Just wondering...
I watched how many of the best pool players in the world warmed up before play at the BCA 9-Ball tournament in Vegas a week ago, and I watched Mike Massey and Ernesto Dominguez warm up for their match at the Hard Times Jamboree in Sacramento yesterday. The pros in Vegas, for the most part, warmed up the same way that I do: either break 9-ball racks and start running, or just throw all 9 balls out on the table and start running. I watched Mike Massey yesterday as he warmed up, and his warm up was comprised almost entirely of shooting difficult shots over and over until he made them comfortably: thin, almost 90-degree cuts, or rail shots (with lots of juice). I don't think he shot anything in consecutive order. Dominguez, on the other hand, warmed up in a way I've never seen anybody else warm up. He threw all 15 balls on the table and shot rotation. That made a lot of sense to me: if you can run 15 balls in order, 9 must feel like a walk in the park immediately afterward.
(What a joy watching Massey play 9-ball. He can juice that cue ball like no one else! I'm happy that he won the tournament. I enjoy watching his Trick Shot Magic comps on ESPN (but enough of 'em already, ESPN, okay?) and was surprised to see him make the trek to Sacramento for a 9-ball tournament.)
How do you warm up for tournaments?
I watched how many of the best pool players in the world warmed up before play at the BCA 9-Ball tournament in Vegas a week ago, and I watched Mike Massey and Ernesto Dominguez warm up for their match at the Hard Times Jamboree in Sacramento yesterday. The pros in Vegas, for the most part, warmed up the same way that I do: either break 9-ball racks and start running, or just throw all 9 balls out on the table and start running. I watched Mike Massey yesterday as he warmed up, and his warm up was comprised almost entirely of shooting difficult shots over and over until he made them comfortably: thin, almost 90-degree cuts, or rail shots (with lots of juice). I don't think he shot anything in consecutive order. Dominguez, on the other hand, warmed up in a way I've never seen anybody else warm up. He threw all 15 balls on the table and shot rotation. That made a lot of sense to me: if you can run 15 balls in order, 9 must feel like a walk in the park immediately afterward.
(What a joy watching Massey play 9-ball. He can juice that cue ball like no one else! I'm happy that he won the tournament. I enjoy watching his Trick Shot Magic comps on ESPN (but enough of 'em already, ESPN, okay?) and was surprised to see him make the trek to Sacramento for a 9-ball tournament.)
How do you warm up for tournaments?
