What is pool to you?

senior pool

bdorman said:
I just started playing pool a few months ago at age 58. My back and neck don't want to play but they don't call the shots. Between work and family I get to play about 2-3 hours a week, but mostly by myself practicing. I'm lucky that the community center just 3 minutes from home has a decent, playable table.

At my age and skill level, pool will always be a hobby; nothing more. But it's lots of fun. I'll still choose fishing before pool, but it's a close race (and fishing puts dinner on the table, something my pool game could never do:))

Later this week my cue should arrive via UPS. Nothing fancy, just a Player's HXTE10...but I'm pretty excited about it.
Click to expand...

I envy al these people who started in their teens or before.

I'm 70 & only started recently.

At my age, I can no longer lift weights without some restrictions lest I risk injury. Dumbell presses have replaced barbell bench presses, leg presses replaced squats, trapbar deadlifts replaced barbell deadlifts...

I took up pool because I felt that I could go all out without risking injury.

I have really become hooked on the game.
 
bdorman said:
I just started playing pool a few months ago at age 58. My back and neck don't want to play but they don't call the shots. Between work and family I get to play about 2-3 hours a week, but mostly by myself practicing. I'm lucky that the community center just 3 minutes from home has a decent, playable table.

At my age and skill level, pool will always be a hobby; nothing more. But it's lots of fun. I'll still choose fishing before pool, but it's a close race (and fishing puts dinner on the table, something my pool game could never do:))

Later this week my cue should arrive via UPS. Nothing fancy, just a Player's HXTE10...but I'm pretty excited about it.
Click to expand...

berlowmj2 said:
I envy al these people who started in their teens or before.

I'm 70 & only started recently.

At my age, I can no longer lift weights without some restrictions lest I risk injury. Dumbell presses have replaced barbell bench presses, leg presses replaced squats, trapbar deadlifts replaced barbell deadlifts...

I took up pool because I felt that I could go all out without risking injury.

I have really become hooked on the game.
Click to expand...

and as a youngster, I admire you, sirs.
 
pool is my time...

an hour +/- everyday that I get to spin balls around.... hardcore structured practice....no one in my household wants anything to do with it...(yet.. i have boys approaching double digit ages so that may change)

I'm the only person I know(in real life) who practices pool on a regular basis...

I devote myself to the lost art of becoming the best pool player I can be...I get better everyday...

I am the only one I know of who even tries... begging for weight has replaced practice.. because most American pool players have no desire to be the best.. they just want to win some money.. get just a tiny bit better than the bangers... and beg weight from the rest...

people sit in awe of fillipino's and Asian's.. and now even the European's...

how can they be THAT much better??? simple.. they are trying to be the best..... Americans call stake horses when they get a good SPOT for Christs Sakes...

I'm to old to get great... but I'm probably the last American who's even trying
 
Last edited:
berlowmj2 said:
I envy al these people who started in their teens or before.

I'm 70 & only started recently.

At my age, I can no longer lift weights without some restrictions lest I risk injury. Dumbell presses have replaced barbell bench presses, leg presses replaced squats, trapbar deadlifts replaced barbell deadlifts...

I took up pool because I felt that I could go all out without risking injury.

I have really become hooked on the game.
Click to expand...

Colonel Sanders was broke when he retired at 65.
He did pretty good after that.
AZ wants to see you win a senior title, Marvin.
...play a lot of straight pool...
 
There's a place for people like you.
angry_mob_simpsons.jpg
Scaramouche said:
Talking What is pool to you?

A very poor substitute for snooker :p:p:p
Click to expand...
 
Scaramouche said:
Talking What is pool to you?

A very poor substitute for snooker :p:p:p
Click to expand...

Soooo...how do you handle being snookered whilst playing pool?

One of the things I like about playing pool, is that long distance accuracy
can be over-come with cleverness....giving a world class pool player a much
longer 'life span' than a snooker player
 
Last edited:
One of the greatest pastimes ever developed. A lifetime of learning and shared interest. Challenging yet simple. Exasperating yet satisfying. I'll shoot as long as the Lord permits.
 
Good point PT.
Lots of good stories in this thread.
For me, I loved it since I was a kid. Not having a table, I was always bugging my firends and family members who had tables to play.
I was asked to join leagues and the disease took hold. I started going to the pool hall and playing in tournaments. It was at the tournaments I discovered there were levels of ability in the game. The same two players seemed to always win. I started gambling every weekend with the weakest regular at the hall. Once I was able to beat him, I moved on to the next guy. This went on for a few years and I hit a wall. I began taking lessons and began playing in other halls, gambling whenever I had the chance. Between shoulder injuries and halls closing I kinda got out of the game. My upcoming move to Tucson has me all jazzed up again for the game. I'm looking forward to living where pool is still doing well and tournaments are many and often. This is the greatest game ever imho. Glad places like this forum are around to keep it going too.
Thanks for posting this thread -it brings back many memories. It's great to hear how others got started too.
 
I'm with Gene on this

Pool is everything. It is funny how Pool evolves into your life once you get hooked. Well, I have been hooked for 50 years, and it still is one of the most pleasureable activities that I still do. Berlow, I admire you for taking up Pool at 70. It is a good activity for Seniors who have a lot of time, and not so much money. Pool is still fairly cheap for so much fun.

At 64, I am just trying to keep my game up, where I can still play at a high level. These youngsters though, with their eagle eyes, are getting harder to beat ... lol

After a 9 year hiatus from the big table, I think I am going to get back on it, and even start to play 1 pocket again. Straight Pool was one of my favorites when I did play on it. And I enjoy a 'Golf' game on a snooker table too.
 
Pool in general(not all pool games, of course)is the only game that allows a participant to reimagine the playing field, therefore it is the most creative. You know, like curling. :wink: However, I can't think of another game where it's own participants carry such ambivalent feelings about it.
 
I love playing it, watching it, reading about it, you name it. I just wish I was as good at pool as I am at golf.
 
Amauter pool is a great way to relax and pass one's time among friends.
Competitive pool is a noble sport starting and ending with a handshake, where you have to discipline yourself and fight for your chances.
It is mostly mental and each player gets equal chance when a match starts, no matter of sex, muscular abilities or any other personal feature.
It is the art of creative thinking, which is typical of a free human being..
Petros
 
pt109 said:
Soooo...how do you handle being snookered whilst playing pool?

One of the things I like about playing pool, is that long distance accuracy
can be over-come with cleverness....giving a world class pool player a much
longer 'life span' than a snooker player
Click to expand...

yeah right

http://www.snookerlegends.co.uk/

http://www.snookerline.com/ossl.htm
:p

World class pool players have to keep playing cause they can't do anything else and have no money

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_snooker_millionaires
 
Thanks to everybody sharing...it's great to read the stories and see the diffrent backgrounds on here.

One thing I love about pool is, while it may be a rare opportunity to play football with Brett Farve, basketball with Lebron James, or golf with Tiger..it isn't immpossible to hit some balls with our Pros.

The amatures and the pros all play the same game.
 
Pool to me is........

a blessing, a curse, a distraction, therapy, did I mention...a curse,
a thrill, a glimpse into pure thought, beauty, tragedy, randomness,
simplicity.... oh and in case I forgot to mention it.... a curse!!

td
 
Pool started out as a way for my stepfather and I to bond when I was 12 or 13. I quit when I went to college and played occasionally when out drinking with buddies. I quit drinking at 28 and pool allowed me to maintain the nightlife I was accustomed to. Then it became an addiction, especially once I got my first custom cue. Once I found AZ, it got worse. I think I went through 35 cues in 5 or so years, constantly looking for the perfect cue. I was a sober bartender at that time and found it easy to spend 4-8 hours at the pool hall. Pool has been everything from a distraction, an obsession,
, a challenge, a way to clear my head ......

Now that I am a part time single dad, I find pool to be a great way to relax and focus my attention on others things than life. I'm down to 4 cues and 4 cases and I realize now that all I really need is one good cue. I bought my Runde 5 or so years ago and I just fell in love with it last week after I had a hump in the taper taken out.

Pool now is a way for me to 'zen out' and attemp to get in the zone, on and off the table.
 
I saw the Color of Money when I was about 8. I played once when I was young 12. It was always a fire in me. I played poorly when I turned 18 and a shop owner took potty pitty on me. I took a break for some reason. Then my shrink convinced the hubs and I to get a life. It was the best advice. We started doing date nights at the pool hall (we tried other places, even batting cages). The hard thing is sometimes we get mean. But we are working on that. Mainly I need to relax more. 25 years later we joined a league I'm at a 2 on 9 ball. 3 will take some focus on my part. I can do it :)
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
 
Pool to me is a lifestyle. I do not gamble. I am not not a great player. I made most of my friends at a pool table. If I could only have one interest/hobby it would be pool. It has been and continues to be a lifetime of fun. I've been playing since 1961.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top