Proud of myself.....

[Jaden]

I was scared there for a little because before Christmas I was hitting pretty much spot on and was playing my game... Then Christmas Eve I went off my diet and got food poisoning or some virus and was layed up for all of christmas day and most of the last couple of days...

I went back out there yesterday and was stroking them awfully ( for me atleast) but then today I started doing some ten ball drills and reread my personal notes on my preshot routine and realized I had not been using my full preshot routine.. I just did a tester against the ten ball ghost and beat him 5-1....

I would've had that other game too, but in the third game I had tough shape from the 6 to the seven and rattled the six, I guess that's not too much to be ashamed of either considering my table's pockets are 4"...

 

[av84fun]

I was scared there for a little because before Christmas I was hitting pretty much spot on and was playing my game... Then Christmas Eve I went off my diet and got food poisoning or some virus and was layed up for all of christmas day and most of the last couple of days...

I went back out there yesterday and was stroking them awfully ( for me atleast) but then today I started doing some ten ball drills and reread my personal notes on my preshot routine and realized I had not been using my full preshot routine.. I just did a tester against the ten ball ghost and beat him 5-1....

I would've had that other game too, but in the third game I had tough shape from the 6 to the seven and rattled the six, I guess that's not too much to be ashamed of either considering my table's pockets are 4"...

Wow! Way to go. Beating the 10 Ball ghost on ANY size pockets is jam up with with 4" pockets is pro level play.

Congratulations!

Jim

 

[Fatboy]

I have been playing some this week and for what ever reason am in a bit of a cslump, i catch a gear here and there, I'm glad for you, honestly I cant beat the 10 ball ghost, good for you, glad your hitting them good

 

[Jaden]

actually not quite 4"

Wow! Way to go. Beating the 10 Ball ghost on ANY size pockets is jam up with with 4" pockets is pro level play.

Congratulations!

Jim

They're actually not quite 4". They're closer to 4 1/16"... But thanx.. I just wish I could do it in competition or for the money!!!!! LOL.. I've thought about trying to get a stake horse and seeing if I can play my game on someone else's money but it's kind of hard to get someone to ley out when they see you not playin your game for the cheese...lol...

 

[sjm]

Very impressive. Beating the ten ball ghost on such a tight table is pro speed pool. Glad to hear you're over you're food poisoning. Keep up the great shooting.

 

[TheWizard]

Very impressive. Beating the ten ball ghost on such a tight table is pro speed pool. Glad to hear you're over you're food poisoning. Keep up the great shooting.

Ditto

Some well deserved rep points on their way, I'm glad that you're feeling much better again and back to shooting strong, keep up the good work

Willie

 

[Jaden]

I don't know if that deserved rep points but thanks...

Ditto

Some well deserved rep points on their way, I'm glad that you're feeling much better again and back to shooting strong, keep up the good work

Willie

WEll, thank you, I don't know how that deserves rep points, but I'll take them...

I just wish someone could tell me how to do it when there's something on the line....I know I've already read the tennis book that everyone recommends a couiple of times....

 

[David Beck]

WEll, thank you, I don't know how that deserves rep points, but I'll take them...

I just wish someone could tell me how to do it when there's something on the line....I know I've already read the tennis book that everyone recommends a couiple of times....

Experience. Lots of it. You teach me to play when there's northing on the line and I'll teach you to play with it.

But great job man. Maybe one day we'll see you on the NACPBA.

 

[av84fun]

WEll, thank you, I don't know how that deserves rep points, but I'll take them...

I just wish someone could tell me how to do it when there's something on the line....I know I've already read the tennis book that everyone recommends a couiple of times....

What you need is an aiming system...let me tell you about one.......

KIDDING!!!

Mental toughness combined with supreme self-confidence is what separates the champions from the short stops IMHO. Mental toughness has many aspects but primary among them is TOTAL COMMITMENT TO EVERY SHOT.

You MUST be doing that to beat the 10 Ball ghost so not doing it for the cheese must mean that you have trouble isolating during matches.

When I was taking lessons from Bobby Pickle, he would walk back and forth in my line of sight when I was down over shots...or sometimes just stand right behind me where I couldn't see him but I knew he was inches away from me.

If you cant have someone do that for you, go get one of those flashing red beacon emergency lights from WalMart and put it somewhere right on a rail and let if flash away while you're shooting.

But the best way is just to get out and play competitively as often as you can.

Regards,
Jim

 

[Jaden]

I may try that red beacon thing...

What you need is an aiming system...let me tell you about one.......

KIDDING!!!

Mental toughness combined with supreme self-confidence is what separates the champions from the short stops IMHO. Mental toughness has many aspects but primary among them is TOTAL COMMITMENT TO EVERY SHOT.

You MUST be doing that to beat the 10 Ball ghost so not doing it for the cheese must mean that you have trouble isolating during matches.

When I was taking lessons from Bobby Pickle, he would walk back and forth in my line of sight when I was down over shots...or sometimes just stand right behind me where I couldn't see him but I knew he was inches away from me.

If you cant have someone do that for you, go get one of those flashing red beacon emergency lights from WalMart and put it somewhere right on a rail and let if flash away while you're shooting.

But the best way is just to get out and play competitively as often as you can.

Regards,
Jim

Thanx... I am playing competitively as often as I can. I had wanted to go to reno this year, but I had a test for a new job and that job pays really well and has unbelievable benefits, so I couldn't pass it up to drive or fly out to reno... I'm playing in the waco ten ball open here in a couple of weeks and I'll also play in the fast eddies event that following weekend, and I'll be playing in the swannee memorial in Feb. I'm just going to play as much as I can.

I had finally gotten around to recovering my table with some simonis and I'm practicing a lot again, I think this has had something to do with me getting back in stroke, plus I just am starting to take the game seriously again, for a long time I would just bang around because I had given up on going pro, but now I figured that I should take the game seriously whether I would be able to go pro or not just for myself...

There's nothing I love more in life (except maybe my wife and daughter) than to be playing purely in the game of pool. It's the best feeling in the world as far as I'm concerned, it just sucks to not even be able to play races to 7 for twenty dollars and still play that way is all, and most of the people that I would like to play to test my game won't play just for fun..

Dan Wallace is one of the few who occasionally do, he also happens to be one of the only people on the planet who know how well I can play too, which is probably because he'll play me just for fun.

It's funny though because in ring games and say like playing liability where there are multiple people playing, I can come close to my game and rarely come out down.., but playing individuals I just seem to forget how to play sometimes, don't get me wrong I have my share of success, but sometimes it just gets so frustrating..

For instance, and I've told this story many times on here. I was playing in the 03 swannee memorial when they were holding it at 4th st billiards in SD still and I got a pretty good draw that I was happy with. My first match was with a B player and I win the coin toss and get first break..

I break and run the first three games and then break and run to the nine and miss... I only missed nine's that entire match and lost 9-6... I missed like eleven nines in that match and NO OTHER balls.... It was ridiculous, to this day my wife won't go to watch me play anymore because she thought she jinxed me in that tourny...

 

[JoeyA]

WEll, thank you, I don't know how that deserves rep points, but I'll take them...

I just wish someone could tell me how to do it when there's something on the line....I know I've already read the tennis book that everyone recommends a couiple of times....

Just post your pre-shot routine and point out the item(s) you left out on your come back and then we'll have a chance to beat the 10 ball ghost like a rented mule. WOW! Awesome. To beat your opponent when something's on the line, play like there is nothing on the line except what you had on the line when you played the ghost.
JoeyA

 

[Jaden]

I'll try that out in Feb when I come back there and play you...

Just post your pre-shot routine and point out the item(s) you left out on your come back and then we'll have a chance to beat the 10 ball ghost like a rented mule. WOW! Awesome. To beat your opponent when something's on the line, play like there is nothing on the line except what you had on the line when you played the ghost.
JoeyA

Hey Joey, I'll try that out on you when I come back there in Feb... If you don't mind being a guinea pig....J.k....

 

[JoeyA]

Hey Joey, I'll try that out on you when I come back there in Feb... If you don't mind being a guinea pig....J.k....

Jaden, you are HISTORY for the cash. You have so queered your action with me.

Looking forward to seeing you in February. Don't forget to keep me posted days before you visit.

Thanks,
JoeyA (always up for giving or taking a whipping)

 

[Fatboy]

i cant imagine beating the 10 ball ghost, i can beat the 6 ball ghost easiy and sometimes the 7, but I cant beat the 8 ball ghost I can win maybe 35% of the time, I think i'm gonna start keeping track. I did break and run a rack of 10 ball with out BIH the other night, but playing the ghost I might win 1 out of 8 or 10 games. good for you man

 

[JoeyA]

Hey Joey, I'll try that out on you when I come back there in Feb... If you don't mind being a guinea pig....J.k....

OH! I just put on my reading glasses and now realize the J.k was just kidding instead of the 1k I thought it read.
JoeyA

 

[Snapshot9]

Jaden

You recovered in short order, way to go. Beating the 10 ball ghost is never easy. Sounds like you have more internal problems than external problems when it is on the line, which comes back to self assuredness and internal discipline.

If you make yourself better inside, you will play better when it is on the line.

Here comes the 'wax on / wax off' part:

Read 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

I just wish someone could tell me how to do it when there's something on the line...

Like anything else, you have to practice it. One way is to put something on the line when you're practicing - like keeping score. No matter how you're practicing, keep a permanent written record of your performance and track your progress - % of games won, % of drills completed successfully, % of problem shots made, etc. It doesn't matter much how you measure your progress; it matters more that you do it all the time and are brutally honest with yourself. That may be more pressure than you want.

pj
chgo

 

[Jaden]

I'll try that... thanx

Like anything else, you have to practice it. One way is to put something on the line when you're practicing - like keeping score. No matter how you're practicing, keep a permanent written record of your performance and track your progress - % of games won, % of drills completed successfully, % of problem shots made, etc. It doesn't matter much how you measure your progress; it matters more that you do it all the time and are brutally honest with yourself. That may be more pressure than you want.

pj
chgo

I may have to try that Thanx... I guess the whole thing started about twelve years ago or so... I started playing REALLY seriously when I was like 19 and was planning on going pro. I started dating this girl who I had previously dated in high school again and then we broke up and she played seriously screwed mind games with me and my confidence started going down...

At first it only affected my money game but once it started affecting my tournament play, I had to give it up.. I've played here and there but never as seriously as I had.. and I've been staying away from any serious action... when the IPT came along I started to take the game a little more seriously again and then when that imploded I kind of backed off again.. Now I've figured that I should take it seriously again regardless and it's starting to show in my game.... Hopefully it will also translate well into torunament play and money games too. Hell, if I do well in tournies this year and do well in next years US open, I may again consider going pro....

 

[JoeyA]

I may have to try that Thanx... I guess the whole thing started about twelve years ago or so... I started playing REALLY seriously when I was like 19 and was planning on going pro. I started dating this girl who I had previously dated in high school again and then we broke up and she played seriously screwed mind games with me and my confidence started going down...

At first it only affected my money game but once it started affecting my tournament play, I had to give it up.. I've played here and there but never as seriously as I had.. and I've been staying away from any serious action... when the IPT came along I started to take the game a little more seriously again and then when that imploded I kind of backed off again.. Now I've figured that I should take it seriously again regardless and it's starting to show in my game.... Hopefully it will also translate well into torunament play and money games too. Hell, if I do well in tournies this year and do well in next years US open, I may again consider going pro....

Keep that good paying job with great benefits and ease into the more competitive tournaments and let turning pro take care of itself. You can turn pro and still have a good paying job with good benefits.

On top of that if you stay with the good-paying job with GREAT benefits, you might keep those two girls in your life. The women like security. Who knows if you have an angel, she might tolerate you practicing 4-8 hours a day at home as long as she knows you're not going off the deep end, losing the family's jewels or depending upon tournament winnings to pay the bills.

Turning pro without a steady income other than tournament pay is a horrific gauntlet that I wouldn't want my worst enemy to face. Even most of the sponsored players probably don't make the annual dough you do right now. Just guessing.

That's my $.02

JoeyA (Has an angel but no table at home).

 

[Jaden]

Y?eah I don't mean relying on pro pool....

Keep that good paying job with great benefits and ease into the more competitive tournaments and let turning pro take care of itself. You can turn pro and still have a good paying job with good benefits.

On top of that if you stay with the good-paying job with GREAT benefits, you might keep those two girls in your life. The women like security. Who knows if you have an angel, she might tolerate you practicing 4-8 hours a day at home as long as she knows you're not going off the deep end, losing the family's jewels or depending upon tournament winnings to pay the bills.

Turning pro without a steady income other than tournament pay is a horrific gauntlet that I wouldn't want my worst enemy to face. Even most of the sponsored players probably don't make the annual dough you do right now. Just guessing.

That's my $.02

JoeyA (Has an angel but no table at home).

When I say going pro I don't mean relying on just playing pool for a living... Well, one thing I've considered doing is starting a website that offers free instruction with a web cam so I can actually demonstrate online....

I'm working on putting it together and we'll see how it goes. I would have like one or two nights a week where I would log in with the webcam up and cover various topics in various weeks. It would all be free with the exception if I give online personal instruction that I would charge for... We;ll see how that goes, but I still wouldn't give up my steady job...I would probably start teaching where I can have lots of time off and still have a guarnateed income.... Maybe even teach online college courses that I can do from just about anywhere...

Ok let's stop bumping this before I lose any chance at any action for the rest of my life, of course I asked for It I guess by posting this in the first place, of course there are probably only two or three people who post on here that have any clue what I look like....

I guess that means Joey that if I really wanted action from you I could just walk in and not tell you who I am....LOL....


IT was kind of funny when I was up in seattle last and playing close to my game, everyone in there thought I was a road player, even to the point that they were taking my picture with cell phones and sending it around to find out who I was, it doesn't matter what you say, if you can play good at all, people will always assume the worst in the world of pool. pretty sad IMO....