Guess this isn't dead quite yet. Great stuff gentleman. I actually respect both views about improvement. Ultimately pool needs to be fun. So some players actually enjoy the challenge of trying to continually improve, while for others this sucks the joy right of them. It's so funny because the game itself is fickle in that if you changed the standard game, I could easily lose my passion for it. I went to sub for a team last night and my buddy really wanted to play some bank pool after so I obliged. If I had to play bank pool all the time I think I would find a new hobby. That game just does nothing for me and I know so many who just love it.
I also love just being around all the different types of players, everyone from the social bangers to the pros. I can even find beauty in watching this game played poorly. As an aside, it's my view that a big part of the reason pool has never become popular to the non-playing public is because the beauty of the game hasn't been captured properly. While Matchroom does a great job capturing the competitive excitement, the micro-visual beauty of the game is still being largely ignored. I'm rambling but I continue....I'll watch golf due to its natural beauty. Pool could be similar but it's magnificence is found much closer to the table.
Anyway, I'm certainly in the camp that pursues continual improvement, and I know Tin Man referred to this particular cop out earlier, but I do think time is a huge factor in one's goal setting and for me this is due to one of the larger fallacies I've read on here over the years, and that's the idea of shot ownership. The idea that you can master a shot and forever own it just isn't true about my game. So like a singer who fails to continually exercise their entire vocal range and end up losing some of it, so to must a pool player maintain all of the shots in their repetoire. This is where those with time constraints run into trouble. So sometimes players must be realistic about their games and pursue joy over improvement.
I also love just being around all the different types of players, everyone from the social bangers to the pros. I can even find beauty in watching this game played poorly. As an aside, it's my view that a big part of the reason pool has never become popular to the non-playing public is because the beauty of the game hasn't been captured properly. While Matchroom does a great job capturing the competitive excitement, the micro-visual beauty of the game is still being largely ignored. I'm rambling but I continue....I'll watch golf due to its natural beauty. Pool could be similar but it's magnificence is found much closer to the table.
Anyway, I'm certainly in the camp that pursues continual improvement, and I know Tin Man referred to this particular cop out earlier, but I do think time is a huge factor in one's goal setting and for me this is due to one of the larger fallacies I've read on here over the years, and that's the idea of shot ownership. The idea that you can master a shot and forever own it just isn't true about my game. So like a singer who fails to continually exercise their entire vocal range and end up losing some of it, so to must a pool player maintain all of the shots in their repetoire. This is where those with time constraints run into trouble. So sometimes players must be realistic about their games and pursue joy over improvement.
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