Lost the feel for fun of the game

C

compman_74

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have been playing pool for quite sometime. I decide to join the APA and have a little fun. The first team that I was on I did well but of course wanted more success than I was having. That was about a year ago. Now I have watch and been instructed on how to make shots better, play position and safeties. I am a 3 but I have been total I shoot like a 4 or low 5. I have made a lot of people mad about my level and the fact that I can beat them but that is the name of the game to me.

The big issue is this past session my captain has decided to put me up against higher skill level players than I am used to. Like 6 or 7. Not that I do not mind playing these people and I can rattle them, which they have told me. This past session I have just had issues winning the matches. Not that I am not making good shots and pocketing balls (running about 4 to 5 at times constant) but when I miss the ball and there is no safety that I can play or just flat miss the shot that I should have made. My confidence has just seemed to dim and now I just blew a shot a Regional this time around. I know that it is October but do not know if they will have another tournament for it.

I think that I need a break from APA cause that I have lost the fun for the game. I love the competition but for me there is a since of fun. I have about 2 weeks before next session and I am looking for a new team. I know that I can only go up from here.

Just wanting to know if anyone had this happen and what did they do? I do not want to quit the game just get better.

Thanks for the advise.
 
The same thing happened to me. The key to me turning it around was to stop taking the game so serious. Remember that you play the game because its fun and you enjoy it. Don't stress over it so much and just enjoy it.


Sent from my RM-917_nam_usa_100 using Tapatalk
 
Don't quit the game, take a break if need be. Maybe even skip the next session. When I played APA years ago it was with a bunch of buddies of mine. The first 2-3 sessions were great, we all had a great time win or lose. Then we made it to the play-offs & everything changed. Half the guys were still in it to have fun but still win & the other half acted like we were under the lights & cameras of ESPN & became very demanding. It happens to just about everyone on every team in one way or another.

Take a break, get your focus back & remember why it is that you are playing league & what you want from the experience.
 
Don't

compman_74 said:
I have been playing pool for quite sometime. I decide to join the APA and have a little fun. The first team that I was on I did well but of course wanted more success than I was having. That was about a year ago. Now I have watch and been instructed on how to make shots better, play position and safeties. I am a 3 but I have been total I shoot like a 4 or low 5. I have made a lot of people mad about my level and the fact that I can beat them but that is the name of the game to me.

The big issue is this past session my captain has decided to put me up against higher skill level players than I am used to. Like 6 or 7. Not that I do not mind playing these people and I can rattle them, which they have told me. This past session I have just had issues winning the matches. Not that I am not making good shots and pocketing balls (running about 4 to 5 at times constant) but when I miss the ball and there is no safety that I can play or just flat miss the shot that I should have made. My confidence has just seemed to dim and now I just blew a shot a Regional this time around. I know that it is October but do not know if they will have another tournament for it.

I think that I need a break from APA cause that I have lost the fun for the game. I love the competition but for me there is a since of fun. I have about 2 weeks before next session and I am looking for a new team. I know that I can only go up from here.

Just wanting to know if anyone had this happen and what did they do? I do not want to quit the game just get better.

Thanks for the advise.
Click to expand...

I can tell you are down on yourself, it sounds like you feel you let your team down, but you did not. It may have been premature for your Captain to pit you against the tougher opponents but it is also a compliment that he thinks so highly of your potential. Feel good about your season and grow from it, some of those close matches in the past are going to start going in your favor, it seems that you are ready to improve by leaps over the next few seasons, don't retreat but attack!
 
Tournaments mean never having to say you're sorry.

Maybe it's not so much the game, maybe it's the league format in general. Is the fact that you feel obligated to show up on a regular basis on a certain night of the week conflicting with other aspects of your life?

When I was in my early 20's I started bowling, and ended up playing in leagues. My first winter league was something like 20 weeks long and ran late, which made getting up for work at 5:30 a real drag. As a result, it started to feel like a second job. Shortly thereafter I started playing pool in the same bowling alley, and really fell in love with the game. That was the end of my bowling.

Years later, I started playing USPPA 9-ball tournaments, and had nothing but fun. At times I would run around here playing in three a week, plus the occasional semi-annual Reno USPPA events. The attraction of a tournament-based format is that it's totally up to me when and where I play. Now I'm doing the same thing, only under the WorldPPA.com system. If I'm busy, I just skip a week. Also, if I'm playing poorly, I'm not letting anyone else down.

Ken
 
don't worry, be happy!

Remember, it's only league - single games, short races, etc. are poor measure of ones abilities. Sometimes the balls roll easy, sometime they don't.

Stay focused on improving your game. The rewards will come.
 
Relax and watch

Sit at home during your free time, and get into relaxing state of mind and watch pool on youtube. Watch Great players, guess what they are going to do, it will help your game.

See shots and practice them in your mind throughout the day, or before you go to sleep.

I don't play APA so I don't know how it works. I play in tourneys and play BCA league. If I got to the table and ran 5 or 6 constantly I wouldn't win very many games. It is the kiss of death to run that many off the table and not finish. Practice finishing. Put three balls on the table and run them, if you succeed go to 4, and keep moving up a ball each time. If you miss go back to 3.

A friend of mine has the best statement I have ever heard. "Be Brutally Honest with your game" If you can't get out play safety early. No your odds and your abilities.
 
I quit playing APA for reasons but I didn't quit playing and it seemed to make the game more fun again. I quit APA going on ten years ago and haven't looked back. I decided league just isn't for me. Theres no law that says you have to be in a league to shoot pool or to learn more about the game. Play the game the way that makes you happiest.
 
Personally, I've found that the times when I'm about to break through to the next level are when I struggle the most. I think that's just the nature of the game, and it's a hump that all players need to get over to reach the next level.

For example in eight ball, once you start to be able to clear more balls on your turn, it actually ends up helping your opponent by opening up the table for them.
In nine ball, your misses will be closer to the pocket, which leaves more easy shots for your opponent.

Try not to be overconfident or get frustrated with losses, and just keep improving through practice and eventually, the wins will start to pile up.
 
Hey Comp,

I went through the same thing for a little while in the APA - and my problem was that the game became more about winning than playing the way I like to play. I was giving up shots I love taking in practice (like banks) in order to win so two things happened:

-I lost because I wasn't being myself
-I felt bad for losing and giving up on my actual game.

Pool is about having fun - and it's your choice to let competition inhibit or exhibit that fun.

-Richard
 
check out a vnea league system, you line up lowest average against lowest average and then play several different players. Seems your feeling like your thrown to the wolfs and your captain does not rotate even though he may think it's best for the team.
Gotta have fun !!
 
I'm currently on 3 apa teams. Been the same for years. When I begin to get too serious or not having the fun it's meant to be I just take a break for a session. I play plenty on non league nights and taking things serious is for practice drills.

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XmarathonX said:
Don't quit the game, take a break if need be. Maybe even skip the next session. When I played APA years ago it was with a bunch of buddies of mine. The first 2-3 sessions were great, we all had a great time win or lose. Then we made it to the play-offs & everything changed. Half the guys were still in it to have fun but still win & the other half acted like we were under the lights & cameras of ESPN & became very demanding. It happens to just about everyone on every team in one way or another.
Click to expand...

I think this happens to a LOT of teams in a lot of different leagues.

Slider said:
Maybe it's not so much the game, maybe it's the league format in general. Is the fact that you feel obligated to show up on a regular basis on a certain night of the week conflicting with other aspects of your life?
The attraction of a tournament-based format is that it's totally up to me when and where I play. Now I'm doing the same thing, only under the WorldPPA.com system. If I'm busy, I just skip a week. Also, if I'm playing poorly, I'm not letting anyone else down.

Ken
Click to expand...

This is what I do now that I'm not playing leagues anymore.

Zphix said:
Hey Comp,

I went through the same thing for a little while in the APA - and my problem was that the game became more about winning than playing the way I like to play. I was giving up shots I love taking in practice (like banks) in order to win so two things happened:

-I lost because I wasn't being myself
-I felt bad for losing and giving up on my actual game.

Pool is about having fun - and it's your choice to let competition inhibit or exhibit that fun.

-Richard
Click to expand...

If you're going to stay in leagues...this is good advice.

Maniac
 
Strategy, strategy, strategy. As a lower ranked player going up against a guy who is several steps up from you if you run four or five balls on average all you've really done is made it easier for him. You're trying to knock the guy out with one punch in spite of not having a knockout punch in your arsenal. I once played a guy in a tennis tournament who was easily three times my speed but I noticed he had a temper. If I let him hit the ball he'd have made me eat it. So....for three sets I hit a drop shot, then a lob, drop shot then a lob, drop shot then a lob. For threeeeeee straight sets. I was no longer playing tennis I was playing psychological warfare. Made him bonkers. He broke two rackets, got points taken away because of his anger. He'd win individual points or games but I won the match. Talk to a superior coach and strategize to win the match and not just that game. Frustrate your opponent by maybe NOT pocketing balls. Shot makers die a slow death when they can't pull the trigger plus it's sooooooo much fun watching your opponent have a slow meltdown. That to me is the beauty of pool. You don't have to be the better shotmaker to win especially in a handicapped match. Just my opinion.
 
I felt the same way that OP felt when I was in a BCA league for a little over a year. I just stopped playing in any and all leagues and stopped playing tournaments as well. I even took a couple months off. It wasn't a conscious decision... I just didn't go out to the hall.

I was tired of playing the same people over and over, I was tired of dealing with hand-picked elite teams that would lay waste to everyone and go off to Vegas, tired tired tired of the gigantic pile of NiTTs that would pester any point of contention like Ahab all over that chalky guppy of his. In short... the atmosphere was less than sufferable,

After my hiatus, I just came back practicing. Yup... I was still stuck at the same level... solid C. Started playing straight pool and didn't like it. Then some old fellow invited me to play a weird game called One Pocket... I was hooked. He was patient as a glacier and merciless as a human resource generalist. Week after week I schlepped my way into that mans arena (a 9 foot Big G Gandy shimmed to the gills) and suffered his calm placid voice saying "Ya left me a shot. That's gonna cost you a few balls." Yeah... loads of pain, but the good kind. He would never tell me anything unless I pestered him. I finally just gave up trying to formulate good questions and just paid attention to what the man was doing. Got better immediately. Amazing eh?

Presently I am about twice as good as I was when I started by playing. People call me an A and that is how I am ranked in the local tournaments, but I would say I am a strong B consistently. On rare occasions I run multiple racks in practice without missing. But everyone that has ever found deadstroke knows that it comes around when it comes around. I found my pocket billiards happy place though.

I suggest that OP finds their own happy place. It will always make your game better and make you appreciate the game more. Change halls, play more tournaments, play different games (I suggest one pocket) and learn.... keep learning.

Regards,

Lesh
 
compman_74 said:
I have been playing pool for quite sometime. I decide to join the APA and have a little fun. The first team that I was on I did well but of course wanted more success than I was having. That was about a year ago. Now I have watch and been instructed on how to make shots better, play position and safeties. I am a 3 but I have been total I shoot like a 4 or low 5. I have made a lot of people mad about my level and the fact that I can beat them but that is the name of the game to me.

The big issue is this past session my captain has decided to put me up against higher skill level players than I am used to. Like 6 or 7. Not that I do not mind playing these people and I can rattle them, which they have told me. This past session I have just had issues winning the matches. Not that I am not making good shots and pocketing balls (running about 4 to 5 at times constant) but when I miss the ball and there is no safety that I can play or just flat miss the shot that I should have made. My confidence has just seemed to dim and now I just blew a shot a Regional this time around. I know that it is October but do not know if they will have another tournament for it.

I think that I need a break from APA cause that I have lost the fun for the game. I love the competition but for me there is a since of fun. I have about 2 weeks before next session and I am looking for a new team. I know that I can only go up from here.

Just wanting to know if anyone had this happen and what did they do? I do not want to quit the game just get better.

Thanks for the advise.
Click to expand...

It is either APA, gambling, or play for fun with your buddies no other choice. If you enjoy meeting people, socialize and drink, and have the time to commit APA is the choice. If you want to play serious pool and get better, light gambling is the way, play more often.
 
Everyone gets different things out of pool, and what makes it fun for them.

- Some just like to beat other people at something they're good at.
- Some just like the social thing, going out to meet friends weekly.
- A few like the game just for itself and can have fun playing alone.
- Some love winning money.

There's no one right answer, what makes pool fun for one guy might not for another.
For example "don't take it so serious" might help one player,
but for another player it's the wrong answer, you might actually enjoy
the game more if you devoted yourself to it and took it REALLY serious. Or not.

Just try to be honest with yourself and ask "What do I like about this?"
and then you will know the answer as to how to make it fun again.

For me, I like beating people and being very good at pool, I don't care about money
or winning tournaments or going to vegas, and I do like socializing (no real life outside of pool).
So what keeps it fun for me is to meet buddies regularly to shoot, and play hard
so I don't lose and get pissed. Practicing alone doesn't do much for me,
league is ok but mostly I enjoy it for socializing.
 
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