Your worst miss....

A

Ak Guy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ok guys, man up and expose your worst miss. The one that any run of the mill shooter would bet the pay check on all day long. The one that embarrassed the crap out of you and you wish you could get it back, but that will never happen.

In my last tournament I played a 9 Ball race to 7 against a guy I had beat in our 8 Ball match and I was sure I was the better player. I shot the worst match I have ever played.
I missed so many shots and I was trying to figure out why. He is on the hill with a 6 to 3 lead and scratches on the 9 ball. I spot the 9 and set the cue ball a foot away for a straight in corner shot and missed the shot by 2 inches.

Several were watching including my buddy who ended up winning the tournament. He asked me what the heck and I told him I wish I knew. I was quite taken back, but then I thought, any one can miss any shot on a given day.

I was beyond embarrassed, but some times we just need to laugh at our selves and remember this game we love will humble and embarrass any one that takes a shot for granted.
 
A couple weeks ago in league I had BIH during 8ball, needed a 3ball run to the 8. Lined up and missed my first shot... game over, I was completely embarassed...
 
I lost my first round match in a snooker tournament in March. It was a best of 5 and I was up 2-1 with a 40 point lead. No idea why, but I lost my concentration and everything fell apart. Even had a 30 point lead at 2-2 but threw that away too.

Despite all of that I was left a pink that would have won the match, inches from the corner pocket and the cue ball less than three feet away at 20-30 degree angle. I slowed rolled it for some reason and left it over the pocket.

Still get nightmares :p
 
I'm sure most embarrassing miss is the ball in hand miss. I'm also sure that 90% of even the best players have done it.

I don't think I've missed a ball in hand if it was the only ball I had to shoot, but I did miss a few when I had to think about where to place the ball and where to get to on the next shot. I miss shots almost daily that are just like ball in hand. Just take my eyes off the ball to look at where the cueball will be heading, and BAM, miss.

What is RALLY embarrassing about that, is that no matter how many times I do that and tell myself I will never do it again, I do it again.

I had someone miss a ball in hand 10 ball in a state 10 ball tournament against my son (who was 14 at the time) when my son was on the hill. He left the 10 right in the pocket for him. That must have been pretty embarrassing, not only missing the ball but losing to a 14 yr old when you did LOL.
 
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As with everyone else I have missed the easy ones and hard ones. Normally misses are due to trying to do too much with whitey. Recently had ball in hand, easy side pocket shot but needed to go down table and back to get proper shape (Or at least I thought so). Wound up scratching in the corner pocket in the most "Beginner" move possible. Wasn't even a heavy cue ball or leaning table to blame it on.
 
Ak Guy said:
I spot the 9 and set the cue ball a foot away for a straight in corner shot and missed the shot by 2 inches.
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It can happen to anyone. Remember that there was a point in time where any shot on the table seemed like a hard shot and it doesn't seem so odd that we revert to that every once and a while and nothing looks or feels right. The worst part is that you usually know it's wrong while it's happening and don't do anything about it.

In my case, it's usually when I don't get my head aligned correctly, for whatever reason. Nobody wants to stand back up on a hanger to get everything in line, but sometimes it has to be done. If I find myself having to think too much about how to make a shot, it's usually a good indication I'm not set up in the right position to trigger the "autopilot".

To get back to the original question, I can't think of a single most embarrassing moment, but I have had several occasions where I have missed easy shots or scratched playing in team tournaments, and those always seem to sting the most. I always tell them the same thing, especially if it was straight-in or BIH: "It was a funny angle." :grin:
 
I think while not exactly a "bad" miss due to me, this is one shot that for some reason stuck in my head for over 20 years.

I was in a tournament and played a bank - combo on the 9 that was just about in the hole. As the ball went off the rail towards the 9, it hit a piece of chalk and jumped an inch to the left and stopped. I even remember which table it was in the room and how I felt when I first was watching the bank go right at the 9, only to have the ball hit the chalk and stop.

It's about the only shot that I clearly remember for that long and it was for sure a "bad" miss. I also now have a habit of checking for crap on the table LOL
 
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Playing 9-ball against a master.

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Ak Guy said:
Ok guys, man up and expose your worst miss. The one that any run of the mill shooter would bet the pay check on all day long. The one that embarrassed the crap out of you and you wish you could get it back, but that will never happen.

In my last tournament I played a 9 Ball race to 7 against a guy I had beat in our 8 Ball match and I was sure I was the better player. I shot the worst match I have ever played.
I missed so many shots and I was trying to figure out why. He is on the hill with a 6 to 3 lead and scratches on the 9 ball. I spot the 9 and set the cue ball a foot away for a straight in corner shot and missed the shot by 2 inches.

Several were watching including my buddy who ended up winning the tournament. He asked me what the heck and I told him I wish I knew. I was quite taken back, but then I thought, any one can miss any shot on a given day.

I was beyond embarrassed, but some times we just need to laugh at our selves and remember this game we love will humble and embarrass any one that takes a shot for granted.
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20 years ago I was playing on of the better local players (gambling) and I was on the hill, missed a short easy 9 ball cut shot. He made it and won the next game for the win. I quit.

20 years later, I was playing the same guy. He didn't remember me but he had a backer and we played a race in 9 ball, which I easily won. He doubled the bet and started playing a lot better. Anyway the 2nd set it was hill-hill and I had left myself about a 30 degree cut for the win. I thought about the one I missed 20 years ago. I shot. My aim was a little off, I thought I missed but thank god it went in and he quit!
 
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Too many dumb shots to count, but the one I remember wasn't done by me. I'm playing a guy on a bar table, someone I've played a bunch of times. This day he is having the best of it, up a 100, and leading in a race to 6 5-1 for another hundred. He couldn't miss a ball, making everything. He has bih, easy run out, and decided to line up on a hard combo on the 9. I know he was thinking there was no way he was going to lose the set, even if he missed the shot.

He missed, I ran out, made the 9 on the next break, and think I ran the table after that. Shook him up enough he ended up losing that set and the next.

It wasn't the ball he missed, it was the choice to play a combo instead of just taking the easy run out. He hadn't missed a out all day, and ended up costing him being too cocky.


As for me, I've missed ball in hand, I've missed straight in shots, I've missed shots I played shaped for. I've lost to players I'd happily give a strong spot in tournaments. Being inconsistent comes from not practicing, not playing, and I've never let it bug me all that much. Figure all the misses, missed outs, whatever are my fault for not practicing.
 
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Second time i went to vegas for apa singles and i had been a 7 for a year or two, i think. Playing god aweful, i got down to an 8b. There couldn't have been more than a foot to the 8b and a foot to the big, open Valley pocket. I don't think i even hit a point. Some of the worst i had played in a long time. If i hadn't already been embarrassed enough for myself, i would've been embarrassed for my opponent that match, too, when he managed to play even worse than i had.
 
I've missed many BIH's and too many easy balls to count, but there is one that stands out to me from a couple months ago. I was playing in a tourney in WY and playing one of the best players to make the money and redraw. I lost hill hill and didn't really do anything wrong. He also made one of the sicker break and runs on the hill, I've ever seen. I win my next match to get in the redraw and have life.

I lose my first match in the redraw and look at the bracket to see that I get to play the same guy again (that I lost to on the winners side to make the money), but now it's a lose or go home match and know I need to play well. I'm up 4-1 in a race to 6 and he makes an amazing kick carom shot on the key ball to the 8 to get out. He then breaks and runs to make it 4-3, I run out to make it 5-3, then he runs out, now 5-4 me. Now I make a ball on the break and run a tricky table. I navigate the run out well, but the key ball to the 8 is long and tricky and I need to play short side on the 8 to play it in the only available pocket in the corner I'm shooting from. I left myself a little too much angle as well, so I need to finesse it somewhat (on a valley I may add....) and hit it absolutely perfect. I get to the other side of the table and can't believe how perfect I am. The cue ball is 10 inches off the rail and lined up a foot away from the 8 straight to the opposite corner pocket. I quickly decide (outside of the box) if I'm going to roll it or play it with a little speed. I decide to hit it with a firm stroke, since the tables have been rolling off at times. I step into the shot, follow my preshot routine, and stroke the ball in with medium pace and a confident stroke. As I'm going to shake my opponents hand, I realize the ball is still on the table.....Apparently, It hit the outside point and rattled and is still sitting in the pocket. I'm in shock and so is my opponent. After about 5 seconds, he jumps out of his chair and runs out his ducks and then breaks and runs another tough table hill hill against me to knock me out of the tourney.

I've missed shots that easy plenty of times, but never to close out the match. I went over my entire process a hundred times in my head that night and just couldn't figure it out. I didn't dog the ball because I was nervous and weak stroked it.....It definitely didn't roll off and I thought I had followed my pre-shot routine to a T.....It didn't occur to me till the next day, that I had to ask my opponent later what part of the pocket I missed. It was then that I realized, that I obviously didn't watch the ball go into the pocket and must have jumped up. On a valley , with new cloth, and that easy of a shot it will usually still go in. But that time, my carelessness cost me. I've shot that ball many times since (and haven't missed it), but missing that ball like that to close out a match, really bothered me for a while. I guess it still does a little, but I'm mostly over it....
 
Playing races to 9 for a dime a set, up 3 sets, adjusted twice, second adjustment I gave too much weight & am trying to outrun it.

Down 8-5 & run 2 to make it 8-7, make it on the snap to take it hill hill, break & run rack to the 9 floating into perfect shape for the 9 which is 3" from the hole & cue 6" away, straight in & miscue. He takes ball in hand, sinks the hanger. Instead of being up 4 large I am now only up 2000 & he quits me. Nit.

Up 2 dimes is not a bad place to be but a miscue causing a 2 grand swing is tough to fade.
 
I was playing the owner of the poolrooms son. 9 ball race to 5 for $100. I was giving him the wild 7 and 8. I had more than a bit of Jack in me and probably enough weed to keep the peace pipe going around all night for a small tribe. It was hill-hill and I was running out and playing like Tom Cruise. I didn't care much for the son, so I was really showing off to the crowd. Anyhow, I ran to the 9 which was 6" from the pocket and I three railed it and missed by an inch. Served me right. Johnnyt
 
BIH shot and for some reason I decided the best way to play shape was to line it up straight and draw the crap out of it. Jerked the shot....scooped the cue ball up and over the target ball and swish - right in the pocket without ever touching slate :rolleyes:
 
Straightpool_99 said:
Naturally I had to play on the one table in the pool hall I absolutely couldn't stand, an off brand table with short banking cushions. The game was a race to 5 nine ball and it was a battle. There were only 2 run outs and the rest of the games were safety battles. on the score 3-4 I made a nice jumpshot to get back in the game and it was hill hill. I broke, ran to the 7 but got out of position and had to go around the table for position on the 8. I remember thinking that as long as I didn't end up on a specific spot behind the 9 I would be out. The last thing I did was to look at that spot on the table, FATAL mistake! The ball whizzed around the cushions and ended up on the exact spot I had been looking at. I had to try a jumpshot, which I made, but I barely grazed the 9 ball going over it, and lost the game. The guy on my team who hated my guts was so angry that he forfeited out of the tournament (thus forfeiting our team), and never talked to me again.

But I learned an important lesson that day: Never look at the spot on the table you are NOT supposed to land on, or at least look at the target spot last.
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Yep, that was one I have to keep telling myself, don't think of what you DON'T want to do, think of what you do want to do. Like saying "don't hit the ball on the way to the pocket" on a close shot into a half blocked pocket, you pretty much guarantee that you'll hit that ball, and probably full on LOL
 
Well my worst miss was this morning when I went to pee and missed the toilet. Hahaha anyway the shots that are almost perfect angle to end the game and I miss.


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