how do we relax muscles?

Jimbojim

Jimbojim

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi, yesterday at 8pm was the weekly 9-ball tournament at the local poolhall and and I showed up at 3pm to practice a bit and talk with friends. I practiced by myself some q skill challenge and practice drills to get confident with certain shots I had trouble with, everything went well and I played until 5pm. At 5h30 a friend shows up and we play for an hour, at 6h30 I played with an unknown guy for fun while waiting for the tournament to start. At 8 we start the tournament (some practice before with tournament players) and it goes on until 11pm...I won the tournament and then at 11, I play with a AA player until 2am.


My left shoulder was sore and hurt last night and I couldn't shoot my top game anymore. I'm pretty sure that is because I spent like 11 hours at the pool hall playing almost non stop (only took a break to eat). Can someone suggest me GOOD massages prior to playing to get my shoulders loose and warmed up. That way it won't get sore when the season starts when I play from like noon to 10pm.
 
Warm up

It will help if you do some exercises before you go to the pool room. Work on loosening your shoulders and lower back especially. Do some stretching and rotate your arms 360 degrees to loosen your shoulder muscles. If you muscles are warmed up and lose they won't get sore as easily after you finish a long pool session.
 
SCCues said:
It will help if you do some exercises before you go to the pool room. Work on loosening your shoulders and lower back especially. Do some stretching and rotate your arms 360 degrees to loosen your shoulder muscles. If you muscles are warmed up and lose they won't get sore as easily after you finish a long pool session.
Click to expand...

Good advice. Also stretch during your pool shooting sessions when your between games or you find there is enough time to do so. In other sports players find stretching before and after the event keeps the muscles in their proper condition. But they are not playing their events quite as long as you are.

I have a problem with my neck (after a car accident in 1990) and it always will start stiffening up and eventually become painful. It's like second nature to me now to stretch it out when the chance arrives.
 
Jimbojim said:
Hi, yesterday at 8pm was the weekly 9-ball tournament at the local poolhall and and I showed up at 3pm to practice a bit and talk with friends. I practiced by myself some q skill challenge and practice drills to get confident with certain shots I had trouble with, everything went well and I played until 5pm. At 5h30 a friend shows up and we play for an hour, at 6h30 I played with an unknown guy for fun while waiting for the tournament to start. At 8 we start the tournament (some practice before with tournament players) and it goes on until 11pm...I won the tournament and then at 11, I play with a AA player until 2am.


My left shoulder was sore and hurt last night and I couldn't shoot my top game anymore. I'm pretty sure that is because I spent like 11 hours at the pool hall playing almost non stop (only took a break to eat). Can someone suggest me GOOD massages prior to playing to get my shoulders loose and warmed up. That way it won't get sore when the season starts when I play from like noon to 10pm.
Click to expand...

In my experience, which is considerable, the shoulder muscles and the shoulder itself will only hurt and feel sore when it is partially dislocated or partially separated or something else is totally out of line causing the tendons to pull it tight in the wrong way. Playing for hours can pull a lot of other things out of line while your shoulder is kept loose. Later it tightens up with everything else out of line, leaving no slack in the tendons. Once everything else is lined up right the shoulder should work fine and pain free again, instantly, if not sooner.

According to my reading the shoulder is designed for long distance running and the shoulder bone and ligament connections are extremely weak. Only by working together are the bones, ligaments tendons and muscles able to hold the shoulder together at all.

I am trying to learn a weightlifting routine to offset playing, such as Fatboy was talking about. I'm no expert on that however. But I highly recommend back exercises, stretching legs and back and neck, and Tai Chi warmup exercises.

unknownpro
 
People don't seem to realize playing pool is strenuous exercise on the upper body and for you to be playing for eleven hours with only a dinner break is not enough. I take 5-10 minute breaks every hour or so to give my body a stretch and very importantly my eyes a break. Too much playing without breaks puts too much strain and I will fatigue a lot quicker without doing so. I'm not completely out of shape and I am only 29 but age doesnt really fit into the equation. The long and short of it is find out what works for you and regulate. Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
master of time

a9ballbr8k said:
[...] I take 5-10 hour breaks every hour or so to give my body a stretch and very importantly my eyes a break. [...]
Click to expand...

Wow, a 5-10 hour break every hour? You the master of time!

I know, you meant a 5-10 minute break, but I thought it was funny...
 
whitey2 said:
Wow, a 5-10 hour break every hour? You the master of time!

I know, you meant a 5-10 minute break, but I thought it was funny...
Click to expand...

ROFLMAO. Good catch....edited to read correctly. Thanks!
 
go to the gym, and get in shape, pool should never leave you sorethe next day, i'm in terrible shape because ofan on going back problem, i played 5 hours and was fine the next day, i know it isnt 11 hours but my point is that if your sore from pool you need to get in shape, cause pool isnt physially demanding-i thought it was until i started bodybuilding and shooting roids.
 
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