The Sounds of Silence ... or Not?

9BallPaul

9BallPaul

Banned
Practice sessions on my home table ordinarily are completed with either TV sports going on the flat-screen, or with my stereo pumping out some sort of suspicious music.

Then the CD's shut off and I'm playing in silence. More than once I've noticed an improvement in my play. For whatever reason, my game elevates.

This reminds me of John Teerinck, who owned and managed the late, great 211 Club in Seattle's Belltown (died in 2000). John allowed no jukebox, loud talk or other nonsense. He saw his room as a temple and lots of Seattle guys agreed. Not sure Earl would have survived here but Dan Louie was a regular.

Trouble is, real-life pool is filled with noise and distraction. At the DCC, players contend with crowd noise, comments, and Scott Smith's necessary chatter. So learning to drown out noise would seem critical to tourney success.

So I raise this question: Practice in silence, or with distractions. Tourney success is the goal.
 
Last edited:
I think people will say to practice in whatever environment most closely simulates that in which you want to be successful. I almost always practice in silence, but when I'm playing I hardly notice the distractions anyway. Too in the zone. If the kids come down and watch TV or whatever, it doesn't really register with me.

Nice question!
 
I think there's something in this and have thought of it before. My club plays the same tracks over and over and bloody over again, and it's music I hate, too.

It's not good for you or your game.
 
I don't think I "hear" the noise in the room when I'm shooting. Yes i definitely hear it when I'm just hanging out, or waiting to shoot,(I'm not THAT old)

I'd be interested to know if you guys really listen to the noise while shooting?
 
I only play and practice at home, and in silence. When my brother comes over to play he likes to play music. It totally screws up my game. I hate it. I know that if I start going to pool halls this is something i'm going to have to learn how to do, but I still hate it.

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2
 
I kind of like music, I consider it background noise, sometimes theme music or it can just accompany a good groove. If I'm really concentrating on my game, I doubt I could tell you the last song that played. (That's one reason why I rarely put money in the juke box, I miss my songs too often!) On a similar note, I was reading a book last night while my girlfriend watched tv. She asked how I could read with the tv in the background. I turned to her and said, "What was that?" She repeated herself and I told her I can mostly tune it out, unless something specific grabs my attention. Music is more fluid, without so much in-your-face attention-grabbing stuff(no loud commercials, sudden explosions, drama, etc).

I use to play computer/console games a bit as a kid. One in particular that I enjoyed was an RPG(Wasteland for the C64). I'd put in the Beatles blue compilation tape and let it play over and over, with it barely even registering with me most of the time. (I still like Across The Universe a lot.)

I learned to play in a bar that would get pretty packed on the weekends, a heavy drinking bar. That'll teach you real quick to tune things out.

..After posting this, I took a look and noticed my tag line..
 
Last edited:
both or all to be more exact

9BallPaul said:
Practice sessions on my home table ordinarily are completed with either TV sports going on the flat-screen, or with my stereo pumping out some sort of suspicious music.

Then the CD's shut off and I'm playing in silence. More than once I've noticed an improvement in my play. For whatever reason, my game elevates.

This reminds me of John Teerinck, who owned and managed the late, great 211 Club in Seattle's Belltown (died in 2000). John allowed no jukebox, loud talk or other nonsense. He saw his room as a temple and lots of Seattle guys agreed. Not sure Earl would have survived here but Dan Louie was a regular.

Trouble is, real-life pool is filled with noise and distraction. At the DCC, players contend with crowd noise, comments, and Scott Smith's necessary chatter. So learning to drown out noise would seem critical to tourney success.

So I raise this question: Practice in silence, or with distractions. Tourney success is the goal.
Click to expand...


Benefits to silence and really immersing yourself totally in the practice. I also like to listen to music I like. For success in tourneys I would add a certain amount of play with a TV blaring something you normally wouldn't watch or music playing that is too loud to suit you and not to your taste. There are benefits to playing in all of these conditions. Particularly in the last few days before an important event try to duplicate the conditions you will encounter as much as possible.

Hu
 
At home I often put on some Sinatra or Ramsey Lewis for practicing 14.1, If I'm playing 9 ball or banks I'll put on some Blues (B.B. King, Memphis Slim and Canned Heat, Little Walter, Little Brother Montgomery etc.).

At the pool hall they play some background music but it's not loud enough to really listen to and sometimes that's a good thing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top