Please, criticize me

[12squared]

I've been playing 3C on and off for many years and really love the game, but my game never gets better with time. May be a lot of things I'm doing wrong, maybe just a few. I'll graciously take any pointers or ideas to improve my game. Thanks in advance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w5fA4W7XqQ

To bring this back to your question and your request to be criticized...

That is one ugly shirt! :grin: LOL. OK, just kidding.

The few shots that I saw your head lifted up way too soon as did your tip on the follow through. As one of the other posters mentioned, you need to hold your follow through and stay down on the shot longer. If you were to hit a shot that needed a very hard stoke, I would guess you would jump out of your shoes.

As others have said, fundamentals are very important as well as hitting the cue ball exactly where you are aiming. Getting Bill Smith "mr3cushion" to help would be a great idea!

Have fun with the game and don't get too frustrated. it will never be mastered...that's half the fun.

Dave

 

[SlickRick_PCS]

It's called "reading between the lines"! What you type can pretty much interpret as a double meaning.

.- OK Please do show what's "between the lines"
When you mention that you can beat Tiger Woods, Brittney Spears, and Pele, I mean... c'mon! What do they f'ing care? They don't give a rat's behind about carom. Stick within yourself. What TJDave was implying to you was the fact that concentration does make a significant difference. Otherwise you'd be an Earl Strickland on a carom table.

That's what I mean. Just because it is "there" doesn't always means that it is concrete.


.- There is also something called "Subjective perception" which is purely personal. umm... I'll be glad to look that up sometime. Thanks.



What you put can also mean something else

.- What did I write tha can mean something else? Please, SHOW

PLEASE.
What do I look like... your babysitter? C'mon, buddy. Read your whole post again. It sounds arrogant. That's why when I post something, I make sure I inform... not boast about how great I am (which I have been guilty before in the past).





If it does seem confusing, then I am doing my job.

.- Most of the times RED is simply RED, that's it
It does seem confusing simply because it's confusing, maybe because you are confused.

Nothing more.

Of course... in your eyes. Why do bulls attack bullfighters when those idiots wave RED coverings that the bulls go through? Red represents anger, frustration. Imagine putting red all over your room: You would feel nuts... I know I would.


You should read that post of yours again and think if you were another person. In your eyes, you might seem as if you're on the right; on the other hand, to another, it might sound quite elitist.


.- And yet you can't show me what did I write that might sound "quite elitist"...

Your response was just a subjective impression created by yourself only, based on your own personal concept of "what is right".

And that, my friend, is not my responsibility

I guess it's different strokes for different folks, huh. You sound elitist... that's a fact. Read all of your post AGAIN. When you come around the forums and say that I know THIS person and I'm a better player than X, that's telling me that you're so full of yourself (no offense, once again). I am guilty of doing this before... I will admit (or so I feel that way). Now, I just want to preach to others about how the small games work and how it SHOULD be the basis of a great 3-cushion game. Nothing more. I REALLY admire that you do have confidence. Keep it. Just when you're in the forums, it's not good to be a boaster. Make this game strong. Inform another lesser interested individual to get involved within your ability and show this person how the game goes. Make haste, not waste.

BTW: To be behind TJDave on this, I do believe that concentration does make a very signficant difference. You wouldn't like it when there is a huge crowd around you and getting the jitters. I know I wouldn't. That's why (going on your side, a bit) preparation is key and aceing your fundementals is vital. But still, concentration is important because you want to shut everything around you and focus on the table and nothing more... not your opponent, not your personal life, nothing else... but the baize.

Peace.

 

[eze123]

I still maintain that I would LOVE just one hit of what SlickRick smokes. Just once. And I've been there, trust me, and back twice. BlackBalled, I think you're too far, on the East Coast, though, right? Didn't you offer some such before?
So many post-reply-posts I can't even tell who says what. Man, let's bring up the 'long-short' miss argument again. Much less New-Agey, can be argued with physics and diagrams

 

[SlickRick_PCS]

I still maintain that I would LOVE just one hit of what SlickRick smokes. Just once. And I've been there, trust me, and back twice. BlackBalled, I think you're too far, on the East Coast, though, right? Didn't you offer some such before?
So many post-reply-posts I can't even tell who says what. Man, let's bring up the 'long-short' miss argument again. Much less New-Agey, can be argued with physics and diagrams

:rotflmao1:

Typical, pungent comments coming from a pal that I had to deal with for almost 2 years now. How are ya doing there, buddy? I still smoke the same thing: It's called opponents on the table pour le jeu. If you want some, just let me know. It has a minty/ashy kind of taste as well. :wink:

 

[eze123]

Ah, so we meet again :smile:
It smells like alcohol and that unique chemical smell that simonis cloth has on my side. I'm happy with how I play these days. Just keeping you grounded, you get a little spacey now and then

 

[SlickRick_PCS]

Ah, so we meet again :smile:
It smells like alcohol and that unique chemical smell that simonis cloth has on my side. I'm happy with how I play these days. Just keeping you grounded, you get a little spacey now and then

Again indeed.

Dude... I am never as high as a kite. I never do "that"... and I never will. I always ground myself down. Hope to keep throwing post on ya later in the future.

As far as I go in my game: I have rarely ever got in touch with a carom table (1950s Olhausen: they ain't not Chevillote, but at least it's somethin). Stinky, old, senile people take over... and it sucks. I am really thinking about going to NYC and go to Carom Cafe. Then again, the odds of that happening are quite slim.

Either way, I am going to be around here throwing some posts for carom enthusiast of all kinds, and enjoying every single post.

BTW eze123: Small games... it's ALWAYS the way to go. :wink::grin:

 

[csarda1]

"When you mention that you can beat Tiger Woods, Brittney Spears, and Pele, I mean... c'mon! What do they f'ing care? They don't give a rat's behind about carom. Stick within yourself."

.- Huh????????

I guess I was right, YOU DIDN'T GET what I was trying to illustrate. At all

And most likely, you won't. Ever.






"What TJDave was implying to you was the fact that concentration does make a significant difference."

.- What TJDave implied was tha concentration and mental power was the most crucial part of the game, using his own words, WAY BEYOND practice and skills.

Well, is not.

Concentration just happens when you play, you can't play 3-C and not concentrate.




".- There is also something called "Subjective perception" which is purely personal. umm... I'll be glad to look that up sometime. Thanks."


.- HUUUUUUH?????





".- What did I write tha can mean something else? Please, SHOW

PLEASE.
What do I look like... your babysitter?"

.- No, you simply look like someone who can talk but can't back what he's saying.




"C'mon, buddy. Read your whole post again. It sounds arrogant."



.- Not only I can't find any thing that says, resemble, or even insinuates "I'm a super player and everyone else is beneath me", but actually I clearly stated that I wasn't a first class player (second paragraph of my message)




"That's why when I post something, I make sure I inform... not boast about how great I am "

.- As I said, you talk and talk, but can't back anything of what you've said.

So far, you've unable of point anything anywhere.






Of course... in your eyes. Why do bulls attack bullfighters when those idiots wave RED coverings that the bulls go through?

.- Bulls are color blind.



"Red represents anger, frustration. Imagine putting red all over your room: You would feel nuts... I know I would."

.- HUH???

What does the color RED have to do with any of this?

Now, this was totally incoherent!!!




"I guess it's different strokes for different folks, huh. You sound elitist... that's a fact."

.- A "fact" you've been unable to point, show, back, explain nor demonstrate in any way.




"Read all of your post AGAIN. When you come around the forums and say that I know THIS person and I'm a better player than X..."

.-Whaaaaaat???

I'm better player than WHO?????

Are you on drugs??

Where did I say I was better player than someone?????

OH! Let me guess... ..."between the lines"????

OH, No! wait!! I said that I was better 3-C player than Tiger Woods... ...or was it Brittney Spears?... ...Curly, Larry and Moe?




BAH! I'm not wasting any more of my time on this worthless, incoherent conversation.

Think whatever you want, Buddy.



YES, I'M THE BEST PLAYER EVER!!! I'M THE THREE CUSHION'S GOD!!!

KNEEL BEFORE ME, INFERIOR ENTITIES!!! ON YOUR KNEES!!!

 

[SlickRick_PCS]

***deleted... and it's best kept that way***

 

[eze123]

As far as I go in my game: I have rarely ever got in touch with a carom table (1950s Olhausen: they ain't not Chevillote, but at least it's somethin). Stinky, old, senile people take over... and it sucks. I am really thinking about going to NYC and go to Carom Cafe. Then again, the odds of that happening are quite slim.

I always forget this, Rick, I always assume you have some idea what you're talking about, but you've played billiards, 3-C or otherwise, what, maybe ten hours ever, max? You're very evasive on it, I don't think you could run a 1.0 in a game of 3C. I fall for it every time. You know actually nothing about the game, correct? I know, watching and talking and yadda yadda yadda, but you can't actually play at all, right?

 

[SlickRick_PCS]

I always forget this, Rick, I always assume you have some idea what you're talking about, but you've played billiards, 3-C or otherwise, what, maybe ten hours ever, max? You're very evasive on it, I don't think you could run a 1.0 in a game of 3C. I fall for it every time. You know actually nothing about the game, correct? I know, watching and talking and yadda yadda yadda, but you can't actually play at all, right?

Hmmm.... perhaps.
But then again, I give up all that just for the value of education instead of trashing my life being a bum, playing carom 24/7, drinking beer, and hopelessly finding a job that suits my dignity... much like yourself, right eze123? Yea, much to your assumption: I am NOT a carom player. Well, I respect that. To my benefit, I give up playing carom just to become something important. Like Dave Ramsey would say, "If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else." I am willing to take that risk, give up everything and then when things get stable, I can purchase a Chevillote or a Verhoeven for my own. :wink:

 

[SlickRick_PCS]

Ohh, BTW (after all this damn time)...

My name IS Rick.... what the hell is your first name, eze123 (and be a man about it)?

 

[iralee]

Learning from shots missed or made

I watched your video where you made some very nice shots.

Generally, I disagree with the idea that we necessarily need to look at the misses in order to evaluate one's game productively.

I teach carom billiards on a very regular basis in NYC. I was extremely privileged to have connected with Sang Lee when he lived here and communicated with him a lot about the game on many different levels over the years - especially about attitude and how to think about billiards constructively. One of the most valuable lessons I learned from Sang, was to go through a process of honest introspection after each shot, missed or made. "The table never lies." He used to always say.

In 3-cushion practice, you have to remove some of the emphasis on (whether or not) a point scored before it is possible to clearly evaluate the shot and hone-in on areas one can improve on. To illustrate, note this frequent scenario: Upon taking a particular shot, a player simultaneously misses their intended hit, mis-applies spin, uses a sub-optimal speed - but scores to a "big ball" anyhow. He has done almost everything wrong and perhaps was even oblivious to a very near kiss - yet, he walks away from the table thinking that he did everything right. What was learned from his experience if "scoring" was the sole feedback?

One class of mistakes are those based flawed execution. Practicing pool, straight-rail or balkline exposes these kinds errors immediately - so it is a good idea to work on drills to isolate mechanics and other root causes (deflection, sighting, etc). However, especially for those new to 3-cushion, conceptual errors are the significant problem area - mistakes are rooted in flawed understanding which inform the player to create the wrong intention. Fixing knowledge errors is nearly impossible if you can't explicitly pinpoint the culprit (bad hit/spin/speed or blend) after the shot is done.

I think it is a good goal to make more and more specific predictions about every aspect of each shot, during your pre-shot routine. How much ball do you intend to hit? What action are you giving the cue ball? What is the shape of the cue ball path? Where do the curves turn into lines? Where are the rail contact points? How is the action of the cue ball being changed by the table (how much spin does my cue ball carry on the 2nd,3rd, 4th cushion)? etc.

During practice (only - it's illegal during competition), it may help to set down pieces of chalk to visibly mark key rail points (OB targets or cue ball rail points) - as a tool to enable you to make accurate post-shot assessments about errors of intention and/or execution. To start, I recommend marking marking OB cut targets to validate precision hits and marking anticipated 2nd-rail contact points to complete mental images of the shapes of shots.

Just a couple of ideas on how you might proceed to look for flaws on missed shots... but even after a shot scores, a player might wish to observe that had they taken the shot using a different speed, the leave could have been improved or made worse for their opponent (in case they had missed). In other words, to insure improvement through your trials (experience), you definitely want to have a fully functioning feedback loop in place.

I hope this helps. Best of luck to you.

-Ira

 

[Bob Jewett]

... I'll graciously take any pointers or ideas to improve my game. Thanks in advance. ...

I have a couple of suggestions, but I was wondering if you had found any of the comments so far useful.

 

[gonzy11]

Thanks Ira, appreciate your comments and some of other one's too. I never thougt that posting my missed shots (wich are 3 times as many) would be of interest to anybody. My whole intention was to try to get some ideas in how to go from a .400 to a .700 player, but like I said, I dont get to play much (closest table is 150 miles). To me, there is no other game like it and is beautiful to watch the great players playing so close to perfection. I was S. Lee # 1 fan ever since I met him in 1995 at Boca Raton. I had a chance to tape one of his matches.. see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EricBnlNRXU . So I do a lot more watching tournaments on a PC than actually playing these days.. but still the game that I love..!!

 

[Bob Jewett]

... May be a lot of things I'm doing wrong, maybe just a few. I'll graciously take any pointers or ideas to improve my game. ...

The camera was not set up perfectly for the following point, but I think it is pretty clear: you need very badly to work on your fundamentals. No top player has your mechanical flaws.