Learning and Helping

[Bassn7]

Remember, playing good pool against your friends and winning is fairly easy. Playing great pool against great players is HARD WORK. Harder than most people want to believe or are willing to accept for themselves. Unless an individual is willing to PRACTICE what he is being taught, what he or she trys will wear off.

Playing hundreds of games a day the wrong way, means you'll probably be playing the next hundred wrong and the next and the next. A friend of mine wanted to get better so he increased his league nights from 1 to 4 nights out. His belief, increase the matches, increase the skill. Instead he just plays the same way with the same skills for 4 nights instead of 1. Actually he will probably get weaker beause his chances of playing more lower level players just went up X 4.

Playing great: Learn, PRACTICE, play, repeat one million times. NOT play, play, play . . .

This game is about HARD WORK!

[ceebee]

.... very good post & very much to the point.

I was an Assistant Pro at Colonial Country Club, in the early 70s. I spent many a year listening to new & old ideas about GOLF & then practicing the application of this new info.

Bassn7 is correct, it is like work. One thing a person learns playing Golf or Pool, you can't really learn on the course during competition, mainly because you cannot replay the shot, because of the rules.

But when you are on the Driving Range or doing DRILLS, you can tweak a shot for tommorrow's competion. When I first started playing Pool again, I was having trouble with a few shots. The local hero told me to practice that shot at home & shoot it about 100 times after I learned how it should be done, then I would OWN that shot... I do OWN a few shots now. But, it was work.

Playing handicap tournaments is fun & it can be rewarding. Ask for a handicap above your ability & try to maintain that level of play throughout the tournament. Play in an OPEN Tournament, to give your nerves & skills a test. Go get 'em, you ain't getting any younger. Good Luck...

[Billy_Bob]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote ceebee:</font><hr>...The local hero told me to practice that shot at home &amp; shoot it about 100 times after I learned how it should be done, then I would OWN that shot... I do OWN a few shots now. But, it was work...<hr /></blockquote>

I don't know how many players I hear say "I hate these shots!".

Many times the shots are those I once had difficulty with. Then I practiced those shots and got to be quite good at them. Either that or I learned that the shot is a low percentage shot and to be avoided if possible.

Practice what you are not good at. Practice the shots which are frustrating. It will pay off.

Also there are seldom used shots. Might use them once a week or once a month. The only way to get good at these shots is to spend time practicing just those shots.