When to Move to a New and Better Team (long)

[trustyrusty]

when to move to a new and better team....

Darn, I was thinkin' maybe you were a Cubs fan, but since it's about leagues; move anytime you wish. If asked, explain why. If they think you are a *****, oh well. If they are friends as well as teammates, talk with them first, and stick it out until the session is over. I don't care if my team is good or not, I'm there to play my opponent, and that's it. I guess if I cared more about pool leagues it might bother me, but I really doubt it, unless it for some reason affects YOUR game.....?

 

[Gregg]

I am by far, the best player on both teams. We took 1st in the slop league last year and this is my first year in the BCA 3-man 8-ball league.

I take it you play APA, but feel the need to cut on it so you don't make yourself look bad on a message board in front of may people you will likely never meet? Correct me if I'm wrong here.

The problem is -- on the BCA team -- my teammates are essentially C-players (but are in total denial about their level of play). The slop league is even worse. I joined both teams because I was asked by someone, and didn't really have any other connections to get onto a really good team -- so because I just wanted to play, I joined with these teams.

You sound like your in denial, and that you just wanted to win. No problem here, just come clean. We've all seen it before. Including your current teammates as well.

Recently, I have literally not even been able to watch my teammates play their games -- due to getting so frustrated with their missing very easy shots and not even knowing how to get position in routine situations. It has become painful to watch most of these games for me. So basically, I'm just not enjoying being on such weak teams anymore.

Thanks.

Bar leagues like the APA and BCA have players of all skill levels who enjoy their league night out.

Good luck on your dead ringer team!

 

[Straw_Hat]

Have you made an effort to make your team better?

get them together on a non league night where everyone can discuss the game as its being played. maybe they just don't see the patterns you see. during league telling them during a game is a coaching foul (at least in my league)

another option, our team has a fine jar that punishes you for bad play.

$.25 for a miss
$1 for a scratch
$5 for ball off table
$5 for missing with ball in hand
$1 for losing
$3 for losing to a girl
$1 for lowest score in the round
$5 and a round of drinks for lowest score of the night

One solution we are looking at for our team is hiring an instructor to spend an afternoon with the team. We might be able to do it with minimum out of pocket expense. due to our league check, we get 10 cents per point scored. as well as our fine jar.

Man I would like to be on your team, I think that would be a lot of fun and help a lot with keeping focus for me.

 

[Get_A_Grip]

Bar leagues like the APA and BCA have players of all skill levels who enjoy their league night out.

Good luck on your dead ringer team!

It's not an APA league. It's slop on all balls, but call the 8. I'm not ripping on the leagure at all...I just wish that I was on a better team.

The "new" city team, won't be a dead-ringer team -- if fact they are currently tied for 1st...but the team that they are tied with -- have players on the their team that are probably the best players in the state.

Just as an example...I just came home from the BCA 8-ball league...I won all 3 of my games and got 13 points...and the other 2 players...lost all 3 of their games...so we lost the match.

 

[softshot]

I say your in this for the year you can't just bail on people that will piss everyone off.

next year keep one of your teams (the one with your good friends) and get on a good team. The guys you hang with will see you improve, and if your friends are like my friends giving them S**t about their bad shots will make them want to be better, just to shut you up. LOL

You get the best of both worlds that way. a night with your buddies when you get to play pool, and a night of hardcore competition that will make you a better player.

 

[softshot]

Man I would like to be on your team, I think that would be a lot of fun and help a lot with keeping focus for me.

It is a lot of fun.Make a jar, we did with a old fruit juice jar and a printout taped to it. make one and bring it to your next game. Depend's on how good your team is adjust the fines to fit your crew. and tell them at the end of the year the money goes to something that they get to participate in. a night at the bar playing and drinking for free till the money runs out , or hiring an instructor , or any number of things. it has made all of us better I can guarantee that.

 

[Gregg]

I say your in this for the year you can't just bail on people that will piss everyone off.

next year keep one of your teams (the one with your good friends) and get on a good team. The guys you hang with will see you improve, and if your friends are like my friends giving them S**t about their bad shots will make them want to be better, just to shut you up. LOL

You get the best of both worlds that way. a night with your buddies when you get to play pool, and a night of hardcore competition that will make you a better player.

Thanks for responding and not getting all amped up. I stand correct about the APA league. I was sure I was correct!

Don't leave your teammates hanging. I come from a different point of view where I put a team together where we have a lot of fun, and want to win, too. Playing league does lose its luster when your team is getting blasted night after night. If your not in it to win it, or at least middle of the pack, it wears on a team.

 

[dabarbr]

You can tone down the fines make the $5= $1 and the $1= $.25 and $.10 for a miss. on our team if you come away from the table with anything but a run out someone is shaking the fine jar.

I think you're right about toning down the amount. It's not about how much you pay but just that you have to pay is what hurts.
But get rid of the part about losing to a girl. Ther's no disgrace losing to many of them. Many are very tuff to beat.

 

[softshot]

I think you're right about toning down the amount. It's not about how much you pay but just that you have to pay is what hurts.
But get rid of the part about losing to a girl. Ther's no disgrace losing to many of them. Many are very tuff to beat.

I agree with you there are many excellent female players.

that particular fine wasn't my Idea BTW. I just typed in all the ones on our jar.

 

[juggler314]

Realistic Expectations

It sounds like you've already set your expectations. That is to be on a decent team where you are not carrying it. You will not be happy until you move on.

If it's a handicapped league and you are fine with being the super high level coach for the team, helping them improve *and* the players are willing to work with you, that's one thing. But if you aren't altruistic like that you'll never be happy.

If they take it personally that is their problem. Personally if I'm playing money every week to play in a league, I expect occassionally to win something back I make it no secret that I want to win. I've had people leave my team because it was too intense or "not fun enough". What eventually happens is I get a stable of players that all want to win enough And when that happened - we went to Vegas!

 

[mattman]

Have you made an effort to make your team better?

get them together on a non league night where everyone can discuss the game as its being played. maybe they just don't see the patterns you see. during league telling them during a game is a coaching foul (at least in my league)

another option, our team has a fine jar that punishes you for bad play.

$.25 for a miss
$1 for a scratch
$5 for ball off table
$5 for missing with ball in hand
$1 for losing
$3 for losing to a girl
$1 for lowest score in the round
$5 and a round of drinks for lowest score of the night

One solution we are looking at for our team is hiring an instructor to spend an afternoon with the team. We might be able to do it with minimum out of pocket expense. due to our league check, we get 10 cents per point scored. as well as our fine jar.

I like this idea. Does a safety count as a miss and how do you divide the winnings?

As far as the orginal post goes, I know what you are going through. I am in a similar situation, but two of my teammates are cousins and the other teammate I grew up with 30 years ago. I haven't decided yet if I will continue playing on a losing team or look for a team that is more interested in the sport. I have tried to get them more interested in the sport, but it's not going to happen. I have a table at home and suggested coming over just one night a week to practice and they have showed no interest. Even though they aren't as good as they think they are, if they showed some kind of interest in getting better, I don't think I would even consider joining another team.

 

[Dawgie]

the420c trooper - This may happen on some league teams but I can tell you from my experience that this is certainly not the case for many league players. I see them practicing and showing up early on league nights. They're serious players. Some of them are as you have stated but most are decent players and looking to get better. Many times the league players won't ask for help. This is where offering the help is a definite benefit and much appreciated by the players. Once a player understands how a particulat shot is made it makes them curious and all they need is some ractice drills to peek their interest further. Knowledge is power on the table as well as most other places.

 

[supergreenman]

making the team you play on a better team

It's been my experience that the old saying "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink" applies well to pool teams.

I have in the past made copies of articles and and diagrams for team mates. Some of them were just left on the table at the end of the night.

I pretty much stopped doing it but lately I've been pleasantly suprised by a couple of my team mates that have stuck with me over the years. I know for a fact that one of them advidly ate up any material I threw his way. A couple of years back he was ready to quit when we had been bumped up to a higher division and we were entirely out of our league, now I would take his side of any action against most of the players in that divison.

At that time(when he was ready to quit) I had tried to convince them that this was an opportunity as opposed to a disaster. They didn't really buy into it, but we perservered through the season then disbanded. The 2 players that stuck with me for my various teams I've put together both at one time or another have come to me and said, I made that shot because of such and such article or video that you gave me.

I don't think it's realistic to throw a team together and expect it to immediatly become #1. It takes time to develop your players and find a nice fit for everyone.

Things I have found that work are:
1. making educational materials available but not shoving it down players throats
2. taking on new young players with little or no developed skill. (I usually do this for my summer season with the understanding that it's a temporary spot and I'll expect them to find another team at seasons end.) In a way this is like an apprenticeship. If the player shows promise and the desire to improve they will find themselves with a permanent position on my team.
3. I don't fine my players. (except when they lose because they failed to patch the pocket on the 8ball, then they have to buy the team a round) but I do make the low scoring player sit out the next week.
4. Lead by example and keep a positive outlook.
5. finally, a team should not be a democracy, team captians should rule with an iron fist and at the same time be the poster child for excellent sportsmanship and fairplay.

 

[softshot]

I like this idea. Does a safety count as a miss and how do you divide the winnings?

a "safety" that yields you BIH is not fined, but if your opponent makes a legal hit I'm shaking the jar.

We use the proceeds for team activity's a day with an instructor, or a night of free pool and free drinks ect... at least one team I know of used their money to buy cues for everyone though they had saved the money for a few years.

 

[ScottW]

Heh, there was (well probably still is - I'm the one who's gone) a team in my APA league back in Colorado that kept a little plastic piggy-bank. Goofy things the players would do (scratch, etc) meant dropping a quarter in.

At the end of the session, they'd break out the cash and spend it all on booze for the night.