Lmao look who's talking
My game is GONE!
- Thread starter Straightpool_99
- Start date
Pool is pretty complicated, no matter how easy it looks or feels. If you take an extended break, you will often have to start over with a lot of fundamentals. Your strength control will also be off as well as your muscle memory of dealing with deflection. It will come back though, slowly but surely.
I think the key thing is to not panic here. It sounds like you've only played a handful of times and it's already in your head that you can't play anymore. If you can, I'd just dedicate a week and play every day and don't play anyone. Just solo practice. If you aren't feeling normal, or nearly, after that, then a good coaching session is in order. But the more you say to yourself "I can't play anymore", the more it will be true.
Make a list if what is and what is not working.
If its pocketing shots, analyzing geometry, predicting positions, shooting straight those are pool basics.
If its my back hurts when I twist, go see a doctor and focus on that.
Coming back to the game I always adjust my goals. When I was younger I valued quantity. Now that I am older I am extremely selective about how I use table time.
It makes no sense to practice shots I know. its like hearing an engineer say water is wet.
If its pocketing shots, analyzing geometry, predicting positions, shooting straight those are pool basics.
If its my back hurts when I twist, go see a doctor and focus on that.
Coming back to the game I always adjust my goals. When I was younger I valued quantity. Now that I am older I am extremely selective about how I use table time.
It makes no sense to practice shots I know. its like hearing an engineer say water is wet.
That has to be the worst advice ever.
I severely injured my back in 2012, between the pain, nerve damage and pain pills I finally gave up playing. After they changed my mess I started shooting again....couldn't play to save my ass. Couple friends have helped me, had to change my stance entirely and start from scratch. Only thing on my side is I know all the dumb mistakes to avoid and what to work on. I'm shooting the best pool I ever have, took a lot of work though. Don't give up, it may suck now but will be worth it
I did that after 5 back operations. Rebuilt everything.
I am 75 and instead of running an occasional 30 in straight pool a goodAlmost a year and a half since I last played. Been playing a couple of times a week for 2 weeks. So 4 times but for long sessions, entire days. Enough to get a good feel for the table, normally. No touch, no shotmaking. Funny thing, can't make a long shot to save my life and keep overcutting shots. WTF is up with that. I've had some breaks in my pool game, this is the longest one, and I don't think my game is coming back this time. It took a long time when I had a 8 month break but this time it's just too far gone. Something has happened that didn't happen before. I'm realizing that my base level is SOO low, there can't be any talent there, what so ever. How I got up to where I was, I have no idea.
I'm realizing that I'm chasing my losses if I'm going after that level again, it may take years to get back up.
Giving it two months, I think. If I can't get to at least get to some sort of runout level, I think I'm quitting for good. No sense throwing good money after bad. I've allready given up on snooker. Tried playing line up, and it was frankly so embarrasing, that I had to quit. I think some of the regulars thought I had gone blind. It's hard to explain how one can drop in level in such a catastrophic fashion. Even with the break, others were at least potting balls. Some players, you couldn't tell had a break at all. Must be naturals, I guess. If I'm going back to snooker, I have to play where nobody knows me or wear some sort of disguise, I think.
I still love the game, but maybe I'll be a railbird from now on. Learn to play better poker, or chess maybe? Thanks for bearing with my long whiny rant.
run now is high teens. The eyes go, but still love the game and still beat
most I play at straight pool. 9 ball, thats another story. Also forgiving Brunswick pockets help.
Hang in there, don't quit
A ray of light...
Thanks for all the encouraging messages and advice.
I played a few hours today with the intention not to get mad or sad, no matter how badly it went and to make a real effort to play the very best I could and use as much of the advice given that I could. Ok, I didn't play lights out. I experimented with various advice in warmup and played 3 races to 10 against the 9 ball ghost on a fairly tight GC. I lost 4-10, 4-10, 5-10. Using a 3 point rule, 9 on the spot, type break and not pattern racking or soft breaking.
It may not seem too bad to some, but it's WAAAY down from before Covid, at which time I played only against the 10 ball ghost. Believe it or not, but it is also way better than last time I played a few days ago. At that time I'd have killed for this level of play, I wasn't even close. I didn't write down my results then, but I can't remember running more than 4 balls at any time... Some of the stuff you guys suggested must have actually gotten through my thick skull, lol, because the improvement was remarkable. At times I looked like a pool player, and I had a couple of runouts where the ball was on a string, then inexplicably playing very poorly right after. Many of the failed runouts had me making two or three balls. I also missed twice with ball in hand. THAT hasn't happened in over a decade, I think. The thing that is the most puzzling is the fact that to me it seems I'm doing the same thing every time, but I'm getting wildly different results. The template rack was being very mean to me. It was worn out, and kept throwing balls in pairs to the rail, giving me some very difficult runouts, but I did run a couple of the easy ones.
Most importantly, I had a great time just practising by myself. It's kind of interesting to try to figure out what I'm doing wrong, like a little puzzle. Cueball control seems like it's coming back, shotmaking has a way to go. The break has never been a strong suit, and now it's pathetic, but overall I'm playing at a level that is at least ok enough not to make me despair.
Thanks for all the encouraging messages and advice.
I played a few hours today with the intention not to get mad or sad, no matter how badly it went and to make a real effort to play the very best I could and use as much of the advice given that I could. Ok, I didn't play lights out. I experimented with various advice in warmup and played 3 races to 10 against the 9 ball ghost on a fairly tight GC. I lost 4-10, 4-10, 5-10. Using a 3 point rule, 9 on the spot, type break and not pattern racking or soft breaking.
It may not seem too bad to some, but it's WAAAY down from before Covid, at which time I played only against the 10 ball ghost. Believe it or not, but it is also way better than last time I played a few days ago. At that time I'd have killed for this level of play, I wasn't even close. I didn't write down my results then, but I can't remember running more than 4 balls at any time... Some of the stuff you guys suggested must have actually gotten through my thick skull, lol, because the improvement was remarkable. At times I looked like a pool player, and I had a couple of runouts where the ball was on a string, then inexplicably playing very poorly right after. Many of the failed runouts had me making two or three balls. I also missed twice with ball in hand. THAT hasn't happened in over a decade, I think. The thing that is the most puzzling is the fact that to me it seems I'm doing the same thing every time, but I'm getting wildly different results. The template rack was being very mean to me. It was worn out, and kept throwing balls in pairs to the rail, giving me some very difficult runouts, but I did run a couple of the easy ones.
Most importantly, I had a great time just practising by myself. It's kind of interesting to try to figure out what I'm doing wrong, like a little puzzle. Cueball control seems like it's coming back, shotmaking has a way to go. The break has never been a strong suit, and now it's pathetic, but overall I'm playing at a level that is at least ok enough not to make me despair.
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Much more encouraging than your first post! Just a WAG, but inconsistency is often the result of the final forward stroke of the cue. That will show on those long straight in shots which is why I recommended them. I suspect that you are sometimes making that stroke with a nice smooth gathering of force and sometimes you are starting that forward motion with a jerk.
Make that jerk go away and life will be gooder! (or maybe I am totally in left field poking around in the dark! (grin))
Hu
Nyquil
Well-known member
I wouldn't focus on run outs. You get pissed you didn't clear the table and impacts the rest of your game and games moving forward imo. As long as your still enjoying the game, stick at it. You mentioned issues with long shots what table size you playing on? Is this different from what you were playing before?Almost a year and a half since I last played. Been playing a couple of times a week for 2 weeks. So 4 times but for long sessions, entire days. Enough to get a good feel for the table, normally. No touch, no shotmaking. Funny thing, can't make a long shot to save my life and keep overcutting shots. WTF is up with that. I've had some breaks in my pool game, this is the longest one, and I don't think my game is coming back this time. It took a long time when I had a 8 month break but this time it's just too far gone. Something has happened that didn't happen before. I'm realizing that my base level is SOO low, there can't be any talent there, what so ever. How I got up to where I was, I have no idea.
I'm realizing that I'm chasing my losses if I'm going after that level again, it may take years to get back up.
Giving it two months, I think. If I can't get to at least get to some sort of runout level, I think I'm quitting for good. No sense throwing good money after bad. I've allready given up on snooker. Tried playing line up, and it was frankly so embarrasing, that I had to quit. I think some of the regulars thought I had gone blind. It's hard to explain how one can drop in level in such a catastrophic fashion. Even with the break, others were at least potting balls. Some players, you couldn't tell had a break at all. Must be naturals, I guess. If I'm going back to snooker, I have to play where nobody knows me or wear some sort of disguise, I think
I still love the game, but maybe I'll be a railbird from now on. Learn to play better poker, or chess maybe? Thanks for bearing with my long whiny rant.
Allison goes to Mark Wilson once a year to work on her fundamentals stance, grip, bridge, stroke etc. If Allison goes to an instructor once a year for her fundamentals and she has won everything in pool that she could and dominated women’s pool for years then that should tell everyone how important the fundamentals really are. Check out Mark Wilson on YouTube it’s 3 videos that is a little over an hour . If you can take a lesson with Mark.
Oh good I’m glad it’s coming back. I fully understand. Right now mine is certainly gone. I haven’t played 5 hours in the past 5 years. Probably my longest layoff in 40 years. I know there’s a baseline that I won’t fall below. But it’s scary to see that for a few days. Comes back tho. Faster than it happened the first time learning to play.
on that note I’m in the mood to start playing again, I’m going to set up my table soon, maybe in a month or so I’ll get that handled.
good luck, keep us posted on how the come back comes!!
best
Fatboy
MurrayNevada
Well-known member
I'm getting back to it after over 50 years. First two weeks were brutal. After a few weeks of a couple of hours each day it's getting better. Long shots and rail shots are especially hard. Then again, they were hard 50 years ago.
You have just lost your muscle memory. Now is good time re-program it. Shoot easy stuff where you can focus just mechanics of stroke. Then practice or play after it. After 2-3 weeks youre gonna be close to normal game. Consistent results need repeatable stroke and there is no other way to get it back than quality practice and some repetitiion.
Can't drop too low.