Should I quit this game? Your opinion

Tim5000

Tim5000

*************
Silver Member
We all know how frustrating pool can be sometimes, but I'm beginning to think I am just not physically and mentally able to advance my skills to the next level. Maybe I'm too impatient, or maybe I should get on with my life and forget about the game. Here are the facts and stats...

I'm 46 years old, playing about 20 years, was always a casual "D+" player. Two years ago I decided to see what I could do with my skills. So I started practicing 3-5 hours a day every single day 7 days a week for 2 years straight. Now I am a "C" player at best, usually place in bottom 1/3 in local tournaments and consistently score 325-375 on the Hopkins Skills Challenge, and can only beat the 4 ball ghost about 50% of the time! This seems like a very slow progression to me. What does everyone else think about this? I would appreciate anyone's honest opinion.
 
Some professional instruction would be good. Some people never make it out of "C'. Enjoy the game.
 
Tim5000 said:
We all know how frustrating pool can be sometimes, but I'm beginning to think I am just not physically and mentally able to advance my skills to the next level. Maybe I'm too impatient, or maybe I should get on with my life and forget about the game. Here are the facts and stats...

I'm 46 years old, playing about 20 years, was always a casual "D+" player. Two years ago I decided to see what I could do with my skills. So I started practicing 3-5 hours a day every single day 7 days a week for 2 years straight. Now I am a "C" player at best, usually place in bottom 1/3 in local tournaments and consistently score 325-375 on the Hopkins Skills Challenge, and can only beat the 4 ball ghost about 50% of the time! This seems like a very slow progression to me. What does everyone else think about this? I would appreciate anyone's honest opinion.
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Give it another year. The third year is the charm. I predict a breakthrough to B player status.

Watch some good players, especially ones who physically resemble you in size. I mean really watch, observe their stroke, how they hit the ball, what they are trying to accomplish on each shot and where the cue ball goes. Then try to emulate someone whose style you like. Try to hit the same shots in the same way, and do the same thing with the cue ball. This could help you advance faster.
 
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I agree, try getting some professional instruction and see if that helps.

Untimately I think you should decide, do you love the game? If you love it then keep playing, if it is causing you alot of stress and you dont even really like the game, then try different things to make if more intersting and fun. But after 20 years I would say, never give up hope, maybe an instructor would catch a crucial mistake your making, and maybe after fixing it you would shoot up to the A player range, you never know.

Good luck and hang in there!
 
BTW, tried hypnosis for relaxation and also studied martial arts principles for mind, concentration & focus. It helps for relaxation, but that's about it. Even went to get contact lenses just for this purpose.
 
I've only been playing for a year and I sometimes think the same, obviously not nearly as bad as you feel but I would suggest keepin at it and not caring so much, play for awhile just for the love of the game and things may very well fall into place, sometimes the pressure to progress is the biggest mental block.
 
Neil said:
Hours on the table don't mean anything if you are consistently doing something wrong. I agree, get an instructor to see what you are doing. It can make a world of difference.
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agreed

pool isnt "natural"........you could practice 24 hours a day but you still dont know what you dont know. Goto pool school or some other basic 2 or 3 day school and then see what happens
 
you can get a lot better

The only thing that kept me playing pool is that I stunk too mightily to quit on that note. With determination and a little help here and there I became a pretty fair player for awhile.

The recommendations you have already are good but if you can't go with professional instruction use a video camera or even a mirror and compare what you are doing to what the top pro's are doing. Watching other people's form is excellent advice. The top women tend to have better form than the men, in more ways than one! :D :D :D

Hu




Tim5000 said:
We all know how frustrating pool can be sometimes, but I'm beginning to think I am just not physically and mentally able to advance my skills to the next level. Maybe I'm too impatient, or maybe I should get on with my life and forget about the game. Here are the facts and stats...

I'm 46 years old, playing about 20 years, was always a casual "D+" player. Two years ago I decided to see what I could do with my skills. So I started practicing 3-5 hours a day every single day 7 days a week for 2 years straight. Now I am a "C" player at best, usually place in bottom 1/3 in local tournaments and consistently score 325-375 on the Hopkins Skills Challenge, and can only beat the 4 ball ghost about 50% of the time! This seems like a very slow progression to me. What does everyone else think about this? I would appreciate anyone's honest opinion.
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Only you will know...

I think a key question is, do you still enjoy playing? Your question reminded me of some golfers I know, best clubs, nice clothes, hit the range multiple times a week, but on Sunday morning they still couldn't hit a fairway or make a putt. Yet, they couldn't wait to get back on the course.

If you still want to play, there is more than one way to tackle this. I agree professional discussion can be beneficial, if there is a flaw in your stroke, the last thing you want to do is perfect a flaw.

If it were me, I'd want to take a step back from the game and think about where my shortcomings are. Is it break? Cue ball control? Cut shots? Banks? Strategy? Alignment? All of the above? Then you can start to put together an improvement plan along with how you will measure your improvement. Maybe it's instruction or drills or just closely watching someone you know is a good player.

Good Luck. Keep the faith.
 
Hi Tim, I would recommend finding a quality instructor like the others have mentioned.

Your issues could boil down to a slight fundamental problem that an instructor can pick up on and help you resolve the problem.

If you can not find a qualified instructor you can always take advantage of Mark Wilson's video analysis. http://www.playgreatpool.com/stroke_analysis.html

The $50.00 is well worth the investment. The information you will receive from Mark is far more valuable than 50 bucks.

It sounds like you are pretty discouraged right now, the first thing you are gonna have to do is start having fun with the game again. Best of luck to you.
 
My philosophy is that whever something I do for fun stops being fun, I quit.

For me, casual play is fun. Perhaps you're being hard on yourself while forgetting why you started playing? For something fun to do?
 
If you're looking to become a professional player, then I would say it's probably time to find another profession. However, most of us who play the game aren't in it for the fame and $. To me, pools a hobby. I don't strive to become the very best at everything I do, it's just not feasible in life. The time I put towards my game could easily be spent doing something more productive, if you look at that way; but life isn't always about doing the things that one does best.

If I were you, I would maybe take the intensity down on a notch. Playing everyday, 7 days a week is a lot. It would definitely take the fun out of pool for me.

Just for the record, I respect everyone that plays pool, whether they are seasoned pros. or D- minus players.

-Shane
 
I've done the video thing, and have studied the principles for decades as well as studied the pros for years at tournaments and on tv. I can pretty much do what ever I want with the cue ball, I think my problem is missing too many cut shots due to something with my aiming/dominent eye. On my videos of myself my nose seems to be over the shaft rather than my dominent right eye. I've heard some say your eye should be over the shaft, and I've heard some say you should be centered over the shaft (nose and chin directly over top) Any thoughts on this theory?
 
:eek: WOW 20 years!! The road from D to B was a pretty easy one, the road from B to B+ took me twice as long and the Road from B+ to Low A took a little longer to do but in all I have invested 5 years.
Look, you have one thing going for you already and that is the willingness and dedication to want to improve and you’re willing to put the time in to do it. I think someone else said it right that if you’re doing something wrong practicing it over and over again will not help. I think you need one of 2 things. You need either an instructor to watch you shoot to point out the things you did wrong or you need to find an A class player to play against. Instruction for free is always nice.
Drills are a must; you should put in 1 hour of drills for every hour played. Tiger Woods never plays a round of golf unless it is a tournament. He will do nothing but work on his mechanics at the driving range.
Another thing you want to do is avoid playing people that are lesser players. Always play a stronger player and you will see your game improve. When you play somebody weaker you will get in the habit of going easy on them which will make you lose your killer instinct.
My last piece of advice after you have done these first two things is to start hitting the pool hall and play for money. Don't bet the rent but just enough to keep you playing like $20 for a race to 5 (9-ball) or a race to 3 (eight ball) this will teach you to handle the pressure when making a shot is a must.
Do these things and I am sure you will jump a few levels quickly. If you do decide to seek instruction keep in mind that if you are advised to change something do it. At first the change will become awkward and you will want to switch back to the old way because you will notice a drop in your game. Stick with it because if you do it enough times it will become second nature to the point you will not hesitate when playing in a game.
I was teaching a guy last month who did almost everything you could do wrong when he stroked. After watching for fifteen minutes I asked him if he was married to his stroke. He said yes so I told him to come see me when he got a divorce;) It's true what they say about old habits dying hard and it is no different in pool. I hope this helps you a little to get you back on the right track.
 
I"m in about the same boat you are but have less total pool experience. I get upset about my lack of progress but I still love hittin'm around. Nothing is as relaxing to me as practicing. When I was clocking myself I felt bad most of the time because it was never good enough.

Now I practice and play and I love it and that's why I do it. I quit worrying about how good/bad I'm playing and just try to make balls. I still get mad when I miss but I still love trying. The intense focus it takes to make balls on my Diamond Pro requires that I completely forget about everything else in my life while I shoot each shot. I find that relaxing.

There are a lot of good players out your direction. Take some lessons and just work on the fundamentals and enjoy yourself. Every time you practice you get better. Maybe by only a miniscule amount but better.
 
Let me clarify... I played 20 years off and on maybe 2 times a year, that's it. I didn't practice or take it seriously then.

2 years ago I decided to take it up seriously, that's when I started my true practicing and learning.
 
Tim5000 said:
Let me clarify... I played 20 years off and on maybe 2 times a year, that's it. I didn't practice or take it seriously then.

2 years ago I decided to take it up seriously, that's when I started my true practicing and learning.
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Stick with it, Rome was not built in a day and a strong A player is not built in 2 years.
 
There is lots of good advice here.

I'd additionally recommend that you try to bring more feel and less analysis into your game. Along those lines, read Advanced Pool and The Inner Game of Tennis and absorb that information.

Buy Bert Kinister's The 60 Minute Workout for 9-ball, map out the shots, and practice them for an hour daily. If you do that for 3 months...you WILL step up your game. I suggest you attempt each shot 5 times per session and chart your success rate for those three months.

Good luck.
 
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