OLD THREAD: I'm sick of playing pool... :(

Roy Steffensen

Roy Steffensen

locksmith
Silver Member
Pool has been my biggest passion for so many years now, and I've spent countless hours practicing and playing this game. I've had the pleasure of travelling around the world playing pool. I've played in qualifiers for the World Championships, Eurotour's, Derby City Classic and in front of thousand people at a shopping mall in Manila.

I've met hundreds of great people, made so many friends, and I really do love the pool family.

But, I feel I've reached a level where I can't make any more progress in my game, without sacrificing too much, and it really saddens me.

To play pool isn't fun for me anymore. I can't find any joy in practing, and I hate to compete now because my game is getting weaker every day, and has done so the last 2 years. I miss balls I know I should make, and it makes me uncomfortable at the table.

I know the only way to get back to play ok again is to put in even more hours, more dicipline and spark that good feeling of winning and playing good again.

But to be honest, I practiced so hard for a couple of years and jumped several levels in my game, putting in 3, 4 and 5 hours a day, and I really can't see me doing that again.

The last 2 years I've played in less than 10 tournaments, and I've practiced about same amount of hours in 2 years as I did in 2 months when pool was everything.

I still love hanging around the pool family, and I really, really, really wish the desire to play comes back to me again...

I know a lot of people who have been away from pool for some years and then returned, I just never thought I would be one of them. I thought pool would always be there.

I'm still planning a trip to America again for some pool-tournaments, but maybe I will just be a fan at a WPBA - event or something :)

Just wanted to share it with you and hoping someone who "hit the wall" themselves can share some stories :)

Thanks
 
Roy Steffensen said:
Pool has been my biggest passion for so many years now, and I've spent countless hours practicing and playing this game. I've had the pleasure of travelling around the world playing pool. I've played in qualifiers for the World Championships, Eurotour's, Derby City Classic and in front of thousand people at a shopping mall in Manila.

I've met hundreds of great people, made so many friends, and I really do love the pool family.

But, I feel I've reached a level where I can't make any more progress in my game, without sacrificing too much, and it really saddens me.

To play pool isn't fun for me anymore. I can't find any joy in practing, and I hate to compete now because my game is getting weaker every day, and has done so the last 2 years. I miss balls I know I should make, and it makes me uncomfortable at the table.

I know the only way to get back to play ok again is to put in even more hours, more dicipline and spark that good feeling of winning and playing good again.

But to be honest, I practiced so hard for a couple of years and jumped several levels in my game, putting in 3, 4 and 5 hours a day, and I really can't see me doing that again.

The last 2 years I've played in less than 10 tournaments, and I've practiced about same amount of hours in 2 years as I did in 2 months when pool was everything.

I still love hanging around the pool family, and I really, really, really wish the desire to play comes back to me again...

I know a lot of people who have been away from pool for some years and then returned, I just never thought I would be one of them. I thought pool would always be there.

I'm still planning a trip to America again for some pool-tournaments, but maybe I will just be a fan at a WPBA - event or something :)

Just wanted to share it with you and hoping someone who "hit the wall" themselves can share some stories :)

Thanks
Click to expand...

I quite for a couple of years when I went into the service although back then I was more serious about winning a dollar from anyone who I thought i could beat than trying to improve my game.

You are/would be a great pool hustler and that doesn't require much effort to stay in stroke. If you can live with yourself, you can just hustle pool for money and you won't have to put in the effort on the table except when you are stealing someone's cash. :thumbup:

I also quit for a couple of years in the early 90's and some childhood friends called me out of retirement to join a "pool league" to win the world championship. :p

I empathize greatly with you about the amount of time it takes to stay in stroke or to increase your level of play and it is taxing to say the least. You may come and go as you choose; pool will always be waiting for you to return. Just stay around long enough for me to get my two hundred dollars back from you. :wink:

In recent months, in frustration, I have even shouted the words, that I am ready to quit pool myself.

If it is frustrating for you and I can you imagine the frustration that the professional players must face?

Best regards,
JoeyA
 
That is how I feel too unfortunately.

I have many friends in pool and I enjoy getting out and having fun but I have no urge to practice or even compete much at all anymore. I play about once every few weeks and never practice except for hitting a few balls at home every few days, usually it takes less than 15 minutes to tire of that.

My game, although never breathtaking, has suffered and guys I used to drill hold their own with me or even beat me now. It is frustrating to lose match-ups that I used to have the nuts in but the only way I can get back to that consistency is to devote more time. I don't have the inclination or the opportunity to that so I have come to the realization that this is where I am with pool.

I do have a great family, steady employment and cold beer in the fridge.....I guess it could be worse.
 
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Many people can not afford to practice as much as they would like to.
You actually can't do anything about it unless you decide to make a living out of playing which is a very hard decision..
The only thing you can do is accept it, feel good about the joy you have experienced palying and always remind yourself of the love you have for the art of pool, that feeling is never going to leave you..
That's all I'm doing..
Best,
Petros
 
I hit the wall everyone is talking about almost three years ago, and for me it was opening my own pool room. Before I owned my own room all I ever want to do is play or practice every chance I got, I never seemed to tire of doing one or the other. When I opened my current room in 2004, I still had the desire to play all the time, in the beginning I thought man I got the nuts, I can play all the pool I want, when ever I want, and it isn't even expensive, hell it's free!! But, as the years went by I started playing less and less, and not because my game wasn't improving or because I could not find a game ( Anyone Can beat me), it was because I was surrounded with pool 12 hr's a day, 7 days a week, 362 days a year. I never thought that too much of a good thing could change my mind / mood concerning this subject but it has.

Now I just sit back and sweet the matches and the better players, and from time to time I will pick up my cue and hit some balls with a friend, but one thing is for certain, no one could have told me back in 2004 that this could happen, I never would have believed it was possible.:(
 
I'm sorry to hear that Roy and I hope that I never experience what you're feeling right now.
Maybe sit back, take some time off and figure out a game plan that would work for yourself in order not to have to quit.

When you consider all the time and effort you devoted to the game we love
and decide to quit cold turkey, thats just sad. There has to be an alternative.
 
Royboy,
Your story is a common one; but there IS a way out. You can work harder, or you can work smarter (of course smarter and harder is always best).

The problem with pool is that so many players rely on throwing mega-hours of practice at it, and get some decent results. While this works for a lucky few; there are many more frustrated by it when the mega-hours are no longer available or no longer enjoyable - or if they actually don't get proficient despite those mega-hours.

Mark Wilson will soon have his book out, a major part specifically dealing with this phenomenon. There are ways to maximize the benefit of your practice time and at least maintain your fairly high level of proficiency in a very reasonable amount of practice time (and very likely you can still improve).

If you are at DCC I can at least discuss it with you; it has certainly changed my life (I have about an hour a day to throw at pool, and wanted to maximize the value of that practice time). If not, just get Mark's book when it is finally published (he's only been working on it for about 15 years...it is going to be the definitive textbook on orthodox pool methods; there is nothing like it currently).
 
Take a break from pool and play some three cushion.

Another alternative would be to just focus on drills, games like 14.1, the PAT drills where you just focus on improving certain parts of your game instead of getting disappointed when you don't run out every time in regular games.

Three cushion really is a great game. It helps take your mind off just plain execution and ball pocketing and makes you think a whole different way.

I feel your pain. Sometimes I play nine ball and if I'm pocketing balls poorly, it seems like I'm just wasting time. Nothing to think about except why won't the f-ing ball go in the hole.

Practice opposite hand eight ball, playing with just the bridge,etc...don't give up, just give the part of your game pissing you off a break.
 
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Roy,
I think we all get to a point where we just burn out.
I have hit that wall a few times since I took up pool as a hobby years ago.

Sometimes we get in our own head too much. We focus on the same goals for too long.

Currently, I gain a lot more pleasure playing straight pool by myself than I do playing in tournaments or leagues. My competitive juices just aren't there. My focus has been on work and family in this past year and pool has given me a nice respite from the daily grind. In the future, my competitive drive may flow again but it's not there for me currently. The game however, continues to teach me more about myself than I could ever hope. Sometimes we all need a break. During those breaks, we can step back and redefine our goals for pool and for our lives. In the end you will have to do what makes sense for you. You may find you enjoy, teaching, you may enjoy being a spectator or a student of the history of the game. I am sure you will find something after you take a break that will bring you back to the game in some way. As you say, the pool family is a good one for the most part, the people I've met over the years have been very accepting and very good to me.

I wish you good luck in what ever path you may choose for yourself and we'll be waiting to welcome you back on your terms when you're ready.
 
Put your feet up and watch some top snooker this winter.
Championship League IIRC is on Skysports
The rest are on BBC
And all should be available on the internet.:D

2011 Championship League

Group 1 (January 3 and 4) - Ali Carter, Graeme Dott, John Higgins, Stephen Maguire, Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby and Mark Williams.

Group 2 (January 5 and 6) - Four players from Group 1 plus Jamie Cope, Neil Robertson and Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Group 3 (January 24 and 25) - Four players from Group 2 plus Mark Allen, Peter Ebdon and Marco Fu.

Group 4 (January 26 and 27) - Four players from Group 3 plus Stephen Hendry, Mark King and Matthew Stevens.

Group 5 (February 28 and March 1) - Four players from Group 4 plus Ding Junhui, Liang Wenbo and Ricky Walden.

Group 6 (March 2 and 3) - Four players from Group 5 plus three TBC.

Group 7 (March 21 and 22) - Four players from Group 6 plus three TBC.

Winners' Group (March 23 and 24) - Winners of groups 1 to 7

* Ranking Events

9-16 January 2011: The Masters
Wembley Arena

28-30 January 2011: World Snooker Shoot Out
Venue TBC

2-6 February 2011: German Masters*
Berlin, Germany

8-11 February 2011: Welsh Open*
Venue TBC

17-20 March 2011: Players Tour Championship Finals
Venue TBC

28 March-3 April 2011: China Open*
Beijing, China

16 April-2 May 2011: World Snooker Championship*
The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
 
I too find myself to be slowing down a bit.. mostly because I have no where to play lol... at least.. not for free lol... I'm on my schools pool team so I get free games, but yea.. now that schools on break.. i kinda feel how pool will be very expensive for me after college. I don't quite know how I'll deal with that. Then again if you crunch the numbers, in the long run it's probably money efficient if I bought my own table.. but lets get to that time when it comes, hell I don't even have a career yet lol.. but yea.. take a break, join an APA team? just an amatuer pool team you know... nothign too serious, have some fun and drinks with pals? I don't know how far you took it although by those tourneys you make yourself seem at least semi pro, maybe come teach me a few things? haha.. anywho, best wishes =]
 
Well, my story isn't very encouraging but it's honest & all about facing reality. I always aspired to be a great player. I wanted it bad. I played hours & hours, often times 12+hrs daily. I worked, slept, & played pool. That was it. I gambled when I could afford to, and starved when I couldn't afford to. But my game was never as strong as I wanted or needed for it to be if I were gonna make something of it. It got to the point where I was having no fun.

I had to look at myself from the outside in & face up to the fact that i'm simply not champion material in the pool game. 99% of us are not champion quality no matter how hard we try or how much we love the game. The best we can do is just love it for what it is & ride that wave to shore. Besides, do you really know any champions whom you are envious of besides their talent? The sacrifice is tremendous & most of us have something inside that prevents us from going to that extreme. I say the champions can have their game. I don't want it. The cost is too high for me. I love my children & wife, my home & my dog, and I love the time I get to spend with them. Pool is my get away now, my man time. But at night when that champion takes my money, I go home & crawl in bed with my wife and that money doesn't matter to me anymore. He goes to Taco Bell & then back to that one bedroom apartment he shares with another pool player & gets up at 2pm the next day hoping he can make another score like he made the night before. Champions have their lives & we have ours. I'm pretty happy about not being a champ. As they say, thank God for unanswered prayers.

And that is no knock on the great players. Some are suited for that kind of life but I am not. Yeah there's a very select few champs who seemingly have it all. But most of the greats I know, i'm not envious of. If I pressed on to become champion level, i'd not be married nor have any children. I wouldn't have life insurance, medical insurance, dental insurance, a retirement fund, investments, nice home & new vehicles, etc. If a champion player can have all that AND a great pool game, then they are super human. I couldn't. I'm simply not that good. I had to choose what meant more to me in the long term.
 
Burn out!

I have been playing almost 49 years, and I have burned out on Pool 2 times.

Once was after playing on 6 league teams during a couple of sessions, and the other was after a breakup of the love of my life, and I shot terrible for a year after that.

I shot leagues for 15-16 years, but I stopped playing leagues about 6 years ago, and I just play tournaments whenever I want to now. I usually play in 1-3 weekly tournaments on the weekends and that is about it, maybe a special or larger tournament every now and then. Pool is not my be-all anymore, I enjoy playing still, and it is mostly to socialize, compete some, and just have a good time basically.

Don't get me wrong though, I love to compete still, and still win my share of tournaments. I won a weekly Friday night, and had 2 hill-to-hill matches on my way to winning the winner's bracket,and broke and ran out both times, 8 ball. I still have a killer's instinct, it just isn't quite as strong anymore, or there quite as often. I realize these feelings are probably natural since I will be 63 next month.

My advice, give it a rest for awhile, vest your time in other activities, people, or hobbies, I think it is important to be well rounded in life, and not so 1 dimensional.
 
Roy Steffensen said:
To play pool isn't fun for me anymore.
Click to expand...
That's all you needed to say.

Quit for a while. Do something else. Why do something you don't enjoy, especially if it's something you don't have to do?

Your passion for pool will probably come back, and when it does then you can start banging balls again. If it doesn't, then oh well. There's more to life than pool.
 
Thank you for making me look at my pool goals

I read your article "I am sick of pool" and the responses from others who have had the same feelings or similar ones. It really made me think about what I want from the game. I did not learn to shoot pool until I was 60 years old. (I have been playing for 11 years now.) I play about 25 hours of pool a week and I am thankful that I am retired and have the time to do so. Having started so late in life to learn a game that takes a lifetime to learn, I get depressed when I realize how much more there is to learn and how little time I have to do it. I have a lot of regrets that I did not take up the sport sooner. Most of my life I have been a passionate water skier and never thought I would find anything to equal it. At this point in my life if I had to choose between my two passions (I still waterski competitively) I would give up waterskiing. I hate to practice and shoot pool for fun (no money involved). I fell in love with 14.1 and now am trying to learn one pocket. I would love to play in the WPBA but have come to the realization that this is a goal I will never reach. Too little time, too little talent. If you can get hold of a copy of the book "The Pleasure of Small Motions" please do so. It will put your pool game in perspective.
 
Roy Steffensen said:
Pool has been my biggest passion for so many years now, and I've spent countless hours practicing and playing this game. I've had the pleasure of travelling around the world playing pool. I've played in qualifiers for the World Championships, Eurotour's, Derby City Classic and in front of thousand people at a shopping mall in Manila.

I've met hundreds of great people, made so many friends, and I really do love the pool family.

But, I feel I've reached a level where I can't make any more progress in my game, without sacrificing too much, and it really saddens me.

To play pool isn't fun for me anymore. I can't find any joy in practing, and I hate to compete now because my game is getting weaker every day, and has done so the last 2 years. I miss balls I know I should make, and it makes me uncomfortable at the table.

I know the only way to get back to play ok again is to put in even more hours, more dicipline and spark that good feeling of winning and playing good again.

But to be honest, I practiced so hard for a couple of years and jumped several levels in my game, putting in 3, 4 and 5 hours a day, and I really can't see me doing that again.

The last 2 years I've played in less than 10 tournaments, and I've practiced about same amount of hours in 2 years as I did in 2 months when pool was everything.

I still love hanging around the pool family, and I really, really, really wish the desire to play comes back to me again...

I know a lot of people who have been away from pool for some years and then returned, I just never thought I would be one of them. I thought pool would always be there.

I'm still planning a trip to America again for some pool-tournaments, but maybe I will just be a fan at a WPBA - event or something :)

Just wanted to share it with you and hoping someone who "hit the wall" themselves can share some stories :)

Thanks
Click to expand...

I've got bad news for you Roy my boy. You're a lifer! You are taking what may be the first break from pool in your life. But trust me when I tell you, YOU'LL BE BACK! I have quit playing for various reasons many times over the last thirty years, with my longest break being nearly three years. Currently I have probably played less than eight hours of pool during the last three months. Am I done with playing? NOT BY A LONG SHOT!

I KNOW that I will start to play again. I just don't know when. With Derby City looming next month I have been eyeing my table closely every day to make sure it is still there, waiting for me. Pool is a wonderful mistress! She is always ready for you when you come back and never disappoints you with questions about where you've been or don't you care about her anymore.

When you're ready, so is your companion called Pool! She's never let me down in over 45 years of our relationship. And after all these years, I still learn more every time I go back to visit! :thumbup2:

P.S. I'll share something with you Roy and it's what makes me come back to playing pool, over and over again. There is probably no better feeling that I've ever had in my life than when I was in dead stroke playing pool. When I was "one" with the balls and the table, and the cue felt like part of my arm, and the tip was like the end of my finger. I've been there Roy and it was exhilarating to say the least. I can't think of anything that ever felt better to me over an extended period of time. There have been times in my life where I felt like I could make any shot and never miss any ball I could see. And I could! I fired them in like they had eyes and people stood back in awe. I remember that Roy and it felt good. There is nothing I've ever done in life that compares and there is nothing I will ever do quite so well either. And I know that.
 
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Thanks Jay.

Your post was much betteer than mine. I just want to say you might read Willie's game. Unfortunately, something will absorb our lives like pool did Willie's. I hope my life is aborbed with family, fun and work to keep the first too going. I probably won't be a champion at anything, but I will have fun, a little money and a family I love. I hope that is the ssecret to happiness.:confused:
 
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