I never thought it would happen to me

M

MinoInADixeCup

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Well, for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm burned out on pool.

When I'm really motivated and focused, I play some of the best pool I've ever been capable of. I?ve worked very hard this year to improve through practice and a lesson from Scott Lee and I feel like I have achieved most of my performance goals. The problem is I'm finding it almost impossible to even care if I win or lose most of the time.

I know part of the problem; I've been playing on the same 2 or 3 leagues for over 12 years now. They used to be fairly dynamic with new people coming in all the time, but the last few years the player base has been very stagnant. With the exception of 2 or 3 players, I probably hold at least a 2:1 to 5:1 win/loss record over all of them. I'm just plain bored with playing the same people every week.

Several of the stronger players have started to play on a couple other leagues in another hall and I've got a chance to join them. The competition is supposed to be tougher and I'd like to give it a try, but I'm worried that my desire to win won't come back and I'll be a liability to my team.

The 3 leagues that I'm currently on, end next week and then begin again with the summer season the following week. I'm dropping Wednesday night for sure and I'm going to play golf Wednesday mornings before work. I?m also going to try and play some twilight golf Monday and Friday evenings after work. My Thursday night partner is such a joy to shoot with that I'd never give up playing with him. I?ll also continue to meet some friends on Saturday afternoons to play for a few hours.

Tuesday night is the big question.
Do I join that other league and risk letting myself and my teammates down? If I join this league and can?t get motivated enough to bring my A game, I?ll really be disgusted with myself.

Do I stay on the same Tuesday league and hope dropping the Wednesday league and playing golf puts the spark back into my play?

Do I take Tuesday off entirely for the next 3 months and just play a small tournament when I feel like it?

Any advice or comments are welcome.
 
MinoInADixeCup said:
Well, for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm burned out on pool.

When I'm really motivated and focused, I play some of the best pool I've ever been capable of. I?ve worked very hard this year to improve through practice and a lesson from Scott Lee and I feel like I have achieved most of my performance goals. The problem is I'm finding it almost impossible to even care if I win or lose most of the time.

I know part of the problem; I've been playing on the same 2 or 3 leagues for over 12 years now. They used to be fairly dynamic with new people coming in all the time, but the last few years the player base has been very stagnant. With the exception of 2 or 3 players, I probably hold at least a 2:1 to 5:1 win/loss record over all of them. I'm just plain bored with playing the same people every week.

Several of the stronger players have started to play on a couple other leagues in another hall and I've got a chance to join them. The competition is supposed to be tougher and I'd like to give it a try, but I'm worried that my desire to win won't come back and I'll be a liability to my team.

The 3 leagues that I'm currently on, end next week and then begin again with the summer season the following week. I'm dropping Wednesday night for sure and I'm going to play golf Wednesday mornings before work. I?m also going to try and play some twilight golf Monday and Friday evenings after work. My Thursday night partner is such a joy to shoot with that I'd never give up playing with him. I?ll also continue to meet some friends on Saturday afternoons to play for a few hours.

Tuesday night is the big question.
Do I join that other league and risk letting myself and my teammates down? If I join this league and can?t get motivated enough to bring my A game, I?ll really be disgusted with myself.

Do I stay on the same Tuesday league and hope dropping the Wednesday league and playing golf puts the spark back into my play?

Do I take Tuesday off entirely for the next 3 months and just play a small tournament when I feel like it?

Any advice or comments are welcome.
Click to expand...

I'd say quit the leagues and play on single player or open tournaments. You'll get a variety of players and more challenge. It may cost a little more though. Another thing would be play for money against a player that is better than you. It will make the game more interesting and challenging.

Playing the same people with the same game under the same rules and almost similar condition will stagnate your game.
 
You committed to 3 leagues because you love the game, right. If you join and play in just ONE league (IE. with new people, new environs, more challenging play) I think you'd "re-enjoy" it. It's still a drastic reduction in league play.

But maybe league cold turkey will have a good affect on you...
 
Usually when I burn myself out on something, it's because I do it so much that I don't allow time for other things in my life. Then I begin to realize that there's a whole world out there with other things to do and places to see. So I begin to push away from whatever it is that is taking up so much of my time. I think the best way to begin any new endeavor is to start slow and work up to a pace that allows time for other things.

Maybe cutting back a night or two of league play would be the answer for you. Maybe not. I would think that a person of your skill level would want to seek out a league with opponents that you are not going to "walk all over". I hope it all works out for you. It's a shame when a person starts to feel bad about something that they love so much. Hang in there and try a different approach.

Maniac
 
You just need a change of pace, or some different scenery.
You can take a break from pool altogether for a couple of weeks or even a month. You seem to be focusing on golf so try that for a while. Maybe after you start missing pool you'd look forward to coming back to it.

Instead, league play against the same players can become monotonous, even if you do win. Perhaps you could abandon league play altogether or just scale it back.

Or take a vacation. A Caribbean cruise works wonders...:) I'd recommend Royal Caribbean...:)

As you can see there is no "right" answer. It sounds to me like you just need a break. And having recently joined APA (two weeks ago) I wouldn't worry too much about loyalty to any league. They'll get over it. You only have one life. Enjoy it.
 
Every once in a while

I just got through taking a pretty long break. I should have taken it earlier. I was getting real down on playing, out of stroke, losing interest. I took a break and definitely found my love for playing again. Everyone needs vacation. Even from pool playing sometimes.
 
Advice

Play when you want to, don't play when you don't want to.

Play a different game. Even go to a different place to do it.

Everything gets old after awhile. You have to mix it up some.

I quit leagues 3 years ago, and don't really miss it, but I don't
like to see the 'wannabes' being the league leaders either ... LOL
 
Take a break and play Golf for the summer!!!!

I would take a break if I were you. And just play on the new league with the higher skill level.
Playing some open tourneys would challenge you also and definately spark your interest again. IMO
 
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