Man pool players used to be good!
- Thread starter JC
- Start date
My preferred statement about losing a game (or even missing a shot) is "maybe I just needed some chalk". I like it so much I use it myself when I am having a particularly bad night! 
JC
Coos Cues
What goes around comes around you'll see whippersnapper!!!
td
I'm no kid, I've been playing for over 40 years. And I'm playing the best pool of my life right now. I was never better. And when you beat me down I have no reason to believe I could ever have won in the past. But there's still hope for the future if I pay attention to why it happened.
JC
" I used to play better"
Man I dunno, I tend to think that statement is a bunch of BS, however truth is I'm 28 years old and I really don't play as good as I did 2 or 3 years ago. I just stoped playing all the time, stopped practicing. I have been playing less in the last couple years because I have other hobbies, but I can't imagine taking like 10 or more years off I wouldn't be able to make a ball! I can buy it when someone older says this, you can tell by what patterns and shots they choose how they might have once played. I would say 90 percent of the time people are exagerating but sometimes it might be true.
I should add, there was a time when I was beating everyone locally winning all the little tournaments etc. Now some of these guys beat me and I can't help but think "I used to play better than you." lol
Man I dunno, I tend to think that statement is a bunch of BS, however truth is I'm 28 years old and I really don't play as good as I did 2 or 3 years ago. I just stoped playing all the time, stopped practicing. I have been playing less in the last couple years because I have other hobbies, but I can't imagine taking like 10 or more years off I wouldn't be able to make a ball! I can buy it when someone older says this, you can tell by what patterns and shots they choose how they might have once played. I would say 90 percent of the time people are exagerating but sometimes it might be true.
I should add, there was a time when I was beating everyone locally winning all the little tournaments etc. Now some of these guys beat me and I can't help but think "I used to play better than you." lol
Every pool has That Guy who used to play ten speeds better.
I'll see him in the pool hall week after week and he doesn't seem to ever get "it" back.
To me, it's like riding a bicycle for the most part. I might play 10% worse after a break because I lost my touch and feel for speed control. But some of these guys are talking like they play 250% worse.
What I can't fathom is... how is anyone comfortable with the idea that they're past their prime, and simple accepting it rather than working to fix it? I'd HATE to think I could never go up from here and am actually slowly getting worse. Fυck that. You'd need to waterboard me to get me to admit I'm past my peak, even if it were true.
I'll see him in the pool hall week after week and he doesn't seem to ever get "it" back.
To me, it's like riding a bicycle for the most part. I might play 10% worse after a break because I lost my touch and feel for speed control. But some of these guys are talking like they play 250% worse.
What I can't fathom is... how is anyone comfortable with the idea that they're past their prime, and simple accepting it rather than working to fix it? I'd HATE to think I could never go up from here and am actually slowly getting worse. Fυck that. You'd need to waterboard me to get me to admit I'm past my peak, even if it were true.
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25 years ago when I played every day I was about 25 % better then now that I'm older and only play once or twice a week. But I do have my moments when I will play for short periods as good as i used to.:thumbup:
Banks
Banned
I don't think that comfort has anything to do with it.. it's more of an acceptance.
My dad had a poker night every other Thursday when I was a kid, many of the guys lived on the same street. When it started out, they smoked cigarettes, cigars, had chips, beers and whatever else! Oh, the good times! Eventually, somebody here or there would quit smoking.. somebody would bring vegetable sticks and maybe there'd be some sodas. They'd rib each other once their meds started becoming part of the conversation, and he'd even get a kick out of it on the golf course. Moving on, I think they all quit smoking.. light beer was the norm(if they still drank), low-fat/low-sodium snacks(or healthy stuff), and everybody had their pills and doctor visits. Only a handful of those guys are still around. There ain't a damn thing you can do about age/time.. some can "slow" the affects, but for most it doesn't give you a warning that you're going to get arthritis, or the shakes, or can't be on your feet as long.
Enjoy it while you can.. some day you'll be the old guy. May we be lucky enough to have "it" last longer.
I used to be awesome at answering questions but not so much anymore since I've been playing more pool! I think that when players start out they have lower standards of what a good player is so they think they are pretty good after a while. Then they don't play for a while and then play someone who knows how to play shape and safeties and think they are no longer as good as they used to be instead of just not as good as they used to think they were. Or they just like to lie like a bedpisser!
While it is almost certainly true that many people were not as good as they remember being, it's probably true that many played better when they were younger. Eyesight, nerves, stamina, constant competition, and the ability to devote a lot more time to the game are a few reasons. When I was a kid I used to hang out in the pool hall literally all day every day when school was out. When you get older life gets in the way of total devotion to pool for many of us.
Most of us have a sort of a selective memory. We remember the good times, when we were in "dead stroke" and made everything we shot at and tend to forget the monotonous time when "they got all the rolls" and "we never had a shot"(except those 8 that you dogged). It's human nature. Let's face it, we all want to re-live those great moments we had totally forget the worse of times.
Sherm
Sherm
In general, anyone who says they used to be a good player, are banger level players. Especially the comment JohnnyT said about "I put myself through college". Only a banger says that.
If someone says they stink, those are the guys you have to watch out for.
Then there are the guys like me, who legitamitely stink, and are comfortable admitting it
Don't you think a really good player, maybe out hustling a little, may have heard that line too, and use it knowing that some shortstop is waiting to hear that? Like Paul Newman said, be careful with the unknowns.