Teaching Me My Own Lesson

One of the things that gives me the most happiness in life is to be able to talk to others about pool.  It gives me the biggest high in life.  I feel the joy deep in soul - my heart actually flutters in the middle of talking to others about pool because I get so happy about it lol.

I think I mentioned that I met up with a whole ladies team one night for about 3 hours and we just played pool and talked about pool. We didn't just talk about shots, we also talked about confidence, nerves, etc.  Because as you know, pool is mental as well as ability and shot making.

I've helped a few friends throughout the years with some sessions and they have always been grateful.  I recently started to meet up with a friend to spar with.  She and I thought it might be good to get some good sparring in before a big tourney she has coming up.

If we do talk, we mostly talk about strategy.  We play 8-ball.  So we might talk about why certain shots are better, when to not make balls, when to go for break outs, how to play better safes.  We are learning from each other, it's pretty cool.  Her safes are jam up - I hate them lol.

We've only met up a few times and now.... I've come to the point where I actually hate our sessions.  Omg... she learns too quickly and she has turned the table on me!  Now I have to step up my game and try to play smarter, tougher.  She gets my mind working overtime because I have to think even more strategic than usual because she catches on too fast.

It's killing me!

I LOVE IT.  :)

Inside the Mind of a Champion

I think it would be cool to be able to listen in to the mind of a champion while they played pool.

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.

Missing on Purpose

Let me share something about playing different levels of players.

I learned many, many years ago to not try to run out if I can't against an opponent that can't run out either.  Further, don't even try a tough run if my opponent is less knowledgeable about the game and the run is tough.

I'm not trying to be rude, it's fact.  And it's strategy.  And it's not "well-known," but known, if that makes sense, lol.

If I was playing a female pro player, I'd never do this.  Or, a top player.  You don't turn the table over after a deliberate miss to real good players. 

Here is the strategy:  you are playing against someone that can't run out regularly.  You see a cluster (you are playing 9ball for example) and it would be a really tough out.

Why not punt?  Why not hand over the table to your opponent and let them deal with the tied-up balls? 

What happens is, you either play a weak safe (i.e. deliberately don't lock them up) or you "accidentally" miss a shot.  Yep, you LEAVE your opponent an open shot.  Then your opponent will make a few balls and try to do something with the cluster soon down the road.  They will do the dirty work for you.

Now, this doesn't happen all the time and it doesn't work all the time, and other times, they will figure out ways to get out, lol.

But, if you figure out when you can do this and who not do this to, you will more than likely be the victor of this strategic move.

Now, what if someone does this to you (like has been done to me).  I admit it kinda freaks me out - did they miss deliberately against me?   LOL.  I just try to not to "worry" about it and just play my best and smart against them.  That's all we can do, right?  Play smart or smarter.  :)

Taking Breaks

I am not going to go over the many detailed reasons why it's necessary to take breaks during matches or WHY at a certain point in a match you should take a break, instead, I'm going to share I'm not the best person to give advice about breaks, lol.

If I had to break down Taking Breaks, these are the 3 main reasons:

• You need to go to the bathroom or smoke a cigarette, Or
• You are losing and need to regroup, Or
• Your opponent is on a good dash, and you need to slow them down.

However, I only do the first one, most of the time (don't follow my lead).

You see, just as I have had bad experiences in the past with cheesing the 9ball, I had a very bad experience once when I took a break.

I was playing in a Ladies Tournament in Florida in the late 90s against a real good player.  I was up in the match and she decided to take a break to slow down my momentum and to help her regain hers.

I sat in my chair as she went to the bathroom for her self-pep talk, and was just sitting there, minding my own business.

A friend came up to me and was very adamant with me, "You need to take a break too!  She's trying to get under your skin, and you need to also take a break and get away from the table."

"Oh, okay," I said as I walked away, not sure where to walk to or what to do. 

And of course all I could think of was how well I was playing, that I was ahead, while also thinking about what this friend said.  Which of course was the very wrong thing to do.  Up until that point, I had never really thought people took breaks for strategy.

She came back, shooting lights out and I fell into her trap and faltered like a turtle hiding in its own shell and ended up losing the match.

I can't say for certain if I lost focus because *I* also took a break, Or if it was my friends' comments that got me, Or, maybe her taking a break iced me. 

Either way, now I don't like to take breaks.

I am not a stupid person and so I know that taking breaks during certain critical times during matches is crucial, but I just don't take break unless I really have to use the bathroom or I need to step outside to shout in frustration.

I see people who are way down in matches and take a break.  I also see people who are missing shots and take a break.  Or the player who recognizes that it would ice their opponent if a break is taken.

There are two players that do this perfectly on the OB Cues Ladies Tour.  Their breaks are calculating and timed well to either give them a boost or ice their opponent.  It really is kind of a beautiful thing to witness, at the same time a tactic imo.  But, it's not illegal.  And the NFL ices the kicker all the time, so it is fairly common.

My problem is when they do it to me, I know what they are trying to do.  And THAT gets to me. 

I need to look at breaks as a good thing, not a "trap" lol. 

I also would like to recognize more when I should take breaks.  Sometimes I do, but other times I just fight on.

Breaks are tied directly to being aware of what is going on in your match.