Like riding a bike, my a...

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Krayzi

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Hi all. A bit of pertinent background: I've been playing pool (mostly 8-ball, 14.1, and a little 9-ball) off and on most of my life. For stretches of a few years, I'd play every day for at least an hour, often more. When I played all the time, I got to the point where I could run an 8-ball rack about 1/4 of the time, and the odds went up sharply if I got another run at the table. I was even confident enough to make a few friendly wagers with the regulars in the pool hall I most often frequented, and I usually played better under that pressure. Hell, if any of the regular staffers were behind the counter, I even had my own walk-on song playing by the time I hung my jacket up and opened my cue case. :D

OK, I realize that probably reads like some rosy reflection on some terrible pool player's glory days, but I digress. :p My problem is, after a few years of poor health (still not 100%), I tried to get back into it a while ago. I joined a novice bar league with some friends, and after about half a season (with practice in between), my performance got measurably worse while the league stats improved. Missing frightfully easy shots, averaging a meager 1.3 balls per turn, with some flashes of relative brilliance but mostly just inconsistent play. I was stone cold sober, and couldn't beat some of the worst drunks in the league most nights.

It was the downhill slide that finally prompted me to give up my spot for the sake of the team, not to mention my own sanity. Maybe it's a slump, maybe I'm way more out of practice than I realize, maybe I was never that good to begin with, who knows. But my confidence has taken a hit, and this whole thing has even (*gasp*) tarnished my love for the game. I want it back, dammit!

I know some of you have been through similar things. What helped?
 
Pick up the phone and call Gene from perfect aim 7155638712.... Find out when he can do a phone lesson with you and make plans to be at a table when he can talk... Gene can do it in 30 minutes or less but he loves to teach and talk so give yourself an hour or more...... And don't discount a "phone" lesson as not being able to work... What he goes over you see with your own eyes.... he just walks you thru....

The eyes are the first thing to go for many pool players... What was once natural may not be natural anymore because of the changes in how our eyes work as we get older and the lenses harden and other things begin to affect our once "young" eyes....

Once you get back to seeing the ball correctly I'd say you'll rekindle some of that lost love for the game...

Chris
 
Actually, Renfro may have touched on something..your eyes. I'd suggest consulting with an opthamologist over an optomitrist.

I often have trouble seeing the aim spot on the object ball because of slight diabetes caused focus changes combined with my age. (pushing 70)

I just keep working on other fundamentals...despite the spot being fuzzy. When it all works, it makes me happy. When it doesn't? Well, being a poor pool player isn't the worst thing...not by a long shot!
 
Just on league night?

Krayzi said:
Hi all. A bit of pertinent background: I've been playing pool (mostly 8-ball, 14.1, and a little 9-ball) off and on most of my life. For stretches of a few years, I'd play every day for at least an hour, often more. When I played all the time, I got to the point where I could run an 8-ball rack about 1/4 of the time, and the odds went up sharply if I got another run at the table. I was even confident enough to make a few friendly wagers with the regulars in the pool hall I most often frequented, and I usually played better under that pressure. Hell, if any of the regular staffers were behind the counter, I even had my own walk-on song playing by the time I hung my jacket up and opened my cue case. :D

OK, I realize that probably reads like some rosy reflection on some terrible pool player's glory days, but I digress. :p My problem is, after a few years of poor health (still not 100%), I tried to get back into it a while ago. I joined a novice bar league with some friends, and after about half a season (with practice in between), my performance got measurably worse while the league stats improved. Missing frightfully easy shots, averaging a meager 1.3 balls per turn, with some flashes of relative brilliance but mostly just inconsistent play. I was stone cold sober, and couldn't beat some of the worst drunks in the league most nights.

It was the downhill slide that finally prompted me to give up my spot for the sake of the team, not to mention my own sanity. Maybe it's a slump, maybe I'm way more out of practice than I realize, maybe I was never that good to begin with, who knows. But my confidence has taken a hit, and this whole thing has even (*gasp*) tarnished my love for the game. I want it back, dammit!

I know some of you have been through similar things. What helped?
Click to expand...

If you're having this problem only on league nights or since you started playing league, please consider this...

Team play is a different psychological mindset than playing as an individual. When playing on a team you have a responsibility to others besides yourself, and on a successful team, cooperation is key. Cooperation in improving your game and making strategic decisions that help the team and not necessarily yourself. Playing on a team with a proper team attitude and team approach is great. Playing on a team without these things can be a real drag.

Also, there are differences in various league systems. There's a different "strategy" to team play in the APA than in other systems. My experience has been that in other systems the goal is to improve, while in APA it's to not have your average (they call it your handicap) go up. Or more specifically in APA, you want to improve your skill while keeping your average down...so you don't end up being arbitrarily rated above your actual skill level and have to break up your team.

I've always liked team play; many hate it. For me there's not much better than winning the deciding game in a team match in an important team event.
 
Thanks all. Spot on about eyesight. You may be on to something, as I had to replace my glasses while overseas and the replacement pair was incorrectly made. I have the correct prescription now, but apparently it may take my brain a couple of years to completely re-adjust to what it's seeing. But, hey, they sure were cheap! Maybe the slight distortion is more of a handicap than I thought--certainly makes sense.

Regarding team play, yes, definitely a different dynamic. I liked it, though. It was a very friendly league. We got to know the other teams quite well, and it was commonplace to let minor infractions slide, as you knew the other team would return the favor. We'd offer to buy an opposing player a drink if they ran in to a particularly bad spot of luck, like running 7 balls and improbably scratching on the 8. There was no pressure to sandbag (at least not for our team), as the spots were more or less nonexistent in the scheme of things. Sure, there are always a couple of jerks in every crowd, but they were easy to ignore. Pretty much the team strategy was to pot as many balls and win as many games as we could, and look good doing it. (VNEA rules, points scored for balls potted, even if you don't win).

In other words, if I can get my mojo back (at least a little bit), I'd probably re-join that league.
 
Bicycles can be unforgiving.
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At your next optometry appointment ask them to check you for lazy eye. It's not part of a standard exam; you have to ask for it.

You can see obvious cases of lazy eye when a person's pupils clearly aren't lined up correctly. But many people have a slight case of lazy eye that isn't apparent by just looking at them. You can live just fine with a slight case of lazy eye; you just can't focus as well as you should be able to. I didn't realize I had lazy eye until a began playing pool at age 58. The doc said "You've probably always had it. Your brain just compensated for it. But pool requires precise and constant foucs...which you can't do."

Simple "prism correction" lenses eliminated the problem.
 
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