what do you think? Can you measure your potential based on your high gear (to a certain point)? I'm curious to hear from some of the more seasoned people out there about this.
measuring potential using high gear?
- Thread starter Egg McDogit
- Start date
Potential ...
Yes, at times, we all catch glimpses of it, and the wise
player would make a mental note of at what times does
it appear to show up, like if it is when pressure is great
or not. BUT, the plain fact of it, is that those times are
far and few. What counts is your average level of play,
because consistency is the name of the game. There are
many many great shot makers around the country, but 1
or 2 great shots does not a Pool player make. I have seen
guys that can make fabulous shots at times, but they are
unable to continue their consistency, and end up being
broke. Even though a methodical consistent type player
may not be the most exciting to watch, they very often
come out on top.
I always bet on my 'average game', not my best game, that
way, I always know if I hit a gear, I can really put the pressure
on.
Yes, at times, we all catch glimpses of it, and the wise
player would make a mental note of at what times does
it appear to show up, like if it is when pressure is great
or not. BUT, the plain fact of it, is that those times are
far and few. What counts is your average level of play,
because consistency is the name of the game. There are
many many great shot makers around the country, but 1
or 2 great shots does not a Pool player make. I have seen
guys that can make fabulous shots at times, but they are
unable to continue their consistency, and end up being
broke. Even though a methodical consistent type player
may not be the most exciting to watch, they very often
come out on top.
I always bet on my 'average game', not my best game, that
way, I always know if I hit a gear, I can really put the pressure
on.
I agree; measuring skill/ability on high gear is sort of pointless. I'm sure everyone here would be an A player based on that. It would be just as logical to measure your skill on your worst of days when even the straight close shots are missed.
I think it's very hard to judge potential that way because every situation is different. Say I run a rack of 8 ball. Maybe I dropped 3 balls on the break and got an easy pattern from the start. What does that say about my potential? Only that I'm good at running out from easy positions. Make the situation more complicated, with clusters etc, and I'm no longer as good. This kind of variation makes it very hard to judge potential based on just a few good runs, IMO.
I always match up with people based on how I think Im going to play. I dont doubt myself or use my average game to match up. I may use people I played in the past to get an idea of how to play a certain person. I feel if you have to base your game on an average then you will basically become a nit and, therefore you hold yourself back. If you dont have a challenge than you wont get any better at pool. Hey if you rate your game on your high gear and you lose, can you say you didnt learn anything from the loss? No, you learned that much more and your game will improve.Egg McDogit said:
Using numbers, probably...
I think that if you correlate your high gear to some type of achievement, then it would be much more accurate.
I think your high run in straight pool (an actual achievement) would certainly be a measure of your potential. If your average run is 30-40 balls and your high run was 100. Then I would say that if you were in your "high gear" when you hit the 100, then you certainly would have a good idea of your potential. (A potential to be a consistent 100-ball runner).
Knowing that you are in the zone one day and not missing "much" might give you the "feeling" that you could beat the best...but we all know that this probably unlikely...
I guess what I'm saying is that I think that you may get a false idea of your potential, unless you correlate that high gear with a number or a real achievement...
I think that if you correlate your high gear to some type of achievement, then it would be much more accurate.
I think your high run in straight pool (an actual achievement) would certainly be a measure of your potential. If your average run is 30-40 balls and your high run was 100. Then I would say that if you were in your "high gear" when you hit the 100, then you certainly would have a good idea of your potential. (A potential to be a consistent 100-ball runner).
Knowing that you are in the zone one day and not missing "much" might give you the "feeling" that you could beat the best...but we all know that this probably unlikely...
I guess what I'm saying is that I think that you may get a false idea of your potential, unless you correlate that high gear with a number or a real achievement...
