Very true!
That's a great idea! I like that better than spotting. And very useful.
Should I be dumping on the Wife?
- Thread starter 9andout
- Start date
My wife and I play on our home table between 15-20 hours a week; I'm a very lucky guy. She started playing in leagues a few years before I did so when we first started dating about five years ago she was a little better player than I was. My game has improved at a faster clip than hers; I'm about a full rank ahead of her now and probably win on average 7 or 8 games out of 10 against her. As a result, there are times when she’s had a bad day at work, comes home to lose to me on the table and gets frustrated. She might slam the balls she has left on the table into the pockets in a huff before she racks, or exhibit other not so subtle cues of frustration.
I think with her extra experience, she feels like she should still be on par with me. I explain to her that she can’t expect to keep pace with me because she doesn't invest as much time as I do into the game. She doesn't read AZ, watch pool videos, read any of the books or other publications like I have done. If she’s reading, it’s a fiction novel. The closest thing I get to fiction is some of the posts on AZ ;-). I try to transfer my knowledge to her but we’re different people with different strengths/weaknesses in our games so that’s not always effective. She does do drills with me but she doesn't tend to do them on her own like I do. If she’s at the table, she’s mostly playing me in 8 or 9 ball.
Therein lies the rub. I've asked myself the same question, do I dump or not? I think dumping would be counter-productive. It might save some frustration on her part but it will be doing her a disservice if she could consistently win against me, then get waxed in league where she’s lower ranked and I keep winning and moving up. She’d figure that out in short order.
On occasion if I’m playing my A game and she’s only brought her B or C game and has racked 10 games in a row I won’t intentionally miss a ball but I might deviate from my PSR, hurry the shot and miss or get myself out of line. Technically, I guess that’s a form of dumping and one that I try to avoid doing. It just happens when I get into that zone, grab one gear too many and end up losing a game or two. I guess it’s analogous to getting a big lead in a set and losing focus, maybe having too much confidence and not keeping that killer instinct that’s usually needed to close out the set.
I think by pushing her, helping her where I can and getting her the instruction she needs has been the right approach. Luckily she’s improving and I can’t get away with sub-par play as much as I used to. If she’s on, I have to bring my A or B game against her. I think if you take that approach and don’t dump you’ll both be better for it.
I think with her extra experience, she feels like she should still be on par with me. I explain to her that she can’t expect to keep pace with me because she doesn't invest as much time as I do into the game. She doesn't read AZ, watch pool videos, read any of the books or other publications like I have done. If she’s reading, it’s a fiction novel. The closest thing I get to fiction is some of the posts on AZ ;-). I try to transfer my knowledge to her but we’re different people with different strengths/weaknesses in our games so that’s not always effective. She does do drills with me but she doesn't tend to do them on her own like I do. If she’s at the table, she’s mostly playing me in 8 or 9 ball.
Therein lies the rub. I've asked myself the same question, do I dump or not? I think dumping would be counter-productive. It might save some frustration on her part but it will be doing her a disservice if she could consistently win against me, then get waxed in league where she’s lower ranked and I keep winning and moving up. She’d figure that out in short order.
On occasion if I’m playing my A game and she’s only brought her B or C game and has racked 10 games in a row I won’t intentionally miss a ball but I might deviate from my PSR, hurry the shot and miss or get myself out of line. Technically, I guess that’s a form of dumping and one that I try to avoid doing. It just happens when I get into that zone, grab one gear too many and end up losing a game or two. I guess it’s analogous to getting a big lead in a set and losing focus, maybe having too much confidence and not keeping that killer instinct that’s usually needed to close out the set.
I think by pushing her, helping her where I can and getting her the instruction she needs has been the right approach. Luckily she’s improving and I can’t get away with sub-par play as much as I used to. If she’s on, I have to bring my A or B game against her. I think if you take that approach and don’t dump you’ll both be better for it.