Would you use... ?

[softshot]

I used to struggle with outside noise... I addressed it a little unconventionaly... I used to practice relentlessly and for about 6 months during my daily practice I tuned 3 different radios to 3 different stations at fair volume and ran drills for an hour...

Noise doesn't affect me anymore...

 

[Ratta]

Whether you're playing socially or competing, background noise is a fact of life.

Exactly- everyone need to learn to handle it.

If you practice alone usually ppl wear it to get not disturbed by outer circumstances. Maybe also to block out sth what teasing them etc.- but i m sure, that everyone deep inside knows, that they have to learn to deal with it.... but instead of trying to they put the problem aside

 

[Guy Manges]

Yes. I use ear plugs all the time when I practice. i think it helps me block everything out and focus on just the balls and the table.

And then in competition you don't wear them ? Does this make outside influences on your game more noticeable? Guy...

 

[PoolBum]

And then in competition you don't wear them ? Does this make outside influences on your game more noticeable? Guy...

Not that I can tell, but it does seem to make concentrating when I practice easier.

 

[cjl0s]

My bar has a tournament once a week. Once a month a band comes in to play. They are really good but the music is so loud I have a headache when I play. Noticed people that I was playing had plugs on to drown out some of it. I will be doing that next time as well. The sound level is uncomfortable as some of the tables are within 30 feet of the band.

 

[hang-the-9]

Are ear plugs not allowed? I can understand ear buds, since it’s feasible a player can receive coaching, but ear plugs?!?

The requirement is that you need to be able to hear your opponent and/or the ref. I'm not going to be running around the table waving my arms at you if you have earplugs in if I need to get your attention. I may just toss a cueball at you in that case. If I call a safe or a pocket or something and you don't hear me due to wearing plugs or headphones, too bad.

 

[tomatoshooter]

I used to struggle with outside noise... I addressed it a little unconventionaly... I used to practice relentlessly and for about 6 months during my daily practice I tuned 3 different radios to 3 different stations at fair volume and ran drills for an hour...

Noise doesn't affect me anymore...

I find steady noise is not a problem unless the volume is extreme or the noise is especially obnoxious. But if it's dead silent a whisper is distracting.

I'm not going to be running around the table waving my arms at you if you have earplugs in if I need to get your attention.

If I can hear you over the background without plugs in, I can hear you with them. Tossing cueballs is a ball in hand foul anyway.

 

[garczar]

Played this guy yrs ago that kept playing lameass Barry Manilow style crap on the juke. I was playing bad so i put in about 5bux worth of straight-up speed/death-metal. I roasted his ass in about an hour after that. He'd never play again.

 

[jasonlaus]

Only if country music is playing.

I'd rather hit myself in the mouth with a hammer than listen to that crap

 

[hang-the-9]

I find steady noise is not a problem unless the volume is extreme or the noise is especially obnoxious. But if it's dead silent a whisper is distracting.


If I can hear you over the background without plugs in, I can hear you with them. Tossing cueballs is a ball in hand foul anyway.

Well it would not be a cueball from the table of course so no balls would be disturbed from the game.

 

[ShootingArts]

Rap and music don't belong in the same sentence normally! Some of the other modern stuff too. The occasional exception to the rule but country and rocknroll peaked in the early seventies, downhill from there!

I was gambling in a bar one night. It didn't take long to figure out somebody was crazy about the song, "Them Good Ol Butterbeans" or something like that. They went from playing it a few times an hour to basically nonstop. I think the guy I was playing with might have been bribing the barmaid! Small bar so in retaliation I started singing along, loudly! One thing worth noting, I have been tone deaf since I was a small child!

A couple of my friends came in and thought it was funny as hell as I ain't known to sing unless by myself or on a very tolerant horse.

Hu

 

[tomatoshooter]

I started singing along, loudly!

That's a genius strategy! Or perhaps diabolical.

 

[ChrisSjoblom]

Frankly, if you can't play well with plenty of noise in the background, it's something you badly need to work on.

I wear them sometimes, but for me it's not a matter of having the noise affect my play. I shoot a couple of nights a week on league, and although one is a very competitive league I do so mostly for the social enjoyment.

There are a few bars we go into where the music is both uncomfortably loud and of a type I detest (death/speed metal at one and hard rap at a couple others). At those venues I definitely wear earplugs, and if I were not allowed to wear them I would decline to play those nights. I've already tried begging off for those nights as i don't really enjoy myself there. However my teams really don't like to have me miss a night as there is a sizable drop off between my ability and either of our subs. The earplugs are a compromise.

As to being able to hear my opponent, the music at those places is so loud nobody can hear anyone else anyway unless they are looking directly at them and shouting.