for what its worth here is my tale of giving up the game.

I played pretty much everyday from about age 17 to 23 I wasnt the stoutest player around but I could hold my own with the top young talent running around South East Texas and Houston in the late 80s but after a time i got kinda frustrated with the gambling and the road trips and the all the BS that goes along with that side of the game.

Pool had become work to me. I walked in a pool room looking for Action or to practice I had forgot the fun that drew to the game to begin with and because of it I hit a certain level and didnt get any better

So Life and an ex or two came along and i just faded away from the scene all together for long stretches at a time 3-4 years , then my addiction to the game would draw me back for a year or so and i was gone again

then in 2002 i bought a table , then next thing you know i was playing in a couple of weekly tournemants , work took me all the US and be damned if I was any city for more than a week I found myself in a Pool Room .

I had found the fun and the Passion again

Now at 41 I find myself learning more and playing better than I ever did My stroke may not be as smooth as it was , and I may have to pull out my glasses before i try that paper thin side pocket cut but I am a alot smarter player than i was 20 years ago.

Pool can be a heartless mistress , but if she wont ever abandon you , She dosent mind if you leave because eventually we all come back to her
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Nice post Billy! :thumbup:
 
ok your posts are all very interesting, but i read that a lot of people quit the game for some resonable reason like family, work etc.
But i'm talking about quitting because you feel you don't have enough talent to be good or to reach a certain level of playing.
:D
 
Blue Hog ridr said:
Never.
When they pry my pool cue out of my dead cold hands.
Even then it will temporary until I see whats happening on the other side.
Click to expand...

You ain't gonna like what's on the other side . You'll have to play against Jesus , and he shoots like God himself . . .
 
I know how you feel.. i found my self for the first time this past year feeling of not improving, my game was getting worse rather then better.. I love the game and everything about it. But i seemed to get fusterated and was thinking about to much from ball to ball that it just wasn't fun at the moment. My mind was so lost at the table and my heart was to much in love for the game.. i took about a 3-4 week break maybe playing for a couple of games or two in between to keep my stroke. When i came back i spent about a day just getting back in to dead stroke zone. and i ran some of the best games of my life...
If you have a love for it. don't quit.. just take a breath, try some where new and different atomsphere .....
 
Fatboy said:
So I'm a lifer, there aint no getting away from pool, 100%. And I cant explaine why. Why did I love to watch the barbox when I was 5 years old and never touched a cue. I hate pool sometimes because i'm not the player I want to be, I wasnt born with any gift to play at the highest level. However I have hit shots good as any player in the world now and then and that feeling is amazing, I dont do it often but I am capable of hitting any shot at anytime good as anyone ever. I just have 100 bad shots between the good ones, where the champions make the great shots consistantly. But that one good shot feels so good-I'll fade the pain to get to the next great shot. Its in me and in me deep-I'll never quit. Its just not possible.
Click to expand...

:smile:I have to say this is one of the best describtions of the love of the game... thank you for the amazing words... hope you don't mind if i keep this written down for my life to come...
 
I consider quitting almost every day because I can't stand missing shots and I can't stand losing when I feel I should have played well enough to win.
 
I considered quiting pool too many times to count in the past... :D I sooooo much hate losing...about 5 years ago I wanted to quit for good but finally made a decision to try to find a way to improve my fundamentals instead of practicing the same things over and over again (and getting the same results over and over again..). Since then many people told me I was crazy to change my fundamentals as my game was pretty good by then but I wanted more and I never regret this decision of mine. I became one of the 3 best players in my country, made some triple digit runs in 14-1, made it into final 32 in 14-1 at european championships and have beaten Ralf Souquet in a thriller at the same EC in 9ball. So yeah, I wanted to quit pool in the past..not anymore! :wink:
P.s.: There are virtually no pool instructors in my country so I had to find all the info here on AZ and billiarddigest forums, also took some valuable advice from one filipino guy...you just have to keep searching for all info available and then decide what is good for you and what is crap... :grin:
P.p.s.: I practice 2-3 a day at most, dont have more time available + I consider myself the least talented pool player on the planet - so if I can do it anyone can!!!!!! :grin:
 
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