How to win when the rolls are against you

L

lawful777

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
After playing a recent tournament and doing fairly well, just out of the money, I started to analyze the day. I was in stroke and felt pretty confident of the way I played overall. My form and technique seemed to be going really well. I won 7-3, lost 7-3, won 5-4, lost 5-3 to players of various skill levels. I felt like my stroke was on, my breaking was decent and on the matches I won, was running out well.

On the other two however, I didn't get too many chances for a runout and seemed that many of my trips to the table were hidden on accident. Just when I did get on a little roll and start running, my opponent would slop in a money ball or tie me up again, leaving him a nice runout.

My question is this, if you are trying hard to stay in the game, trying to deal with the anxieties of falling behind, paying attention to your form, how do you win these seemingly winless matches. I think that if I could just find a way to capitalize on a couple more of these, I could be in the final few of the tournament more often.

Any thoughts on how to pull off a few more of these grudge matches. Thanks!
 
The key is to stay focused on the game at hand. It doesn't matter what happened in the prior game. Just focus on winning each and every game. If your opponent gets a lucky roll, don't just get up and kick at the ball out of frustration, take your time and give it your best effort. Sometimes you won't win not matter what, but until the match is over it's not over. Give yourself the best chance to win.
 
It sounds like you do well when you run out, but if you don't run out, you give your opponent too many chances to get lucky.

Three words: Control the table.

Every time you let your opponent to the table, you are giving him a chance to get lucky. If you can't run out a given rack, you want to reduce your opponent's odds of getting lucky. That means leaving hard situations, either via two-way shots or strong safeties.

Your goal should be to never turn over an open table. Never, ever, ever.

Obviously, no one plays to that level of perfection. But if that is your mindset on every inning, you will find yourself with more opportunities and, in the end, winning more of these tough matches.
 
For me it's having a convenient or selective memory. Knowing how either bad rolls or sub par performance can develop into a snowball downhill effect, I created a goal of starting over every time things start to go south. I want to remember as much as I can the positives. For me confidence is paramount!
 
if you dont see a 85% percent chance with your ability to run out, put a few in and then duck and run...stick him on a hard bank or behind a ball, your wins will improve........but some times the rolls just roll funny, control whitey...and the wins will pile up.......OTB
 
1 ball/1 situation at a time, be “present” in that moment only; not the immediate past or future, go deeper into your fundamentals and never care/look at what the score is.
 
Just had a tournament like that this weekend. I was in stroke and playing great bt had to battle the rolls. You just gotta focused on your routine and believe things will swing your way. Stay calm. That can be easier to type then to do. Lol
 
in terms of winning at 9-ball?
...sometimes there is absolutely NOTHING you can do.

call shots/safes in 10-ball remedy most of that garbage.
 
When you learn how to win when you are not geeting the rolls....that is when you know you are good.

However...was it really them getting the rolls...or getting "lucky"....or was it you giving them the opportunity to get lucky.

Analyze what happened just before they got lucky......seems like 99 out of 100 times it was because you gave them an opportunity in some way...perhaps they kicked a ball in from a safe that you left them....was it the "best" safe you could have played....or did you leave them just enough room to get "lucky"
 
On the one hand, bad rolls aren't your fault.

On the other hand, it's your choice to play a game with huge amounts of luck... enough to completely overcome your skill.

Choose not to play games where slop counts. If you need to play a rotation game, stick with ten ball. Demand better from the people running tournaments. Explain to them why serious players are moving away from slop-based games.

And if your opponent keeps leaving you kicks, master kicking and jumping. It's not enough to be a great shotmaker and play good shape... not anymore. That's enough to get you near the money, but not in the money. You should also be able to kick a ball accurately enough to not only be sure of a hit, but to also roughly control the outcome and leave him just as safe.
 
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lawful777 said:
My question is this, if you are trying hard to stay in the game, trying to deal with the anxieties of falling behind
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Anxieties of falling behind? That's strike one... do not care about the score much. Pay attention to the situation at hand. One ball, one position at a time.

paying attention to your form
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Strike two. You should treat your form as a neutral spectator. Do not, EVER, beat yourself up during a match, and sometimes even too much praise to yourself (for a shot, a run out, etc.) can have negative effects in the long run.

how do you win these seemingly winless matches.
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Many times you just...can't. You have to accept that. Pool has a luck factor and sometimes you don't play that well on a given day. The best thing you can do is to focus and try not to miss any easy shot to have your opponent back on an easy layout.
 
JimmyWhite said:
Many times you just...can't. You have to accept that. Pool has a luck factor and sometimes you don't play that well on a given day. The best thing you can do is to focus and try not to miss any easy shot to have your opponent back on an easy layout.
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many times people blame luck for their losses. I don't remember any match that I lost because I was unlucky. It can happen you win a rack or a match because you fluked a ball or because you didn't leave much after a miss, but I'm sure you played better than the other guy. Is impossible to win only by luck. If you re-analyze the match you just lost you will remember you missed some easy shot or easy position.
I agree in 9 ball there is a lot of luck, try to play the game atleast with the 9 ball called or play 10 ball with call shots.
 
Slh said:
many times people blame luck for their losses. I don't remember any match that I lost because I was unlucky. It can happen you win a rack or a match because you fluked a ball or because you didn't leave much after a miss, but I'm sure you played better than the other guy. Is impossible to win only by luck. If you re-analyze the match you just lost you will remember you missed some easy shot or easy position.
I agree in 9 ball there is a lot of luck, try to play the game atleast with the 9 ball called or play 10 ball with call shots.
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Great post. Though whenever I play short races (race to 7 or even 5) I always think of how a few rolls can change to course of a short-race match. Corey Deuel has said that whenever you lose in pool, it is always your fault and this is hard to cope with. Very true.


Call shot 10-ball race to 9+ is pure enough.

but not as pure as 14.1 :wink:
 
I know exactly how you feel.
Several years ago I was watching a guy I knew play One Pocket for a C note a game. His name was "Big" Al Patterson, but everybody just called him Al.
Yeah, I know. I never understood it either.
Anyway, Al was right at the end of going eight and out on his opponent when a gun shot rang out from across the room. The errant bullet, a 44 caliber I believe it was, ricocheted off the brass light fixture above the table and struck Al in the left shoulder at the precise moment he was executing his shot. The shot missed it's intended mark, but (as luck would have it) caromed into the stack striking another ball that was dead to his pocket, winning the game.
Al, sad to say, did not have time to savor his victory (as luck would have it). The projectile had severed his superior vena cava, and he fell to the floor, dead as a hammer.
So, good luck, or bad luck. It just depends on how you look at it. :smile:
 
Thanks everyone for the input. I totally agree that sometimes luck just plays a factor and that even in the games where apparent skill isn't the case for their win, maybe I did something to affect the outcome. An example of this was I was behind by a game, with my opponent on the hill. I had a shot where the 4 was right near the 9 in the corner for a win, putting things at hill hill. The first 3 balls made a leave on the four tough but I managed to get there just slightly out of shape. I tried the shot, missed and made the four instead. The cue went way down table and I tried a safety on the five. I left no real good shot on the five except a carom off it to the nine about 6 inches away. My opponent didn't see this but instead fired a table length kick shot which drilled the 5 into the 9. Match over. After watching their next couple matches, there were no monsterous kicks like during mine.

So, I know that I made mistakes which cost me but then luck also played a factor. My main question was when this sort of thing happens continuously in the same match or night at league, how do you maintain focus, hang in there and take back some of these matches. How do you regroup on the game after you miss a tough shot on the nine or give up an error that results in a table run. What do you work on in your off time. What thoughts or strategies do you have to keep composure during the match or how do you cope with the loss and just move on.....

Some nights or matches I play great and am tough to beat, others, things just seem to go bad like this. Some people say it just happens and that everyone loses their fair share. How then do you become an expert player if you are sometimes plagued with these errors and/or losses? Is it just skill, practice, knowledge or is there more. IF there is more to it, where do you go to get a better understanding of the game.

Thanks again.
 
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