Two Stroke, No Joke

I played in a scotch doubles tournament with my boyfriend two Saturdays ago.  Yep, we were suppose to win it.  Yep, we did.  :)

Race to two 8ball on bar tables is brutal, but we only had 2-3 hill hill matches. 

We played really, really well together again and we both played smart.  It's pretty cool to be able to talk about shots before and after without judgement or criticism.  He doesn't ever say anything rude - he words suggestions well.  It also helps that I am accepting to talk about run options, I admit.  :) 

After the scotch doubles finals, we were able to make it in time to play at our regular weekly Saturday night 8ball tourney.  I was playing well still but every once in a while I would miss a critical shot.

My boyfriend told me after a tough miss, "you just two stroked that shot."

"What?  Really?  I didn't think I had at all."

I was very surprised when two games later he said it again, "you two stroke that shot, too."

OMG!  I had no idea.  I hadn't even realized I was doing that!

So I started to take a few more strokes on my shots.  Obviously, I do not have a solid pre shot routine because sometimes I stroke several times and other times I two stroke it. 

Once I started to take my time on my shots, I of course made more balls.  I am now trying to do that more and it has been very helpful.

Also - allowing my body to be still while stroking the cueball feels amazing.  It truly is a euphoric feeling.  Have you felt that?  Have you felt how awesome it feels to NOT move anything but your arm until the ball drops in the pocket?  Have you felt the euphoric feeling, too? 

I hate to ask that, but I promise you I didn't feel that for the first time until about 3 years ago.  And I have been playing for 20 years. 

So, staying down, smooth stroke, taking my time, looking at the object last, is a very complicated process that (imo) is tough to repeat every shot.  But if you can muster it even half of the time, you WILL see results.