How is your brain wired?

Gerry

Gerry

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
While practicing the other night I was trying different speeds of play while running balls at 14.1. I'm naturally a fast player, and get into stroke playing quickly, maybe Earls speed is perfect for me. When I slow down, I see more shots or positions, but it never feels natural. I want to play correctly, and not screw up runs playing too fast, but look at Lou Butera! or Mosconi, or Sigel they played fast right? I dunno, I think from learning a fast paced game like 9ball first, it's just how I am. What do you all think.

G.
 
if i play a little slower than i feel my game is definitely better. For some reason if i play at what i feel like is my normal pace....i end up rushing, which leads to me not staying down on my shot. Ill stand up in my stance just a few seconds longer than i normally would just to help me get past th urge to rush.
 
Gerry said:
While practicing the other night I was trying different speeds of play while running balls at 14.1. I'm naturally a fast player, and get into stroke playing quickly, maybe Earls speed is perfect for me. When I slow down, I see more shots or positions, but it never feels natural. I want to play correctly, and not screw up runs playing too fast, but look at Lou Butera! or Mosconi, or Sigel they played fast right? I dunno, I think from learning a fast paced game like 9ball first, it's just how I am. What do you all think.

G.
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It can be tricky. If you are gambling it doesn't matter that much. I play pretty fast, when I play 9-ball or straight pool, not free wheeling but I don't labor over shots long and if I make a mistake here and there I don't really care, I believe my over all game is better when I play at that pace. Like I said it doesn't matter when you are gambling you have no where to go and plenty of time to can make up for a mistake or two. Tournament play is different though, it's more sudden death and you may tend to change the way you play. You see it in players all the time even champions if you have seen them play both for money and in tournaments. The main thing is you don't want to be thinking about this too much and second guessing yourself when you play.
 
justharv said:
Hey Gerry,

Any pool halls in Ormond Beach, or only bars?
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Hi Harv, Yea, theres Browns billiards in the mall at the corner of LPGA and Nova....good DAYTIME practice room....gets busy at night.

Uncle Waldos in south Daytona on Nova....great place.....nice people.

The bowling alley on rt 1 in Ormond has tables, but I never played there.

Thats about all I can think of right now.....

G.
 
Thanks

I play league out of Brown's and have been to Waldo's a dozen or so times. Also go to Beachside,in the Shores,alot; just was'nt sure if there was anything on US 40.

Thanks
 
I've been the same type player, and love to run with It when I can, so understand your delima. I Have been working on slowing it down for years, The way I deal with it now when I'm in that state of mind to make good decisions is not much different then some pros, altough not quite at that level. When I'm in stroke, the best way for me to deal with it, and not take away My strong suite is to stop, and look at the setup when I need to, sometimes I can see the whole run after the break, and go all the way through without any stops, other times I may get in a situation that could stop the run for me If I don't replan My attack, and rush the shot instead. I guess I run in splirts in those situations planing out on average 4-5 balls ahead.

You can also try to slow your rythem down, but get the same feel of going from shot to shot in smooth transition. I try to pace it sometimes so that I'm looking at the shot good as I walk around to it, and sight It in from several angles at the same time. go down on the shot at the same pace, and stay down on the follow at the same pace flowing from one shot to the other. Almost how a musician times a beat inside their head, but slowing It down. It's not always the way to go, but sometimes everything just flows together nice and easy.

It's all about sighting stroke in for me, so the flow helps My game quite a bit. When I practice by Myself, usually what I'm doing Is trying to find My stroke more then anything, so I can slow it down, more then working on My shot making ability. I might even hit them hard in practice, but I'm training My brain to the cloth. If I see My line with a hard stroke, then the slower ajustments come easier to me. To someone that did'nt know better would think I am a banger. The reason I do that is to get it out before I slow things down In real play, and still be able to open up on the key shots instead of picking up a hesitation from being out of rythem. When I start out though, I do start out slow and slowly increase speed, before moving into the power strokes.

I love playing a fast paced game, but for me it was live by the sword, die by It, so I started working on slowing It down some time ago. It's not really My best suited style, but more consistent overall,. Sometimes I was so hot I could flow, and make anything work to keep the run alive, a virtual sleeper, because even I did'nt know when I was going to come on for sure, so there was no way anyone else could tell, but other times I could'nt hit the broad side of a barn LOL, so I had to make a change. Sometimes I still get caught up in the hesitation on key outs from slow play, and have to snap to, and open My stroke up to gain/regain the edge, and finish.

I guess I would have to go with slowing it down, you have more control, don't rush as many key shots, miss as many key breakouts, and it opens your mind up to other options that you may pass by in fast play. I noticed that sometimes The runs were alot easier then I would normally go about them, and I think that increased My odds of finishing runs. Ofcoarse I picked up an ocasional hesitation, that even I could hardly notice at first.

I still play both ways though, just when I have to buckle down, I try to slow It it down, and increase My odds, but sometimes a good tune, and alittle faster lock & load style play will shake those hesitations should they appear :D.

I aggree with what Mcguy mentioned too though, so I get caught between the 2. I don't gamble much these days, but was Recently worked into a cheap ring game of 9 with a couple of guys after a league night full of those hesitations. At first I stayed slow and steady, and I knew the guys were working together, and working the rotation on me, but thought I could still keep up with them on My slow, steady, style play. well was'nt long and they were starting to get into My pockets kind of deep, so much for the cheap games:rolleyes:, Finally with My back against the wall, I did something I had'nt done in quite a while, and just opened up. I forgot how good 9B felt when you just let go, and start flowing, I was cracking the 9 on the break, combos, and full runs getting both 5 & 9 when possible.

I guess It is a tricky call, You can chain a dog up and teach him some new tricks, but sometimes You need to let him off, so he can run free and do what comes natural;) :p .
 
There are two sides to the coin of slowing down your play.

You can see other moves you didn't think of to begin with. Also weigh out what would be the best choice percentage wise based on your own familiarity with your game.

The flip side is you can really talk yourself out of a shot because you really don't know which is the better play.

I myself play a little slower than other players. When I speed up my play, I simply get out of position or miss shots. I have to play in my mind exactly what the shot will do before I execute it. If I leave anything out in my analysis by speeding up I do not get the desired result.

Nine ball affects me this way mostly because I start playing at the faster rythme of my opponent gradually. I have to remind myself every once in a while to slow it down. The game doesn't really require any real deliberation in many instances and helps to perpetuate that faster game.
 
Good thoughts guys! I'm glad I'm not the only one out here deliberating over this. After thinking about this over night, I don't think I'm changing my pace playing 9ball. 1P and 14.1, maybe, for the obvious fact of the longer thought process involved.

Back in the day, going to tournamnets watching Earl, his style and pace just made sense to me.


I don't know of any rooms out on 40 Harv, sorry. Maybe try www.poolroom.com

G.
 
Gerry said:
While practicing the other night I was trying different speeds of play while running balls at 14.1. I'm naturally a fast player, and get into stroke playing quickly, maybe Earls speed is perfect for me. When I slow down, I see more shots or positions, but it never feels natural. I want to play correctly, and not screw up runs playing too fast, but look at Lou Butera! or Mosconi, or Sigel they played fast right? I dunno, I think from learning a fast paced game like 9ball first, it's just how I am. What do you all think.

G.
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I think the title of the thread got it just right. Speed all depends on the person and how their brain works. The guys (and girls) who play fast generally do so because they have a quick mind. That doesn't mean that they are smarter, just that they think quicker.

I think you should go with whatever feels right to you. You say that if you slow down your pace you see more shots and positions? I guess perhaps you should find some middle ground then. If you pace is like Luc Salvas or Tony Drago maybe you should slow down to perhaps Rodney Morris. If you play as fast as Rodney than maybe you should play at a Mika Immonen pace.

Personally I like a quicker pace. But that is because I start to doubt myself if I take too long. But that might have more to do with the fact that I haven't been playing for very long.
 
I tend to trust the experts, and since I'm not even close to being a 14.1 expert, I gotta go with what John Schmidt said in his analysis of his 100-ball run at the DCC this year. JS shoots at a fairly brisk pace, but likes to look over the rack almost every shot to make sure he sees everything, so, in general, he may look like he's shooting pretty quickly, but he NEVER RUSHES ANYTHING. Based on my own experience, and watching thousands of hours of pool, ALWAYS err on the side of slowing down your play, especially in 1P and 14.1, where the stack is a big factor. The times I shot quickly (telling myself that I was establishing a good rhythm), I was really trying to "outrun the dog" and thought that playing fast would give me more heart. Wrong, dogbreath...playing fast just made me lose quicker. I think the fact that, to my knowledge, only Lou Butera and Luc Salvas play 2-stroke warp speed at a high level speaks for itself. IMHO, if Efren, Buddy and Nick don't do it, then I ain't either.
 
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I should have mentioned that even when I slow It down, I'm still moving around at a brisk pace to most people's standards, and yes I can think quick at the table as mentioned, so I do still like a quicker pace, but slowing down still opens up more possibilities ocasionally. It also changes the pace, and can cause some of your oponets problems when they get back to the table, not because you are slow like some, but because you are completing more outs, and keeping them in their seat longer, or just plain changing the pace can be enough. Not always the case, but Seems like sometimes 2 players can actually feed off of each other, and play at the same pace, so this may be the type situations where you could be at an advantage to change pace in play. I've been in many games where I noticed My oponet tuned into My speed, and started mixing it Up on them with favorable results. Example, Anyone ever watched a good player that's already in stroke for a while before you get at a table. For me that helps find My rythem & stroke sometimes before I even start playing. Sometimes you get another player out of their rythem when you mix things up on them, and it can become another weapon in Your arsonal. It really depends on the player Your up against, but sometimes It can be an advantage, and I'll take all I can get to make up for My downfalls;) :p . Other players can be different in the way they are more blown away By your quick, decisive outs, so again, depends on the oponet.
 
Your pace is mostly determined by the number of things you do during your shot. More things, more time; less things, less time. If 14.1 requires more things to do during a shot than does 9-ball, for example, your pace will slow.

Also, if you're not very skilled doing some specific things during your shot and you need to think about them more, your pace will be naturally slower, too. As you get better at these things, your pace will increase.

Usually, if you're making mental errors, you're shooting too fast; if you're making physical errors, you're shooting too slow. Usually.

My advice, fwiw: Just do what you do and don't worry about the pace...it'll take care of itself.

Jeff Livingston
 
Don't worry

As you get older, and your testorone level has long since peaked, you will begin to slow down a little .... lol
 
Snapshot9 said:
As you get older, and your testorone level has long since peaked, you will begin to slow down a little .... lol
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True, Maybe that's what's really happening to me as the gray hairs start to take over. probably why It feels so good to open up when I'm succesfull at It also. :D . I'm really not that slow yet though, so there might be a slight bit of exageration by Me saying I like to slow It down. Still a fast shooter by most people's standards, and Alot of people probably still think I move around the table too quickly, because I sure don't get accussed of being slow, but I know others that do.
 
jnav447 said:
I tend to trust the experts, and since I'm not even close to being a 14.1 expert, I gotta go with what John Schmidt said in his analysis of his 100-ball run at the DCC this year. JS shoots at a fairly brisk pace, but likes to look over the rack almost every shot to make sure he sees everything, so, in general, he may look like he's shooting pretty quickly, but he NEVER RUSHES ANYTHING.
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That goes without saying. I do play quickly but mostly for 9 ball. When it comes to games that I have a choice of multiple shots, I don't think its a good idea to try and make 15 balls in 30 seconds. I tend to take a moment to survey the table, find problem balls, key balls etc. After that I will start playing quickly, stopping every once and a while to make sure everything is still hunky dorey.
 
Something I've come up with over the last few days. I tried slowing down between shots, but when the decision is made, I shoot the shot quickly (not staying down too long) and I think it helps "dog proof it".

So it's not how long I take to figure out what I"m going to shoot, it's the execution time from final plan to pulling the trigger....

G.
 
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