I have been rewarded...

[krupa]

For the past month, I have been making a concerted effort to improve my game. I have been regularly practicing for a long time now, but setting up the same shots over and over quickly gets very boring so I always just played. Not very good practice.

Back in August, I went up to Turning Stone to watch how it's really done. The thing that struck me was how deliberate everyone was. Everyone of them surveyed the table, figured out where they were going, what balls went where ('can I get the 3 past the 8 into the corner?'), etc. I actually had to leave the Corey Deuel/Mike Davis match because they were ridiculously slow at this.

The key observation of the day, however, was watching Johnny Archer against Mika Immonen. JA was faced with a shot that I consistently miss. I sat back, got ready to be impressed, and thought, "Now I'm going to see why Johnny's at the table, and I'm sitting in the stands." He looks over the table, assesses his options and... plays safe.

What!?

SAFE!? :yikes:

I can't believe he didn't... :scratchhead:

wait... that is a hard shot and I miss it all the time... huh... So that's why he's there and I'm here... not counting the few billion more balls he's hit than I have, natural talent, etc. etc.

So since that eye-opening match, I have been slowing improving my general approach. I have finally gotten it into my head to look over the table, take my time, know where I want to be for the next shot before getting down in my stance, and most importantly, know when to play safe.

And because of that, I have been rewarded. After my match last week, I was bumped up to an SL 7. The game just got harder and I'm in heaven. :grin:

 

[Banks]

Nice going!

I've got a friend of mine that just went up to a 4/7! He's always been quick to play safe, so he's been improving quickly now that his shots are getting more attention. Another friend of mine was a 5/5, now I think down to a 4/4 - he's just starting to figure out he must learn how to play defensively or else he'll just lose.

The trick is to guarantee yourself another shot at the table. What's that quote again.. Some play to win, some play not to lose, they may look the same, but there's a difference.. something like that.

Good luck and don't forget what got you there. :thumbup:

 

[bigshooter]

Congrats!

Observing top players can be a great way to improve.
I like to watch matches on the internet and mentally shoot the shot before player does. If they do something different than what I would have done I make a note of it, set it up and practice it later.

Of course there are more than one way to run out, everyone is different but by doing this it opens up new perspectives to me and I learn something once in a while.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

Congrats!

Observing top players can be a great way to improve.
I like to watch matches on the internet and mentally shoot the shot before player does. If they do something different than what I would have done I make a note of it, set it up and practice it later.

Damn good advice here. Sit quietly in your local poolroom and watch the better players play. When you play, play someone who is your equal or preferably better. :smile: