Taking Breaks

I am not going to go over the many detailed reasons why it's necessary to take breaks during matches or WHY at a certain point in a match you should take a break, instead, I'm going to share I'm not the best person to give advice about breaks, lol.

If I had to break down Taking Breaks, these are the 3 main reasons:

• You need to go to the bathroom or smoke a cigarette, Or
• You are losing and need to regroup, Or
• Your opponent is on a good dash, and you need to slow them down.

However, I only do the first one, most of the time (don't follow my lead).

You see, just as I have had bad experiences in the past with cheesing the 9ball, I had a very bad experience once when I took a break.

I was playing in a Ladies Tournament in Florida in the late 90s against a real good player.  I was up in the match and she decided to take a break to slow down my momentum and to help her regain hers.

I sat in my chair as she went to the bathroom for her self-pep talk, and was just sitting there, minding my own business.

A friend came up to me and was very adamant with me, "You need to take a break too!  She's trying to get under your skin, and you need to also take a break and get away from the table."

"Oh, okay," I said as I walked away, not sure where to walk to or what to do. 

And of course all I could think of was how well I was playing, that I was ahead, while also thinking about what this friend said.  Which of course was the very wrong thing to do.  Up until that point, I had never really thought people took breaks for strategy.

She came back, shooting lights out and I fell into her trap and faltered like a turtle hiding in its own shell and ended up losing the match.

I can't say for certain if I lost focus because *I* also took a break, Or if it was my friends' comments that got me, Or, maybe her taking a break iced me. 

Either way, now I don't like to take breaks.

I am not a stupid person and so I know that taking breaks during certain critical times during matches is crucial, but I just don't take break unless I really have to use the bathroom or I need to step outside to shout in frustration.

I see people who are way down in matches and take a break.  I also see people who are missing shots and take a break.  Or the player who recognizes that it would ice their opponent if a break is taken.

There are two players that do this perfectly on the OB Cues Ladies Tour.  Their breaks are calculating and timed well to either give them a boost or ice their opponent.  It really is kind of a beautiful thing to witness, at the same time a tactic imo.  But, it's not illegal.  And the NFL ices the kicker all the time, so it is fairly common.

My problem is when they do it to me, I know what they are trying to do.  And THAT gets to me. 

I need to look at breaks as a good thing, not a "trap" lol. 

I also would like to recognize more when I should take breaks.  Sometimes I do, but other times I just fight on.

Breaks are tied directly to being aware of what is going on in your match.