Tips on players who stall
- Thread starter DEGAMO88
- Start date
it depends ...
on whether I think the player is doing it intentionally or he
is just super slow. To me, players that slow, would indicate
that they are out of their league playing you.
If they are doing that intentionally, I would probably say
something like, "We might have to cut the grass again before
you get done", or 'Slow Pool players are a result of overcompensating
for premature ejaculation".
on whether I think the player is doing it intentionally or he
is just super slow. To me, players that slow, would indicate
that they are out of their league playing you.
If they are doing that intentionally, I would probably say
something like, "We might have to cut the grass again before
you get done", or 'Slow Pool players are a result of overcompensating
for premature ejaculation".
whitewolf said:
I know who you're talking about. Very frustrating to see him enter his stance/trance and freeze for 30 seconds before pulling the trigger. You'd think you could knock him over and he'd just be in that exact position on the floor, for 30 seconds, before he moved again.
I assume this discussion applies to slowness on all or most shots. Anyway, it is important to realize there is usually one critical shot per game that requires careful, longer examination in order to successfully make the run-out. Spectators (or opponents) may not always realize the significance of the shot (it may be easy, but the position for the next ball will be critical for the run-out), so I think criticism should be tempered in this case. If someone were to complain about these situations, then IMO they are sharking.
The next time you get to play the slow player--- take a copy of the USA TODAY with you. When the play gets slow, open the paper and start to read and only look up to check for fouls when the slow player is ready to shoot. You don't have to rattle or move the paper or try to shark him. He will loose his concentration and maybe his temper---but who cares---He drew first blood.
Tennessee Joe
Tennessee Joe
drivermaker said:I don't know of another issue in pool that gets me more riled up and pissed off than a slow dragging ass player. My ultimate fantasy solution would be to shoot bullets at his feet and make him dance like in the old cowboy movies, or else.
There was just a big article in the Atlanta newpaper today about slow play on the PGA Tour and what a problem it is. It's infuriating in golf as well, not only for players playing in the same group with the snail, but the groups behind that are also forced to play slow the entire round until the asshole finishes his round and gets off the course. Even the fans get infuriated at having to be subjected to it. Here's an example:
John Daly takes - 19 seconds to hit a tee shot - 12 seconds to hit an approach shot - and 16 seconds to hit his first putt.
The slowest prick on the PGA Tour is Ben Crane and drives EVERYONE nuts.
He takes - 52 seconds to hit a tee shot - 1:34 to hit an approach shot - and 1:18 to hit his first putt! THAT is his AVERAGE... which is NOT his slowest when he's REALLY screwing around.
The PGA Tour has a standard of 40 seconds per shot.
Here's the entire article. Have a good read and maybe something can be gleaned from it to be applied to pool. I still think the 30 second shot clock is about the fairest way to go and should be applied EVERYWHERE and all the time.
Mike Reid, a Champions Tour player at age 51, suggested a decade ago at a Players Championship meeting that a shot clock was the answer. Put one behind every green and force lagging players to pull the trigger in time or face a buzzer in their backswing.
"It was a joke," Atlanta's Billy Andrade said, "but he was kind of serious. He wanted to see guys get their act in gear."
"I guess it was just my puckish humor coming out, because we were near April and the NCAA basketball tournament," said Reid, who competed at Baltusrol this week as the Senior PGA champion.
But here's what's no joke. In 2005, scientists can make the golf ball fly out of sight by adding titanium, but they still can't make tour players get the lead out.
More evidence surfaced at the 18th tee Friday at the PGA Championship, where more than a hole was open in front of the group that contained slow-play poster boy BEN CRANE. When Crane, a former BellSouth Classic champion, fidgeted and fussed over the ball, taking 52 seconds to launch his drive - compared to 19 seconds from John Daly hours before - hot, sweaty fans behind him were groaning.
"HEY, while we're young," one said, "HIT THE BALL".
"Geez, you're puttin' me to sleep", another said.
The most recent ugliness came in June at the Booz Allen Classic, mwhen South Africa's Rory Sabbatini played AHEAD of partner Crane, holing out before he even reached the green.
"He's one of my best friends on tour," Duluth's Stewart Cink said, "but he needs to play faster, and he knows it." (meaning Crane)
While Crane says he's trying,the numbers don't lie. He even took 28 seconds Friday just to hack a ball out of rough. The good news? The Bible scriptures stuffed into Crane's yardage book are read only at idle times, not before he hits, as one player has heard.
"That's absurd", Crane said.
What's the solultion? What if a pace monitor were stationed on every hole, with the authority to add a stroke to a guilty player's score, possibly even without warning, using on-the-scene observations, not merely a time figure, which often hides the blame.
"It would scare players," Paul Azinger said. "It would scare me, and I'm a fast player."
With so much money available on the PGA Tour these days, even the $20,000 fine for 10 clock violations, as incurred by Brent Geiberger, if fairly meaningless. Still, veteran Jay Haas adds, "That still would be a pretty tough check to write. It's not like it's 20 grand for a new TV or stereo."
Strokes are the only serious deterrent, the pros say, especially if dispensed on the spot by an independent observer. Getting the frugal PGA Tour to agree to such an expense is a separate issue.
"Nobody wants to get a penalty stroke; I know that," Cink said. "I can't say it would fix all the problems, but it's a lot easier to take a fine than a penalty stroke".
Although the PGA Tour on paper beefed up its official policy last year to supposedly apply a one-stroke penalty if a player does not speed up after a first warning, the plan obviously isn't working.
Typically, a player speeds up when on the clock, but many times the damage already has been done to the field.
As it stands, when a threesome is put on the clock - rather than the guilty player nabbed - it puts pressure on everyone.
"That's why a lot of the fast players get mad," Tim Herron said, "because now they're trying to speed up more when they're already fast, so they're playing out of their game. Then if you happen to need more time for a trouble shot, you might not feel you can take it."
Azinger would love to see someone drop the hammer on violators but fears it might create "an abuse of power".
"I could see that happening if the guy hits it off line and he's got a situation," Azinger said. "There's times when it's OK for a guy to take longer than his time. You can have a justifiable bad time."
What can't be justified, they say, is for a few players to ruin the product.
"There's about a dozen or 15 players who are notorious," Cink said. "They know who to watch."
So these people go to a golf tournament and stand around a tee box waiting for several minutes at a time until a couple guys show up to hit their tee shots, then if a guy takes 30 seconds too long they complain that they're bored?