Seeking the next level....?

tough but not impossible

tigerseye said:
I have been playing the game for many years and like many others have quit from time to time and took up another sport....but now have realized that i want to knock off a big tourney....
My problem is how do i go about this dream??? I got the talent to do it but have not a clue as to where i start.....=(

Anyone else here figured out how to get into tip top shape while working 50+???
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I did get in my top playing shape while working fifty hours or more a week. Of course this was in my late teens and twenties. I didn't need much rest and I didn't have family responsibilities. I didn't play tournaments but I took down some top road players in gambling sessions which I think is a truer test of your game than a tournament. As others have mentioned, luck is a factor in tournament play. It may burn you one time and help you the next. Only rarely will luck be so lopsided that you can say it is the only reason you lost the match. You never get a bad roll on any of your shots except the break. Bad rolls from the other player's shot you have to consider his skill. He may have anticipated the roll.

There are a few top players working full time. It is tough but not impossible. A lot has to do with how bad you want it. It's going to cost you and I am not talking about just money.

Hu
 
fasteddienc said:
I'm not sure knocking off Jacoby events with 20 players in considered trying to knock off the big one. I really wish Mike would expand his boundaries and play Reno Open, Seminole events, US Bar Table Championships, and all Turning Stone events. He's got the opportunity and I agree he has the game, so I wish he'd go out and use his talent.
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I know Mike should expand his game a little bit more but he has cashed every year at the U.S.Open finishing top 50...The Jacoby events are attracting more and more pro's... The year end tourney i believe attracted some well knowns like Archer,Bryant,Strickland,Davis,...etc...
Fuller took Archer and Bryant hill-hill in both his losses.... Mike is just on the verge of doing something all of his buddies wished they could...especially me to which i watched him grow up on the table while playing his dad several times...
I would like to mention his Dad can play a little bit too...

I just got to stick with it and come across some cash then it will be my turn...lol=))
 
Neil said:
The other day I posted about how we are taught to be losers. This thread is a classic example of it. Just for your knowledge, there are precedented cases of hard workers achieving a high level in this game.

What you have to do it this-

1. Attain the ability to run out and play good safes.
2. Attain the ability to get out of good safes.
3. Learn to just play the table. I don't care if you are playing Johhny Archer and Efren Reyes back to back. It doesn't matter who you are playing when you are at the table. Forget about them, PLAY THE TABLE!
4. There are only 9 balls to make. EVERYONE there is capable of making all nine. So are you.
5. If you tell yourself you can't beat so and so. You are guaranteed not to.
6. Play smart, but without fear. Don't worry about 'what if I miss', just think about making the shot and getting position.
7. Let the outcome be what it will. Just play YOUR game!
8. Realize that you will probably have to play in much more than one event. Nine Ball has a lot of luck to it too.

I tried this back in '04 at the Glass City Open. I just wanted to see where I stood against 'those guys'. I won my first match 10-1. Next, I played Keith McCready. I didn't let him scare me. I just played MY game. Then, I made the mistake of getting out of zone and looking at the score. I had Keith 7-3, and a straight in shot on the 7. EASY out to make it 8-3. I then thought, "I'm not only going to beat him, I'm going to destroy him!" That made me lose focus on what I was doing, making shots, to winning.

Needless to say, I dogged the 7, and lost 10-8. I dogged it, because I didn't really believe that this was possible. That proved to me that I DO have the skill on the table. But, my mental game needed a lot of work. It's not over till it's over! So, #9 would be, work on your mental game. THAT is what seperates the winners from the losers!. Most people there have the skills' to win. Except that one skill! The mental aspect is far greater than most will admit.

Go for it! And good luck!
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I second Randy's response - great list. As I read through it I've found myself undergoing the same exact things since taking the game back up again, and now wanting to take it even further to get to that next level as well. Many of the same things I've been told by some of the better players around here as well (thanks Fuji!), and they know what they are talking about.

Scott
 
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