How is it possible to be a 3, play for 10 years and still be a 3? I mean you can get better purely by accident even without trying through muscle memory and experience of making the shots. You need to be actively trying to make mistakes to stay the same level as a 3 unless you play only a few times a year during your match then never play pool again till the next match.
I have a 3 that will be a 3 for life also. Several contributing factors for this.
1. Any advice to help her improve is taken as critisism. So much so that her feelings are hurt.
2. Physical impairments . she has back and knee problems.
3. I sincerely think her eyesight is bad. Frustrating as heck to be sitting behind her and can tell that she is aiming wrong and will miss the shot.
4. Gets all bent out of shape if you call a time out on her....but is getting better at accepting them. Claims calling a time out disrupts her focus.
She routinely gets beat by 2 's and other 3 's in 9 ball by scores of 16-4 ....or worse. She is also locked in as a 3 by virtue of going to vegas as a 3.
So here is the story of how she was raised to a 3 in the first place. She used to be my girlfriend and when i qualified for regionals she wanted to go also and entered a board qualifier. Some how some way she made it to the finals and played a 5. This 5 upon hearing how bad she wanted to go to regionals dumped the match and she was raised to a 3 the next week.
She does have her moments though. She has done something i never have. Had a 9 ball break and run on a 9 foot table no less.
After we broke up she quit pool for a couple years and wanted to get back playing. So after trying to get on several teams she asked me if she could join mine and i said yes.
Like i said ...she frustrates the heck out of me sometimes with how bad she plays but she is always there and willingly helps keep score all night if need be.
I also have an old man who was recently raised to a 4 after 10 years of being a 3. He is a very weak 4. Got beat 18 - 2 by a 5 last week...sigh.
He does however gladly accept help. I noticed one night that he never attempts to shot a ball in a side pocket and when a side pocket shot came up i called a time out. I asked him why he was attempting to shoot the ball in the corner instead of the side which would leave him better position on his next ball.
He said he always misses shots in the side. I said you can make this one if you aim where i tell you and hit the cue ball where i tell you. So he shoots the shot and it falls. He jumps up and said ...i made it and was grinning ear to ear. His game picked up after that.
His grin made my day and yet its sad that no one ever took the time to help this old man who obviously loves the game.
Oh yea.....he is proud as a peacock he finally made it to a 4 after 10 years. This is his second session playing with me and hopefully i can make him a good 4.