> Ever had one of those sessions that just leaves you scratching your head? I played some Tuesday night,and had anyone that cared had been watching,I'd have been embarrassed to have played that bad. (We played close to 50 games,and I ran out a full rack less than 15 times,you can't beat ANYONE playing like that) What's killing me though,is exactly what was causing the problem. On shots I normally never miss,I lined them up just like normally,hit it with the speed I normally do to attain the position required,and get a totally different cue-ball reaction than what I expect,leaving me WAY out of line,or missing the ball period.
Shots along the rail where you use outside spin and draw to spin the ball in,and come back to the center of the table were a disaster,often resulting in the kind of miss I hate most,a "clunky",too-full hit that hits the rail a foot from the pocket and hangs,although other people can hit the shot the same way and somehow,it falls.
Other times,I'd use a high ball with outside spin,to come 2 rails and uptable,and once again hit the ball too full,sometimes making the ball but butchering position,or over-spinning it and coming in long enough to scratch in the corner,despite the commitment to coming in short.
I'd shoot a ball straight-in,and hit it with enough of a draw stroke to draw it back a foot or so slowly,and it stuck. I shorten my stroke up so I didn't over-draw it,and it comes back to me like it was shot out of a cannon,and all kinds of things I NEVER expect out of my stroke,which is the puzzling part. On shots where I expect a little deflection,I get NONE,or expect none and hit a ball 1/16 too full/too thin because it just didn't get back to where it normally does. I'm up here playing like a nervous APA 3,and simply cannot believe that despite my focus and determination to play well,that my stroke is letting me down.
I can't "charge" and attack my opponent relentlessly like normal,waiting on another unexpected miss to turn the table over to my opponent,who either isn't observant enough to notice things like this,or just doesn't care enough to analyze their mistakes,so these things NEVER affect them.
I admit that it's been a while since I was able to play with any kind of regularity,but dammit I still expect to run out open racks,not get well into a run and have something I'd never expect in a million years ruin it yet again.
While this particular table isn't the definition of pristine,it's still better than the tables here in town,and am reluctant to blame the table for this particular night of pathetic play. Something I noticed though was it seemed like a shorter,"punchier" stroke seemed to be more effective in spots than a longer,flowing stroke for whatever reason,but the rails are also an anomaly on this table. A live,loosely stroked ball seemed to get a rather dead reaction coming off the rail,while a slower shot from the same angle screamed off the rail.
Input please? Tommy D.
Shots along the rail where you use outside spin and draw to spin the ball in,and come back to the center of the table were a disaster,often resulting in the kind of miss I hate most,a "clunky",too-full hit that hits the rail a foot from the pocket and hangs,although other people can hit the shot the same way and somehow,it falls.
Other times,I'd use a high ball with outside spin,to come 2 rails and uptable,and once again hit the ball too full,sometimes making the ball but butchering position,or over-spinning it and coming in long enough to scratch in the corner,despite the commitment to coming in short.
I'd shoot a ball straight-in,and hit it with enough of a draw stroke to draw it back a foot or so slowly,and it stuck. I shorten my stroke up so I didn't over-draw it,and it comes back to me like it was shot out of a cannon,and all kinds of things I NEVER expect out of my stroke,which is the puzzling part. On shots where I expect a little deflection,I get NONE,or expect none and hit a ball 1/16 too full/too thin because it just didn't get back to where it normally does. I'm up here playing like a nervous APA 3,and simply cannot believe that despite my focus and determination to play well,that my stroke is letting me down.
I can't "charge" and attack my opponent relentlessly like normal,waiting on another unexpected miss to turn the table over to my opponent,who either isn't observant enough to notice things like this,or just doesn't care enough to analyze their mistakes,so these things NEVER affect them.
I admit that it's been a while since I was able to play with any kind of regularity,but dammit I still expect to run out open racks,not get well into a run and have something I'd never expect in a million years ruin it yet again.
While this particular table isn't the definition of pristine,it's still better than the tables here in town,and am reluctant to blame the table for this particular night of pathetic play. Something I noticed though was it seemed like a shorter,"punchier" stroke seemed to be more effective in spots than a longer,flowing stroke for whatever reason,but the rails are also an anomaly on this table. A live,loosely stroked ball seemed to get a rather dead reaction coming off the rail,while a slower shot from the same angle screamed off the rail.
Input please? Tommy D.
