if----->then
- Thread starter CaptainJR
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CaptainJR said:
Great spin, JR
I have gained high amateur proficiency at karate and tennis when I was younger. I did take piano lessons when I was young but could never make myself practice because I got bored.I have often regretted that , because I love piano, it is my favorite instrumental music to listen to. My husband, was proficient at golf and to a degree in piano (but not what I would call a 'piano person') and is, of course better at pool than I. The reason I compare the two of us is because I think that the difference in our personalities come into play in the ability to practice pool without getting bored.
He is an introvert and it is nothing for him to go down to our table and practice for 3-6 hours, where I have to force myself to stay on it for an hour or two. He also has a higher tolerance for and enjoys repetitve activities while repetition bores me silly.
In karate and tennis, there was an opponent at least, and I could do it for a long time. But to have good concentration in pool practice, I have to go to the poolhall. There is the poolhall noise, wait staff and people walking around and so forth, and then I can practice for much longer and love it. But, it also means that since I 'require' external stuff to concentrate, during a match those things get blocked like a fan running in your bedroom. It is advantageous to be able to easily block those things, but having to go to the poolhall to concentrate when we have one I can practice on for free is a disadvantage.
Comparing it to karate, pool, tennis, etc... Piano seems to require the best coordination of all,is very solitary unless the person is a 'piano entertainer' and is very sequential in terms of playing the keys in a definite sequential order, where karate, tennis and pool require you to adjust with changing conditions.
Laura
CaptainJR said:
I do not know how to put them on a site, but with an ipod and the free windows version of itunes, you can load your fav cds into itunes, synchs to the ipod when you plug it up. Or music from the ipod synchs directly into itunes. I think it is easy with that software to tell the software to make it mp3, then you would just have to upload it.
Laura
When I was in college I would play classical music while studying quite often, and this was great at first; but eventually I'd become familiar with the piece and start to focus on the music instead of my book! Maybe that's unusual, I don't know, but once I was compelled to pay attention to the music - once it wasn't background anymore - studying while that music was playing was out of the question. I could still play something unfamiliar, however, and it was a great way to "learn" classical music. Anyway, I agree with chefjeff: I wouldn't want a certain kind of music to become inextricably linked to playing, to become necessary to play well. But it certainly does sound like a good way to loosen up and get in a rhythm before a tournament match - you know, as a short-term thing, with the music of your choice. Of course, playing pool requires a different kind of concentration than studying (much more right-brain), so I guess even I can focus on pool when great music is playing....at least I don't recall ever playing terribly when a song I liked was on the jukebox!!chefjeff said:
Which brings me to this: Studying is left-brain (analytical, logical); playing music is mostly right-brain
- and playing pool "in the zone" is largely right-brain! That's why I think the idea of trying to play pool like one plays the piano has merit. It's usually when one engages too much of the left side of the brain that one runs into trouble in pool; almost everybody who has been "in the zone" confesses to being unable to remember shots he/she made and feeling like everything just flowed without thought - because they were playing "unconsciously", right-braining it! So trying to incorporate the same kind of concentration (right brain) used to play music into one's pool playing should improve the pool playing, for obviously the hard part about getting in the zone is placing oneself there deliberately. Perhaps music can be a key to getting there? Hmmmmm......
Very interesting topic, CaptainJR!! As a music maestro, what do you think of my left brain/right brain analysis? BTW, I took piano lessons for 10 years when a child but now can only remember the first few bars to a couple of songs and can barely read music! It's a shame. But I love the piano and plan to re-learn when my daughters start taking lessons!
This thread got me thinking and I was wondering if we had any violin players here. If so, how does playing the violin relate to your stroke in pool?
Kerry Impson said:When I was in college I would play classical music while studying quite often, and this was great at first; but eventually I'd become familiar with the piece and start to focus on the music instead of my book! Maybe that's unusual, I don't know, but once I was compelled to pay attention to the music - once it wasn't background anymore - studying while that music was playing was out of the question. I could still play something unfamiliar, however, and it was a great way to "learn" classical music. Anyway, I agree with chefjeff: I wouldn't want a certain kind of music to become inextricably linked to playing, to become necessary to play well. But it certainly does sound like a good way to loosen up and get in a rhythm before a tournament match - you know, as a short-term thing, with the music of your choice. Of course, playing pool requires a different kind of concentration than studying (much more right-brain), so I guess even I can focus on pool when great music is playing....at least I don't recall ever playing terribly when a song I liked was on the jukebox!!
Which brings me to this: Studying is left-brain (analytical, logical); playing music is mostly right-brain
- and playing pool "in the zone" is largely right-brain! That's why I think the idea of trying to play pool like one plays the piano has merit. It's usually when one engages too much of the left side of the brain that one runs into trouble in pool; almost everybody who has been "in the zone" confesses to being unable to remember shots he/she made and feeling like everything just flowed without thought - because they were playing "unconsciously", right-braining it! So trying to incorporate the same kind of concentration (right brain) used to play music into one's pool playing should improve the pool playing, for obviously the hard part about getting in the zone is placing oneself there deliberately. Perhaps music can be a key to getting there? Hmmmmm......
Very interesting topic, CaptainJR!! As a music maestro, what do you think of my left brain/right brain analysis? BTW, I took piano lessons for 10 years when a child but now can only remember the first few bars to a couple of songs and can barely read music! It's a shame. But I love the piano and plan to re-learn when my daughters start taking lessons!
Kerry
What do I think of your 'left brain/ right brain' analysis? Sounds a little left brain analytical to me.
Sorry, had to say that. I think you may have spelled out the start of the answer to my question. I was wondering why I can concentrate so well while playing piano and can't while playing pool. If I'm using right brain to play piano and left brain to play pool, that could explain it. Maybe I'm being so analytical in my pool that I can't keep the concentration that long. Is left brain thinking that much more difficult that you can't do it as long and hard as right brain thinking?
On the other hand, I was thinking a little while ago about the time between shots. Between shots you have time where you can lose concentration. Playing piano, there is not enough time between notes to loose concentration.
The zone!!! Gezzzz I wish I could do that like I do it on the piano. I do it on purpose all the time. Maybe I'm not correct in my idea of what the zone is. Above, when talking concentration, I was talking about songs that I'm learning or have recently learnt. I'm concentrating all the way through them. My favorites that I've been playing for years, any one of maybe 50 or so pieces, I don't need the music. I go right into the zone every time I play one. I'm calling it the zone because I don't have to think about the individual notes. Don't even know what key I'm playing in. It just comes out. Not playing by ear though, every note is exactly as it is on the music. Is this the zone?
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CaptainJR said:
Yes, running a rack has some similarities with doing a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle. Unless you are careful and organized in the early stages, you'll probably never finish the job.
Having good habits in puzzle solving, whether its a jigsaw puzzle or a rack of nine ball, really helps the cause. Taking your time and making sure you have a focused, organized approach, before proceeding with your plan greatly improves your chance of success.
whitewolf said:
"3 superiors in a row"? I'll tell you folks, that is impressive! The teacher I had when I was young was an old man that lived two doors away and I don't think he knew of such competitions. The teacher I had as an adult talked me into going to one of the competitions. I did get a superior, but never went back. Seemed like I was the only competitor there over 16 years old. Felt really out of place. I was like 29 at the time. I didn't play the piano between ages 17 and 28. Vietnam through getting over Vietnam I guess.
At age 33 my teacher was getting me ready for my first solo recital. I believe we were concentrating on the Pathetique Sonata at the time. Dip shit me, owned a motorcycle. Crash! 15 broken bones in my right wrist. 3 of which never did heal. I have very little movement in my right wrist to this day. As I'm sure you know, the feeling from the heart is transferred to the piano keyboard through the wrist. Thus you don't hear any classical piano on my web site, just contemporary piano pieces.
I do use some of my piano practice techniques in pool practice sessions. Though I don't think they are peculiar to piano in any way. These are used in most anything, but I learnt them from piano. Like when playing a piano piece, if I make a mistake, I stop there and play that part till I get it right several times in a row. When I'm playing the ghost in pool, if I make a mistake, I stop right there (don't finish the game) and work on that shot till I get it right several times in a row.