psych-outs/superstitions...?

[kaver22]

I've been playing with a friend of mine about 4 or 5 times a week lately. We've gotten to know how we play pretty well and what kind of day the other is having as far as shooting. We've also figured out how to psych each other out on a shot. "oh look! a nice straight shot for you!" (<--my weakness)..."I left you a great shot on the..." (<-- 50/50 chance my friend will miss after I say this). And the absolute killer.... "Don't scratch." Did this to him last night on a shot I didn't think it would even be possible to scratch on...he busted a gut...then scratched.

Maybe this needs a disclaimer or something...I would never do this with just anybody I was playing against. But we're friends, fairly evenly matched, and get a kick out of giving each other shit.

Does anybody else have any quirks like this? An easy psych-out? Any superstitions like....i don't know... always walk clockwise around the table with your left eye closed?

 

[ShootingArts]

lots of them

Pool is so much a mental game that I have lots of superstitions and lots of moves if I want to use them. I didn't wear green or eat peanuts for over thirty years, a holdover from circle track racing. Never picking up anything with my bridge hand was more practical, didn't want a wet or dirty bridge hand.

Psyching out the other player can be an art form. One favorite trick in the bars when nobody would gamble on games or sets was shooting the spot shot off of the head spot. Make the ball without scratching and you win. No reason to scratch but emphasizing "without scratching" often turned the pockets into cue ball sucking machines for the other person.

People that didn't call their own fouls and denied fouls I saw I played another game with. I played shape where they spent a lot of time looking at my butt which is plenty wide enough to hide their veiw of the shot. I'd shoot and then jerk my head around to look at them fairly often. They would scream "foul!" When I asked them what I did they were confused and often offered a weak guess. After I did this a few times they were so worried about keeping me from cheating them that they were totally out of their game. Impossible to catch me since I wasn't cheating on the table and technically I wasn't even sharking since sharking occurs when the other person is at the table!

Things that you can't do in a pool hall are perfectly acceptable in many bars. Warning the other player about a possible scratch, asking them what ball they are shooting or what pocket they are playing in when playing eight ball, nice distractions. So common I didn't ask about balls or pockets unless somebody slopped in a ball or two and claimed they planned it all the way. One of the best, making nice with their wife or girlfriend if they are there. A little ogling is a super move too! A friend tilted a man to no end when he asked him in a friendly manner if his wife's tits were real.

Something as simple as tracing a double "X" in the felt in front of the pocket they will be shooting a fairly difficult shot at will often get to the other player after they miss a shot at the pocket you have hexed a few times. Helps if you know it is a ball spitting pocket anyway.

A million ways to get in someone's head and since the rules would be thicker than the unabridged dictionary if they tried to cover a fraction of the situations in detail most aren't technically illegal. Hard to claim even the vague unsportsmanlike when people can't be sure if much of what you do was intended to jack with them.

Hu

 

[kaver22]

Ha! I've seen several of those happen at the bars! No green?

Also, when I play against my Dad we egg each other on a lot. He'll go for a super easy shot and I'll scoff and tell him to "man-up" and quit playing safe...there's a perfectly good three-rail combo shot if he wants to live a little. It actually got him the first few times I did it.

And then when I shoot he'll say something like "what are you doing?!" like I'm over-looking something REALLY obvious. Or tap the end of my cue on a practice stroke. My Dad and I are usually super blatant about the "sharking". It's become part of our game. Not only trying to one up each other with the physical game but also with the mental game.

In some ways I figure it'll help me block out more subtle techniques that somebody else might try to pull.