Prepare to be Comfortable Playing Pool

I know I keep mentioning I sparred this month, but you have to realize I haven't played pool for an entire year, so these two sessions have given me many topics to talk about lol.

Even though I haven't played pool in a year, I still wanted to bring my A-Game.  And the best way I know how to do that is to prepare for it like I would like I was going to a tournament or playing league.

So, I needed to figure out everything that made sure that I felt comfortable.  Because I know that I play my best when I'm comfortable.

So, I had to think about things I hadn't thought of in a year, lol. Let's face it.  If we are getting ready for work or to go out shopping (as an example), we don't really think too much about how comfortable we need to be in all aspects of ourselves.  Sure, we need to make sure our clothes aren't too tight or our shoes are comfy, but when we are going to compete (no matter the sport), we need to prepare for all aspects of comfort so that we aren't distracted and instead can play our best.

So on these two afternoons I was going to spar, I had to make sure of my "comfortableness."  That means a comfortable pair of jeans and also wear a shirt that was long enough that it didn't ride up in the back, lol.  Additionally, it was kinda cold so I needed to wear a light sweater, but one that was light enough to keep me warm but not too heavy to where I was hot.  I can't play good pool when I'm too hot.

The next two things might seem girly and trivial, but in reality they're not if we our goal is complete comfort.

I have talked before how being comfortable is key.  There's nothing worse than pulling at your shirt or your hair being in your eyes while you're trying to play pool - all that does is distract you from focusing on the ball in front of you.  This is why I pontificate about comfortableness a lot in my blog.  I have lost matches because I was too worried about a shirt or shoes or pants, etc.

And so one of the other things I had to think about was that I changed my moisturizing routine on my face in the last year.  You might think, "What does that have to do with pool?"  And quite honestly every one should ask that, lol.  But the reason I mention it is, when I was competing I would use a certain moisturizer that did not get oily throughout the day.  When you play pool, you do sweat a little bit and I recognized that particular moisturizers made me feel like I was sweating more than others.  Gosh that's distracting!  So, that morning before I sparred, I had to think, 'would my new moisturizer withstand a session of pool playing without being a distraction?'

Additionally, in the past year I kinda figured out how to put my hair up in a bun, which is affectionately known as the "messy bun."

Here's a picture of me with a messy bun:

As I was getting ready that morning I was thinking to myself, "Should I put my hair in a messy bun or not?"  The reason why is (don't laugh) because I've never played pool with my messy bun, and I have no idea when I got down on a shot, if my hair would come out of the bun, lol.  I have to admit I'm not very good at the messy bun yet and so even if I shake my head some of the strands come out. So the last thing I want to do is try to play pool and strands fall down and get in front of my eyes.  Distracting!

The other thing I had to think about (which I've discussed numerous times in my blog) is when/what should I eat. The pool room opened at noon so I had to figure out when to eat; I always tried to eat at least 2 hours before I played pool.  But I also couldn't have a huge lunch.  If you don't recall - if your stomach is too busy trying to process food, then that takes away blood from the brain which takes away from thinking best.  However, you have to have energy and food is energy, so I couldn't go in without eating anything that morning.

It was so weird to think about all these things I hadn't thought of in a year!  But, I wanted to bring my A-Game.  And my A-Game involves preparation.  :)

I hope you are also planning for complete comfort when you compete, also!

Pool Playing Hazards

The hazards of playing pool.  This happened to Omega Player Steve Raynes during the Omega stop Saturday evening.

But the ingenuity of a quick fix!  Ha ha ha.   As they say, duct tape can fix anything lol.

Afterwards Steve said, "They are still really comfortable!"

And then later of Facebook: "That was my favorite pair of jeans. Rip."

Rip or RIP?  :)

Comfy Clothes

I have written about this before, but comfortably clothes are KEY to playing good pool.

You don't want to be wondering about if your boxers are showing, if you feel fat, if your shirt is too tight, have the wrong shoes on, shirt lifts too high in the back, sleeves too long, etc. 

I could go on and on with examples.

Thinking about those things (that you could have controlled) distracts you from thinking about POOL.

So, imagine my surprise when I found myself in this very same situation I have written about before.  Ugh!

I played in the Royce Bunnell Celebration of Life tournament yesterday in Dallas, Texas and while I was comfy with what I was wearing, I did NOT think ahead about the possibility of it being too hot.

So, I had a long, light sweater on, and felt fine with it on over my sleeveless blouse.

But it got WAY too hot for me inside and I had to keep going outside to cool off because the December weather felt good for once.

I took off my sweater and immediately felt uncomfortable.  I doubt anyone even noticed or cared, but I did.  White pasty arms, non-toned arms, and THEN I had to keep pulling up my pants that were too loose, otherwise they would be too low in the back and show my crack (yes, I just said that lol).   The sweater hid that, but with no sweater, I was vulnerable.  And, it's all I thought about was my pasty arms and loose jeans; ie, NOT pool.

I am so disappointed in myself for not thinking ahead and wearing a better shirt just in case I had to take off my sweater.  It crossed my mind for a split second when I was getting dressed, but didn't listen long enough.

So, I lost the two whole matches I played, even with the chances I had in every game.  Ugher.

Teachers Note

After my shirt debacle, I want to be absolutely sure what I could wear, so I wouldn't be removed from the tourney.

I asked a ref if I could wear a shirt underneath the sleeveless collard blouse and was told yes.

However, before I played on Monday morning, I got to the pool room 40 minutes early to get confirmation from even another ref, just to be safe.

This is what I wore the second time:

He said he wasn't sure because it looked like a t-shirt underneath my blouse, even tho it had sleeves. Luckily, Bill Stock, Head Ref, walked up and said, "That's perfectly fine."

Whew!

Then the ref at the desk said, "here, let met write you a note in case another ref comes up to you during your matches to question your clothing."

Wow - a teachers note!

lol.

(click to enlarge)

Dress Code Violator

So, lol, I wrote about blog entry before I headed to BCAPL nationals about how when I shop for clothes that always look for collared blouses so I can wear them at the many pool events where a collar is required, and also so I can wear them at work.

I then bragged I found me some great sleeveless shirts! I was a happy camper :)

So, imagine my surprise when during my first singles match at the BCAPL Nationals on July 20th, after I run out BEAUTIFULLY, a ref approaches me to tell me I'm out of dress code.

Wait.

What?

He said sleeveless shirts aren't allowed and one of the other refs informed him of my rebelness.

I stood there in shock, and shared like a sad puppy, "But I brought like 6 new collared sleeveless shirts."  Like he gives a fvck lol.

He said my opponent would get a game.

Huh?

Even tho I was up 1-0, I didn't want to give up anything. I asked if there was any other option and he said since I hadn't had a break, I could take 5 minutes to go get a shirt somehow, if my opponent was okay with that.

Luckily, my opponent didn't object and I ran to the "Play Your Game" booth from my friend Frank and bought a shirt. While they didn't have my size in my color, I only had 5 minutes to run there and back.

I was SO upset after this.

I missed balls and was really struggling because of what happened.   I was flustered.  Agitated. Distracted with this new shirt that I didn't like, hot b/c my blouse is still underneath it, too.

I played like crap now, even though the first game I played beautifully.

I found myself down 2-1 when she missed an 8ball.  Whew.   I won that won but in a race to 4, that was a crucial.  I could have been down 3-1!

My b/f suggested I take off my blouse underneath my shirt and I did and could focus a little better.  I was still distracted but told myself to get it back together and stop being flustered about it.

I started to play better and luckily won 4-3. I am SO thankful I didn't give up that one game - I would have lost!!!

I was told I would be given a warning for this clothing infraction and if I wore something like it again I would be disqualified from the whole tournament. YIKES!

BTW, I suggested they add my banned outfit as an example to their "what not to wear" posters, because it wasn't on there for sure.  Only a female in a tank top was shown as an example:

(Click to Enlarge)

BTW, this is completely my fault.  I recall sleeveless blouses being allowed before but didn't read the dress code rules for this year and it CLEARLY states sleeveless shirts are not allowed.

Conversation Piece!

One of my friends, and a player on the Omega Billiards Tour, took the day off from work one day this week.

Why you ask?

To audition for the television show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire!

He took written tests for two different shows: the general knowledge show and the special Movie Mania show.  After passing the general knowledge test (30 questions - 10 minutes - 40 people passed) he got a call back to talk one-on-one with a producer.

After a break, he came back and passed the Movie Mania test (also 30 questions - 10 minutes - only 11 people passed) and then had ANOTHER one-on-one with a different producer.

His day began at 5:00am and he was done about 8:00pm.  Now, we don't know if he made it or not, we are all now waiting for communication from the show about whether he made it into the "contestant pool" or not.

But, he passed all the tests, schmoozed with the brass, and even got souvenirs.  :)

 

He would tell me later he wore his "lucky Omega Billiards Tour polo shirt" (his exact words) for both producer interviews.

So, of course I had to ask him about it!!

He said, "Figured it would be a conversation starter if they asked me what it meant.  And, both of them did ask."

Details, Sir, details!

He said, "The first one caught me right before I went in to interview and asked, "What's the Omega Billiard Tour?"

He told her and she said "We'll talk about it inside." 

He then told her he used to play a lot and that if he won $, he'd probably use at least some of it to get more serious again.

The second producer had read his bio which mentioned pool and the Omega Billiards Tour and she asked him what it was like, etc.

She also added that he was remarkably calm and he replied, "that is probably a byproduct of high level pool."

I thought it was super clever/smart to wear a shirt that would be a conversation piece.  It was even cooler that it was of the Omega Billiards Tour in the area that I happen to run.  :)

My friend said he's not guaranteed to be on, "but it was a great experience and a lot of fun."  People have told him his whole life he is good at trivia, but this proved a lot to him by passing both the tests.  "There were people there who have been trying for years just to pass once," he shared.

Funny thing was, he didn't even really want to go... but we are all lucky his wife talked him into it!

Good luck and vibes to our friend!  Hope he makes the show!!

Shirts for Female Players

Tournaments affect my over-all wardrobe. 

Blouses aren't allowed at State or National tourneys or Regional tournaments.

Even though your blouse might be the coolest, cutest, trendiest blouse since sliced bread, if it doesn't have a collar, you can't wear it. Collared shirts are required at these tournaments - and that's about 6 tournaments a year for me.

I do not feel comfortable in polo shirts. I just don't think I look best in them, and as we all know, it's most ideal to wear clothes we feel super comfortable in when we play pool.

If you are worried about your panty line, constantly pulling at your sleeves, your shoes keep getting untied, wondering if people can see down your shirt when you bend over, etc., then you are not thinking about the shot in front of you - your own clothes are distracting you.

So, since I don't feel comfy in polo's, I don't wear them.

However, it's still required at a lot of events to wear collared shirts.

What this means is, when I go clothes shopping, I lean toward collared shirts/blouses so I can wear them in almost every aspect of my life. Unless I come across a cannot-live-without-it top, I don't buy it.  I can wear collared shirts everywhere (work, weekly tourneys, state tournaments, nationals tournaments, movies, etc), so I might as wear save my money and buy shirts I can wear 100% of the time, instead of blouses I can only wear some of the time.

Lately, I've found some "dressy" sleeveless blouses.  That are collared.  What?!  Yep.  Collared!  :)

Here is one example (below while I'm trying to sing karaoke, lol) - you can't really see the collar, but this a collared shirt and I can wear it at all tourneys and also work.