From the player perspective, you can't let slow-play bother you. If you compete a lot, you're going to find yourself in important matches that don't have a shot-clock. I enjoy competing in 9/10-ball, 8ball and 14.1 and I really only encounter shot-clocks when playing 9 or 10ball. In fact, during the Amateur 8ball BCA Championships, it was routine for many of my opponents to look over the table for a few minutes before beginning their turn.
How do I feel? In the beginning, it bothered me immensely. I regard myself as a rhythm player and felt they were breaking my rhythm. But, I'm also VERY competitive and have a strong desire to continue improving and the only way you can do that is to take ownership of your mistakes. When you blame your opponent for your own bad play, you're not taking responsibility. "I played like shit because the guy plays like a turtle!" That's really not an excuse.
Now, if you want to talk about slow-play from the TD's perspective, that's something else. Some organizers are very cognizant of this, less experienced ones obviously are less so. When you are running a tournament, you always have a set number of hours to complete it. You shouldn't look at a field and say, "Oh, I've got 47 guys, 20 tables, I should need about 2 days to complete this." It should be more precise. You should know that you need to complete exactly 15 rounds. The poolroom has granted you 24 hours of use on 20 tables which gives you exactly 75 minutes for each round (I'm not really doing the math). This means, if the first round takes 90 minutes to complete, you have a problem. If you can isolate that problem, great. It's a lot easier when you can point at one guy and say, "Speed it up". If he gets eliminated, problem solved. Otherwise, in a time-constrained situation (very common), it's important to be on top of slow-play and to encourage players to complete their matches quickly.
How do I feel? In the beginning, it bothered me immensely. I regard myself as a rhythm player and felt they were breaking my rhythm. But, I'm also VERY competitive and have a strong desire to continue improving and the only way you can do that is to take ownership of your mistakes. When you blame your opponent for your own bad play, you're not taking responsibility. "I played like shit because the guy plays like a turtle!" That's really not an excuse.
Now, if you want to talk about slow-play from the TD's perspective, that's something else. Some organizers are very cognizant of this, less experienced ones obviously are less so. When you are running a tournament, you always have a set number of hours to complete it. You shouldn't look at a field and say, "Oh, I've got 47 guys, 20 tables, I should need about 2 days to complete this." It should be more precise. You should know that you need to complete exactly 15 rounds. The poolroom has granted you 24 hours of use on 20 tables which gives you exactly 75 minutes for each round (I'm not really doing the math). This means, if the first round takes 90 minutes to complete, you have a problem. If you can isolate that problem, great. It's a lot easier when you can point at one guy and say, "Speed it up". If he gets eliminated, problem solved. Otherwise, in a time-constrained situation (very common), it's important to be on top of slow-play and to encourage players to complete their matches quickly.
