Shy but wants to play

[Snapshot9]

Bonni

Glad to see you are getting acclimated and enjoy playing so much. It is not a great game though, but it is a great sport. The more you play, the more you will realize it is a sport, and not just a game.

Check into whether the Pool room has a house pro. Some house pros will give a couple of lessons pro bono to help a new player along. I have in the past.

Check into getting a couple of good Pool books to read.

Some rooms have all girls leagues.

Gets into your blood, doesn't it? I know, it's been in mine 48 years now!!!

 

[MN Kid]

Way to go skier and thanks for letting us into this little corner of your life. I hope more people just starting off read this post. It epitomizes what makes this game so worth while. You did good, real good.

RG

 

[skiergirl55]

Thanks for the encouragement, peeps. This is what keeps me buoyant: skilled shooters like yourselves boosting up the newcomers. THANKS.

Every awesome pool shooter starts at the bottom. When you reach the upper rungs and you take the time to encourage the new folks, I think that's total Class. I hope to do the same some day.

I do have books, I have instruction video and I practice both drills and games every week. I'm working more these days and only play 4 days a week now. I'm still making rapid improvement, and I know it will slow down eventually. As for the house pro, I will have to make some inquiries.

 

[skiergirl55]

I just got back from Portland (I should say Oregon City), and I played in 5 tournaments from Friday to Monday.

At the River Roadhouse on Saturday I played Paul Marquez (columnist from The Break news fame) in a 9 ball tournament, and won a game in a race to 3. I think he gave it to me to make me feel better. :embarrassed2: We played for fun afterward and he gave me some great pointers. Thanks, Paul.

Later that day at KC Midway, I played a Master (Russ), and I got one game from him ,too, in a 9 ball race to 4. I just kept getting lucky. I went to the loser bracket and won another game. I think I'm doing well to win any games against shooters of this caliber in a tournament.

Glenn Atwell was there shooting, too, and my friend Pat played him and lost (darn). I was practicing on an open table after I was out of the running. I made a fantastic bank shot and I couldn't believe it myself when it went in just like that.............SNAP!........and the look on my face prompted a comment from Glenn. He said, "Nice shot". I said "Thanks!" Then he said , "I like the way your jaw dropped." I said, "Well, sometimes it works the way you want it!" Thanks, Glenn. That made my day.:thumbup:

Over the next few days I shot pool a LOT, got some lessons, and played more tournaments. I got 2 games from a chick who said she's been playing for 15 years. Things like this make me feel good. I won one of those games by making a kick shot into the short rail and sending it back to hit the 2 ball near the center line which caromed off into the 9 ball and won the game. Unreal. I'll take the win. It was a race to 3 and we had to play 5 games. Oh yeah.

Then on Tuesday nights BCA league I won my first game (8 ball). What a rush! I got 24 points last night. I can't complain about that ball count, even though I got 10 points for one game. My 3rd game I didn't get out of my chair after the break and sinking a couple of balls. Shit happens.

I'm loving pool, loving getting better, loving playing challenging people and tables. Life is Good and I thought I'd share it. WHEE!!!!!

 

[skiergirl55]

I'm in Hawaii for a week or so and shot some pool in Kona last night on a beer stained table with ripped cloth. There were beer stains and some kind of 'other stains' I didn't care to identify. The only cue we had was broken off about 18 inches too short and didn't have a tip at all.......we were chalking the ferrule! Still, we were the best players there.

Kona needs a pool hall really bad. Opportunity knocks.......anyone want to enter?

 

[Tramp Steamer]

Ah, the seamier side of pocket billiards. What's the haps, Bonnie? :smile:

 

[skiergirl55]

Is there another side to pocket billiards besides the seamy side?

I got my rating in BCA league last night. I'm a level 5. I have 2 level 8 and a level 9 on my team, and I play mostly level 8/9 players on the other teams. Last night's ball count:

Game 1: 7 balls
Game 2: 4 balls
Game 3: 6 balls
Game 4: 0 balls

I'm trying to hold my own. Pool tonight, pool tomorrow all day, pool on the weekend........I'm starting to get my meals in the bars......my diet is going to hell but my game is improving. :thumbup:

 

[poolplayer2093]

Is there another side to pocket billiards besides the seamy side?

I got my rating in BCA league last night. I'm a level 5. I have 2 level 8 and a level 9 on my team, and I play mostly level 8/9 players on the other teams. Last night's ball count:

Game 1: 7 balls
Game 2: 4 balls
Game 3: 6 balls
Game 4: 0 balls

I'm trying to hold my own. Pool tonight, pool tomorrow all day, pool on the weekend........I'm starting to get my meals in the bars......my diet is going to hell but my game is improving. :thumbup:

have you checked out any accu stats yet? get some 14.1 accu stats and 8 ball matches and it'll show you a lot of strategy. correct patterns and good safeties

 

[skiergirl55]

have you checked out any accu stats yet? get some 14.1 accu stats and 8 ball matches and it'll show you a lot of strategy. correct patterns and good safeties

I'm ignorant.......I have no idea what you're talking about.

Clue me in?

Last night my team captain called time out my last game and told me, "Shoot the 11 so you can get more balls in your count. Just sink balls at this point." He said there's no point in playing safe against the level 9 I was playing and I had sunk no balls yet. Opponent had one ball left and it was out in the open. Well, I told him I'd rather go for the 5 ball which I knew I could get, and then set myself up for 3 or more. I had a pattern in my head. Had I been left alone, I could have had at least 4 balls in a run before he took his ball off the table and won. Instead, I got a big fat 0 because I couldn't make that hard 11 ball shot that he wanted me to do.

I don't understand that. I can't play my own game? I could have hidden the cueball after the last ball I knew would go down and perhaps get ball in hand to finish it out. Instead, I tried and failed to make a really tough cut shot.

 

[poolplayer2093]

I'm ignorant.......I have no idea what you're talking about.

Clue me in?

Last night my team captain called time out my last game and told me, "Shoot the 11 so you can get more balls in your count. Just sink balls at this point." He said there's no point in playing safe against the level 9 I was playing and I had sunk no balls yet. Opponent had one ball left and it was out in the open. Well, I told him I'd rather go for the 5 ball which I knew I could get, and then set myself up for 3 or more. I had a pattern in my head. Had I been left alone, I could have had at least 4 balls in a run before he took his ball off the table and won. Instead, I got a big fat 0 because I couldn't make that hard 11 ball shot that he wanted me to do.

I don't understand that. I can't play my own game? I could have hidden the cueball after the last ball I knew would go down and perhaps get ball in hand to finish it out. Instead, I tried and failed to make a really tough cut shot.

looks like he overestimated your ability. sometimes when you've been playing for a long time shots that look like hangers to you other players might think are tough .especially playing barbox pool. next time tell him you're going to do it your way. it's your turn at the table not his. you have to play within your ability. just let him know you have to shoot what you're comfortable with and he can show you what he means next time.

imo he shouldn't be telling you stuff like that mid game.

accu stats are a great source of information for anyone looking to improve their game. they're taped matches of pros playing games (pick any game and they'll have a video of it) with commentary from other pros telling you how and why they're shooting shots the way they're shooting them.
http://www.accu-stats.com/

 

[skiergirl55]

Thanks! It looks like a good tool, and a time waster at home. My house looks like an abandoned meth lab from spending too much time shooting pool and reading about pool.........

Speaking of that, it's Thursday, and my 10 hour pool day is going to start very soon. Thursdays are '2 meal days' when I don't eat at home at all. Whee!:thumbup:

 

[Andrew Manning]

I'm ignorant.......I have no idea what you're talking about.

Clue me in?

Accu-stats is a company that films professional pool of all flavors and sells the videos. You should peruse their website. You can learn a lot by just watching how the best players in the world play the game.

Last night my team captain called time out my last game and told me, "Shoot the 11 so you can get more balls in your count. Just sink balls at this point." He said there's no point in playing safe against the level 9 I was playing and I had sunk no balls yet. Opponent had one ball left and it was out in the open. Well, I told him I'd rather go for the 5 ball which I knew I could get, and then set myself up for 3 or more. I had a pattern in my head. Had I been left alone, I could have had at least 4 balls in a run before he took his ball off the table and won. Instead, I got a big fat 0 because I couldn't make that hard 11 ball shot that he wanted me to do.

I don't understand that. I can't play my own game? I could have hidden the cueball after the last ball I knew would go down and perhaps get ball in hand to finish it out. Instead, I tried and failed to make a really tough cut shot.

Your captain didn't think you'd make those other balls. But if you had a pattern, especially one that ended with you playing safe, you should have gone for it. Even if you missed and sold out, you learn a lot faster by trying to play it the way a good player would, rather than constantly telling yourself (or having your captain tell you) that you don't have the skills to play it that way and you should go for a different strategy. Your captain might not like me saying that, because at first you will hand your opponents a lot of easy wins this way, but you'll become better in the long run trying to learn to play the way good players do, and I have the luxury of not caring what your captain thinks.

-Andrew

 

[skiergirl55]

I like your advice, Andrew. And I told him I wanted to play my game my way, and he left me alone during Tuesday's matches. I did ok on my own and want to keep it that way. I'm learning to NOT make shots.

I did a Scotch Doubles tournament tonight and went to the loser bracket immediately, then lasted 4 more brackets. I teamed with a friend who had never been in a tournament before. Not a bad showing, and we almost made it to the money.

 

[skiergirl55]

Just wanted to share this week's BCA league totals:

Game 1: 6 balls
Game 2: 5 balls
Game 3: 6 balls
Game 4: Won...10 points!

I'm getting better by playing better shooters. I might make it to level 6 by the end of the season.

Off for my marathon 10 hour pool day. WHEE!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ridinda9]

out go the lights !![/I]

 

[skiergirl55]

No offense to you personally, but you'd have to hog-tie me, stuff me in a burlap sack, beat me with an iron bar, and threaten to do the same to my cat to get me to play in an APA league.

uttahere:

BCA for this banger. I've seen what the APA produces, and I don't think I wanna go there. I play these people when they're not shooting on league night.....and I don't accept slopping them in or being stuck with a crappy lie because I happened to get unlucky on the break and sink one of the cowboys in the valley instead of one of the Indians on the ridge.:nono:

('lie' is a golf term.....what is it in pool when stripes look infinitely better than solids after the break?)

 

[JoeyA]

No offense to you personally, but you'd have to hog-tie me, stuff me in a burlap sack, beat me with an iron bar, and threaten to do the same to my cat to get me to play in an APA league.

uttahere:

BCA for this banger. I've seen what the APA produces, and I don't think I wanna go there. I play these people when they're not shooting on league night.....and I don't accept slopping them in or being stuck with a crappy lie because I happened to get unlucky on the break and sink one of the cowboys in the valley instead of one of the Indians on the ridge.:nono:

('lie' is a golf term.....what is it in pool when stripes look infinitely better than solids after the break?)

We have a young lady in her 50's who comes to our weekly handicapped 9 ball tournament. Her husband passed away at an early age and she is bored sitting home night after night. One non league night she decided to come out to our popular handicapped 9 ball tournament which is dominated mostly by males. We probably only have one or two other gals besides the new lady playing in the tournament which is a tough field. The other two gals only play occasionally although we do have many other females who play regularly at the pool hall. The newbie feline has taken to the tournament like any pool degenerate and plays every week. She talks to all of the other players and has fit in just fine. Recently her winning ticket was picked for the opportunity to break a ten ball rack and run it. Her winning ticket was worth $50 per ball made. The crowd was pulling rather hard for her to pocket at least one ball on the break and they let out a wail when nothing fell so I guess that was a good response to whether or not a newbie single woman can be accepted into the pool world.

In our pool hall and most pool halls around the country, we're not prejudiced against race, religion, or sex. Just don't get caught discussing any of those while we have a tournament going on.

 

[ridinda9]

as you can see , I was quoting your post (weird technical difficulty that it didn't box , and that 'out go the lights' didn't italicize) saying they were "full up" . I also have very little love for the APA , you don't need to convince me.
It's the lay of the table , like the lay of the land . lie of the balls. why are they different ? ask an english teacher.

I used to date a girl , til I found out that she was the lay of the land . nuther story for nuther day

and I'd never threaten your cat

you think BCA v. APA rules is a challenge ? Try playing on the road & dealing with "house rules" - especially in the northeast.

 

[Ctwitty]

league

No offense to you personally, but you'd have to hog-tie me, stuff me in a burlap sack, beat me with an iron bar, and threaten to do the same to my cat to get me to play in an APA league.

uttahere:

BCA for this banger. I've seen what the APA produces, and I don't think I wanna go there. I play these people when they're not shooting on league night.....and I don't accept slopping them in or being stuck with a crappy lie because I happened to get unlucky on the break and sink one of the cowboys in the valley instead of one of the Indians on the ridge.:nono:

('lie' is a golf term.....what is it in pool when stripes look infinitely better than solids after the break?)

You stated when you made that first post a short while back that you were looking for insight into which league to play in since you had not played in any of them and know NOTHING about any of them and wanted to meet people. As usual the haters on this site fed you their pablum and you joined the league they suggested. after just a few weeks playing in a format where you are just the whipping girl for the other teams you have the same hate in your posts as the losers you first sought bad advice from. I play in you league too and can't wait to get that easy game from all of you bangers. lol

 

[skiergirl55]

Twitty, half a year has passed since my first post, and I've learned quite a bit from entering tournaments, playing on league and shooting a few nights a week with other people. I'm also no longer much of a banger, either.

Fall BCA league started last night and here are my stats:

Game 1: 10 points (won)
Game 2: 10 points (won)
Game 3: 10 points (won)
Game 4: 4 points (dang, made a mistake, that's all it takes)

34 out of a possible 40 is not just luck. I can shoot a decent game. I'm getting better, but APA still sucks now that I've met a bunch of people who 'used to play' with them and also heard their horror stories.