I've got a regular, cheap, friendly game with a guy at my poolhall. He shoots B /B-speed, and although I should beat him, sometimes we just break even. It took me a while to figure out why... it's because I just can't *stand* playing him. He drives me absolutely bonkers, to the point that when I'm down on a shot I'm still thinking about *his* shots.
Why does he drive me (and everyone else) so crazy? He takes a very long time per shot. You could have the simplest, connect-the-dots, stop-shot sort of runout and he's making Souquet look like Lou Butera. But wait, there's more. He has an insane pre-shot routine that takes a very long time. It usually involves shuffling his feet until they're in the exact location, taking 7 hyper-speed warm-up strokes, getting up to double check everything, and then taking another 15 short, choppy, warm-up strokes before pulling the trigger of what looks to be an off-balance stroke. I swear, this man can throw anyone off their rhythm but he makes balls well.
One day I finally had to admit to myself that this is just how he plays, and I could either let it bother me or I could find a way to cope. So I got the brilliant idea to count his strokes, to bring levity to the situation (in my head anyway). It was actually quite fascinating!
After studying various types of shots, he averaged a 15-stroke routine before shooting easy shots. For medium shots, he averaged 22. For difficult shots he averaged 26. And the highest count I reached? An amazing 30 (THIRTY!) warm up strokes. I couldn't believe it. While I was counting, I started to almost laugh. Was he really making me count *that high*?
Once I started doing this my mind was no longer frustrated by his play and I started beating him consistently.
Now I turn it into a game. I was chatting up with a 10-yo kid at the poolhall (well, not just any 10 yo kid. Flaco's son, Ray) and we turned it into a game. Given the shot in front of my opponent, we tried to guess the number of warm-up strokes he did before shooting. I got pretty good at it! The first two shots I called perfectly: 15 and 20, for an easy and easy/medium shot.
Anyone have any other unorthodox methods of dealing with irritating players?
Why does he drive me (and everyone else) so crazy? He takes a very long time per shot. You could have the simplest, connect-the-dots, stop-shot sort of runout and he's making Souquet look like Lou Butera. But wait, there's more. He has an insane pre-shot routine that takes a very long time. It usually involves shuffling his feet until they're in the exact location, taking 7 hyper-speed warm-up strokes, getting up to double check everything, and then taking another 15 short, choppy, warm-up strokes before pulling the trigger of what looks to be an off-balance stroke. I swear, this man can throw anyone off their rhythm but he makes balls well.
One day I finally had to admit to myself that this is just how he plays, and I could either let it bother me or I could find a way to cope. So I got the brilliant idea to count his strokes, to bring levity to the situation (in my head anyway). It was actually quite fascinating!
After studying various types of shots, he averaged a 15-stroke routine before shooting easy shots. For medium shots, he averaged 22. For difficult shots he averaged 26. And the highest count I reached? An amazing 30 (THIRTY!) warm up strokes. I couldn't believe it. While I was counting, I started to almost laugh. Was he really making me count *that high*?
Once I started doing this my mind was no longer frustrated by his play and I started beating him consistently.
Now I turn it into a game. I was chatting up with a 10-yo kid at the poolhall (well, not just any 10 yo kid. Flaco's son, Ray) and we turned it into a game. Given the shot in front of my opponent, we tried to guess the number of warm-up strokes he did before shooting. I got pretty good at it! The first two shots I called perfectly: 15 and 20, for an easy and easy/medium shot.
Anyone have any other unorthodox methods of dealing with irritating players?
