Who's the most composed player at the table? (Longish: still elaborating my thoughts)

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lewdo26

Registered User will do
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I think I might be reaching another stage in my pool education. That came as I started PRACTICING not overreacting to bad or good shots alike. So far, it's been helping my game tremendously, as well as making my practice sessions more enjoyable and productive. I simply do not expect to play perfect pool, and when mistakes occur, I've been getting more feedback on what might need improvement in my game.

I still think there is room for an OPTIMAL release of frustration when you're dogging it badly (Reyes and Parica are good examples)... BUT, in general, I say the overwhelming majority of poolplayers suffer from a bad case of whiner's disease; pros and amateurs alike.

Pool is sort of a special case among the sports because failure is so immediate and glaring. It lends itself to frustration. Further, failure (missing, poor position, leakage in safety play, etc.) in pool may be more frequent than in most sports, where failure is far and between.

SO, my question is, which pro player do you think handles frustration most constructively? I know people are immediately going to refer to Efren, Souquet, and Thorsten... Are there any others?

I sort of like Bill Incardona's ethic in his commentary. He emphasizes taking no shot for granted, and accepting what the table gives you. I have never seen him play, but I imagine from his commentary alone that he may be a strong candidate for having a sound mental game.

Thanks.
 
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Just thought of Jim Rempe and Oliver Ortmann. Oh, and Charlie Williams too. Whadda'ya guys think?
 
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leonardo andam handles frustration very well with his "devil may care attitude". when he misses a shot or botches a safe, he just smiles as if he doesn't give a damn. ;)
 
The most composed player over the table that I've ever watched is Nick Varner.
 
Composed defined

Get the 1995 Derby City Accu Stats and watch Troy Frank beat Jim Rempe 7-0 and beat Efren 7-4. Troy has always been very good at playing the equipment and not the player. I've only seen him nearly come unglued once or twice and that was a long time ago. He can be hard on himself after losing a match but he won't give anything to his opponent by losing his head.

Andy

He's due for a big win anytime.
 
Troy Frank and Nick Varner are good picks. How 'bout Buddy Hall. He usually seems pretty composed when i watch him. I would have to say that Efren is my top pick though. His middle name is composure....you can learn a lot watching that man play. Allison Fisher seems to remain relatively composed to. Haven't seen her play live but a few times though. Wish I could play like those guys...I'm a hot head..haha
 
I was reading another post and it reminded me of another guy I saw play in Memphis a while back. His name is Glenn Atwell from Washington state. Wow, you talking about composed, this guy is a freakin' robot. So composed its scary. He snapped off that Super Bowl bar table tourney they used to have at 'The Rack' with ease. Don't bet against that guy on the bar table. I'm sure he never missed a ball the entire tournament. Very good player that isn't very well known outside of the NorthEast. Be carefull if you ever tangle with him, he's no slouch.
 
a funny story about efren that i've read in a forum (i think it was easypooltutor.com) is that when marlon manalo knocked efren out of last year's wpc, efren was so frustrated and angry about losing to manalo that he ignored and avoided marlon for about 3-4 days.
 
lewdo26 said:
far and between.

I sort of like Bill Incardona's ethic in his commentary. He emphasizes taking no shot for granted, and accepting what the table gives you. I have never seen him play, but I imagine from his commentary alone that he may be a strong candidate for having a sound mental game.

Thanks.
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That's it in a nutshell....you get a bad roll, big deal. They'll come your way too...get over it....bad shape after the break...so what. I watched a match where that happened to Earl earlier today....he was sulking and then hangs his head like he's the worse player on the planet....such theatrics...LOLz

Anyways alot of who's been mentioned already, I agree on aswell...
________
 
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I think Varner is probably as good a candidate as anyone. He looks like his pulse never gets above 60 bpm when he's playing.
 
royuco77 said:
a funny story about efren that i've read in a forum (i think it was easypooltutor.com) is that when marlon manalo knocked efren out of last year's wpc, efren was so frustrated and angry about losing to manalo that he ignored and avoided marlon for about 3-4 days.
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That was in Billiards Digest a couple of months ago.
 
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Among the others mentioned, I also like Archer. I remember this bit from the DCC ring game he won the year before last ... when it was down to just him and Parica and the bet was raised to 4,000 or whatever, he had this big smile on his face, pumped his fists, and said, let's go! Yeah, he slows down and drives you crazy, but he never seems to lose his focus.
 
I've gotta give it to Rempe. I also think Sigel would go on the other end of the spectrum for breaking his cue after missing a shot, that was priceless.
 
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I just thought that different players are composed in different ways. Buddy Hall whines a lot, but never past a certain point. He fits into the players that use theatrics to get rid of frustration. Others in that category: Parica, Efren, JJ, Mike Sigel.

The "icy" category is obvious. That goes to the German players a mile! Souquet, Hohmann.

You also got usually calm players: Troy Frank, Robles, Varner, Chao, Shannon Daulton, Rodney Morris.

The playful types: Pagulayan, maybe Corey Deuel.

Finally, your "eyes on the money" players: Archer, Rempe, Bustamante.

I think the guy who's most unflappable is Ortmann (the little I've seen of him). Sorry for the name-dropping.
 
#1 Nick Varner, #2 Ralph Souqet, #3 Efren Reyes.

Buddy Hall shouldn't be anywhere near the top. He is one of the greatest players ever, but I have seen dozens of matches with him playing, and roughly about 50% of them he gets angry because a waitress walked in his line of vision or something like that.

How about the worst composed players?

#1 Earl Strickland (He's got absoloutely no control over his emotions)
 
lewdo26 said:
I thin
SO, my question is, which pro player do you think handles frustration most constructively? I know people are immediately going to refer to Efren, Souquet, and Thorsten... Are there any others?

Thanks.
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da hawaiian
 
Thorston Hohmann, I swear this guy doesnt smile even when he wins, lol.

And he looks the same weather its doing a pushout or a saftey or a kick shot.

Ortmann, and Souquet, probably rank right up there with Thorston, those guys just look the same 24-7.


Now on the flip side, i would say, Earl has about as much composer as a 4yr old girl.

And Johnny Archer has his moments too, just look at the BCA finals this past year against Thorston.

When ever i play a Open tournament, i just take it as a grain of salt, if i get a bad roll or whatever, who cares, make the most of it and deal with it. I seriously dont talk, unless its the compliment to a Nice out, or Nice shot, or even the Nice Saftey when i know i have no chance of hitting the OB, and of course saying Good Match, and shaking the persons hand.

dave
 
allison fisher

torbjorn blomdahl

dick jaspers

actually, you don't find whiners in 3c
 
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