Cameron Smith said:
I end up playing way below my speed and just can't get comfortable at the table. On top of that part of the problem is that he plays with these $500 aramith balls that roll forever and I have been just banging around the club balls.
I think you've been shopping Aramiths at Tiffany's.
But seriously, as you will see below, it is important to warm up with at least two of the balls that you will be using. Your opponent will permit use of his Aramiths if he has the
noblesse oblige of a AAA player. Ask and ye shall receive.
Forget about "ten minutes" or any other opinion of how long it "should" take a "good" player to warm up. If anyone razzes you about the time it takes to do the following warmup routine, just say,
"Show a little respect, please. I am practicing Zen Cueism, walking the Four-Bank Path to Enlightenment and Correct Thinking to perfect my karma, escape the Wheel of Samsara and attain Satori. So screw you."
Their puzzlement will last long enough for you to warm up properly.
(And now you know where
Samsara Cues got their name.)
"Warmup" time is also test-and-calibration time. It has two goals: to begin the process of unifying your body, mind, and spirit, and to eliminate the delusions that you bring to the table.
When you approach an unfamilar table, your mind is full of illusory beliefs about its cloth speed, rail elasticity, levelness, etc. You don't know the table's true nature. What you plan to play upon is a false composite of all other tables on which you have played in the past. You need to replace those delusions with reality, so you must shoot some shots that help determine what that reality is.
First (and this is where many fail),
let go of all delusions about past tables! Five hours of "warmup" - or ten minutes of warmup followed by 4:50 of getting your butt whipped - will be of no benefit if you persist in believing that the table is not behaving "as a table should." You will keep shooting as if the table is that composite delusion, and your results will continue to be "disastrous," as you put it. (One definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.)
Approach the table as if you have never played pool upon one before and have no clue how it's supposed to behave. That's more than a one-second mental note to "forget the past." It requires a minute or two of meditation before approaching the table to consciously clear one's mind of delusions.
Second, start with simple measurements of the table's characteristics and work up to more complex measurements that approximate real play.
1. Shoot the cue ball from the head string to the foot rail dead straight, staying down in follow-through position until the ball comes back to strike your cue tip. Do it until it's done right thrice in a row.
2. Lag several times from different points on the head string, until you have a feel for the table's speed, roll-off, and the elasticity of the foot rail.
3. Shoot from left corner pocket to the opposite corner pocket, with just enough speed to reach the target. Note any roll-off. Repeat from left corner pocket to all five other pockets.
4. Bank from the head end's left corner to right corner pocket, giving the cue ball just enough speed to reach its target. Note the foot rail's rebound at the point of impact, the table's speed, and any roll-off.
5. Bank slowly from the left corner pocket, aiming at each diamond on the foot rail, to see if there are variances in the rail's rebound or roll-off at different points on the table. Note the right side rail's characteristics as the cue ball strikes it on those wider banks off the foot rail.
6. Go to the foot end of the table and repeat steps 1 through 5.
7. Bank from a side pocket to each diamond along the opposite side rail, noting yadda yadda yadda...
8. Reverse sides and repeat step 7.
9. Perform some three- and five-rail banks. You know what look for now.
10. Test the object balls and their interaction with the cue ball. A comprehensive test would consist of a set of many different shots (draw, follow, English, head-on, cuts, banks, caroms)
applied to each of the 15 balls - but one doesn't have time for that, usually.
Instead, examine the OBs to see if they are consistent. Clean any that need cleaning. Note any pits, scratches, or other imperfections, although there is little that can be done about them. Then choose one OB for your test set of shots.
yes this guy is better than me
No, he is not, unless you make him so in your delusions.
I am about a AA player (from what I am told) so I should be able to keep things close and win from time to time.
Do not permit others - or even your self - to tell you how good you are or who you "should be able to beat". Such opinions are also delusions, being based upon past experience and assumptions about the future.
Anything can be made to happen here in the present, if one only pays attention to it.
PM me with any questions. Like I said, ask and ye shall receive.