Seeing Improvement in an Unexpected Way - Project Hunger Games

I received a message from Katniss (the pool player of the Project Hunger Games section of my blog) last month, and as usual, I was super excited to hear from her!  Usually that means a blog topic will creep up in our discussion and I will get to write about it and share it with you all!

She said, "I’m not sure if you watch many pool matches online, but there are these two guys playing a race for $500.  It's on FB Live.  I see some awesome blogging ideas."

Hey, wait a second!  Is she telling me I should write about a certain topic?  WTH, I thought that was my job?

lol.

I told her, "Let me know the topics!"

And she shared, "Too much body movement while making their shots. On guy especially is the worst. I have to give them props, though, for matching up and recording it."

Of course I had to dig deeper (you all know me!)

"What do you mean exactly, please?"  

She laments, "That guy just lets go of a shot, and then his body moves. Kinda like he is willing it to go in...  with his body.  The other guy is missing, also, while moving.  His misses may be from nerves, too?  He's missing more than usual.  They are both missing badly."

I told her, "Interesting."

She continued, "I’m just not use to seeing them play so badly like this. It also didn’t help that I was watching the Mosconi Cup warm-up matches. I was watching pro’s play with great form and technique before I was watching these local players play lol."

I could go on and on and on about the importance of staying down and staying still, but like I said recently, I'm trying not to write novels so I can blog more frequently (so here is a link to a previous blog post about the importance of "stillness").

Instead, what I really REALLY want to point out is:  how much Katniss is improving!  You see, let's say a player named Cindy (made up name) is not working on her game or trying to improve, Cindy would never have noticed such an important part to our pre-shot routine of staying down: being still.

This tells me SO much about Katniss!

It tells me just how far Katniss's game has come. Cindy may be watching the gambling match because it's fun and exciting to watch. She is most likely watching to see if they are winning or not. But, is Cindy noticing the shots or patterns they are trying to make?  Did she notice they are moving their body a lot and maybe that's why they are missing?

If she's not trying to improve or work on her game, the answers are no.

When you notice things such as stance, body movement, not staying down - that's an extremely good indicator of your own game improving!

A Learning Tip without Alcohol - Project Hunger Games

Katniss was sharing something with me the other day... I know, weird right? Just kidding, because as you know she's supposed to be doing that because I'm writing about her pool journey via the Hunger Games series portion of my blog.

What she shared with me was she likes to watch matches of good players when she visits pool rooms. Watching matches is one of the best ways to learn. Seeing the player's decisions, patterns, etc., will substantially improve your knowledge.

However, she made a little side comment and that's what I want to focus on today. She casually mentioned there was a lot of people around her drinking and having fun, and it distracted her. I asked her if she drinks and she said "Sometimes, but usually not at the pool room, I like to stay focused when I'm learning."

I love her thinking!

Why?

She is spot on and a lot of people don't realize that when you're working on your game and trying to improve, you really shouldn't drink while you're trying to learn/watch/practice.

I mean, obviously, you can watch matches when you're drinking, and have drinks anytime and anywhere (well, mostly, lol). But what I'm really trying to get across is people shouldn't do it while you're trying to learn. If you are having fun - go for it! Out of the tournament and hanging with friends, do it! But while learning, improving, soaking in matches, drugs or alcohol will impact your state of mind whether you realize it or not, feel it or not, or know it or not. You're not fully absorbing the great shots, completely focusing and paying attention to the great patterns and run outs, or concentrating well on the smart run outs, etc. of the matches you are watching or in practice.

Some people may think this isn't true, however alcohol may make you want to talk to your friends more (which distracts you, right?), it makes you maybe not think as clear (which obviously doesn't help you learn, right?), and if you're sitting there trying to watch shots and matches and run outs to improve your game, you want to do it with a clear, level head with no distractions as much as possible. And drinking alcohol will not put you in a state to help you learn patterns and watch pool.

I feel so strongly about this that about 5 years ago I planned to spar with a friend and give her tips. When I picked her up from her house, she was drinking a beer. I told her I wont go over anything if she's drinking (and this was back when I was still drinking). She looked at me dumbfounded. What? I can't drink a beer? I always drink when I play pool!

Well, not this time if you want tips from me, lol.

If you are watching matches to learn and you are also drinking alcohol (or maybe high on something), I'm here to put a little birdie in your head and suggest it's a disservice to yourself. You should be getting the MOST out of watching matches (or practicing) and drinking/drugs will distract you.

I'm not saying you shouldn't have fun! What I am saying is, there is a time and place for it. While you are learning is NOT the time for that. Do it after :)

So, I applaud Katniss for already following this philosophy. And glad she mentioned it so I could chat about it with you all today.

Me, having a little drink in college

Scotch Doubles Help from the Pros

One of my clients/friends/students that I spar with, her name is Tina. She calls me her "Mentor" which is super sweet and flatters me to no end.  We have become great friends through this "sparring" and so it's really cool that the first time I reached out to her a few years ago to spar has led to a beautiful friendship today!

Okay, put down your Kleenex's, lol.

Well, the other day she was going to play in a scotch doubles tournament and she posted a quote from a pro to her social media account that she said she loved. When I read the quote, I thought to myself, "Yikes, that's not good advice."

Evidently there is a big scotch doubles event going on somewhere in the world with the pros.  I admit I have no idea about this tournament, as I don't follow much pool anymore. Don't judge, lol!

But I can tell based on the few posts I see on Instagram something is going on (I don't really go to Facebook that much anymore).

I wanted to find out why she liked that quote, but more so, did it help her? (why or why not?)

So, I dug into my little keyboard on my phone and inquired for us, because as you know inquiring minds want to know!

I honestly figured Karl wrote that after he or his partner had a fantastic rescue! I personally don't think rescuing your partner is what scotch is about. I think it's more about having fun, trusting your partners' skills, and shooting shots you would normally play (not shots you think your partner wants you to play).

But, who cares what I think, let's see what Tina's thoughts were as to why she loved that quote.

"Well," she confided, "that quote by Karl really change my way of thinking. I was always trying to leave my partner perfect position on every shot, when all along I needed to just trust in their skills."

Hey, that sounds familiar!  (smile)

I found it so interesting she gathered that from his quote.  I became excited!

I continued in inquisition:  "Did you notice a difference when you played in your scotch tourney?"  (hoping the answer was yes)

"Absolutely.  That little phrase has changed my scotch doubles playing life!"

(So cool, right?!)

I replied, "Wow, that's pretty powerful. I'm so happy his words helped you so much!"

She shared, "I was happy, too. I have been watching the World Cup of Pool all weekend..."

[edit to add, oh that's the pro tournament that was going on hahaha]

"..... and I see how the partners in the scotch doubles format we're struggling - even though they were pros. Plus, the quote really did change my way of thinking."

I can imagine how relieved she feels - no wonder she played well in her recent scotch tourney (they placed 4th!). That is a lot of pressure if one thinks you have to leave your partner perfect shape every shot, wow! And, what a relief for her to see pros miss in scotch doubles - seeing them make mistakes makes us realize we are all human.

I get so tickled when words penetrate and they impact people deeply. And I also loved how my interpretation of the quote was completely different from hers - I love learning!

If You Can't Say Something Nice....

In early April I shared some of my most helpful tips with Katniss of things she can do when she has that self realization during a match she is having negative feelings or emotions (here's the link to the blog post).

To recap, to help curtail negative feelings and emotions, simply follow these three important things:

1. focus on 3-ball shape, 
2. focus on your pre-shot routine, and 
3. stroke on your shots more.

Ironically, just about a month later, I saw a friend of mine playing on a stream and I could tell immediately just by the way she was shooting that something was off - either she was nervous or felt pressure, something was bothering her. Whatever it was, it affected her mechanics. She wasn't staying down on her shots, not walking around the table, and shooting much faster than I'm used to seeing her shoot her shots.

I reached out to her about a week later and broached the subject carefully. She was open to suggestions and then I gave her the same advice on how to calm negative emotions. (They really are great, solid tips that helped me for years!)

Fast forward only a month later, and my friend shared a story with me.

She shared that she watched a fellow female pool player (a friend of hers) playing on a stream on a Sunday afternoon.  And what do you know - she noticed and recognized right away that her friend was also not playing up to par and wasn't playing like she normally plays. Turns out she was feeling a lot of pressure and had a lot of nerves because of it.

She reached out to her friend a day or two later and passed on the advice that I had just given her a month before!

But, there is more to the story than me tooting my own horn, lol. There is actually a greater learning lesson here.

What I thought was more intriguing with what she shared with me, was that her friend told her no one had given her advice on how to solve her nerves... All everyone else did was just tell her how badly she played.

Poor girl!  Ugh, I felt so bad hearing this.

But... how powerful is this reminder!

If you 're going to bring up something to someone that is negative about them, instead of just making rude remarks, make sure you bring to the table something that is beautiful, something that they can learn from, something that is positive about the topic you're about to bring up.  Don't just dog them; help them!

Women's Pro Tourney on Stream

Well, I turned the sound on the stream again this weekend. I know, I know, I mentioned just last week that I don't like to turn the sound on because the commentators usually annoy me, lol.  However, I deliberately turned the sound on this time because I saw that a female pro friend was going to be commentating on the WPBA matches.

I didn't get to hear her commentate after all, but I heard some other female pros and they were fantastic!  And it reminded me that when I watch pro events when pro's are commentating, I turn on the sound.  Therefore, it's during amateur events when the commentators are kinda just talking on the mic and not about the why's of the choices of the players when I don't like to listen.

The pros I listened to this weekend for the WPBA tournament we're really extraordinary! They would talk about what the players should do with their shot choices, what they should have done that would have been more effective with their patterns, talked about using certain English, about staying down on their shots, better safeties, all sorts of gems!

At one point, a non-pro joined one of the female pros in the booth and I was immediately distracted by him.  I am not trying to be rude, but I simply enjoyed the knowledge from the pro's so much better.  They kinda had to correct him a lot on his suggestions. I'm not saying that's good or bad for the viewers, but for me personally, one of the bonus's of the platform of streams is for us to learn.

I was actually very excited for all the great commentary from the female pros this weekend!  Very valuable insight!

League Players and Tournaments

Katniss sent me a message the other day, "I have a quick question for you."

Being who I am, I got all excited!

I replied, "I love questions!"

She asked, "Do you believe that players get comfortable with league play and not so comfortable competing in big tournaments?"

Wow, what a question!

"It really depends on who you are asking about.  Some league players stay league players and never really improve, and therefore don't do well in big tournaments.  They are perfectly fine with that - they love playing in league with their friends and they have a lot of fun.  While other league players want to work on their game and improve, and when they do that, they become better competitors in tournaments.

So, the answer is really yes and no."

Katniss replied, "I was asking because of a certain player who is in the top spot of my Tuesday league...he did not place well in singles at the State tournament this past year. I mean, we can all have bad days, so maybe he just didn't do well this year. But the top players on my Tuesday league never miss - either against me or my teammates. So, I think highly of their game and expect top performance at all times, so that is why I was surprised of their finish. Or maybe they do not do well in big tournaments with "other" top ranking players? Hmmm."

I told her I had wondered that exact same thing before about top players in league who don't finish well at the state tournaments. I never really understood it, either.

But.... then I did.

She is exactly correct.  You see, many of the top league players get super comfortable and quite content in their weekly leagues.  But if they don't work on their game, don't want to, or don't play in more non-league events, then they wont be competitive in tournaments.

"For some people, it's a natural progression to go from league play to big tournaments and/or playing on tours.  For others, they only stick to league (or only have the skills or means to do league play) and aren't interested in playing in other types of tournaments.  Or, they might want to improve, but they haven't really done anything about it for years.

So, again, the answer is yes and no."

I shared further my opinion (I know, you are all surprised, lol!):  "The top league players that only play in league will always be a league player.  If they would play in bigger tournaments more often, their game would improve from all those experiences and they would be more than just top league players (if that's what they want)."

She said she understood and also defended them saying, "Oh well, everyone has their own feelings and reasons as to why they do what they do."

And she has a good point!  Some people are perfectly fine with only playing in league; there is nothing wrong with that at all.

This is a good time to share something I witnessed when I ran the Omega Tour.  A couple of good friends of mine who were top league players finally wanted to play on the Omega Tour when it was being hosted by one of their local pool rooms that they were used to playing in.  It was close to their house, they felt "at home," and it was a comfortable setting.  So, they took the plunge to play on a Tour stop!

Although these two guys were extremely successful on their league teams and the type of player we all feared at league, they quickly discovered they were a fish out of water playing on the Tour.  They were no longer the top player in the room.  And the feelings and pressure they experienced were pretty rough on them.  Neither lasted until Sunday, and they were very disappointed and disheartened.  But, they simply didn't have enough experience away from league.  One of the two guys played in another stop, but by the end of Saturday night he was out of the tournament and then he wanted his money back for the events he had paid for in the future; he recognized he just wasn't competitive.  He was so deflated - I felt very bad for him.

Sharing this story is not to deter anyone, it's to share with you that we all start out this way and it just takes time and experience playing in different types of tournaments often to become competitive.  It doesn't happen overnight.  I truly believe if they would have kept playing on the tour, the next year or two they would have been lasting until Sunday.  But, while one was interested, his schedule didn't allow for that and the other was just too frustrated to keep trying.

But her question leads to the EXACT tip I have stated over and over in my blog that one of my all time greatest pieces of advice to improve is to play in as many tournaments as you can. 

"In order to do well in tournaments, you must play in as many as you can. Please hear these words. You cannot learn to handle pressure or learn mental toughness with only a couple of tournaments a year. You need conditioning over and over in a tournament environment to give yourself the best chance to gain experience."

Less Knowledge Can Lead to Improving

When I played in the BCAPL Nationals Master's Scotch Doubles event in 2010 in Las Vegas, my partner was a mere 25 years old and one of the top one pocket players in the state of Texas.  I was 15 years older than him, but he was much more experienced at pool than I was.  His name is Sylver Ochoa and he had been playing one pocket for over 10 years or so and so he was very knowledgeable and talented about all the games of pool way younger than I ever was, lol.

What I learned playing scotch doubles with him (read my blog report of that tourney here) was just how unknowledgeable I was about 8 ball/patterns, lol.  You'd think that is a negative thing, but eye-openers are not usually a negative thing, right?

You see, after the break, he would walk up to the table, look at the layout of the balls, and then almost immediately know the best pattern for a run.  He saw the whole table so much more differently than I did.  I walk up there, and then stand up there wondering what should I shoot next for him, or how to get on the next ball.  He instead saw the patterns for the entire rack.

Don't get me wrong, I knew strategy of 8ball well, and so we played really well together and actually beat a lot of tough teams.  I had enough experience under my belt to know when to run out and when not to.  But it was the obvious patterns I still lacked quick knowledge of.

I realize that his top skills, fast improvement, and becoming a top pro player quickly at such a young age allowed him the luxury to see the layout of an entire 8 ball layout much easier than I did.

But it was still so impressive to witness him almost automatically see/recognize the proper pattern to  connect each ball naturally to run out.  At one point, I wasn't sure if I should have shot the 7 ball or the 6 ball, and his response was so obvious lol.  "You make the 7 first because that naturally connects to the 6 ball which then sets you up for the 2 ball and that will lead you easily to the 8ball.

pffft.  "easily."  Whatever, dude.  lol

As you know, there are a ton of different ways to run out 8 ball; there are so many choices!  But he saw the "correct" paths and connected the proper pattern to each ball so well and quickly, that it really proved to me I needed to work on my patterns lol.  It was a great experience to find out I had so much more to learn about pool!

The Ear of a Better Player - Project Hunger Games

Katniss (of the Project Hunger Games series of my blog) played in a tournament a couple of weeks ago and the Saturday of the tournament was a really long day.

However, she had a HUGE positive spin to her long day.

She got to experience something I truly love and appreciate SO MUCH!  She got to sit next to a seasoned player the entire day who talked about shots and the reasons why (or why not) the players shot the right (or wrong) ball.

My heart is racing with excitement as I type this I'm so excited!

I can't begin to express how cool this is!  As we watch a match together, their knowledge and experience is being shared with us about what is correct and why or why not.  It's like your own personal training video right in front of you, but it's live and you can ask questions and/or see right away what is best (or not).

Some of my most memorable big tournaments were not ones I played in, but ones I sat in the stands next to a seasoned player where we discussed shot selections.  I am SO excited Katniss got to experience this!  It's a HUGE learning experience.  Almost a private coaching lesson in itself, right?  To talk about shots, why they should or shouldn't break something out, etc.  Many of us who really love the cleverness of the game are already thinking to ourselves about shot selection, so to be able to have a discussion about shots is truly a gift.

I'm so happy for her!  Damn, I wish I was sitting there, too!

If you have the opportunity to sit next to a seasoned player, lean over and ask, "Hey, what would you do here?"  Ohhhh, the things you learn!

Keep It Simple Method

A lot of us think that the top players are good because they make hard shots all the time.  Right?  They can execute them much more consistently than us average players.  Damn them!  j/k :)

However, that is actually not true.

I wrote a few years back how I noticed a top player was always leaving shape in the middle of the table (on a bar box).  Us amateurs try and get perfect shape all around the table (and usually fail from trying to move the cueball all around).

A top player recently told me, "When we play good, it's not the hard shots we make; it's the shots we make easy."

I asked him to clarify:  "Great pool is about making things easy, and making every easy shot.  It's not making hard shot after hard shot.  Playing the simplest of shape always makes the game much easier."

And he's right!  Think about how many times we have heard, "This pro makes pool look easy."  Or how about how we secretly kinda wish the players on tv would miss more - to show the general audience that this is truly a tough game!

But the key is - pros are pros because they ensure they make all the easy shots (a lot of us amateurs taken them for granted and rush the easy ones) and they also keep things simple.  They notice the patterns and the correct side of the object ball to be on, otherwise it IS harder and tougher on them.  However, they have learned the secret:  keep it simple, make it easy.

How are you playing today?  Making it hard on yourself or easy?

March Interview in Billiard Buzz Mag is Out

I mentioned at the beginning of last year that I am now a contributor to the online billiard magazine, Billiard Buzz. 

My column is dedicated to interviewing people.

It's been one of my top 3 joys lately in the pool arena!  I just love conducting the interviews and getting to know others while I get to share their stories with you all.  We are so blessed we get the opportunity to learn from each other :)

I usually post the interviews all on one page each month, which one can get to from the top tab of my blog.  It's labeled, "Billiard Buzz Columns."

Looks like this, in case it's not obvious (see second tab):

Well, the March edition of Billiard Buzz is out and it's quite frankly too impactful for me NOT to give it a separate, dedicated blog entry.  This months interview is THE most moving interview I have conducted.  As the editor of Billiard Buzz (Mike Howerton) stated, "We dare you to keep dry eyes while reading Melinda Bailey's interview with Charlie Smith."

I want to thank Charlie for agreeing to let me delve into his humor, learn more about his loving wife Nancy, and share boldly the many tough times they have been through. You will be surprised, I promise.

Learning by Watching Others

One of the coolest things I saw on a Sunday morning in October during an Omega tournament was this:

A player who is up and coming and ADORES the game, was sitting front-side of the row to watch the matches that Sunday morning.

Normally the people in the crowd on Sundays are significant others, close friends, fans of the game, or people who happen to stumble upon the tournament that day.

Why was this cool about this particular guy?

Because this player is working hard on his game.  He's taking lessons, does drills, plays in all sorts of tough events to get better.  AND now watching matches on Sunday of an Omega will also help his game.

I had never seen him there before on a Sunday.  He has never come in on a Sunday to simply stay the day and absorb all the learning.  I was tickled to see him add this to his learning plan.  Not many players are aware how valuable and effective watching great matches can be.  And if they do know this already, many don't go out of their way to do something about it like this player did.

The elite players of any tour are playing on Sundays.  If you want to improve your game and learn from the best - that's when to come watch.  Sundays the best players are fighting, competing, battling and we all get to watch their mastery.  You will see more hill-hill matches on Sunday than Saturday.  You will see emotions and mental toughness, but you will also see GREAT runt-outs and CLEVER safeties.  These guys want to WIN.  And they will give everything they have to do so.

So, the lucky ones (like me who have to be there on Sundays) and fans who come watch on Sundays get a real treat of adding ammunition to their arsenal of tools.  Watching run-outs and safeties all day long from great players automatically helps our game because we are watching and absorbing and learning so much from these players.

I seriously feel that my game was helped A LOT after I started running the Omega Tour.  In 2014 I had my best pool year as far as titles won (State and National) and it happened to be the second year I ran the Omega Tour.  Watching all these players stay down on their shots, smooth stroke, seeing awesome safeties and great patterns of runs helped my already good game become great.

And I know that that player I saw visit that Sunday morning and watch matches for hours and hours will also improve his game, too.

I love it!