Sharked by railbirds

Apocalypse2017

Apocalypse2017

Welcome to the resistance
Silver Member
OK I need to vent:mad:

So I went out to the pool hall last night to get away from the girlfriend. Must have been my lucky day because they had a 9 ball torney. So I got to practice for free for about an hour.(practice went very well) Then the torney was going to start at 7:30. So I sat around for about an hour and it finally started at 8:30:mad: By that time I'm cold and pissed.....then I draw the TD in my first match and he said we both go to 4(my first time at this torney) so I say whatever and win the lag. We banged the one around for a few innings and then he ran out. Lost my first match 0-4:mad: Whatever double elim and I'm about to leave and say f*ck it. I go outside for a butt and my second match is ready to start. I calm down a little and get to hill hill and we are at the table right next to the rail birds. All I hear the whole match is "who is this guy" So the guy misses and I have a good change to run out and I can't even shoot cause they are so loud. I smash the 6 so hard it jumps a foot out of the pocket and scratch. He runs out and I lose.:angry: WTF! I played like shit and choked, can't wait till next week.
 
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Breathe young Padawan! Become one with the shot and simply enjoy the pleasure of small motions. The Force will do the rest. :D
 
Nobody can shark you if you don't allow yourself to be sharked.
Is it better to be in control of your game, or a victim of outside influences?
The choice is yours.

Steve
 
I am slowly getting better at understanding every single time I miss it is my fault. It is a hard thing to accept but we must if we want to improve.

Remember we play a spectator sport and crowd chatter is part of the game. I hate when people shark too but only you can let it get you. As soon as we stop make excuses is as soon as we can start improving. The ability to get up and reset your yourself mentally and physically is hard to master but worth the effort.

Look at Tiger he gets sharked all the time and has managed to figure out a way to stop mid swing to clear his mind. I know it sucks when people talk about you it just happened to me this weekend and I let it get me, but I know in the end it is my fault I drilled the ball into the rail. Next time I will be better prepared to handle it. Stay focused and Run out. GL
 
Apocalypse2012 said:
OK I need to vent:mad:

So I went out to the pool hall last night to get away from the girlfriend. Must have been my lucky day because they had a 9 ball torney. So I got to practice for free for about an hour.(practice went very well) Then the torney was going to start at 7:30. So I sat around for about an hour and it finally started at 8:30:mad: By that time I'm cold and pissed.....then I draw the TO in my first match and he said we both go to 4(my first time at this torney) so I say whatever and win the lag. We banged the one around for a few innings and then he ran out. Lost my first match 0-4:mad: Whatever double elim and I about to leave and say f*ck it. I go outside for a butt and my second match is ready to start. I calm down a little and get to hill hill and we are at the table right next to the rail birds. All I hear the whole match is "who is this guy" So the guy misses and I have a good change to run out and I can't even shoot cause they are so loud. I smash the 6 so hard it jumps a foot out of the pocket and scratch. He runs out and I lose.:angry: WTF! I played like shit and choked, can't wait till next week.
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Release the anger my friend! Add a few happy faces to your next post! :smile::smile::p:p:p:D
 
What does it matter what the railbirds are chattering about? Who are they? Frankly I don't care what the other people are saying, especially if I know that they're trying to shark me. You just have to not care, focus on your game, and laugh at whatever comments they might sling at you.
 
Good Info

Apocalypse2012 said:
OK I need to vent:mad:

So I went out to the pool hall last night to get away from the girlfriend. Must have been my lucky day because they had a 9 ball torney. So I got to practice for free for about an hour.(practice went very well) Then the torney was going to start at 7:30. So I sat around for about an hour and it finally started at 8:30:mad: By that time I'm cold and pissed.....then I draw the TD in my first match and he said we both go to 4(my first time at this torney) so I say whatever and win the lag. We banged the one around for a few innings and then he ran out. Lost my first match 0-4:mad: Whatever double elim and I'm about to leave and say f*ck it. I go outside for a butt and my second match is ready to start. I calm down a little and get to hill hill and we are at the table right next to the rail birds. All I hear the whole match is "who is this guy" So the guy misses and I have a good change to run out and I can't even shoot cause they are so loud. I smash the 6 so hard it jumps a foot out of the pocket and scratch. He runs out and I lose.:angry: WTF! I played like shit and choked, can't wait till next week.
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Good info posted in this thread already. Now go tell your girlfriend that you have to practice pool in the topless joints for awhile. Best way I know of for a straight male to learn to ignore distractions! :D :D :D

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
Good info posted in this thread already. Now go tell your girlfriend that you have to practice pool in the topless joints for awhile. Best way I know of for a straight male to learn to ignore distractions!
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I think I'm going to have to give that one a try! Of course the wife plays pool as well, so she might give that one a try as well.

My trick for dealing with distraction is to keep singing a song in my head that I like that was recently on the jukebox, always keep my eye on the table, and to continually focus on my pre-shot routine. If my routine gets interrupted, I step back from the table and repeat it again. If you keep your eyes on the table and your ears on the music in your head you won't notice anyone else but the person you're playing.

Brian
 
I played more than half my 50+ years pool in noisy bars. Loud music, people bumping into you, hollering, glasses and bodies dropped, and just about anything else you can think of. It's very hard for anything to shark me. I get sharked every once in awhile in a very quiet poolroom when all of a sudden there is a loud noise. The last time I was really sharked good was when I was on final stroke shooting at the corner pocket on my table on the sceened patio. As I pulled the trigger a Lizard jumped out of the pocket and landed in front of the pocket. Johnnyt
 
Johnnyt said:
I played more than half my 50+ years pool in noisy bars. Loud music, people bumping into you, hollering, glasses and bodies dropped, and just about anything else you can think of. It's very hard for anything to shark me. I get sharked every once in awhile in a very quiet poolroom when all of a sudden there is a loud noise. The last time I was really sharked good was when I was on final stroke shooting at the corner pocket on my table on the sceened patio. As I pulled the trigger a Lizard jumped out of the pocket and landed in front of the pocket. Johnnyt
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You have to watch that little GEICO fellow, he'll get you every time!
 
Toughen up. It ain't church and they're not doing it on purpose. They're just railbirds. The pool world is full of them.
 
Johnnyt said:
I played more than half my 50+ years pool in noisy bars. Loud music, people bumping into you, hollering, glasses and bodies dropped, and just about anything else you can think of. It's very hard for anything to shark me. I get sharked every once in awhile in a very quiet poolroom when all of a sudden there is a loud noise. The last time I was really sharked good was when I was on final stroke shooting at the corner pocket on my table on the sceened patio. As I pulled the trigger a Lizard jumped out of the pocket and landed in front of the pocket. Johnnyt
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I agree with Johnny, it's easier for me to play in a crowded noisy place with music blasting than a real quiet place where a single noise stands out.

As to the original post, I've lost when I was being sharked but each and every time if I had played better I would have won despite being sharked. I hated to lose to the shark but I know the best way to prevent that is to step up my game. When I was a kid there was a guy who would bump the butt of your cue as you were pulling it back to shoot. I found a creative way involving an ice pick to bring that to a screeching halt.
 
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btoneill said:
I think I'm going to have to give that one a try! Of course the wife plays pool as well, so she might give that one a try as well.

My trick for dealing with distraction is to keep singing a song in my head that I like that was recently on the jukebox, always keep my eye on the table, and to continually focus on my pre-shot routine. If my routine gets interrupted, I step back from the table and repeat it again. If you keep your eyes on the table and your ears on the music in your head you won't notice anyone else but the person you're playing.

Brian
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Brian, I really like your advice to keep your eyes on the table. I can control that pretty easily. Focusing your hearing is a tougher chore. The juke can be blasting Back In Black, but if someone says "I don't think he can make that" at near any decibel, I'm likely to hear it and possibly lose a % of my concentration...

Maybe I'll work on the hearing thing.

KK9 <-- gonna start humming "It's a Small World Afterall" on every shot
 
Calm down

Railbirds can get annoying at times, but you have to just quiet the mind to think of nothing else and just play your game. If it's really bugging you, you have the right to ask them to be quiet.
 
sharking allowed games?

Johnnyt said:
I played more than half my 50+ years pool in noisy bars. Loud music, people bumping into you, hollering, glasses and bodies dropped, and just about anything else you can think of. It's very hard for anything to shark me. I get sharked every once in awhile in a very quiet poolroom when all of a sudden there is a loud noise. The last time I was really sharked good was when I was on final stroke shooting at the corner pocket on my table on the sceened patio. As I pulled the trigger a Lizard jumped out of the pocket and landed in front of the pocket. Johnnyt
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That's a good one JT.

Hey... Who's played "sharking allowed" games? Did it help you improve your shark defences? Short of touching someone, were there any off limits to the allowed sharking techniques?
 
What everyone is saying is absolutely true, the only unfortunate thing in all this is the fact that pool is the only sport where this is commonplace.

I just watched some of the British Open Golf, and you never see anyone overtly sharking someone else, even the crowd will wait until the shot is over to applaud or take a photo.

It's sad that it's part of the billiard culture to do that. Maybe Europe does not have the same problem, but here in the states it has existed for at least a century.

Sure, we can all become immuned to it for our own benefit, but too bad that we have to fade it.
 
KoolKat9Lives said:
That's a good one JT.

Hey... Who's played "sharking allowed" games? Did it help you improve your shark defences? Short of touching someone, were there any off limits to the allowed sharking techniques?
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I have a group of friends that I play cheap ring games (50cents/1$ a ball)with, and we are super-relaxed about sharking.

Its about having fun and you REALLY have to bear down to run out with someone next to you making fart noises.
 
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