Useful Instructional Phrases That Help You Play Pool Better

Sooner32 said:
I am guessing my sayings would not be considered helpful. Yesterday was a particularly rough day for me as far as getting balls to go into pockets. If someone was recording me they would have heard:

Holy crap you suck!
How on earth can you miss a pocket by that much?
Why the fuck did you buy all this shit?
How the hell do you snooker yourself with three damn balls on the table?
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I am going to take you serious that you say such things about yourself. If so it is the wrong move. Watch old video of Efren. When he missed a shot he grinned, rubbed the back of his head, and reset. The miss and the thoughts about it were behind him. Seemed like a great idea but I'm not much on grinning and the bald spot on the back of my head was growing fast!

I couldn't do it in exactly the same manner but I could do the same thing. I acknowledge to myself that I had just made a dumbass move, then I follow-up by saying that isn't my normal and I move on.

Two things are important: First I bash what I did not the entirety of myself. I need mistakes to carry a penalty so I put in that one second or so of punishment. Now the mistake has been acknowledged and dealt with, I move on. If I left it hanging unresolved, I can't move on.

I shot a sixty round weekly pistol match for a few years. The framework and structure made it much easier to analyze than a pool tournament. I let one shot go a little astray most weeks. Taking a look at the results over the entire past season it was obvious that my perfect scores were just as abnormal as letting two or more shots go astray.

I would have liked to think that my normal was perfection, or even perfection most of the time. Nope, dropping a point or more on one shot was my normal. I still kept trying to improve but I didn't get upset about a shot going an inch or two out, that was my normal.

If a person finds a firm measuring stick for pool they can set firm and realistic goals. Most of us aren't going to be best every event, nobody else is either. Realistic expectations are a big part of putting our game together. If we are a top ten finisher at the moment we need to recognize that and try to move into the group of top five or top three finishers. At some point we start getting our share of wins but they aren't likely to come when we are a second ten finisher. Realistic goals and expectations are a lot easier to reach than daydreams.

Hu
 
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ShootingArts said:
I am going to take you serious that you say such things about yourself.
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I was serious for sure. I am pretty hard on myself for most everything but particularly in pool. I maybe should not have started playing again because I don't seem capable of just playing to enjoy being at the table, which is what I had in mind when I started to play again. I had hoped I could somehow adjust to some physical issues and be able to play a halfway respectable game but it's not happening. Unfortunately, pool and fishing are about the only recreational activities i am interested in doing.

I would not call myself a gambler. The only thing I have really ever bet on is me while playing pool, or poker once I quit pool. Black Friday ended poker for me. I just don't see a path to me getting good enough to gamble at all again. Same as handing someone my money. Maybe if someone could spot me a neck.
 
gregcantrall said:
My World Class little league coaching as catcher was, "if you blink, you can still be a good catcher. If you Don't Blink you can be as good as Yogi or Johnny Bench.(Well Johnny came well after this coaching. ).
Remember to find a coaching phrase that doesn't have a negative.
You know like in the movie.
"Can't have No negative vibes."
Can't remember the name.....maybe Hogan's Heros.
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Greg, you have a lot of posts on this thread. Many include instruction to "not be negative" in your thinking. But then your motto is listed by your name as "just don't dog it". Planet earth is all around you, sir. With all due respect.
 
Cleveland_Rocks said:
Greg, you have a lot of posts on this thread. Many include instruction to "not be negative" in your thinking. But then your motto is listed by your name as "just don't dog it". Planet earth is all around you, sir. With all due respect.
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Thank you for pointing out my inconsistencie.
My motto was intended to be tongue in cheek but it's a swing and miss.
My sidekick doesn't mind as he realizes that I am Only human. 😉
Perhaps, "Who Let the Dogs Out?" Would be a better by line. 🤷‍♂️
Edit:
Oh wait, I know, "It ain't the size of the dog in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the dog." 🤷‍♂️
 
Cleveland_Rocks said:
Greg, you have a lot of posts on this thread. Many include instruction to "not be negative"
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Well in my best comeback, my malady was dogging easy balls to dig the hole. My recovery thought was. "Just make him earn it."
Pretty sure "Don't Dog it" would have failed. Thankfully the make him earn it worked on that occasion. Well it helped me to Get My Mind Right.
 
I just looked at the original post an noticed the video was missing. I fixed the error, and here's the video:

 
Cleveland_Rocks said:
You are the man, Greg! Be the shotmaker. My comment earlier about inconsistencies that you were exuding was made in jest and was only meant to help you. May you run tables and may blessings continue for you.
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Well inconsistent on the table is symptom that I have been searching for a cure for.
My experience is that a good way to get me to focus is, piss me off.
I'm definitely not alone in that regard. When I asked my wife, "Did you hear what Lavern said?" Proofed the piss me off factor. She made 3 nine balls in 4 shots and I had to intercept her from confronting Lavern as I had made it up. My confession did earn her redirected anger and it was hot. 🤷‍♂️
Of course The fear factor can have the same effect. The Fight or Flight decision is stimulating
I tend to favor the go down swinging method. The duck and hide always gets the mathematical consideration however.
 
A favorite League team encouragement was, "show 'em how the cow ate the cabbage. "
Never saw a cow eat cabbage but imagined it as methodical and sure.
 
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ShootingArts said:
At the pool table, going back doesn't really matter except it is almost impossible to start with a jerk and transform into a smooth transition. A smooth transition and gentle start to the forward stroke got me through the night. Almost all beginners and intermediate players have a poor transition. That poor transition started with a ragged backstroke.
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these few sentences are biblically profound
 
gregcantrall said:
A favorite League team encouragement was, "show 'em how the cow ate the cabbage. "
Never saw a cow eat cabbage but imagined it as methodical and sure.
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OK, totally off topic but about a cow and cabbage! First thing, cows have three "stomachs" so they can put away an incredible amount of food then digest it later.

I was born on a farm. A starvation farm, 40 acres. Dad did about a half dozen things or more to make ends meet including hiring out his huge two row tractor! The farm house burned down, mysterious circumstances in the middle of a feud but that's another story. Four children drank a lot of milk so dad bought a milk cow with a crossbred calf by her side. First day Clover was brought home we all fell in love with her. Dad was proud of his garden. Among other things that year he had planted four rows of iceberg cabbage several hundred feet long. Sweet and tasty, a head of raw cabbage was often an afternoon treat!

To make friends with the cow which had just been a pasture cow my oldest sibling, my sister, had the bright idea to gather some of the loose leaves of cabbage and hand feed her. Worked great, she was gentle as an old dog anyway! Now we have connected the cow and the cabbage. The calf, Billy, was born mean and us children made him far worse!

Clover had a sweet tooth for cabbage from the first taste on that first day. We spent hours petting her and riding her. She was also the source of toys. She almost always had one or two of the huge black horse flies on her. Catch them and carefully tie a piece of thread around their neck and we flew them around in circles like a model airplane. Horsefly necks aren't too strong and when one got the bright idea to cut across the inside of the circle and hit the other end of the thread it was time to find a new horsefly!

I wouldn't think cabbage smelled that strong but then again, I am not a herbivore. Clover would get out of her few acre pen and make a bee line for the cabbage patch a couple hundred feet or more away! It was amazing to watch her walk between two rows of cabbage. She walked at a constant pace and her head swung back and forth in rhythm. She would move at a steady walk and take one bite out of every head of cabbage as she went by, she didn't miss a head or take two bites out of one, she was a harvesting machine! Dad was less than thrilled. That cabbage was a major food source, not a toy crop although dad like most gardeners gave away far more than we ate.

Clover got out of the pen fairly often and when she did she made a beeline for the cabbage! Soon every head of cabbage had one bite out of it and she always took up where she left off, never taking a bite out of a head she had already taken one bite of until she had covered the patch. At three I had started getting up at the first gray of predawn and exploring what was new in my world. First thing I did was check to see if Clover was in the garden. If she was I would rush over and get her back in her pen before dad woke up a little later and got mad!

I barely reached her belly and she paid me about as much attention as she gave Billy but insistent pushing on a front shoulder or her chest would eventually persuade her to leave the garden. I would be barefoot of course but fortunately the ground was soft. My feet got stepped on often in these efforts but they were mostly just mashed into the dirt or mud. A good thing, Clover was huge. Some of my earliest memories were how much it hurt when Clover stepped on a toe or foot and just stood there!

Every time I hear or say, "like a cow eats the cabbage" I get a quick image of Clover walking through the garden with her head moving back and forth like a metronome not missing a step or a head of cabbage!

So now those that have read through this massive sidetrack know, a cow is an awesome cabbage harvesting machine! The saying is based on solid fact.

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
OK, totally off topic but about a cow and cabbage! First thing, cows have three "stomachs" so they can put away an incredible amount of food then digest it later.

I was born on a farm. A starvation farm, 40 acres. Dad did about a half dozen things or more to make ends meet including hiring out his huge two row tractor! The farm house burned down, mysterious circumstances in the middle of a feud but that's another story. Four children drank a lot of milk so dad bought a milk cow with a crossbred calf by her side. First day Clover was brought home we all fell in love with her. Dad was proud of his garden. Among other things that year he had planted four rows of iceberg cabbage several hundred feet long. Sweet and tasty, a head of raw cabbage was often an afternoon treat!

To make friends with the cow which had just been a pasture cow my oldest sibling, my sister, had the bright idea to gather some of the loose leaves of cabbage and hand feed her. Worked great, she was gentle as an old dog anyway! Now we have connected the cow and the cabbage. The calf, Billy, was born mean and us children made him far worse!

Clover had a sweet tooth for cabbage from the first taste on that first day. We spent hours petting her and riding her. She was also the source of toys. She almost always had one or two of the huge black horse flies on her. Catch them and carefully tie a piece of thread around their neck and we flew them around in circles like a model airplane. Horsefly necks aren't too strong and when one got the bright idea to cut across the inside of the circle and hit the other end of the thread it was time to find a new horsefly!

I wouldn't think cabbage smelled that strong but then again, I am not a herbivore. Clover would get out of her few acre pen and make a bee line for the cabbage patch a couple hundred feet or more away! It was amazing to watch her walk between two rows of cabbage. She walked at a constant pace and her head swung back and forth in rhythm. She would move at a steady walk and take one bite out of every head of cabbage as she went by, she didn't miss a head or take two bites out of one, she was a harvesting machine! Dad was less than thrilled. That cabbage was a major food source, not a toy crop although dad like most gardeners gave away far more than we ate.

Clover got out of the pen fairly often and when she did she made a beeline for the cabbage! Soon every head of cabbage had one bite out of it and she always took up where she left off, never taking a bite out of a head she had already taken one bite of until she had covered the patch. At three I had started getting up at the first gray of predawn and exploring what was new in my world. First thing I did was check to see if Clover was in the garden. If she was I would rush over and get her back in her pen before dad woke up a little later and got mad!

I barely reached her belly and she paid me about as much attention as she gave Billy but insistent pushing on a front shoulder or her chest would eventually persuade her to leave the garden. I would be barefoot of course but fortunately the ground was soft. My feet got stepped on often in these efforts but they were mostly just mashed into the dirt or mud. A good thing, Clover was huge. Some of my earliest memories were how much it hurt when Clover stepped on a toe or foot and just stood there!

Every time I hear or say, "like a cow eats the cabbage" I get a quick image of Clover walking through the garden with her head moving back and forth like a metronome not missing a step or a head of cabbage!

So now those that have read through this massive sidetrack know, a cow is an awesome cabbage harvesting machine! The saying is based on solid fact.

Hu
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Omg i well just a little short and you are a good guy that I love to read. Gotta finish the novel now. 😉Good Vines.
Edit: Vibes ! Well vines are connectors too. So a Freudian slip? 🤷‍♂️
 
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