Flip_dat_Quarta
Banned
So this is long and boring. If you're looking for anything interesting you should just move along. I just felt like writing. Sorry lol.
My long term (5+ years) pool goal is to win a monthly $500 added bar box tournament.
I don't really have a reason for this post other than I felt like writing my goal down.
I don't know about your neck of the woods but around here there are some pretty serious monthly bar box tournaments throughout the year. The entry fees are usually $40 plus Calcutta and there are always 30-64 very good players. Some go for up to $500 in the Calcutta. If you win or even place in these tournaments you're a very strong player. It's not uncommon to see Shannon Murphy, Shane Winters, Danny Smith, Alex Olinger, Billy Thorpe, Shawn Putnam, Adam Smith, John Hennessee and others show up to compete.
Here's my story:
I grew up with a pool table at my parents house. It was a small 7 footer with wide pockets that was never level. I played with my brothers and friends but I never knew anybody that actually knew how to the play the game so I never learned anything other than a stop shot and follow shot.
I liked pool though. I was very competitive with my friends. I would occasionally get trick shot books from the library and try to learn the easier ones with my friends and I would watch women's 9-ball when it was on TV but that was the extent of my pool playing as a kid.
I learned how to pocket balls and I naturally developed solid fundamentals. I just never knew a damn thing about cue ball control. I would also go months or years without touching a cue so it wasn't like I was constantly playing. I would rarely ever play for more than an hour or so.
So then I left my parents house in 2004 and went to college for 4 years where I never played any pool. In fact I never played pool for more than once or twice a year until 2012.
In 2012 I became single and started venturing out to local bars to socialize and pick up chicks. I found a bar that had a pool table that was always full and a few C level players that were fun to compete with. I had pretty good natural ability and I was very competitive so I kept coming back and trying to win.
I made some small improvements but I was gaining motivation. I was determined to get better but I never thought to join a league or buy a cue or go to an actual pool hall or anything like that. I was content just drinking and playing once a week at the bar.
By the time 2013 came around a new bar near me opened up and they bought several diamond bar boxes and starting running monthly tournaments. My friend introduced me to the place and told me that I should watch the tournament. So I showed up and just watched for several hours.
I was amazed at how well every single player played. They all seemed like pros lol. I watched a guy run a three pack right in front of me. I watched as they so effortlessly played three rail shape and knew exactly where the cue ball was going. I was so amazed that I fell in love with pool that day. This is the day I started taking pool seriously.
So over the next year I bought a cue and played more and more and watched a lot of pool and studied how english worked. Then I watched several instructional videos online and kept soaking in knowledge until I knew an incredible amount of knowledge for someone that couldn't run 4 balls lol.
I eventually joined a league and quickly moved up from an APA 4 to a 7 within a year an a half. I still wasn't satisfied because all the league players were a joke.
I started playing in the monthly tournaments in 2014 and I was going 2 and out every time and feeling very embarrassed. It was probably a waste of money but I figured I was going to be there to watch so I might as well play. Plus I had a good job and $40 wasn't much to me.
In 2015 I played more and more tournaments and eventually quit league and started actually going to pool halls and I bought a table for my house. This was a game changer. I started playing a lot better and doing a lot of low stakes gambling. My game has kept improving pretty steadily.
Now it's 2016 and I play pretty good. There are a lot of players that know who I am. But I'm still a nobody. I can't win a monthly tournament. I rarely ever even get bid on in the Calcutta. Lately though, I have been showing up and have been on the better half of the tournament players. I run racks occasionally and usually get out when I should but I still make my fair share of dumb mistakes like most amateurs. I usually win 2 matches per tournament however my play is very inconsistent. I start off strong however I always end up sitting too long and completely sucking later in the tourney.
Last year I upset about five or six A level players in tournaments. People are constantly asking me how I've improved so fast. And several of the players that used to beat me I give weight to now. I've definitely improved faster than anyone else I know.
Regardless, I want to win a monthly added. I know I can do it if I put in the time. I just need to stay motivated and really really want it! It's just crazy to me that most of these players have been playing competitively for 20+ years and I'm right there nipping at their heels.
Now that I've wrote this out it amazes me how far I've come. I am now one of the players that new players watch. I've come a long way since I was last sitting around watching my first tournament with my jaw on the floor but I still have a long road ahead if I want to get to where I need to be.
At this point it's much harder to improve and I often question if I have the motivation and dedication required to reach my goal. All I can say is I'm going to take it one step at a time and try not to plateau for very long. Even if it's slow, I work toward constant improvement.
Anyways, I was just thinking about my game and decided to write out my goal so that it's clear where I want to be in the long term. Thanks for reading and I hope I didn't bore anybody too much but I did warn you lol. Feel free comment or offer advice on whatever you want. Wish me luck I can always use it!
My long term (5+ years) pool goal is to win a monthly $500 added bar box tournament.
I don't really have a reason for this post other than I felt like writing my goal down.
I don't know about your neck of the woods but around here there are some pretty serious monthly bar box tournaments throughout the year. The entry fees are usually $40 plus Calcutta and there are always 30-64 very good players. Some go for up to $500 in the Calcutta. If you win or even place in these tournaments you're a very strong player. It's not uncommon to see Shannon Murphy, Shane Winters, Danny Smith, Alex Olinger, Billy Thorpe, Shawn Putnam, Adam Smith, John Hennessee and others show up to compete.
Here's my story:
I grew up with a pool table at my parents house. It was a small 7 footer with wide pockets that was never level. I played with my brothers and friends but I never knew anybody that actually knew how to the play the game so I never learned anything other than a stop shot and follow shot.
I liked pool though. I was very competitive with my friends. I would occasionally get trick shot books from the library and try to learn the easier ones with my friends and I would watch women's 9-ball when it was on TV but that was the extent of my pool playing as a kid.
I learned how to pocket balls and I naturally developed solid fundamentals. I just never knew a damn thing about cue ball control. I would also go months or years without touching a cue so it wasn't like I was constantly playing. I would rarely ever play for more than an hour or so.
So then I left my parents house in 2004 and went to college for 4 years where I never played any pool. In fact I never played pool for more than once or twice a year until 2012.
In 2012 I became single and started venturing out to local bars to socialize and pick up chicks. I found a bar that had a pool table that was always full and a few C level players that were fun to compete with. I had pretty good natural ability and I was very competitive so I kept coming back and trying to win.
I made some small improvements but I was gaining motivation. I was determined to get better but I never thought to join a league or buy a cue or go to an actual pool hall or anything like that. I was content just drinking and playing once a week at the bar.
By the time 2013 came around a new bar near me opened up and they bought several diamond bar boxes and starting running monthly tournaments. My friend introduced me to the place and told me that I should watch the tournament. So I showed up and just watched for several hours.
I was amazed at how well every single player played. They all seemed like pros lol. I watched a guy run a three pack right in front of me. I watched as they so effortlessly played three rail shape and knew exactly where the cue ball was going. I was so amazed that I fell in love with pool that day. This is the day I started taking pool seriously.
So over the next year I bought a cue and played more and more and watched a lot of pool and studied how english worked. Then I watched several instructional videos online and kept soaking in knowledge until I knew an incredible amount of knowledge for someone that couldn't run 4 balls lol.
I eventually joined a league and quickly moved up from an APA 4 to a 7 within a year an a half. I still wasn't satisfied because all the league players were a joke.
I started playing in the monthly tournaments in 2014 and I was going 2 and out every time and feeling very embarrassed. It was probably a waste of money but I figured I was going to be there to watch so I might as well play. Plus I had a good job and $40 wasn't much to me.
In 2015 I played more and more tournaments and eventually quit league and started actually going to pool halls and I bought a table for my house. This was a game changer. I started playing a lot better and doing a lot of low stakes gambling. My game has kept improving pretty steadily.
Now it's 2016 and I play pretty good. There are a lot of players that know who I am. But I'm still a nobody. I can't win a monthly tournament. I rarely ever even get bid on in the Calcutta. Lately though, I have been showing up and have been on the better half of the tournament players. I run racks occasionally and usually get out when I should but I still make my fair share of dumb mistakes like most amateurs. I usually win 2 matches per tournament however my play is very inconsistent. I start off strong however I always end up sitting too long and completely sucking later in the tourney.
Last year I upset about five or six A level players in tournaments. People are constantly asking me how I've improved so fast. And several of the players that used to beat me I give weight to now. I've definitely improved faster than anyone else I know.
Regardless, I want to win a monthly added. I know I can do it if I put in the time. I just need to stay motivated and really really want it! It's just crazy to me that most of these players have been playing competitively for 20+ years and I'm right there nipping at their heels.
Now that I've wrote this out it amazes me how far I've come. I am now one of the players that new players watch. I've come a long way since I was last sitting around watching my first tournament with my jaw on the floor but I still have a long road ahead if I want to get to where I need to be.
At this point it's much harder to improve and I often question if I have the motivation and dedication required to reach my goal. All I can say is I'm going to take it one step at a time and try not to plateau for very long. Even if it's slow, I work toward constant improvement.
Anyways, I was just thinking about my game and decided to write out my goal so that it's clear where I want to be in the long term. Thanks for reading and I hope I didn't bore anybody too much but I did warn you lol. Feel free comment or offer advice on whatever you want. Wish me luck I can always use it!
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