PoolSleuth
Banned
Unwanted COACHING. 
What drives you crazy while at the table?
- Thread starter Gregg
- Start date
U
Ummagumma
Guest
Shorty said:
I hate that!
In Bellevue, Washington, at this brand new place, the Parlor, I was shooting by myself, empty tables around me. Then the hostess puts someone on the table right next to me. I hate having to wait for someone on the table to shoot, and I hate having them wait for me to shoot. If the place is busy and all tables are filled, that's one thing. But I soon left.
I made a comment about it as I was checking in the pool balls, and the hostess said it was because there was one server on duty and she didn't want to make the server go running all around the place, but rather put all customers together in one group.
Ummagumma said:
PLEASE! Tell them to get a new job then. I bet if the owner would have heard that he would have been mad! I don't care for employees who think their needs come before a patron's within reason of course. I'd fire someone for doing that in my place...if I had one....LOL
people who stop abruptly
i hate when some hack is walking in front of your table (which is a no no to begin with when you are shooting) and suddenly realizes what he is doing and stops mid step like some kind of mime or like he is in freeze frame all of the sudden... if you have already walked into my line of sight... just keep walkin!!! if not, in my mind i think about what an idiot you are and usually dog the ball.. thanks.. and while im at it .. if you miss a ball dont come over and start telling me why you missed it or what you intended to do on the shot as if that makes it ok... you missed, get over it!! look at your tip like you miscued or whatever you do but dont come telling me what you meant to do... park your @#$ in the chair and watch me run out... thanks for playing
i hate when some hack is walking in front of your table (which is a no no to begin with when you are shooting) and suddenly realizes what he is doing and stops mid step like some kind of mime or like he is in freeze frame all of the sudden... if you have already walked into my line of sight... just keep walkin!!! if not, in my mind i think about what an idiot you are and usually dog the ball.. thanks.. and while im at it .. if you miss a ball dont come over and start telling me why you missed it or what you intended to do on the shot as if that makes it ok... you missed, get over it!! look at your tip like you miscued or whatever you do but dont come telling me what you meant to do... park your @#$ in the chair and watch me run out... thanks for playing
Music from the freakin new digital jukeboxes drive me insane... Last summer at the freakin Predator Florida Open someone kept playing 50cent "In Da Club" over and over and over and over and over again.. You would think at a tournament with ALOT of top pros the jukebox would be turned off... on top of the pro tournament going on, there was the southeast junior championships going on ( which I was competing in ).
U
Ummagumma
Guest
Donovan said:
cuejoey said:
I just remembered something, and I wanna be fair so I should probably add the following: About a month before at the same place -- the Parlor -- I requested a specific table (table #1 at the front because it's far enough from the other tables), and the host at the time wanted to put me in the back of the place (lots of empty tables back there) where there was no one else, because the bartender/server was all by her lonesome self. I said no, and took table #1.
So this is a pet peeve against myself: Forgetting to say the good things to balance out the bad, and also not keeping the bartender/server company!
What I hate the most is when you are down on your shot, and someone walking by next to you bumps into you and doesn't apologize. I'll get up and look at them, and they just stare back at me like they are hard. I also hate it when people leave the chalk upside down on the rail, and when they use way too much powder.
My worst pool day happened yesterday. I went to the place I like to practice in as usual. It's almost always empty during the day. Being a holiday I expected a little company. There were 2 tables going when I walked in, no problem, it's a big place. 10 minutes after I get there, the guy working there starts cleaning the TV and table light where I"m playing. He's on a ladder 2 feet from the table?....I'm like OK.....let him do his thing, chit chat a little, hes a nice guy and likes to watch me run balls. Then 15 minutes after that, BAM, the back door opens with the beer delivery guy hollaring to everyone, and blinding sunlight beaming thru the door. OK, back to running balls, 10 minutes later, the cleaning lady starts vacuuming at my table???WTF is going on.....wait, it gets better.....Now all is quiet and I'm in my glory running balls. Another group on a table 5 or 6 up starts playing. Right away, cell phones going off, "F" this "mutha F" that, pants hanging on the floor with boxers completely showing, BOOMING RAP crap on the juke box, they must have said the "N" word 1400 times in 11 minutes. I could not take another minute. I went up to pay, and the guy is like , where ya going?....you usually play a coulpe hours?....I just made up some crap about a doctors appt as I really didnt want to explain things....NEVER again will I go in that place.......
Phew....it was good to get that off my chest
Gerry
Phew....it was good to get that off my chest
Gerry
supergreenman said:
Almost all of the "things" that have been posted are not really the cause of being mad. Loud rap music? Someone played it and likes it so they aren't made mad by it, are they?...they are "made" happy by it. How about setting the calk upside down, isn't that able to make a player mad? Well, the guy who set it upside down isn't mad, is he?...why didn't the upside down chalk make him mad too, IF it has that power?
Most of the posts I've read on this thread list an outside event (people too close to table, stupid bartenders, etc.) then list "mad" reactions to those stimuli. Truth is, a player has the option to chose to be mad or not after a negative experience.
So, that means that Supergreenman's comment about voices in his head, is dead-on accurate. It is our self-talk in reaction to the stimulus that "makes" us mad. In other words, you can only make yourself mad about something, based on your beliefs and your erroneous thinking that others "should" act as you want them to act. Why "should" they? They shouldn't. If they should, they would; otherwise they should NOT.
Now, physical actions against you may be different, but even then, one has the option of reacting in a variety of ways, which may or may not include anger. Right?
It may be easier said than done, but I've discovered that by embracing this meme with repeated practice at choosing my attitude after "bummer" experiences, that I've become more able to overcome these things and control my attitude better. Not perfection of course, but definitely better control of my emotions.
Here's a link to an author who says it better than I. I recommend these books to anyone here who thinks s/he is made mad by an outside influence. They are worth about 1,000 times their price, imho:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0879800429/103-0111730-7223054?v=glance&n=283155
Jeff Livingston
Gerry said:
When they were cleaning, where they totally in your way, or just near you? Because unless you are playing a tournament or a money match, you can't really expect everyone to give you complete silence. As for the the guys that were blaring rap music and cussing, couldn't you have moved to a different table, or is the place that cramped? If you have a solid mental game, noise like that won't affect your game at all. If it has that bad of an effect, you definately need to work on the mental part of your game. I just don't see why this place should lose your business because of some noise and distractions when you were just practicing.
I don't think I have any pet peeves other than when people put the chalk upside down on the table and turn it the rails into a filthy mess. Seriously. Why would you ever put the chalk upside down? Do those people really just not care if they look like a slob with chalk all over their clothes, hands, and anything else that comes close to the table? If you're one of those people who puts the chalk upside down on the rail, please, get help soon.
cuetechasaurus said:
Look, I've been working in, and playing in pool rooms for 20 years. I know what players, and the public expect, and how they should be treated. when the people were cleaning I could not play, they were that close, I had to stop to get out of thier way. Tables are cleaned between rentals, NOT during! Why put me on a table, then clean there a soon as I start to play? My mental game has nothing to do with it?....When I go to a pool room, which this is, not some bar with a table, I expect to be able to enjoy my time there not listen to an endless stream of vile crap, this IS a public place. There was also a family playing on the front table that left just before me, and I could see them cringe when thier kids heard the cursing. Just like any other hobby tennis, bowling, golf, monster truck pulls they all have a level of expectation of how you should act while doing these hobbies and being out in public in general. I shouldnt have to "tune it out"....I paid my time, and if I'm practicing or gambling it makes no difference.
Gerry
I gotta side with Gerry on this one... I recently had someone mopping the floor around my pool table while I was practicing and it was quite distracting. However I think Gerry missed his chance to give the employees some feedback when he was leaving... He should have blasted them!
Mid-day billiards practice has some unique interruptions to be sure.... I remember being in a place when the band was bringing in all of their equipment... it took an hour of tromping back and forth by my table, then another hour of tuning, which was horrendous to listnen to. Check! Check! Check! One, two, three, four! Check!
Mid-day billiards practice has some unique interruptions to be sure.... I remember being in a place when the band was bringing in all of their equipment... it took an hour of tromping back and forth by my table, then another hour of tuning, which was horrendous to listnen to. Check! Check! Check! One, two, three, four! Check!
Bangers using my 3-C billiard table as a beer coaster. Nice 2' x 3' splotch of beer (probably buttweiper,too) from some clown too stupid to put his beer somewhere safe.
I've actually told people to take there beers off it and have been told "Oh, I thought it was just a practice table because it has no holes"
New favorite: the cleaning guy at my poolhall has an IQ around 60 probably and cleans the tables as follows:
1. Vacuum table: drags the whole vacuum on the table, lets it fall over while he's pulling it, side of the vacuum scraping on cloth threads. Turns vacuum on/off 3x per table and takes a break because he's paid by the hour and it takes him 2.5 hours to clean 15 tables.
2. Wipes rails. Only part he does right.
3. After cleaning the table, he stands on the table using the rails for footrests, and proceeds to knock all the dust and lint from the light onto the playing surface he just cleaned. I've tried to explain the stupidity of this to him but he won't listen.
4. When he's done, he yanks the vacuum cord out of the wall from 40 feet away and occasionally whips people on the leg.
When he's taking his 20 breaks during the process, he usually eats an apple. He likes to put the core in a pocket and forget about it half the time which is digusting when you reach in for a ball and come out with a rotting apple core all wet. I yell Lavese Sus Manos! or Filthy Monkey! at him all the time because he never washes his hands after he uses the restroom.
I've actually told people to take there beers off it and have been told "Oh, I thought it was just a practice table because it has no holes"
New favorite: the cleaning guy at my poolhall has an IQ around 60 probably and cleans the tables as follows:
1. Vacuum table: drags the whole vacuum on the table, lets it fall over while he's pulling it, side of the vacuum scraping on cloth threads. Turns vacuum on/off 3x per table and takes a break because he's paid by the hour and it takes him 2.5 hours to clean 15 tables.
2. Wipes rails. Only part he does right.
3. After cleaning the table, he stands on the table using the rails for footrests, and proceeds to knock all the dust and lint from the light onto the playing surface he just cleaned. I've tried to explain the stupidity of this to him but he won't listen.
4. When he's done, he yanks the vacuum cord out of the wall from 40 feet away and occasionally whips people on the leg.
When he's taking his 20 breaks during the process, he usually eats an apple. He likes to put the core in a pocket and forget about it half the time which is digusting when you reach in for a ball and come out with a rotting apple core all wet. I yell Lavese Sus Manos! or Filthy Monkey! at him all the time because he never washes his hands after he uses the restroom.
We have a local tournament every Friday night which starts at 8:00 pm. The only problem is that 8:00 pm in S. Texas means 8:45.
Every time I have asked the TD as to why we are starting late, he replies, "well gee, it's only 8:25"!
Then somewhere around 1:00 am they realise that the tournament won't finish and the winner of the hot seat is declared the winner of the tournament.
Every time I have inquired about this practice, I get the same answer, "you guys play too slow"!
So, being the only person in the building with the IQ of a carrot, I made a suggestion, "why not start earlier, or on time"?
The reply, "what, are you stupid or something, this is the way we have always done it "!
The other thing (which is beginning to be entertaining) is so called "table machanics" who take absolutely no pride intheir work. The tables roll horribly. They have 860 on them and with each shot you need a running start ( like Happy Gilmore) to get the cue ball to the other end of the table.
The owner of the room actually paid me to confront the "table machanic" about the work he was doing. He became very upset when I told him his work really sucked and said, "do you know how long I have been doing this"?
I said, "no".
He said, "for 35 years"!~
I said, "well, did you ever think about doing something differently"?
He said, "what, are you stupid, this is the way I have always done it."
So yesterday I was practicing and reached in the side pocket to grab a ball, and scratch, the nail sticking out put about a 3 inch scrape on my hand and I went to the mgr and asked about a band aid so that I didn't get any blood on the table.
I then asked, (as politely as possible) "why don't you pull that nail out of the pocket that "shit for brains" drove in there instead of using the screws?"
He said, "what, are you stupid, that holds the pocket in there"!
After *****ing and moaning about the way things are done, the mgr finally asks me," if you are so unhappy with things, why don't you move?"
I said, "what are you stupid or something, I like it here!"
Every time I have asked the TD as to why we are starting late, he replies, "well gee, it's only 8:25"!
Then somewhere around 1:00 am they realise that the tournament won't finish and the winner of the hot seat is declared the winner of the tournament.
Every time I have inquired about this practice, I get the same answer, "you guys play too slow"!
So, being the only person in the building with the IQ of a carrot, I made a suggestion, "why not start earlier, or on time"?
The reply, "what, are you stupid or something, this is the way we have always done it "!
The other thing (which is beginning to be entertaining) is so called "table machanics" who take absolutely no pride intheir work. The tables roll horribly. They have 860 on them and with each shot you need a running start ( like Happy Gilmore) to get the cue ball to the other end of the table.
The owner of the room actually paid me to confront the "table machanic" about the work he was doing. He became very upset when I told him his work really sucked and said, "do you know how long I have been doing this"?
I said, "no".
He said, "for 35 years"!~
I said, "well, did you ever think about doing something differently"?
He said, "what, are you stupid, this is the way I have always done it."
So yesterday I was practicing and reached in the side pocket to grab a ball, and scratch, the nail sticking out put about a 3 inch scrape on my hand and I went to the mgr and asked about a band aid so that I didn't get any blood on the table.
I then asked, (as politely as possible) "why don't you pull that nail out of the pocket that "shit for brains" drove in there instead of using the screws?"
He said, "what, are you stupid, that holds the pocket in there"!
After *****ing and moaning about the way things are done, the mgr finally asks me," if you are so unhappy with things, why don't you move?"
I said, "what are you stupid or something, I like it here!"
BillYards said:
Thanx for the support Bill. I'm sure I come off as a whiner on this, but the time I take to go play is like therapy, and I can get pissy when it goes wrong. Also I don't have the personality to rip into someone about the issues I had, I'd just assume walk away quietly. Don't get me wrong, the room owner is a great guy, and we're from the same part of the country and know the same people. He was'nt working there at the time. Anyway, I'm finishing my home room, and should be up and running in a few weeks. Now I just have to worry about my Wife practicing her banks while I'm out working, then kicking my butt when I get home!
....Gerry
Gerry:
I just hide different things on my wife while I am at work... One day it is the chalk... the next day the balls.... Sometimes I disconnect the table lamp and have even put towels up in the ball return tubes to keep the balls from returning to the boot... She gets 15 good shots... then: Nothing! One day I replaced the cue with a snooker cueball. I knew she practiced all day that day because she challenged me right as I hit the door. I switched the balls back and she couldn't make many shots!
That girl is having a tough go of it!
I just hide different things on my wife while I am at work... One day it is the chalk... the next day the balls.... Sometimes I disconnect the table lamp and have even put towels up in the ball return tubes to keep the balls from returning to the boot... She gets 15 good shots... then: Nothing! One day I replaced the cue with a snooker cueball. I knew she practiced all day that day because she challenged me right as I hit the door. I switched the balls back and she couldn't make many shots!
That girl is having a tough go of it!
