Goals Aren't Just for Yourself

I love learning!

And when I stumbled across this, I was like, Heck yea that's a great idea!

And of course I wanted to share with you all :)

Even though I saw this in October, it was more relevant for the beginning of the year.  So, I've kept it in my hip pocket for a few months, waiting for this very day in early January.  Why?  Yep, because it's about GOALS!

I saw this on professional golfer Justin Thomas' Instagram account and really, truly loved what he said.  SO glad he share this with everyone!

If you can't enlarge the photo below, here is what he said:

"Every year/season my team and I come up with goals for the year... it’s something I’ve always found important. A few goals that are very attainable, some that are going to require some hard work, then some that are extremely difficult. I ask every person in my on course team (caddie, dad, putting coach), to make a their own list. This keeps us all accountable the entire year that everybody is doing what they should be doing on and off the course to make sure we are as ready as possible every time I tee it up. Time to get started on next years list! (And no I will not share it until the season is over 😜😜) I challenge you guys to make your own list of goals and see how many you can achieve!"

Now, I would think at some point in my pool journey that at least one of my teams would have had a goal of some sort.  For as many teams as I have been on, there had to have been some goal as a team like, "finish better than last year" or maybe "up or stats" or something.  I just honestly can't remember.

But what I like MORE about what he shared was this part:  "I ask every person in my on course team (caddie, dad, putting coach), to make a their own list. This keeps us all accountable the entire year that everybody is doing what they should be doing on and off the course to make sure we are as ready as possible every time I tee it up."

Seriously, how fantastic is that?!  I just love the whole concept.  It's not just individual goals or even team goals, it's goals for each person FOR THE TEAM.

BTW, here are his results of the goals for 2017-2018:  I admire this because he didn't have to be this open with everyone, but I am glad because we are all learning from him:

(click to enlarge)

Maybe this is obvious in parts of our lives already, or maybe it's just the way he stated about accountability for everyone to be ready as part of the team that I loved.  But whatever it is about this just made me smile; and I love it!    

And, I waited until now to share it in case you wish to employ this for your pool team, work group, goals for the who family, etc, starting out the new year.

BTW, Justin Thomas' Instagram account is really cool - not all about golf, and some funny things.  Plus, he shares why he might not have won some events and should have.  I highly recommend it.  

Enjoy!

Great Golf Advice from a Pitcher about Not Practicing

I know, I know, the subject of this blog post is interesting (or confusing, right?!  haha).

I have mentioned a few times now that I work on blog articles after work at my desk in my office.  Well, I took a much needed vacation the first full week of October.  So, that kept me from my office, right?  Then I was busy catching up at work and now I find myself with not many blog posts this month (October).  So, I'm trying to catch up and write several before the end of the month to meet my personal monthly quota lol (10-15 per month).

Where did I go for this much-needed, stress-free vacation?  Well, of course Vegas!  My fave city.  :)  I even saw a show this time.  Being that I have been to Vegas a lot, I have seen most shows, but this time my friend Robin and I went to see Barry Manilow.  It was a really great show and she and I had a great time!  Barry is now 75 years old, but you would never it know based on how he moves all around the stage, dancing and very active, for the entire full 2 hours of his show.  Heck, I lost close to 20 pounds before going to Vegas and he STILL had more energy than I did at 75.  Pretty impressive!

This time in Vegas, I actually found a boyfriend!  He wasn't very talkative, but we hit it off:

Don't be jealous!

hahaha.

I also used a new app called "Relive" and it's super cool!  It creates a video of hikes/runs/walks/biking/etc and puts your route on a google map, and you can also add photos along the way.  Here I am walking from the Peppermill to the Flamingo Casino along the Vegas Strip and here is another video when I walked from NYNY casino along the Vegas Strip back to the Flamingo.  It can show how many miles, how fast you went, and how long it took.  Pretty cool app, right?

So, I flew Southwest Airlines for the first time in about 15 years this trip to Vegas.  I normally fly American because DFW is a hub and that's who all my airline miles are with, lol.  But, it was about $200 cheaper with Southwest this time and therefore I found myself at a new airport (Love Field) and a new airline.  I normally watch the movies on AA through my tablet (if they don't have screens in the chairs) but because I hadn't flown SW in so long, I didn't know I needed to download their app to watch shows BEFORE I got on the plane.  Oopps!

However, always the prepared person that I am (smile) I brought along my ipod for music, sudoku puzzles and a magazine, "Golf."  I somehow have a subscription to Golf magazine, prolly from some online thing I signed up for and then got a free magazine.  I normally stop any free issues, but I have been sharing the mag each month with my coworkers.  However, I took this issue with me in case I needed some time to kill on my flights (SW had a layover on each leg of my flight - well, "stop over," not switching planes).

ANYWAY, lol.

Archie Bradley (pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks) was interviewed in the Golf magazine and I really enjoy when different sports and athletes cross each other in magazines or interviews or articles.
Towards the end of the interview he shared some great advice a golf pro shared with him.  And now I am sharing it with you all :)

Q:  What's the best advice you've received about your golf game?

Answer:

"I played with Lucas Glover, and he gave me a bit of advice.  He said, "Hey, man, you don't practice, so when you come out here don't expect to shoot a 75, because you're not good enough to shoot a 75.  If you shoot an 85, you shoot an 85."  Ever since then, I've loved golf 100 times more."

Great advice for our pool game, too, right?

Lessons From Another

Back when I lived in Jacksonville, FL about 19 years ago (man, where does the time go?), I was at The Players Championship, one of the four major tournaments in golf.  It's held at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, at Sawgrass, which isn't that far from Jacksonville. If you can't picture the golf course, you'll prolly recognize the famous 17th hole:

As my boyfriend and I were walking around through the dense crowd, he sees someone he knows.  We barely have time to chat because of the moving crowd but he quickly introduces me and then shares, "This is the guy who gave me those golf lessons."  Being the nice girlfriend I am, I engage with him and compliment him, even as we are whisked away in separate crowds, kinda shouting, "Nice to meet you!  He said he loved the video you did of him - really helped his swing!"

My boyfriend then tells me when, "omg, that wasn't THAT instructor, that was a different instructor.  Now he knows I got lessons from someone else and I like the other guys' style."

Opps.

My bad.

I have mentioned in my blog I have given lessons myself (on pool, not golf) and been doing so for several years.  Well, something similar happened to me the other day.

One of my past clients got lessons from someone else.  My opinion is the guy who was giving the lesson and I are about equal in the knowledge of strategy and so I was curious how the lesson went, wondering about his teaching style compared to mine.  You all know me, I like to learn, too!  My past clients' response was, "It was similar, but it was like you set me up for higher learning!"

OUCH.

I let it sting for a couple weeks (kidding, it didn't hurt, lol) and I was able to ask again about the difference.  They said again it was very similar, about strategy.

Hmm.... but I prodded, as I sensed it was a tad different type of lesson.  Like I said, I'm all about learning too, so I was interested in what would help me when I give future lessons.  They then shared it had been a while since I gave them a lesson, and so with this guy it was like a refresher lesson.

Then they finally added that he was teaching English.  Ahhhh!  That was the difference!  Yes, I only teach strategy and not how to shoot a ball or English.

I want for all my clients and friends to get better lessons and learn so much more than I can offer!  It's all about improving our game to the highest potential.  So yes, factoring in he was teaching not just strategy but also English and shot making, oh yes, that's definitely a higher level!

I felt like that instructor we saw briefly at The Players Championship. lol.  Ouch!

Golfer Showing Emotions

Golf seems to lately be more in the headlines about players acting up or getting upset or, gasp!, showing emotions.

I realize golf is traditionally an honor sport where everyone acts professional and courteous, but lately a few things have hit the news about players.

What's funny to me is, these "antics" are so uncommon for golfers, that their actions actually make headlines and articles are written about them.

O.M.G.  I saw this every single weekend of a billiards Tour stop.  Although we aren't happy with players acting like ass's, it's not out of the ordinary.

But oh!  Have a golfer barely shake someone's hand and you make news!  Read the article here.

Hey people, he was upset!  He showed emotions, and so he didn't give a firm handshake.  They even called him "classless."  Now, I agree he could have tucked his emotions aside and gave the guy a big hug and kiss (kidding of course), but it's funny how when a golfer shows emotions, it makes such news.

We deal with this all the time at pool tournaments.  Sure, we aren't happy about it either, but it's not front page news.

I admit when I ran the Omega Tour I ended up putting in place some rules and regulations for sportsmanship because players kept getting out line.  But a limp handshake?  That just proves you were beat!

Saturday Versus Sunday Noise

There's a lot of things a Tournament Director handles that many of the players don't even realize.  And, by the way, this is just fine to us!  We would rather you all focus on just playing and not worry about anything related to running a tournament or the nuances of running a tournament.

One of the things players don't really realize is the noise level difference between Sunday play and Saturday play of a 2-day tournament.

Saturdays are JAMMED PACKED with players and spectators.  We are trying to whittle down from a field of around 100 to 24 (or less) the next day.  So, the majority of the players are there all day on Saturday wall-to-wall with only a handful of players left on Sunday.

Tiger Woods recently dealt with (again) a fan yelling during his swing.  You can read about it here.  

Golf is like pool on Sundays.  It's very quiet on Sundays of a pool tournament, less hustle and bustle and less players.  However - the crowd of golf is like a pool tournament on Saturdays.

Okay, let me get to my point before you all go leave me to go read the National Enquirer.

The point is, on Saturdays Tournament Directors are mostly focused on running the tournament smoothly and efficiently.  On Sundays, though, because there are less people around, less matches playing and less fans watching, the room is much more quieter - which means noises are more of a distraction on Sundays.  And that directly relates to a TD being more active to ensure there is less distraction for the players on Sundays.

Hear me out (of the irony of noise lol).  There is so many people around on Saturdays, literally elbow to elbow sometimes, that a full event seems like one big non-stop noisy atmosphere.  If someone was to fall off a chair, most of the room may not even know that happened.  But on Sunday it is so much quieter, more open spaces, less people, fewer matches, and that all leads to less noise.  And that person falling off the chair on Sunday makes the entire room suddenly look around because it was so quiet.

The article I referenced went on to talk about the tradition of golf and the quietness of that sport.  He asks, what if that changed, though?

The guy said, "Noise isn’t the enemy here. Silence is."

And that reminds me of Sundays of a pool tournament.  We get less distracted in a room full of people while we play our matches on Saturdays.  On Sundays, though, there is so few people and it's therefore so quiet, the poor, innocent guy who is just trying to place a food order gets under our skin because he seems so loud!  lol.

Golf Etiquette and Kicking Out Rude Fans

I read an interesting article the other day about a rude fan being ejected from a golf tournament!

Can you imagine if we did that during pool tournaments?  I can envision sweet claps of joy and calmness filling the room as they were escorted out.  Ahhhh.....

You can read the article yourself here, and it talks about a fan who was verbally shouting out that Justin Thomas' ball should hit the water or go in bunker.  Eventually, Justin asked that he be removed.  In the article it also quotes Justin and why he chose that action against the fan.

At first I read with delight, imagining being able to kick a rude fan out from a pool tournament, lol.  But what struck me MORE from the article was these two paragraphs, comments from the writer (Kevin Kaduk) of the piece:

If you’re one of those people who think this is the latest case of pro golfers being special little snowflakes, it’d be hard to argue with you. Professional athletes in other sports deal with much worse on a regular basis.

But if you’re a golfer or a golf fan, you know this isn’t something that’s tolerated on the golf course. Respect for other players is baked into the DNA of the game and going to a tournament usually isn’t about rooting for one player or another but appreciating the competition — and giving the golfers the space and atmosphere to achieve that.

Instead of being excited about this possible option to kick out a fan, lol, I was more disappointed and wishing that pool had the same "DNA of the game" as golf.  I find it intriguing that bad behavior isn't really tolerated in golf and respect for the players is held in high favor.  But in pool, let's face it, we don't have that.

We have players trying to cheat with breaks, sharking, etc trying to get an edge to win.  In other countries, this type of behavior is NOT tolerated at the pool table.  But for some reason, here in the US, it's almost norm to play pool in an atmosphere that is the opposite of calm and welcoming.

Is it too late for us to be like golf?

Yes,  I'm afraid so.  But, hey!  Wishful thinking!  Maybe the teenagers playing pool today will help our sport become as revered as golf.

Top Golf and Pool

I went to Top Golf a couple of weeks ago for the first time.  It was a lot of fun!  I highly recommend going with fun friends if you ever get the chance.

Here I am trying to earn points for my team:

I also went downstairs snooping around and look what I found:  Other ways to make money!  (j/k, I didn't hustle anyone).

Really cool colors and looked like great shape! 

I just love it when random places have pool tables.  All helps our sport, right?

Pressure on Day Two of a Tourney

Being a player for the last 25 years and also a Tournament Director for the last 15 (two Tours), I see a lot of things from experience and also from the sidelines.

One thing I see by running the Omega Billiards Tour, and have also been through myself as a player, is that some players who come back on Sunday are more nervous, more anxious and feel more pressure than they did on Saturdays.

It actually reminds me of a pro golf tournament. The unknown (less famous) players that find themselves top of the leader-board going into the weekend are interviewed by the media and hounded with questions like, "How do you feel?"   "How do you think you're going to do tomorrow?"  "What helped you today?"  Etc. 

And then Sunday comes and at the end of the day they aren't on the leader-board anymore.  They have faltered.  Mostly it's because they're not seasoned enough.  Not because they don't have the talent, but because they don't have enough seasoning, experience and enough tournaments under their belt to know how to handle all the emotions and pressure of lasting into Sunday as a leader.

Same thing happens in two-day pool tournaments.  If you aren't really seasoned yet and you find yourself on the winner side on Sunday, honestly you pretty much have a restless night.  You're thinking about the what-ifs, you're thinking about the excitement of being on the winner side still, you might be thinking about the points you're going to get and move up in the standings, etc.

STOP.

You're don't even realize it, but you're putting invisible pressure on yourself by thinking about all these things.

Just as the pro golfer on the leader-board who is no longer in the hunt late on Sunday, many players put so much pressure on themselves Sunday morning, that they don't play good pool.

All they really need is seasoning, more experiences and to position themselves into numerous Sunday finishes to be able to get used to the feelings and thoughts that come into our anxious brains the night before day two of a tournament. 

I know from painful experience the "Day Two Sorrows," lol.  For many years, I just wanted to get in the money.  Then I yearned to last until Sunday.  When I finally did, I fell on my face lol.  Then I wanted to win just a single match on Sunday.  Just one!  Then I yearned so badly to come into Sunday on the winner's side.  Then I wanted to win a match on the winner's side......

But you see....all of these humps/goals eventually happen.

It just takes time.

Took me many, many years.

It's just part of the journey.

It takes seasoning.

It takes experience.

What I wish all players to know is this:  you will feel like you failed on many Sundays of tournaments.  It's just part of the journey we all go through, though.  Please don't get discouraged.  It's just part of the process.

Good news is, the more tourneys, the more experience.  The more experience, the more winning of matches.

And you will soon be on the leader-board coming into the final round on Sunday yourself!

Known Cheaters

I read with fascination this article about a known cheater among the golf pros.  It was an interesting article about how most of the players are very aware about a certain golfer who cheats all the time.

The anonymous author even added:

"This dude knows he's a cheater, and he knows that everyone knows he's a cheater," the author wrote.

It got me wondering about our own sport.  And unfortunately, I think it's a case for pool as well.

We all know the players who have a certain unethical part to their game.  Many of these players either don't get much gambling action and/or are put "on notice" by players or Tournament Directors.

As a Tournament Director, I am told A LOT of things about players in regards to "cheating."  It's something that I need to be aware of so I can watch closely for their opponents.

But if you reflect right now, you can picture players who cheat, right?  Maybe you are first thinking about some really big accusation/argument (which is usually a miscommunication or knowledge of the rules), but you can picture a player who, yep, has been accused of cheating a lot and many of the players talk about them and the knowledge of their antics.

What I think is sad is when players think we don't know they are cheating.  Really?  Smdh.

While doing background for this post, I looked up other articles about cheating in sports and was quite surprised!  Check out all these lists, wow!

• Top 10 greatest sports cheaters of all time
• Top 10 worst cheaters
• Biggest cheaters
• 40 worst cheaters
• Biggest cheaters in sports

Pretty sad there is a lot of material, huh?  lol

Learn From Bad Golf Shots

I have seen sometimes (and have experienced this myself in important matches), that when we shoot a really bad shot, it's sometimes tough to recover.

Let's put this in perspective.  If I'm practicing, I don't even reflect on the bad shot/miss and I move on happily hitting more balls.  However, what if you miss a ball so badly and you are on the stream table and also in front of a large crowd and also in the top 4 of a big tournament??

The difference is light years.

But it's how you react and recover that makes you a star and proves you are a seasoned player.

One of the players on the Omega Tour was playing for 4th place I believe and he missed a shot so badly, I turned to a mutual friend and said, "damn, I hope he doesn't get embarrassed over that and recovers quickly.  Or else there could be a domino effect of repercussions if he thinks about that bad miss.  Sometimes it's tough to recover from it."

Our friend had a great opinion/response about it, and I wanted to share what he said.

He replied, "Well, he plays golf.  And he knows that sometimes a wild shot can happen.  He knows it's part of the game and he wont let that one really bad miss get to him."

It was a FANTASTIC point and comparison!

Sure, we can envision golfers throwing their clubs across the green in anger (lol), but we can also envision all those players who shot a golf ball into the crowd or on the cart path who didn't let it deter them and they won the big tournament!

The point is, if you start to feel embarrassed after a really bad shot, recover from it quickly.  Don't let it affect your play from that point on.  We have seen players turn to mush, make further mistakes, your arms feel wobbly from embarrassment, lose confidence, etc.

Instead, remember those crazy golf shots, and all the recoveries the pro's made after their bad shots. It's just part of the game.  :)

McLlroy Quote About Leads

From August 2014, during the PGA Championship:   Rory McIlroy (Professional golfer) comments we can all learn from:

"Look, I went into protection mode once in my career, and it was the 2011 Masters," he said. "That didn't work out very well. So I said to myself, 'I'll never do that again.'"

Comfortable now with the lead, he said his game plan for the weekend was to try to put as much distance between him and his pursuers as he possibly could. 

"If I'm two ahead, I'm going to try to get three ahead. And if I'm three ahead, I'm going to try to get four ahead. And if I'm four ahead, I'm going to try to get five ahead," McIlroy said. "I'm just going to try to keep the pedal down and get as many ahead as possible."

Reminds me of something I read YEARS ago in a magazine when Jeanette Lee said her goal going into every match was to defeat her opponents 7-0.

Both of these players are sharing a signification insight with us - their great mentality of a killer instinct.  Further, both players think this way before they even step foot in the arena or on the golf course. They think of these things ahead of time - major killer instinct, baby.

Jack Nicklaus Thoughts on Staying Sharp

From Jack Nicklaus

"Seve (Ballesteros) went to that Masters not having played very much golf," Nicklaus explained.

"I remember he and I were playing a practice round and he said to me 'I'm not as sharp as I should be'.

"As soon as he said it, I knew when Steve came down the stretch on Sunday, he wasn't going to be as tough as he'd usually be. When he hit his ball into the water at 15 in the final round, it was the type of swing you'd expect from somebody who wasn't sharp.

"And being sharp is being tournament tested on a recent basis. "

 Key words:  being tournament tested on a recent basis

Rory Quote About Outcomes

Rory McIlroy has had a hell of a year as a pro golfer.

He's winning tourneys and majors left and right.

LOVE these words from him from a recent interview:

"I can't control the outcome.  I can't control what other people do.  So do I expect to win. No.  But do I expect to do all the things that I know I can do and control?  Yes.  And I know that if I do those will,  there's a good chance that I'll win. "

The Tiger Woods Effect

Everyone has heard (or felt), "I player better when I play a better player."

Well, the same is also true for the OPPOSITE.

Sometimes when we play a really good player, instead of player better, we are overcome by nerves.

"OMG I'm playing Allison Fisher, top pro for over a decade."

or

"OMG I'm playing Dennis Hatch, the Mosconi Cup MVP Player."

So, I'm very aware that people can get nervous playing me OR they can play a little bit above their game against me.

I'm not trying to say I am special or a great player, but I have seen where my opponents are nervous against me or "I know who you are" type of attitude.

But I'm simply another female pool player, just like you!  Nothing more.  Nothing greater.

But, I am aware of the Tiger Woods Effect and have seen it my whole life, and also have been through it myself against better players.   I falter instead of playing my game.  I do BEST against them when I realize they are suppose to beat me, because then I sit there and try to learn from them.  Then they make mistakes and are human and next thing you know, I get close to beating them (or beat them).

Anyway, because I am aware of the Tiger Woods Effect, I was very uncomfortable with a conversation I had with my first-round opponent in the Ladies Singles 8-Ball Division at ACS Nationals a few weeks ago.

We had to wait on our table because a match was still playing on it.  My opponent and I sat there, waiting patiently.

Finally, she starts with small chit chat.

"How long have you been a Master player?" she asks me, as she hasn't seen me play in this tourney.

"Oh, I'm just Advanced.  I only played in it the first time last year."

So I try to be nice, "How long have you been one?"

(not really wanting to know, but since I don't recognizer her name or face, I figure she isn't one of the TOP players there.)

"Oh, since it started," she replies.

"How long is that?"

She says, "About since 2005 I think."

Oh cool.

I this point I am BEGGING her in my mind not to ask me any more questions.  I can see where this is leading.

"So, did you play in the 9-ball?" she finally asks.

"Yea, I did."

She shares, "I don't care for 9-ball so I don't play in it."

(please stop now, please don't ask me anything else.  PLEASE).

"So you played in it, huh?  How did you do?"

I shyly say almost in a whisper, "I won it."

"You what?"

"I won it last night."

"Oh wow, good for you."  She says as she turns her head and no longer asks me any more questions.

I really felt bad.  I know if *I* personally knew my opponent had just won a tourney I prolly wouldn't fair too well against them and would be nervous.

Sure enough, I won 7-1 because she was playing kinda timid.  I figured she would have played better being a Master all these years.

That's another reason why I don't ever look at the charts and ESPECIALLY do not look up my opponents.  I have friends that look up stats of their opponents.  Well, now you know they play well.  Play the table.  WHO CARES what they finished before or placed in some big tourney.  Don't look up anyone.

I always play better if I have no idea I'm playing a champion, lol.  If I recognize their name, YIKES, I might already have mentally psyched myself.

You might think I could have WANTED to share my recent win with my opponent to maybe get an edge, but I did not.  I would rather have her A game against me.  Not win b/c of the Tiger Woods Effect.  I really wanted to STOP her from asking me questions, lol.

That One Winning Song

Brad Gilbert talks in his book, Winning Ugly, about singing a song in your head to help calm your nerves.

That is great advice.

You know what else songs can do, right?

Yep, immediately take you back to an event in your past.

Well, imagine my surprise when on a plane recently Rory Mcilroy stated in a Bose advertisement:

"When I won my first major, I listened to the same song every day on the way to the tournament.  It played in my head over and over all the way around the course.  So whenever I want to remember that winning feeling, all I need to hear is that song."

WOW!

I can so relate!

My first ever tournament first place win was at the end of 2009 at the Fast Eddies Tour stop Season Finale.  I was completely and utterly in the zone and I distinctly recall this song that played, and now EVERY time I hear it, I picture myself in that match, playing solid, playing in the zone, and winning.

While it's not the song that helped me win, it's just the song that when it comes on immediately takes me back to the finals.

It was Chris Brown's "I can Transform Ya" with Lil Wayne.  It was just a quirky little different song that when it came on I remembered it and now correlate it with that win.

I wonder what Mcilroy's was??  I bet it was something he deliberately chose to listen to to pump him up!  :)

What's yours that gets you pumped up??

Pep Talk - Video Clip

I saw this the other day on TV and LOVED it!

Check it out for yourself and see how ironically not funny this pep talk is!

Winners Learn from their Successes

After I posted my long write-up of one of the greatest moments in my pool life - becoming a National Champion with my Women's Open Team! - Phil Capelle called me at work to congratulate me.

"Hey Melinda, Congrats!" Phil said with sincere admiration.

"Oh, thank you, Phil.  Means a lot you called," I replied, soaking in his words.

It's so funny to me that the famous Phil Capelle would call me and congratulate me.  I mean, seriously, one of THE main reasons I play such good 8 ball and because I won is due to his books, "Play Your Best Pool," where I learn the most about playing the game of 8 ball correctly and smart.  

He said, "I just read your blog and saw the diagram of your final run, but that did it no justice - the video truly shows how tough it really was.  Great out, tough table, good run!"

"Really?" I countered.  "Oh, thank you so much!"

Then Phil does what he does best, he shared golden nuggets of info.

I wrote in that blog that I prolly was successful in the finals because of my many losses.  And as I stated in the write-up, I was told many years ago that the "second place finisher is the REAL winner," because we learn so much more.

But Phil reminded me, "Don't forget, winning does breed winning."

Phil shared something with me.... that I can learn from my WIN:

He had just recently heard the golf announcer Johnny Miller say about a recent golf winner, that he needs to "soak in everything about his well played shots, then hit enter.  It's as if you are saving a file in your memory of a successful result."

Phil added, "Melinda, let success go to your head. Winners learn from their successes. Remember what you did, how you did it - this will give you confidence when you play again."

Thank you, Phil, for continuing to add to my pool journey!  

Tiger vs. Jack

I am SO excited for my friend Phil Capelle (yes, the famous author of the Play Your Best Pool series).  I remember that crisp, cool morning when I read this in his email to me "top secret - working on a Tiger versus Jack book."

Well, the dream has come to fruition for Phil!

December 8th marked the release of Tiger vs. Jack by Phil Capelle, the first and only book dedicated to golf’s two all time greatest players.  Woo-Hoo!  Congrat's Phil!

Phil's website lists the table of contents, but let me share this about the book:

"Tiger vs. Jack is divided into four parts. Playing for History (1) sets the stage for Woods’ quest with a fresh look at the majors, the all time greats, and each player’s competition. Playing the Game (2) compares their swings and games from tee to green, their mental games, and the author’s offers his well-considered opinion of who would win if they could have only competed in each other’s eras.

In Tiger vs. Jack (3) Capelle provides his expansive new definition of greatness and compares Woods’ and Nicklaus’ careers with an in depth analysis and new perspectives that are sure to inspire clubhouse debates. Finally, in The Best Ever (4) the author explores the risks that Woods faces, bias in the media, and then he talks about how golf needs to go beyond major titles only in making The Big Decision."

Phil adds from this Golf Blog, "The coming season is the most anticipated one since Woods’ turned pro. Will his new swing work? Can he regain the magic on the greens? Is he still the game’s top closer? And will the host of young talent challenge him at the majors?"

"Tiger Woods will supposedly replace Jack Nicklaus at the top when he breaks his record of 18 major titles. But Capelle refutes this overly simplistic notion with his comprehensive new definition of golfing greatness. In his view, the heartbreaking “losses” each has suffered do count, and so he does with the introduction of his Contender Finishes ranking system.

The quality of competition, the rules of the game, equipment, and course conditions are among the ever changing factors that must be weighed when debating who is the best, Tiger or Jack? And, of course, luck’s role must also be considered."

A lot of hard work, sweat, and dedication were poured into the pages.  So, again, a BIG Congrat's to my pal Phil for the release of his book!