First let me say that I appreciate good safety play as much as anyone, especially in 9ball. In barbox 8ball, it's a different story. I try to be a run out player. I don't like playing safe when it doesn't accomplish anything. For example, if I have a runnable table, with an easy opening shot, and I also have an easy safety, I'm going for the runout. My philosophy on this is "why let your opponent back to the table when you don't have to?" I play on a BCA barbox 8ball league, and the only time I really ever get to play barbox 8ball is on league night, once a week. You get bonus money at the end of the season for every break and run you have. So of course, if I break and make a ball, and the table is at least somewhat open, usually I want to run out. I'll play safe when I see fit, but if the table is runnable, I am going for it.
Whenever I make a mistake, i.e. hook myself, get out of line, miss, and consequently lose the game because of it, my teammates always criticise me and how I should have played safe here and done that there, blah blah. Meanwhile, they are in the 40-50% win ratio for the season, and I'm in the top ten out of about 100 with a 75% win ratio. And I don't know this game for squat! I haven't been playing it that long, and I think that the majority of pool played on barboxes is crap, because most of the tables arent level, so you don't even get rewarded with precise position play if the ball is rolling into a spot perfectly and suddenly takes a steep dive to the left or right. If all barboxes were as well-kept as 9footers, I might have a little more respect for peoples games who ONLY play on 7footers. But most barboxes play like crap, so often there is alot of luck involved in maneuvering thru racks of 8ball.
Anyways, tonight I got some funny justice against my teammates, which I think will probably shut them up for a while. In one of the early games, one of my teammates has an easy shot with 5balls of his own on the table, laying very nicely for him, and his opponent only has the 8ball left. My teammate gets only SLIGHTLY out of line, and plays a safe, leaving his opponent a kick that was fairly easy to contact the 8. The 8ball wasnt near a hole, but it was about a ball's width off the side rail so the contact just to make a legal hit was easy. The guy calls the corner pocket, kicks and pockets the 8, winning the game. He only got very slightly out of line and let his opponent back to the table because of it. I think that was too chickenshit of him, because the runout was still easy. He was just TOO careful, and it cost him.
In one of my games, I play a beautiful safety, locking my opponent up from his 4 remaining balls. The hit alone is extremely difficult. My opponent happened to be a pretty good player, and I was forced to play safe pretty much. After I played the safe, my teammates started saying how great of a safe it was, and how I should play safe like that more often. He makes this beautiful kick and pockets his ball, getting perfect position, and he runs out. My teammates fell silent.
In one of my other teammates games, he does a similar thing as my first teammate, but it seemed like he was toying with the guy he was playing. He kept playing the same safe over and over, and the other guy kept tying up the same ball to the 8ball while playing an intentional foul. It seemed like they were going to keep playing the same shots over and over for the next 20 minutes, until my teammate got careless and the cueball squeaked out, leaving his opponent a shot on the 8, which he made. If my teammate had instead tried to pocket a ball and break up the cluster, he would have had a chance to run out.
Anyways, I think its silly to be too careful. Pool is one of the only games where you can never let your opponent to the table and win, so why not try to make use of that more often? I think that since that is possible, that in pool, the best defense is a good offense. Of course defense pays off, but when you overdo it, and won't shoot a slightly tougher shot, you will never be a winning player. I believe it was Sigel who said that you can't win tournaments by ducking. And Sigel's nickname was 'Captain Hook' when he was in his prime. What does that tell you?
Again, I'm not against safeties, or something like that. I just think people should have a little more guts if they want to win more, IMO. And this does involve percentages. Letting your opponent back to the table when you don't have to, is not playing the percentages, in most cases.
Whenever I make a mistake, i.e. hook myself, get out of line, miss, and consequently lose the game because of it, my teammates always criticise me and how I should have played safe here and done that there, blah blah. Meanwhile, they are in the 40-50% win ratio for the season, and I'm in the top ten out of about 100 with a 75% win ratio. And I don't know this game for squat! I haven't been playing it that long, and I think that the majority of pool played on barboxes is crap, because most of the tables arent level, so you don't even get rewarded with precise position play if the ball is rolling into a spot perfectly and suddenly takes a steep dive to the left or right. If all barboxes were as well-kept as 9footers, I might have a little more respect for peoples games who ONLY play on 7footers. But most barboxes play like crap, so often there is alot of luck involved in maneuvering thru racks of 8ball.
Anyways, tonight I got some funny justice against my teammates, which I think will probably shut them up for a while. In one of the early games, one of my teammates has an easy shot with 5balls of his own on the table, laying very nicely for him, and his opponent only has the 8ball left. My teammate gets only SLIGHTLY out of line, and plays a safe, leaving his opponent a kick that was fairly easy to contact the 8. The 8ball wasnt near a hole, but it was about a ball's width off the side rail so the contact just to make a legal hit was easy. The guy calls the corner pocket, kicks and pockets the 8, winning the game. He only got very slightly out of line and let his opponent back to the table because of it. I think that was too chickenshit of him, because the runout was still easy. He was just TOO careful, and it cost him.
In one of my games, I play a beautiful safety, locking my opponent up from his 4 remaining balls. The hit alone is extremely difficult. My opponent happened to be a pretty good player, and I was forced to play safe pretty much. After I played the safe, my teammates started saying how great of a safe it was, and how I should play safe like that more often. He makes this beautiful kick and pockets his ball, getting perfect position, and he runs out. My teammates fell silent.
In one of my other teammates games, he does a similar thing as my first teammate, but it seemed like he was toying with the guy he was playing. He kept playing the same safe over and over, and the other guy kept tying up the same ball to the 8ball while playing an intentional foul. It seemed like they were going to keep playing the same shots over and over for the next 20 minutes, until my teammate got careless and the cueball squeaked out, leaving his opponent a shot on the 8, which he made. If my teammate had instead tried to pocket a ball and break up the cluster, he would have had a chance to run out.
Anyways, I think its silly to be too careful. Pool is one of the only games where you can never let your opponent to the table and win, so why not try to make use of that more often? I think that since that is possible, that in pool, the best defense is a good offense. Of course defense pays off, but when you overdo it, and won't shoot a slightly tougher shot, you will never be a winning player. I believe it was Sigel who said that you can't win tournaments by ducking. And Sigel's nickname was 'Captain Hook' when he was in his prime. What does that tell you?
Again, I'm not against safeties, or something like that. I just think people should have a little more guts if they want to win more, IMO. And this does involve percentages. Letting your opponent back to the table when you don't have to, is not playing the percentages, in most cases.
