soyale
Well-known member
holy cow bruce, that’s awesome you made it to 4th place! way to go.
played in my first tournament (long winded recap)
- Thread starter soyale
- Start date
L.S. Dennis
Well-known member
Where did this tournament take place?
soyale
Well-known member
felt in denver
Yeah not bad for a 76 year old well past prime playing days.
The "pressure" is added. The heavier the field, the more you need to endure. Nothing you can do about it except learn to perform fkn regardless.
3 things to keep in mind. First, 25% of the players in a double elimination tournament go 2 and out. You already did better than 25% of the players in the tournament.
Second, a shot you make 6-7 times out of 10, you also miss 3-4 times out of 10. Nobody is 100%.
Third, enjoy yourself.
Second, a shot you make 6-7 times out of 10, you also miss 3-4 times out of 10. Nobody is 100%.
Third, enjoy yourself.
Seems like you did just fine! You are not as bad as your worst time out, you aren't as good as your best time out either.
Playing weekly events I tried to hit 85-90% of my best performance. Big events I tried to hit between 90-95%+. You are unlikely to be able to play very near your peak every week, got to rebuild some too. Not to say you shouldn't compete every week or even several times a week, but don't expect outstanding performances every time.
As has already been said, unless you brought somebody with you nobody cares about your performance but you. Focus on yourself. Could be a lot worse, I started competing at circle track stock car racing in my teens. A few thousand people were watching my first efforts and since the race often had to be stopped to untangle things everybody knew who the goat was! That is goat too, not GOAT.
If at all possible, do bring somebody with you, ideally another competitor. Your mindset will be better when you have someone to talk to. Events are more than twice the fun when you share the experience with someone else. I hadn't competed for a year when I went to an event. I rounded up a couple people to go with me mainly so I had somebody to laugh with about my dumb mistakes on the way home. I relaxed and chatted on the way to the event, celebrated my victory on the way home! Just a phase of the moon thing. I went in not expecting much and didn't put much pressure on myself. When things started off going pretty well I turned up the heat!
If you compete regularly sometimes it will be your time to shine. The first time is the hardest. If you go often enough you will be seen as a regular at the event and one of the in crowd. It is a plus to be friendly with the other competitors, particularly the big dogs. Don't let false modesty, or real modesty for that matter, get in the way of your goals. You will have to pay your dues like everyone but remember you are moving towards a goal and never deny that. You don't have to brag or boast but you are there to win. If not now, soon.
As already mentioned, you did fine for the first time out. You also did an excellent job writing up your experience.
Hu
Good tips there, especially about having another competitor to talk with. Someone that knows your game and can offer some feedback is exceedingly helpful when you're not fully centered in your comfort zone.
And completely agree with the hysteresis, there are times when every shot looks easy and you just can't miss, and then there are those other times. The Russians were masters of noting their athletes peaks and valleys and then back-calculating those to have everyone peaking at the Olympics. Lots of solid science to back that, even if the medals didn't necessarily follow.
soyale
Well-known member
1. Good way to look at it
2. very true
3. Succeeded at that!
thanks for the compliments on the writeup. just like the tourny, everyone here has been really nice and supportive. i was expecting less of that.
Agreed. just gotta work on not letting “those other times” crop up every time i play another human!
WobblyStroke
Well-known member
Ye ur right I knew the guy playing for $100...we built up from $5/game. But it wasn't just that the guy was new to me. Everything was. I never played in that pool room. Never played with a substantial rail of onlookers (tho nobody cared about the match between a bad regular and the new kid....but still).
And I certainly wasn't in an 'expect to win spot'. There were some local pros in the tourney so I mostly saw the tourney as paying $20 for the table time and experience. Thinking back on how I thought that bad player was just messing with me still makes me smile at the level of self mindf@#kery I employed that day. Nerves can do funny things to the mind and the cue arm alike.
I got beat like a redheaded step child for the first year or two when I decided to start playing tournaments.
Helped my game more than anything else.
Many of the players who were giving me a thrashing would give me some tips after the losses. I can't thank them enough.
Keep on grinding!
Helped my game more than anything else.
Many of the players who were giving me a thrashing would give me some tips after the losses. I can't thank them enough.
Keep on grinding!
Not all of it legal but the russian and east german sports programs were far ahead of ours for awhile.
Their incentive program was more effective too! Weight lifter, strongest man in the world! They were giving him the equivalent of $1500 every time he set a world record so he was bumping it up about one kilogram at a time. He was given a nice swank apartment and a villa too. Life was good. When he retired it wasn't two years before he was forgotten in a one room apartment somewhere, a very rundown apartment in a forgotten area.
Quite the incentive program but it didn't match iran. saddam's son ran the olympic program. Some athletes were shot on the spot for a poor performance in training. Another favorite trick was to beat on the soles of the feet of runners for hours if the didn't run fast enough that day!
Off topic, but speaking of incentive: An old gray haired gentleman had came into the back section of my office, by invite. He had a fair sized paunch, and was smoking a pipe. A rather large Doberman snoozed under my wife's desk in the daytime. Hid from the main sales/waiting room by a partition, few knew he was there.
The dog stretched and a huge black and tan paw came out from under the desk. The man jumped eight to ten feet from a standing start. If not a record certainly a best in class!
Hu
I think many people that post here played their first tournament in the 70s, maybe 80s LOL
No need to be nervous about playing with people any more than by yourself, it's all just imagination as to what may happen or what others will think that causes stress over it.
I think my first tournament was in the 88/89/90 time, although I can't remember it at all. Most of the playing I did when I first started playing and for like 5 years or so was in very cheap gambling sets or just playing with friends. Not that many tournaments around me at the time although there were a bunch of pool halls near me.
soyale
Well-known member
i used to be a pro skater. when you are out there filming clips, you try over and over and over again until one time finally everything goes right. you have to be so persistent, and not be willing to settle, if you want to be happy with the outcome and have good footage in the end. A byproduct of this is a sort of mental state that nothing is ever good enough until you’ve done the absolute best that you can do — and even then, in the end sometimes your best isn’t good enough to make usable footage.
i think this bleeds over into my pool game where performing under what i feel is my best feels like a complete failure. when i play against somebody else all of a sudden i am getting punished for my mistakes and end up beating myself up for my lack of consistency. This compounds into itself and inevitably causes an implosion.
i know that in reality this is 100% in my head. I mean, who the hell do i think i am that i’m not going to make mistakes?!
It has a little bit to do with what others are going to think about my playing, especially because so often i am reaching out and trying to make a friend that might want to play with me again… but it mostly has to do with consistently failing to meet my own standards (which are actually fairly low).
i’m not a runout player. I run out maybe 5%. i have a decent safety game when it comes to light touch but my mechanics need a lot of work to get back to pocketing balls like i used to when i was a kid. i’m not asking much of myself out there which is why its so frustrating when i can’t even perform at the minimalist level i am aiming for.
/rant
i think with a few more “matches” under my belt i’ll get better at calming the hell down. Its just a game, after all
Periodization training for pool tournaments is highly effective. Steroids probably won't help much.
On the topic of dogs, I'm a huge fan of Stonnie Dennis. Talks about teaching dogs to learn by doing. Tells you to forget the stupid " train your dog to be perfect by just 5 minutes per day" or whatever bs some of these YouTube people say.
It's not realistic. You want to be good at tournament play, get you out there everyday and learn by doing!
I used periodization training my race horses. I added in interval training too. As far as I know I was the first in my area to apply interval training to horses. The results were spectacular. Running clean against doped horses on the bush tracks all around I smoked the competition. I was the only one anywhere that I knew of doing interval training on race horses but I suspect others were and were maintaining a low profile about it. Woody Stephens was famous for adding speed to distance horses early in his career. Maybe interval training, maybe not, but interval training can be tailored to add speed.
Hu
I remember my 1st tourney; I was scared and it affected my play. Thing was; I was scared of how others see/seen my play. This was silly thought as I knew most of the ppl in the tourney, (one was the captain of my team at the time).You lost your virginity…..
BE PROUD
There are 2 facets to play, (IMO). 1- The physical, aka: how well you shoot. AND 2- The mental,: proper state of mind is critical! (I keep reminding myself of that "8-ball down the rail" shot Mike Dechaine missed and his reaction to it during MC play. That moment basically sunk him for future play.) SO, the mental aspect of the game is actually more important than potting balls.
I also think there are about 4 basic types of pool playing.
1- Goofing around (like bar play w/bangers on a Saturday night)
2- Serious practice (prepping for a serious game, hammering fundies, etc). I need 80% in practice or better to play that shot later.
3- Tourney play, LTC team playoffs (I feel the need to play my best knowing my team and myself expect my best play whether we win or lose.)
4- Money matches- I play small, but it is totally serious, (it's shark time,.... eat or be eaten!)
Pool play is just like drag racing. In reality; you are playing against YOURSELF. Some would argue that defensive play involves the other player, BUT knowing that is part of game play you should be prepared for it and practice defense as well as shot making.
OK, that's my "long winded" response. CONGRATS and Good Luck!
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