old players vs young players

[3andstop]

I'm 59. I've played since I was 8. My dad would bring me to the club he belonged to every Sunday and we would play all day on an old 5x10. Then he bought an 8 foot table for the house.

I owned and 18 table room with bar for a while, gave the game up for 14 years never caring if I ever played again.

Started playing some old friends in my basement where I have a GCIII, but my desire is gone. Totally gone. I enjoy playing, but the killer is gone. I couldn't go down to the basement and practice on a bet. I get bored out of my mind in minutes. It's funny, because a part of me wants to get back in stroke. That is until my body asks me who the hell I'm kidding.

Heart attack, arthritis, bad knees and back, can't see $h!t anymore, but I do enjoy the time playing. On a good day I'll run a 40 or 50 something, but for the most part my mind wanders and it just ain't there like it used to be.

 

[jay helfert]

do i keep practicing or just quit? i am 65 yrs old and have played off & on since i was 18 yrs old....so i am an old player. i learned from a very good player, the best in my town. we played 1 pocket, bank and straight pool. i got very good.....no one wanted to play (you know the drill). then i quit for a number of yrs and started back in my late 30's....i was even better...really at a pro level. (banks, jump shots, nothing really hard to make)...then, after 10 yrs or so, i quit again. i started back 2 yrs ago (age 63)......what happened? i see these players like archer, varner and others getting older and losing the "touch". i practice, buy dvds etc. and although i am about 75% of what i used to be, i just seem to not get back where i was. and there lies the question...at an old age, do we just lose the touch or our muscles can't remember what to do? the younger players need to reap while they can! do i keep practicing or just quit? i just love this game!

I'm your age and will never shoot as straight as I did at 25 or 30. But my composure is much better and I haven't forgotten anything. In fact may have learned a few new tricks. I just don't seem to have the motivation that I did 25 years ago. I go months without hitting a ball sometimes. That's the big diff for me. Weird but being in the Philippines gets me re-motivated again. I see the enthusiasm in these little poolrooms and the players all itching to see me play and that gets my blood boiling, just like in the old days. Pool is still a test and a challenge every time I get on the table. It's one good way to find out what I've got left in the tank.

 

[oldplayer]

want to thank evryone for the encouragement and advice to "hang in there"....i really love the game too much to quit! and thanks to you, last night i won 5 games of race to 5 for $20/race on a game they call "15 ball" (like 9 ball but only 6 balls and the 15 ball is the "game" ball)...their ages were from 25 yrs to 35 yrs old.....makes me fell young again...kicked their ass!

 

[maha]

we all deteriorate with age. every year you will play a little worse. and the same with everything else in your life. we have to live with that.

if you let your body deteriorate then that is your fault. i see all the old friends that smoked and or still do, eat crap and let their bodies fail, and they are helpless to perform. it is a personal choice of how you want your later life to go.

if your in the 60,s and 70,s there is no reason not to be athletic still.