Young Shooters

Inzombiac

Inzombiac

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Silver Member
I was thinking the other day about how I don't meet a lot of young people that are serious about the game. I was saying how I wished there was a group of people that I could travel with to tournaments who were a little closer to my age. Not saying I don't like hanging out with older people, but I can relate more to people my own age. I'm 22, 23 in december, I'm single and I'm totally in love with pool.

Do you think there's many others out there who fall into that demographic?

I'm thinking not. It would be great to meet more people my age as into the game as I am but I haven't come across many aside from this guy Daniel who lives in New Braunfels.
 
Dallas has a pretty decent younger demographic and a few strong players in their early 20s, both male and female. I think that the reason that you don't see that dempgraphic represented as much is that most bars limit the age of their patrons, so players start at 18 or 21 instead of an earlier age. I did not start playing until I was 21 and did not really take it seriously until about 23. I played almost everyday, but it wasn't until I left my bar and saw there were better players out there that my interest was peaked.

The average age of most players that I hang out with are in their late 20s to early 30s. Almost all are serious about the game and may not hit all tournaments, but definitely work them into their schedule.
 
22-23 is a fun age. :D

I wish I could remember more of it. It wasn't that long ago.

And that is the rub....most at that age have more important things to do on the weekends than sweat matches and play sets. I know I did.:D :D

It is hard to find a solid running buddy for pool, my suggestions are convert one or more of your non playing friends or widen your circle of pool contacts by going to more and different events/rooms.
 
im 19 and i love playing the game right now i am not playing as much because i just started college and it is really hard so im concentrating on school right now. im from new jersey. there are people here my age but havent really had time to really introduce myself to them but get your friends to start playing and maybe they will get interested. just introduce the game to more people and see where it goes.
 
Well, it's like I told you a while back. You hang out at a pool room with nothing but bangers who are primarily interested in pool as a way to socialize. By your own admission, you do not go to any other pool rooms, ever. It's really pretty simple. Go where the players are. They may not all, or even mostly be your age, but there are still quite a few serious young players out there that you won't ever meet or become friends with if you don't venture out. I told you about several tournaments at other pool rooms where you could meet players your age that are serious about the game. To my knowledge you still haven't gone to any of them. This is equivalent to a guy who complains about not having any luck with women, but only hangs out at the local convent...lol.

By the way, how did you like your trip to the US Open since it was your first time seeing a professional tournament? Any highlights? What players were you most impressed by? Who were your favorites? Any action or other stories you can tell us about?
 
When I was living in San Antonio and started playing a little more while I was in college, I had the same problem. Then I got my roomates to start playing and they actually liked the game more and more. However, it was tough to keep from partying and go to a tournament for the weekend. LOL. Now that I'm a little older and am back in Dallas, I found quite a few players that are actually serious about the game and are about the same age as me. You just have to check out a few different pool halls and pretty soon you'll run into people your age who are great to hang out with.
 
Poolplaya9 said:
Well, it's like I told you a while back. You hang out at a pool room with nothing but bangers who are primarily interested in pool as a way to socialize. By your own admission, you do not go to any other pool rooms, ever. It's really pretty simple. Go where the players are. They may not all, or even mostly be your age, but there are still quite a few serious young players out there that you won't ever meet or become friends with if you don't venture out. I told you about several tournaments at other pool rooms where you could meet players your age that are serious about the game. To my knowledge you still haven't gone to any of them. This is equivalent to a guy who complains about not having any luck with women, but only hangs out at the local convent...lol.

By the way, how did you like your trip to the US Open since it was your first time seeing a professional tournament? Any highlights? What players were you most impressed by? Who were your favorites? Any action or other stories you can tell us about?
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The entire US Open was by far the greatest experience ever. I really liked the way Ronnie Alcano was shooting for most of the tournament. Even when he lost to Shane the second time he was doing really well except for coming up dry on almost all his breaks. I got to watch Efren which was great and tons of other players. I was one row up, and right behind the TV table so I got to see tons of good play and it helped me focus on the more important aspects of my game.

I went to Q Masters almost every night and got to watch Scott the Shot play this guy named Louie. Didn't catch onto any action though.

As for hitting up the SA pool halls, that will happen very soon. Coming back from the Open put a new perspective on my game and I saw improvement almost immediately. Plus, I have 2 new goals: 1.) To be known as a competitive player in San Antonio by playing everyone I can and 2.) To play in the US Open in 2 years time. I've never felt more sure of anything in my life than how I'm gonna make this happen.

It may sound pompous, stupid, or too big for my britches, but I've never been one to dream small. And with my new focus I'm gonna make this happen. So don't worry Kevin, you'll see me in Bradley's soon enough. :)
 
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Id say join me in the tourney's I go to inzombiac, but your about 1200 miles away. Im 19 and just started college and it makes me enjoy pool more than ever. let me know if your ever in NC.
 
Inzombiac how strong do you play??

I just turned 23 and I live in nyc. I know players my age, but they are all spread out around the world. It's nice to know people also, because when you travel somewhere you could stay with them instead of paying for expensive hotels.
 
ace911 said:
Inzombiac how strong do you play??

I just turned 23 and I live in nyc. I know players my age, but they are all spread out around the world. It's nice to know people also, because when you travel somewhere you could stay with them instead of paying for expensive hotels.
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Exactly.
I turned 23 recently too, and I'm within about 35 minutes of Q-Masters. Inzombiac stayed at my place for the US Open and saved a good chunk of change on hotel expenses. It's nice to know there's more of us out there. :)
 
Oh and Inzombiac, that guy that was practicing next to us in Q-Masters almost every day we were there was fabio petroni... you know the one that was next to cory deuel :p

edit: maybe... looking at old videos of him and it looks like the same guy but I might be wrong :o
 
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man.. this is exactly why it sux playing in Hawaii. i mean, no offense to Hawaiian Brian and Rodney Morris, but the fact is that i play and hang out with the same 10 guys everyday at the pool hall. i kinda laugh when they play each other for money because we all knwo what speed we play at and in essence, we're just trading cash because no one is leaving the island and making off with the money.

planning on moving to Colorado one day. any good rooms over there?
 
Neil said:
We used to have about 15-20 'regular' older guys that played. Now we are down to about 1/2 dozen. We are always making comments about how few young people there are to replace us. There are only about 3 or 4 regulars in there 20's.

Pool rooms just aren't doing enough to keep them there. They need to look to the future. Out of those 3, 1 or 2 might stick with it.
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what we need is another "pool" movie. something high-budget and non-indie. we could show it on ESPN more too. but poker and football season kinda dominated.

any good books out there that needs to be made into a movie? huster days?
 
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