Just My Thoughts About Coming Back After aA Long Lay-Off

Johnnyt

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
After coming almost all the way back to my best level after a 3+ year lay-off (and I will come all the way back or better) I have to feel that most players that played as "B" or higher in their younger days can still come back to that level, as long as they are fairly healthy. It just takes a lot of practice and you HAVE to want to do it.

My Dad was a road player from about 1925 to 1938. I have no idea how good he was, as I wasn't born yet. He quit the road and pool when he met my Mom. He didn't play on a big table for 21 or 22 years. In 1959 he sold his ice & fuel business, (my Mom had died a year before) and bought a small 9-table poolroom on Long Island, NY. In a years time he was running in the low 100's in 14.1 quite often. I would say he got back to an "A+" in 14.1. Again I have no idea how good he was back in his road days.

What I'm trying to say is most good players can comeback to play as good as they did if they have the time and really want too. I'm not taking about top pros like Keith, Earl, and others that played on such a high level that they probably can't come back to that level ever again. Well, maybe Earl could if he taped his mouth instead of every other part of his body. Just my thoughts on it. Johnnyt
 
Back from the dead

I'm an official geezer at 60, and I never expect to attain the game I had when in my 20s. In those days, I couldn't keep up with Keith (hardly) but I knew a thing or two about matching up.

By the time I turned 30, I'd gotten married, gotten a responsible job, and pretty much gave up pool altogether. Only playing I did was on bar tables and those times were few.

Bought a new house a year ago and supplied it with an 8-foot table downstairs. Have practiced hard since, but my game remains so-so. Slowly I'm inching up the charts.

My biggest pool triumph was against a guy who called himself Omaha Fats, a loudmouth and braggart who claimed to be a world beater. You can find him on tape from the Johnston City days. Anyway, I called Omaha's bluff, spotted him the eight ball and took him for about $20 at two bucks a game.

Yeah, the guy was a cheap date, but beating him put me on cloud nine. Another year of practice and I might be all the way back.

Good luck with your game.
 
9BallPaul said:
I'm an official geezer at 60, and I never expect to attain the game I had when in my 20s. In those days, I couldn't keep up with Keith (hardly) but I knew a thing or two about matching up.

By the time I turned 30, I'd gotten married, gotten a responsible job, and pretty much gave up pool altogether. Only playing I did was on bar tables and those times were few.

Bought a new house a year ago and supplied it with an 8-foot table downstairs. Have practiced hard since, but my game remains so-so. Slowly I'm inching up the charts.

My biggest pool triumph was against a guy who called himself Omaha Fats, a loudmouth and braggart who claimed to be a world beater. You can find him on tape from the Johnston City days. Anyway, I called Omaha's bluff, spotted him the eight ball and took him for about $20 at two bucks a game.

Yeah, the guy was a cheap date, but beating him put me on cloud nine. Another year of practice and I might be all the way back.

Good luck with your game.
Click to expand...

Martin Kaman,,,AKA Omaha Fat's!!!!!!
 
Yep, that's the guy

ironman said:
Martin Kaman,,,AKA Omaha Fat's!!!!!!
Click to expand...

He spent his last years in Denver. Last I saw him was at the Family Fun Center in the late '80s. He told me he'd had a stroke and couldn't play anymore, and he looked terrible.

But what they hey was he doing in Johnston City in the '60s? Was he actually a top player in those days? Anybody?
 
I'm making my way back into form slowly, but surely. My shape making was actually the thing that came back first and is as good or slightly better than it was after a 10 year layoff. My shot making is what is going to take a lil longer. I am having a helluva time with rail shots, thin cuts and shots where the ball is slightly off the rail. The good news is that I am hungrier than ever to get better and enjoying the process more than ever.

One thing that helped me a great deal are the DCC Straight Pool Challenge videos Blackjack uploaded to Veoh.
 
On a side note I hope more of those videos are done during this years DCC. I really enjoyed them
 
Johnnyt said:
After coming almost all the way back to my best level after a 3+ year lay-off (and I will come all the way back or better) I have to feel that most players that played as "B" or higher in their younger days can still come back to that level, as long as they are fairly healthy. It just takes a lot of practice and you HAVE to want to do it.

My Dad was a road player from about 1925 to 1938. I have no idea how good he was, as I wasn't born yet. He quit the road and pool when he met my Mom. He didn't play on a big table for 21 or 22 years. In 1959 he sold his ice & fuel business, (my Mom had died a year before) and bought a small 9-table poolroom on Long Island, NY. In a years time he was running in the low 100's in 14.1 quite often. I would say he got back to an "A+" in 14.1. Again I have no idea how good he was back in his road days.

What I'm trying to say is most good players can comeback to play as good as they did if they have the time and really want too. I'm not taking about top pros like Keith, Earl, and others that played on such a high level that they probably can't come back to that level ever again. Well, maybe Earl could if he taped his mouth instead of every other part of his body. Just my thoughts on it. Johnnyt
Click to expand...

I agree, i'm younger than you but took years off and came back fast, hell at the rate i improved since the come back is similar to a 16 year old with huge natural talent, so since thats the case i just have to keep improving at the rate i have the past 2 years to become a champion in 4-5 more, the logic is sound, i'm sure as hell not scared to play great. Its a amazing process watching my self improve now compaired to the slow talentless years of grinding before.
 
gunzby said:
On a side note I hope more of those videos are done during this years DCC. I really enjoyed them
Click to expand...

I am glad that you enjoyed the videos from last year. Elvicash (Dana S) recorded the video, and Dennis Walsh provided me with files to provide the commentary. I'm not in the loop, so I am not 100% sure about this (get with Bob Jewett to confirm this), but I believe that the event will be recorded professionally this year.
 
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