when thing get bad

D

driven

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You guys have seen my a game so here is what I have to say how bad it can get.
Sometimes I just can't get going. today at the 3 mans house my first inning was a 6 to get on a breakshot then another 9 or so. 15 points. Not all that bad for me coming out cold. It usually takes me 20-30 minutes to find my stroke./ My next two innings began and ended with a great shot leading to a brutal scratch, the second one off of at least three balls, turning 180 degrees into the side pocket, and it wasn't hit all that hard. The first scratch might have been even more unlikely, bad for me, good for 3. After watching 3man run the next couple racks anytime I get to the table I am faced with a longish shot which if I was properly warmed up I would expect to make, or no shot at all. After this dismal beginning it was all over, I could be left wide open and not get it done. pretty sad really, knowing how to do it and really having no hope of getting it done. Something about sitting in the chair for any length of time seems to make it that much harder to get started.
I guess what i wanted to ask is how bad does it get for you? Today I could look at the rack and only see a maze with no beginning and no end.
steven
 
Steve,

that all sounds like an average day for me, you just have to keep up the fight and let it happen...seems the harder you push the harder it gets (no phun intended...lol there was no right way to word that ! :grin:) just relax and it will happen !

-Steve
 
Slumps are frustrating! I'm in one. I'm trying to play my way out but it just seems to build on itself. I have gone back to basic fundamental drills (read as easy shots). I am doing them over and over. I am tanking in my league runs of 3 to 5 balls and so far out of line I have to play safe or take a shot at a flyer if no viable safe is at hand.

I'll get there, so will you.

Other methods are:

Short practice sessions so you dont get frustrated
Long practice sessions to make sure you have gotten yourself "in stroke"
go back to playing "just for the fun of the game"
get with a competent instructor/coach
stay away from the table for a while

There are other methods I have not mentioned.

All of them work. You just have to find what works for you.

Good luck,
Andy
 
Bad

I think what you're saying is that 3man is so much better than you that it affects your ability to play your normal game. If I'm mistaken, please forgive me. I believe that while playing someone better may be the best and fastest way to improve your own game, there is a limit. What I mean is, playing someone who consistently beats you by 20-30 balls to 150 is helpful and worthwhile. But playing someone who beats you by 100 regularly can be useless to the learning process. Every time you get to the table you have that "I have to make this shot or he's going to run 5 racks on me" thought process; which affects the way you play and causes you to freeze up and miss or miss position. If that's the case, sometimes it's more beneficial to watch really good shooters play than to actually play them.


Ron F
 
Ron F said:
I think what you're saying is that 3man is so much better than you that it affects your ability to play your normal game. If I'm mistaken, please forgive me. I believe that while playing someone better may be the best and fastest way to improve your own game, there is a limit. What I mean is, playing someone who consistently beats you by 20-30 balls to 150 is helpful and worthwhile. But playing someone who beats you by 100 regularly can be useless to the learning process. Every time you get to the table you have that "I have to make this shot or he's going to run 5 racks on me" thought process; which affects the way you play and causes you to freeze up and miss or miss position. If that's the case, sometimes it's more beneficial to watch really good shooters play than to actually play them.


Ron F
Click to expand...

I have this exact problem with a guy I play in Ashland. I can learn from him and he's very helpful, but the problem isn't so much that he runs 50-60 balls just about every time he gets to the table, it's that he takes nearly an hour to do it. He's a very nice guy and a very good player and has runs over 100 against me, but he is excruciatingly slow. So, when playing him, my thought process is, "miss and you won't get back to the table for an hour", and I agree, it definitely affects my play against him. One afternoon I played him, and all kidding aside, I think I was at the table for maybe 1/2 hour total over a period of 5 hours, but it wasn't like he was running hundreds. He was running 40-50, but it was taking him 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to do it each time. The guy really is a tournament caliber player but put a shot clock on him and he's done.
 
Ron F said:
I think what you're saying is that 3man is so much better than you that it affects your ability to play your normal game. If I'm mistaken, please forgive me. I believe that while playing someone better may be the best and fastest way to improve your own game, there is a limit. What I mean is, playing someone who consistently beats you by 20-30 balls to 150 is helpful and worthwhile. But playing someone who beats you by 100 regularly can be useless to the learning process. Every time you get to the table you have that "I have to make this shot or he's going to run 5 racks on me" thought process; which affects the way you play and causes you to freeze up and miss or miss position. If that's the case, sometimes it's more beneficial to watch really good shooters play than to actually play them.


Ron F
Click to expand...

Hi there Ron, na .... I'm not any better than Steve. In fact, Steve is a practiceholic. He loves getting into his practice sessions, and it shows with consistency. When we get together to play, he is more consistent than me since I never play or practice at all unless he comes over the house for a few games. I used to love to play way more than I do these days.

What does happen sometimes is we may play two days in a row, which if I'm not mistaken (Steve?) is referring to this time, and I seem to fall into stroke so much better the second day that my innings are longer than if we play only once a week. So if I get going a little, his time in the chair is a little longer.

It happens to both of us, I call it the "straight pool funkadoodle". :) One guy gets going and puts the other guy in a coma. When he gets his inning, it's like we are Spongebob's buddy Patrick, a little drool from the side of the mouth, glazed look in the eyes, and you smooth stroke one straight into the rail on your second shot. :)

The malady is much more pronounced in us weekend warriors.

I do tend to make him crazy with hidden dead balls in the rack though .... LOL :thumbup:
 
It took me a whole day to think up what I was going to say but I'll just go with what 3 said. He puts the words together pretty good.
I will rephrase the question though.
The funk situation is another topic

there is a very clearly defined limit in what I can do in this game, currently the number is 87. I can watch anyone in the world run up to 87 and say "I can do that." Once he gets to 88 i gotta say I can't do that. I may believe one day I will, but until I get it done I'll just go with I can't. for now at least.
On the flip side it seems there is no limit on how bad I can really suck. there is quite some distance between these points, and somewhere in there is my average game.
I know how good lots of you play, I see the videos. I was just kind of wondering what the downside is for others. if you feel like talking about it that is.
steven
 
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