Once-a-week limitation?

Andrew Manning

Andrew Manning

Aspiring know-it-all
Silver Member
What level do you think a player would be limited to; or what level would you be surprised to see him ever transcend, if he tried his hardest to improve, but only played once a week?

I know most people would probably say there's no theoretical limit, and I agree, but where's the level where you'd expect progress to stall out due to simply not playing often enough to progress further?

Also, I know there are stories about pro-level or near-pro-level players who don't get a chance to pick up a cue more than once in the average week, but I'm assuming all of them had a time in their lives when they played all day every day to build the skills that they can now fall back on even if they haven't played in a while.

So what's everyone's opinion?

-Andrew
 
I think any player would be fortunate to be able to maintain their present level of play with only one day per week at the table. But there is a point where limiting table time like that would result in diminishing skills. A beginner could probably maintain a status quo, but a top level player would probably see their game drop off. I'm not quite sure where, in between, would be the point where it would change.
Steve
 
This is a good question as I am having to deal with this very same issue. I only play on 9ft tables every other weekend cause the closest one is an hour away. I play on tuesdays in a local league. Other than that I dont get to play much right now and I hate it. I am getting a new house end of the year and a table to match. Even though this has been going on for 3 months I still was able to be the ringer for my team on league. I won the case game for the whole season that put us in first. We won the whole thing by one game and it was nice that I came through for my team. So all in all I still play good but deffinately not great.
 
When I was a Marine once a week was all I got sometimes didn't play for months at a time but I was a B sometimes A player in 9 ball.

Practice for me was one hour on the table and enter the tournament with some pretty solid players.

Its brutal (not being able to practice) when pool is your hobby but if you play when there's time and get smart on strategy its possible. You do have to learn your limitations and be good at safety's.

I don't think anyone playing once a week will consistently beat "A" players who play all the time.

One thing I did was take lessons so I didn't have to relearn pool every 6 months or so.

I will say you better have solid fundamentals and be a better student of the game than the players who live at the pool hall and are always in stroke.

Now that I'm retired I live in pool "hell" so I don't know what I could do there aren't any good players to push me.

Off topic but how do you stay sharp with lots of practice but nobody to push you I do drills, 14.1 and the ghost but it's boring.
 
It depends on what you do with that one day a week. For the first two years of my playing that is all I had. I improved at a reasonable pace mainly because I would play for 6 hours (from 12-6 on Saturday before I went out to bar with my friends).

Every time I went to the table I had something in mind to work on, whether it be my stroke, stance, alignment etc. I realized very early (pretty much day 1) that mechanics were the key to this game so I spent most of my time figuring out how to the ball straight.

I generally spent about 4 hours practicing, the last 2 hours I would usually find someone to play (pretty much anyone, whoever was the best I could find).

I made it to a Bish level playing one day a week. But it wasn't until I started playing and practicing 3-5 days a week that my game started to take off and I improved at a rapid pace.

If I had to go back to only playing on Saturdays, I highly doubt I would be able to maintain my current level of play, simply because whenever I go a week without picking up a cue I sometimes have a rough time shaking off the rust. Especially on the snooker table.
 
I think one can only play at about 75% of true speed on avg., only getting to a table weekly. Too much muscle memory is lost.

The game is 40% knowledge, 60% execution and 5% heart:rolleyes:.
 
Andrew Manning said:
What level do you think a player would be limited to; or what level would you be surprised to see him ever transcend, if he tried his hardest to improve, but only played once a week?
Click to expand...

I just did this for two months. I was really burnt out but still on a league. So I was only playing once a week for two months.

You certainly aren't going to get any better like this. Honestly, my game went to total hell. By the end of it, I was playing at least 2 handicaps worse.

I agree with the previous poster. If you are a weak player to start with, you might be able to retain your current level of play.

It wasn't pretty. Though, it all came back within a week of playing hot and heavy again. I think I'd rather not play at all than play once a week. It was terrible.

matta
 
I would expect that an accomplished player would be able to maintain a level about 1 below where he was playing a lot. I would expect if somebody never played more than once a week they'd be doing very well to reach a low C level.
 
Interesting replies so far.

To clarify a few points: I've never been a better player than I am right now, and there's never really been a point in time when my game went backwards. It's been slow steady improvement for 5 years.

Additionally, apart from a stretch of a few months 4 years ago when I played twice a week, I've always been a once-a-week player.

I think I'm a B- player at present, and I'm kind of questioning at this point whether I have reached the zenith of how good I can get, playing once a week.

-Andrew
 
I have played once per week for the last 4 years. Prior to that I had enough skill from random play to pot a few balls anduse draw and follow a bit.

I am now, and have been roughly equal to medium speed 7s I play from APA, and when I enter open 9 ball matches locally, I can sometimes get a win or two before elimination.

When I really started using english last year my game took a dive. At that point I took a road trip for 3 days to the US Open with some friends (traded trips with the wife). While there I played nonstop and managed to get the time in to get some muscle and aiming memory ingrained for english use.

Now, I generally dont improve quickly because of time, but I can feel myself at a plateau right now that would probably be shattered if I get some solid time at the table, so im going to the Open again this year.

Since I dont play but once per week, here is what I have to do to stay at good as possible:
1. I study the game, its angles, its shots, its mechanics. I visualize performing them during lunch etc.
2. I perform 15 minutes of drills when i get to the pool hall. These include, stop shots at varying lengths, the same cut shots 3-5 times each with differing english, banking with throw off the long rail, and hard follow shots that require just off center hit on the object ball (this one helps me detect any elbow wobble from trying to force the shot).
Once I hit all these pretty well I am as up to speed as Im going to get that day.

Hopefully I will get enough time in October to get a new gear :)
 
I did it for a while, and my game regressed around a full skill level. I find it hard to believe that so casual a player could maintain with any consistency a B level of play. So my answer will be somewhere around a C level.

I also think that you can change this equation some by spending time working on your game outside of the table. Strategy is one key area that you don't necessarily have to be at the table to work on. While not playing, I spend alot of time watching videos. I like to watch accu-stats videos and pause them and pick the shot I would shoot in given scenarios and decide why I chose that shot, and then play to see what shot the player chooses.
 
Andrew Manning said:
It's been slow steady improvement for 5 years.

Additionally, apart from a stretch of a few months 4 years ago when I played twice a week, I've always been a once-a-week player.


-Andrew
Click to expand...

You and I are similar in that we've been that way pretty much from the start. I think you can improve noticeably (albeit very gradually), if you can maintain focus on the game. I feel I'll improve over a few weeks, playing 1-2 times per week, then get focused on other things and stagnate. I know my game declines when I get busy with other sports in the fall and spring, even though I play pool just as much.
 
Andrew Manning said:
Interesting replies so far.

To clarify a few points: I've never been a better player than I am right now, and there's never really been a point in time when my game went backwards. It's been slow steady improvement for 5 years.

Additionally, apart from a stretch of a few months 4 years ago when I played twice a week, I've always been a once-a-week player.

I think I'm a B- player at present, and I'm kind of questioning at this point whether I have reached the zenith of how good I can get, playing once a week.

-Andrew
Click to expand...

As long as you are still improving I wouldn't worry too much about it. Until you have the time to play more, just make the best of the time you have.
 
In my opinion, no player can maintain "their game" playing once a week. A beginner HAS NO GAME TO MAINTAIN hence if they're at zero, they'll stay at zero. You may maintain enough of your game to beat players one or two levels below you but you will not be able to compete with players who were once your peers. A month of playing once a week and you won't be able to hit the side of a barn.
 
Cameron Smith said:
As long as you are still improving I wouldn't worry too much about it. Until you have the time to play more, just make the best of the time you have.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's pretty much the plan, and I don't exactly "worry" about it. I do, however, obsess over this game at all times (I can post on AZB at least 5 days a week, even if I can only get to a table once), which I believe is part of the reason I improve even though I don't actually play that much. So this thread is just sort of part of that.

-Andrew
 
Jude Rosenstock said:
In my opinion, no player can maintain "their game" playing once a week. A beginner HAS NO GAME TO MAINTAIN hence if they're at zero, they'll stay at zero. You may maintain enough of your game to beat players one or two levels below you but you will not be able to compete with players who were once your peers. A month of playing once a week and you won't be able to hit the side of a barn.
Click to expand...

This thread is really making me feel a lot better about my game, seeing as I do get out from the break now and then, whereas Jude wouldn't be able to hit the broad side of a barn in my situation!

-Andrew
 
Andrew Manning said:
This thread is really making me feel a lot better about my game, seeing as I do get out from the break now and then, whereas Jude wouldn't be able to hit the broad side of a barn in my situation!

-Andrew
Click to expand...

I'm sorry for being blunt but if you play once a week, in no time, you're going to stink. There's really no two ways about it. We've all been there and it always happens. You have to constantly remind yourself how to pocket balls. If you don't, you forget.
 
Andrew Manning said:
Additionally, apart from a stretch of a few months 4 years ago when I played twice a week, I've always been a once-a-week player.

I think I'm a B- player at present, and I'm kind of questioning at this point whether I have reached the zenith of how good I can get, playing once a week.

-Andrew
Click to expand...


I have a suggestion. If you've made it this far (to a B) while only playing once a week, why don't you try playing more? I think you'd be shocked at the difference.

I'm sure you are going to say, "I don't have the time or I would be!".

I'm not suggesting that you spend more time away from your family at all. If you've made it this far shooting one day a week, you must be playing some long sessions. Instead of that one 5-8 hour session, why not try an hour a day for 4-5 days a week. You may actually spend less time practicing.

That everyday repetition seems to make all of the difference in the world. I just feel like I get more out of my practice when I break it up like this. I'm no sports psychologist. I have no idea how or why this works. I read this in a book some where many years ago. I've found it a valuable practice tool since.

matta

P.S. There are plenty of things in life that are more important than pool. There are so many reasons why playing everyday is impossible for some. I understand. It's just a suggestion.
 
Last edited:
Andrew Manning said:
Yeah,..I do...obsess over this game at all times (I can post on AZB at least 5 days a week, even if I can only get to a table once), ...

-Andrew
Click to expand...

I got you crushed! I have played 2x over the last 6+mos and I have posted more that 17x on AZB in the same time-frame!

I'll take the 8 from you, the 8 and the lower 6 feet from Jude.:D:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top