Pool Family

One thing that is really cool about playing pool is how the pool community is really family.

I love it how when a player is in need, the pool family comes to the rescue.  I've seen raffles to raise money for players in the hospital, pool tournaments put on to raise money for players who need help (houses burned down, tornado damage, health issues, etc), and even donations simply for players who need assistance with a crisis.

The other part of the pool family aspect I appreciate is when we need help with industry or service-type things, the pool world is there for us.

Sure, there are some bad apples, but there are also a lot of good, decent pool players who own their own business or have a specialty that can help when we need expert advice or things fixed that we may not be able to do on our own.

Here are just a few examples:

• My roof was damaged by hail from severe storms last Spring and was re-done by a pool player who owns his own roofing company.
• I had some issues with several areas in my house that needed the expertise of an electrician.  I called one of my league friends who does that type of work and he came over and resolved the electrical concerns.
• I recently had some rain damage to my back door and found out one of the players on the tour works for a home inspection company and he was able to come over and inspect the areas that were damaged (saved me a lot of money). 
• One of my friends was in a car accident and was hit by a semi truck.  I overheard him getting advice from a guy who drives semi trucks for a living.
• Another pool player friend needed help with their fence and sprinkler system and one of the guys on the tour owns their own fence and sprinkler company and was able to help them out.
• Another pool player works for an A/C company and he's been able to make side money by helping some of the players with the broken A/C systems.
• Several pool players also own their own plumbing company and have been able to save many friends in time of need (saving time and money).
• And not just physical things, but emotional support, as well:  Sometimes pool players become great friends who introduce us to faith or provide us help/resources with addiction.  

The list goes on and on.  

I think it's actually really cool to be able to have a group of friends (pool family) that can help us in many areas of our lives.  Instead of flipping through the yellow pages (or asking Siri or Google), we prolly know many experts already among the pool community.

Pretty awesome pool family we have when we can depend on them for help, support, and comfort in times of need.

Out of The Box Tips

Sometimes it's cool to do out of the ordinary practice to help your game.

Most people think of the obvious:  hit balls, gamble, play in tournaments, etc.

What about some out-of-the-box things?

• Work on your stroke by trying to get your cue tip consistently into a coke bottle.  This can be done at home without a pool table.
• Try hitting balls for an hour or two with a mud ball.  If you can control a mudball cueball, imagine how much better you will be with a regular cueball!
• Use dumbbells regularly to build your arm muscles.  This helps your stroke be more solid.
• Practice "Carom Nine" (see rules at bottom of this page).  Helps you learn carom shots in a fun yet frustrating way, lol.  (basically, the object ball must make first contact with the cue ball to count as a legal shot, the goal being to carom the object ball into a pocket or into another ball.)
• Don't shy away from the "non perfect" tables.  Also, it's okay to practice on slow tables and fast tables every once in a way - after all, the conditions are different at different tournaments.
• While this isn't out of the box, this is a good time to remind people to work on your break.  Practice it.  Get it down pat.  It's the opening shot - it's an important part of the game a lot of us don't give enough attention to.
• Speaking of breaks, practice your break using different racks - magic rack, accu-rack, and also regular wooden/plastic racks from the pool room.  Especially pick a certain one when your next upcoming big tournament uses a special rack.
• Play snooker on a 10 foot table.  Talk about a test!  And then when you get back on an 8 foot table, you'll see just how small that platform is and you'll be at smiling the whole time.
• Play opposite handed.  That's fun!
• Play one-handed.  Even tougher!

 Enjoy!

Getting Lessons Isn't Bad

For some reason, a lot of us pool players get kinda "ashamed" or "embarrassed" or "shy" to get lessons. 

Why?

In every sport, players improve all the time.

But for some reason, we as pool players have this mentality if we get lessons it means we aren't good, like we need lessons.  Or we are concerned our friends will judge us.  Well, why don't we look at it as:  I want to improve! 

It's not a bad thing to want to improve.  Is it?

NO. 

Tiger Woods had a coach.  Tiger Woods.  And he was top golfer for years.

Kids who are coming up in the pool world have coaches.  Do we judge them?  Not at all - if anything it makes sense in our minds - like a high school sport class or something.

A coworker told me once in my 30s, "why don't you practice more or get lessons?"  Her kids in middle school and high school were constantly getting lessons throughout the year in many sports, and so she was confused about my sport (pool).

Even football and baseball have training.

Yet, when for some reason when we get lessons we don't share it with the world.  Why is that? 

A friend of mine who gets pool lessons pointed out that she doesn't mind telling people.  It reminded her of her job, where she has to get re-certified every year.  Getting lessons is along the same lines, if you think about it. 

And why wouldn't we want to improve our game?  Hitting balls is one thing, but I've known players to hit balls every night of their life and never get better.  Gambling can be considered "on-the-job-training" --->  if you are learning from it.

Taking lessons or seeking lessons is actually a really SMART thing if you want to improve - whether you tell anyone or not.  ALL sports have training camps or top coaches or schools.  Treat yourself and your game and look into lessons if you want to improve.  AND...don't worry about what others think.  (and in my experience, opponents tend to be nervous against players who are getting lessons anyway :).