Is It Unusual To Take 1-2 Hours To Find Your Stroke?

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ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
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I am 64, and this seems to be more noticeable the older I get. It takes me a good one hour and sometimes two hours before I start feeling any confidence in my stroke. This seems to be true even when practicing alone by myself at night.

Obviously this is an issue for any kind of tournament play, as you rarely have that luxury of being able to warm up for very long. Do any others have an issue with this and what age are you? Any suggestions as to how this can be overcome? I wish I could say this is a mental thing but I really don’t think so - as it happens even when I’m practicing by myself with absolutely no pressure.
 
I think it is mostly mental.

It happens to all of us geezers.

I think it happens when your subconscious is thinking of something other than pool.
 
I'm 56, happens to me, too. I can start off running racks, then hit a wall for an hour or two until it clicks for good. And whatever gear that is, that's it for the rest of the session. About half the time, I can find my groove within 15-20 minutes and be good to go, the other half it's a slog. Some days it never comes. The biggest culprit for me is consciously thinking about my stroke or PSR. That way lies madness--and a mediocre session.
 
ChrisinNC said:
I wish I could say this is a mental thing but I really don’t think so - as it happens even when I’m practicing by myself with absolutely no pressure.
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was considering something along these lines recently..it's an interesting thing
personally, I think the *lack* of stress/pressure makes it easier to shoot poorly- easier to be lazy, take the pool for granted
by comparison, in a match, it's do or die..adrenaline is secreted, blood's pumping, eyes widen, etc.- training is left to the back, and instinct takes over
of course I'm sure this is somewhat individualized. so I would ask, is what you experience in practice the same as in a match?
 
That is me. I feel like a young'un in this thread at 42, but I often feel like I have to relearn my stroke every day. When I first start I'll be too tight, hit the ball too hard, poke too much, etc, etc, and only over a couple hours of play do I "remind" myself of a calm approach, smooth stroke, and so forth. Then I do well for a while, but then tail off once I get tired/start losing interest.

I wish I could get to speed quicker so I can have more time at my peak ability before I have to shuffle off to bed.
 
Maybe longer...Wednesday, because of Oregon's lockdowns/mask requirements, I screwed ny Josey together after a 13 months long absence. My bride seemed to get her stroke back right away...she started out with a 4 ball run.

Me? A miserable day..we played for four hours. Constantly undercutting balls, speed was miles off...well, you name it. It was like everything I'd worked so hard to gain was...poof! Gone! Just like that...
 
@62 I find the most useful warm up is banging balls. No pre shot nor excessive thought into patterns. Just a notch below speed pool but do it alone so when you miss you can power forward. Three or four racks is all it takes. Maybe ten to fifteen minutes.

It's the tight old muscles and joints that need to get lubed up. Stretching for a few minutes first helps a lot as well.

It's very easy to transition into a disciplined game from this if you already have it in you but much harder to play well if your body is tight no matter your discipline level.
 
When you're a kid with the fever, all the information is always current. As you age and your toy blends into the rest of you, the familiarity fades. You have to play intellectually with a diluted strategy. The stroke has given way to to your desk technique and eating habits. I find that even eating chocolate the day before playing will take the edge off your kill sense. Endorphins or something... Pool is artificial behavior and has to be maintained or it dies. One thing that might help is a physical warmup before pool. 10 minutes of exercise will at the very least get your blood circulating.
 
West Point 1987 said:
I'm 56, happens to me, too. I can start off running racks, then hit a wall for an hour or two until it clicks for good. And whatever gear that is, that's it for the rest of the session. About half the time, I can find my groove within 15-20 minutes and be good to go, the other half it's a slog. Some days it never comes. The biggest culprit for me is consciously thinking about my stroke or PSR. That way lies madness--and a mediocre session.
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This is me to a T, I am 59 and play once a week and it seems I always hit top gear 15 minutes before going home !
 
I'm 69 and try and shoot some each night. The same thing happens to me. It takes about an hour of play before I start getting in stroke. I feel like it is all physical. My back and legs and knees are always stiff when I start shooting. I've tried stretching lately and I think that helps a little. Also, I start seeing the object ball more clearly after about an hour of shooting.
 
EdGun said:
I'm 69 and try and shoot some each night. The same thing happens to me. It takes about an hour of play before I start getting in stroke. I feel like it is all physical. My back and legs and knees are always stiff when I start shooting. I've tried stretching lately and I think that helps a little. Also, I start seeing the object ball more clearly after about an hour of shooting.
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This sounds like me although for me I don’t feel it’s my back, legs or knee stiffness. It’s more the feel in my forearm/hand/wrist is just not there to be able to confidently and effortlessly stroke the cue straight back and through. I just simply can’t consistently seem to be able to do it early on in a session.
 
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JC said:
@62 I find the most useful warm up is banging balls. No pre shot nor excessive thought into patterns. Just a notch below speed pool but do it alone so when you miss you can power forward. Three or four racks is all it takes. Maybe ten to fifteen minutes.

It's the tight old muscles and joints that need to get lubed up. Stretching for a few minutes first helps a lot as well.

It's very easy to transition into a disciplined game from this if you already have it in you but much harder to play well if your body is tight no matter your discipline level.
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I used to warm up by hitting the balls at warp speed and running the cue ball around the table using only dead center on the cue ball. That loosened me up and it gave me the speed of the tables and rails.
 
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HawaiianEye said:
I used to warm up by hitting the balls at warp speed and running the cue ball around the table using only dead center on the cue ball. That loosed me up and it gave me the speed of the tables and rails.
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About 17 years ago, I saw Mika Immonen do the same, although sometimes he only did it when shooting the nine. It was about forcing himself into maximum concentration.
 
A dramatic approach to finding one's stroke belonged to Alex Pagulayan, and I need to admit that this is second hand, so I'm just passing on what I heard about ten years ago.

If Alex was struggling early in a practice session on the pool table, he'd switch to a snooker table. He'd put the cue ball on the brown spot, place the blue on the blue spot, and he'd shoot the shot until he made ten in a row in one of the bottom corners, after which he'd return to the pool table with a lot of confidence. For most 700 Fargo players, three in a row would be quite an accomplishment. I'm told that sometimes it took him between one and two hours to make ten in a row.

If anyone has witnessed this, please chime in.
 
Maybe I am an anomaly. I can go for months without playing and still suck.;)

All joking aside I get called by a strong player from Denver about 4 times a year, he plays in multiple leagues and owns two Diamonds. This player used to own me but the last few years I play stronger then he does. I have learned to settle down and focus from the very first game and it has paid off. Sometimes it has been 6-7 weeks since I have hit a ball but when I know I have a match against him I will start focusing my thoughts on staying down on my shots and breathing. Drinking water during the match also seems to help me keep those things in check.
 
At 71 I find that for my first couple of games, league or at home practicing, that my cue hand will have some shaking when shooting, especially the more I bend over to shoot. The more upright my stance the less shaking. It goes away for the most part after10-15 minutes of play. I have just written it off to being very stiff and needing time to loosen up.
 
OK, talking about something I don't know much about, and that second hand. Seems when we wear glasses for hours then take them off it takes thirty minutes or longer for the lenses in our eyes to adjust. I suspect the same for us, ahem, elder gentlemen just looking at a close set distance like this computer screen for a long time. Of course the various gimps and tight spots have to loosen up too. I suspect that taking longer to find a gear is normal. Medications don't help. While some claim no side effects I have never known that to be true. Some have larger and some smaller side effects, none, nope!

Getting old bites, it ain't for sissies! On the other hand, not getting old is worse.

Hu
 
I’ve always been a slow starter. But fairly recently, I’ve found a warmup that works very well to get my stroke grooved in pretty quick, even if I haven’t played in a week or two.

Basically, I throw out 15 balls and run them in any order. Then do it again. After that, I set up a series of long straight in shots and shoot them a variety of ways and at a variety of speeds. For example, I’ll shoot some drag/stop shots, cuing as low as possible, and try to get the CB to stop dead and the OB just dribble in the pocket. Then I’ll hit some stop shots very firm with a just below center hit on the CB. Then some max spin follow and draw shots, then some firm stun follow/stun draw shots and some softer natural roll follow shots and smooth, softer draw shots. All straight in with no side spin. Then I finish things off with a progressive cut shot drill I was given recently.

When I’m done with that, everything feels very dialed in and precise. And I use that routine frequently to stay in touch with that feeling. I’ve found that I usually have more confidence and play good afterwards. But if I don’t go through it again, everything starts fall off after a few days or a week. Even if I’m playing everyday.
 
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sjm said:
A dramatic approach to finding one's stroke belonged to Alex Pagulayan, and I need to admit that this is second hand, so I'm just passing on what I heard about ten years ago.

If Alex was struggling early in a practice session on the pool table, he'd switch to a snooker table. He'd put the cue ball on the brown spot, place the blue on the blue spot, and he'd shoot the shot until he made ten in a row in one of the bottom corners, after which he'd return to the pool table with a lot of confidence. For most 700 Fargo players, three in a row would be quite an accomplishment. I'm told that sometimes it took him between one and two hours to make ten in a row.

If anyone has witnessed this, please chime in.
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During my first stint as a pool player I used to travel an hour into the bowels of Toronto and play in tournaments at room called Shooters. That room like many in the area had both a decent serving of 9ft pool and 12ft snooker tables. Not only have I witnessed this drill, I took part in it with him. Didn't realize he was doing anything specific. Just thought it was one of those potting challenges players like to do against one another.

Alex doesn't know me from a hole in the wall. I just happened to be the guy warming up on the most convenient snooker table when he was looking to loosen up.

There was no 10 shots in a row thing. However that spot shot was swung at many times.

For me, even now, spending 15mins on a snooker table is hands down the best way to get my potting gear engaged. That said, it doesn't do much for loosening up your arm.
 
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ChrisinNC said:
I am 64, and this seems to be more noticeable the older I get. It takes me a good one hour and sometimes two hours before I start feeling any confidence in my stroke. This seems to be true even when practicing alone by myself at night.

Obviously this is an issue for any kind of tournament play, as you rarely have that luxury of being able to warm up for very long. Do any others have an issue with this and what age are you? Any suggestions as to how this can be overcome? I wish I could say this is a mental thing but I really don’t think so - as it happens even when I’m practicing by myself with absolutely no pressure.
Click to expand...
I find it much easier to get into stroke when it's loser racks. 😅 I don't like being the only one racking so it gets me crafty sooner. Also playing with someone around your level or even somewhat stronger seems to help with concentration. If you can break first, it seems to get your stroke out quicker. Lag is also a good way to get the concentration and table speed dialed in. I have back problems, so when I first come to the table, I put my cue across my body and pull it into my chest to loosen up the back. Think of how you would hold the bar while doing bench presses, only kind of pulling the cue towards your chest. I suspect some light stretching would do us all good before playing. Pool uses such different motions than we use everyday so it makes sense to need to get loosened up a bit.
 
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