And I don't mean for the regular shots, I mean for the difficult shots. And what I really mean is, for the shots that we see them ponder-what-to-do-shots.
I was watching a close match against two top players in the area, who were fighting their way through Sunday matches on the Omega Billiards Tour last month.
I was giving play by play of one of the players to his best friend via text, so I was watching a little bit closer than I normally would.
At one point, they needed a ref. I got in my position and I watched this guy try to figure out what he was going to do.
He looked around the table for a little bit, and then said to me, "I'm going to come this way and kick the ball cleanly."
Usually players don't say anything, or if I ask, they will say, "this way" and point. Instead, he told me he was going make a good hit, basically.
Not only did he long rail kick the ball cleanly without fouling, he kicked it right in!
I was impressed. People clapped. It was a nice shot!
During the next game, they again needed me to call a shot.
I got where I needed to be and I was a little mesmerized with this player. I've never really seen him play before, and it was the first time he played on the tour in a few years. I knew he played good and heard he played good, but watching this match, I really had no idea, lol.
His opponent was on the hill, and he needed two games. His opponent just hooked him, and so he was trying to figure out what to do again.
Luckily for me, he was talking out loud to himself.
He would get down in his stance, and say, "kick it and hope to shit something in?" while he looked around at the table.
He would get back up, look around the table. And you could see he was kinda going through every scenario in his mind. His best friend, who I was texting, is also one of the top players in the area. I have seen him play in pretty important matches and he does the same thing. They take their time on critical shots, surveying every single scenario that could happen if they shot a shot a certain way. They never rush and take extra time to think their way through the scenarios. It's actually pretty impressive to see them not rush critical shots or situations, take their time, and really analyze closely ALL the options. I love it!
Back to the table at hand -
He gets back down, again he says, "kick it and hope to shit something in?"
He gets back up, looks at the table. Looks at the score. Looks at the kick. Again, out loud, "kick it and hope to shit something in?"
As he got down the final time to shoot, he got down like he was going to kick at the ball with a hope and prayer, and then all of a sudden turned his body around, and he played safe! He rolled a ball against two other balls across the table so his opponent had to work for the run out.
It was super cool to witness. I liked that he spoke out loud so I could join him in his thought process. If I wasn't at the table to ref the shot, I doubt I would have heard him talking to himself.
He would end up winning that game and take the match hill-hill!
In the hill-hill match, his opponent rolled out and actually shit-kicked-safe on the two-ball. My friend was left with another dilemma of what to do.
Again, you could see him analyze every option, every kick, every scenario. He took his time, never rushed anything, and you could see he was going through all the options in his head. If this happens, then this. If I go this way, then this.
It was a really great experience to watch this top player analyze his options. And to see what he chose to shoot was also obviously pretty powerful.
In this instance, he two-railed kicked at the 2-ball and BARELY missed kicking it in. It really was the best option, the one that would give him the best benefit to win at hill-hill.
He would end up losing, but those of us watching would be gaining.
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