What kind of Scotch Doubles partner are you?

rackmsuckr

rackmsuckr

Linda Carter - The QUEEN!
Silver Member
'Tis the season...with Valentine's Day fast approaching, we traditionally have a lot of Scotch doubles tournaments in February up here, not to mention the pairing up for Regionals and Nationals BCA.

We call it Scotch Troubles or Divorce Pool, but I got to thinking that I have had so many different scotch partners, and their ways of partnering have differed wildly. Once, I won 3 SD tournaments with 3 different partners on 3 consecutive weekends. :D

My husband is highly temperaMENTAL and I try to avoid playing with him, lol. Plus, he never lets me shoot...always wants me to play safe, especially when playing straght doubles. I think the best partner I ever had was Barry Emerson. He never yelled at me and we skated through the opposition.

The best rhythm is when you play flawlessly and everything flows. But...it is sheer torture when nothing goes right. At nationals last year, we kept playing safes back and forth with 2 huge clumps near the end rail. I was left with a chance to thin off a ball with english, to play it off another ball and break out one clump, and the cue ball would come around and break out the other clump. It looked like a good proposition and I went for it. Unfortunately, I missed the whole ball, broke everything out and gave them BIH! :eek: :o :( My partner was understandably fried and said I should have played safe again. Like, duh! 20/20 hind sight. Of course, not adjusting for the inside english made me miss the ball and if I had hit it, it would have worked out fine. So much for hero shots!

Once, I played with a fairly weak partner where we got one coaching per game and I was coaching him. I asked him to do a baby dink safe...very easy and he told me he couldn't execute those girly shots. :mad: I had to think of a more 'manly' shot for him, so we could still win the tournament. :p

With no coaching, I truly believe you are only as good as your weakest link, which is usually the woman. There is this one couple here who shall remain nameless, that 'coaches' by pointing his stick to each rail she needs to follow to, then gets down on the shot he will be taking at the angle he needs, then walks over and gets down on the shot she will be taking THIRD, so she can see what angle she needs to leave him on! It is such blatant coaching!

I feel I mainly play the right patterns for my partner, and always trying to leave him on the right side of the ball with a good angle. But if I accidentally play 3 rail shape and get dead in straight with a ball and they have to get back up table, well then, deal with it! I didn't TRY to get you straight in! :p

What kind of partner are you? Do you blame your partner for everything or are you easy-going? Are you constantly in-line or having to make your partner work to get you back in line? Do you feel like you have to perform and get perfect for your partner or do you just relax and take whatever comes your way?
 
Hi Linda!

(nice to meet you in person at the RTC)

I am a good scotch doubles partner, but I fret a lot if I leave my partner bad shape (er, I mean, no shape at all). I do feel a little bit more pressure than normal playing scotch doubles, but the key for me is to have fun and trust my game/stroke and all is well.

I am lucky I can play scotch doubles with my husband - others don't know how we do it! But, we have the same temperment, so that is why (except I want to have fun and he wants to win, lol).

Melinda
 
I play scotch doubles the same way I'd play if it was my own game, make the shot, get a leave for the next shot as if I were still shooting, run the table, win, move on to the next game.:D
 
Good question. I am easy going and putting blame your partner most likely leads to disaster. I stay in line but sometimes I try to get to perfect. If I'm left out of line then I just deal with it. Being left straight in is far from being the worst thing that happens. Being frozen to a rail ranks right up there though.

When I coach I keep it simple and give them the best option. I always ask if their comfortable shooting it that way. If not then we will talk about other options. In the end just give it your best shot and we'll see what happens.

Rod
 
I think I'm a decent partner. Myself and another player just won the Denver open Scotch tournament at the fabulous Colorado Cue Club yesterday. Individually, he's a better player than I, so I just tried to stay loose and have fun. I've won the VNEA Masters Scotch with a female partner, I was the better player, so she just stayed loose and had fun. I learned alot from her. :)

Scotch doubles is tough. Real tough. I think being a good partner requires you to put your 'self' second and the 'team' first. For a large percentage of pool players, that can be near impossible. The sport we play requires such a huge amount of self-involvement that it becomes impossible for some players to do this.
 
rackmsuckr said:
I think the best partner I ever had was Barry Emerson. He never yelled at me and we skated through the opposition.
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Yeah, I could see Barry being a great partner. Laid back, low-key and one helluva player.
 
I_Need_D_8 said:
I think I'm a decent partner. Myself and another player just won the Denver open Scotch tournament at the fabulous Colorado Cue Club yesterday. Individually, he's a better player than I, so I just tried to stay loose and have fun. I've won the VNEA Masters Scotch with a female partner, I was the better player, so she just stayed loose and had fun. I learned alot from her. :)

Scotch doubles is tough. Real tough. I think being a good partner requires you to put your 'self' second and the 'team' first. For a large percentage of pool players, that can be near impossible. The sport we play requires such a huge amount of self-involvement that it becomes impossible for some players to do this.
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Congratulations on the wins! I think you are right, you do need to think of the team first. Most people are trying so hard for their partner that they don't play the way they normally would.
 
I love scotch doubles, but we don't have many events around here. I try to adjust to the style that my partner is comfortable with. Some folks want a lot of input, while some others just get distracted by it. One rule I insist on with my doubles partners is "No apologies!" This by itself really seems to make the relationship work better.
 
longhair said:
I love scotch doubles, but we don't have many events around here. I try to adjust to the style that my partner is comfortable with. Some folks want a lot of input, while some others just get distracted by it. One rule I insist on with my doubles partners is "No apologies!" This by itself really seems to make the relationship work better.
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Yes, Scotch Doubles means never having to say you're sorry. :p

If you want a tournament, go to your favorite rooms and try to promote having one. Have them pick a weekend when nothing else is going on.

Charge an entry fee and a green fee. Let's say a $35 entry fee per player and a $10 green fee, open to 32 couples (64 players). They then advertise they are adding $750 added based on a full field. By the time they add the $640 back they got from the green fees, they only added $110 and they got 64 people packing their place, eating and drinking. Also, have a second chance tournament on the 2nd day to keep the place busy.

This is pretty standard practice. In reality, the room owner adds very little, yet they are supporting pool and it sounds good. If they REALLY want it to sound good, they can do what others do and advertise that total payouts will be $2990 on a full field. ;)
 
I think my best attribute as a scotch doubles partner is that I make sure we are having fun even in the most tense of situations. I've played in at least 50, maybe 75 partners events in my life and I can't remember ever not having fun. Win lose or draw. I think that some form of chemistry with your partner helps. Most of my partners would say that I take most of the heat off of them by joking around the whole time and blaming myself every time something goes wrong. (Often the case) Scotch is easily my favorite form of pool tournaments !!!
 
For scotch doubles, there always seems to be two roles to be filled to have a strong team. The stronger player covers most of the decisions, leaving position for the other player. The other player is the ball maker.

When I play scotch doubles, I am looking at the run, and I leave my partner what I want him to shoot to leave me what I want to shoot... I am usually the stronger player.

Once I partnered up with another strong player and we let the table decide who was going to take their turn behind the wheel...
 
rackmsuckr said:
What kind of partner are you? Do you blame your partner for everything or are you easy-going? Are you constantly in-line or having to make your partner work to get you back in line? Do you feel like you have to perform and get perfect for your partner or do you just relax and take whatever comes your way?
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I would like to say I am a good partner but I only had one real partner so you will have to ask her.
We hooked up becuase I heard she was looking for someone to go to Lincoln City, OR regionals so I asked her even though we hardly knew each other. Well we lost our first match but stormed through the losers side to win it. Then we won are 2nd tournament and then finished 9th in Las Vegas. We haven't been able to play since.

I think we did well together because I am easy going and she is an awesome shot. Actually I was the one that missed the shot that gave us our 2nd place finish instead of 1st.

I was really amazed watching some of the married team play or should I say argue. It got to the point where I was happy to see matching names on the board because that meant it was probably a married couple.

Anyway I really miss playing with my partner and haven't been able to find anybody else yet.

Whitey
 
3 ball into the 6, 6 into the 9, the 9 four rails in the corner off the 8 ball......

dogginda9 said:
I think my best attribute as a scotch doubles partner is that I make sure we are having fun even in the most tense of situations. I've played in at least 50, maybe 75 partners events in my life and I can't remember ever not having fun. Win lose or draw. I think that some form of chemistry with your partner helps. Most of my partners would say that I take most of the heat off of them by joking around the whole time and blaming myself every time something goes wrong. (Often the case) Scotch is easily my favorite form of pool tournaments !!!
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I agree with your post and gave you Rep for it. I too, have played alot of Scotch Doubles, but not for really high stakes (usually $5-$25 each person per game). I never tell my partner what to shoot or chide him for his choice or the outcome of the shot.

I'm known to chase the cheese a little more than some and always have a partner that is aware of my style of play. I've played all the pocket games over the years and know what I can and cannot do. I mean, I know my limits and weaknesses. If there is a ball a foot or so out from the corner pocket along the top rail, I may shoot it four rails, rather than try to cut it in.

Even with my buffoonery, we come out with the cash a majority of the time and everyone has a good time. For a while, everyone was waiting around after League and Tournaments in hopes of playing Scotch Doubles.
Anyone that has ever witnessed our (my) Scotch Doubles matches can attest to the fun had by all,despite the monetary outcome. It's NOT all about the money to many of us.

I think that playing for alot of money with a really serious player(s) would remove the fun aspect for me and most of my partners, but we'd be happy to tip a few bottles of beer and sweat the 'serious players.'

Doug
 
Smorgass Bored said:
I agree with your post and gave you Rep for it. I too, have played alot of Scotch Doubles, but not for really high stakes (usually $5-$25 each person per game). I never tell my partner what to shoot or chide him for his choice or the outcome of the shot.

I'm known to chase the cheese a little more than some and always have a partner that is aware of my style of play. I've played all the pocket games over the years and know what I can and cannot do. I mean, I know my limits and weaknesses. If there is a ball a foot or so out from the corner pocket along the top rail, I may shoot it four rails, rather than try to cut it in.

Even with my buffoonery, we come out with the cash a majority of the time and everyone has a good time. For a while, everyone was waiting around after League and Tournaments in hopes of playing Scotch Doubles.
Anyone that has ever witnessed our (my) Scotch Doubles matches can attest to the fun had by all,despite the monetary outcome. It's NOT all about the money to many of us.

I think that playing for alot of money with a really serious player(s) would remove the fun aspect for me and most of my partners, but we'd be happy to tip a few bottles of beer and sweat the 'serious players.'

Doug
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I can't imagine you not having fun anywhere you played! Unfortunately, I am at that point where it needs to be serious, because at least in the regional tournaments, we are usually top contenders, although I always have fun too...unless it is with my husband. ;) :rolleyes:
 
I_Need_D_8 said:
Myself and another player just won the Denver open Scotch tournament at the fabulous Colorado Cue Club yesterday. Individually, he's a better player than I...
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Yikes! Who the hell was your partner?!!

For those who don't know: the player behind this moniker (I_Need_D_8), really doesn't need it from many.
 
Steve Lipsky said:
Yikes! Who the hell was your partner?!!
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LOL, damn Steve, you don't miss much. :)

Tony Piazza was my partner. Tony kept me in line all day. We beat Mark Haddad and Damien from Utah for the hot seat and then again in the finals. A great time was had by all. :D
 
I play scotch doubles fairly often this time of year and have played with many different players. It is best to learn to play scotch like you are playing for yourself and find a partner that has a similar style. I absolutely love my partner now, Gordy V. I have tried to play with other players, some better, some worse and not been able to acheive the same results that I have with Gordy. We have a blast when we play and even when we play in the finals of an event, we are laughing & carrying on like we are just out practicing.

The advice I give other girls on finding a partner: It's not about finding the best player, it's about finding the best player for you.
 
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