Practice, Competition, League & Frustrations!

[rackmup]

Most of the "regulars" here know that I have made a concerted effort to improve my game, level of play, finishes in competition and league play over the past two months.

My practice regime is strenuous...4 hours daily. I play in three 9-ball tournaments weekly and league twice a week.

My game has improved "leaps and bounds" since engaging in the strict practice disciplines yet my league play has suffered. I don't get it! Is it because I practice exclusively on 9' tables and my 8-ball league is on bar boxes?

I seem to struggle with the different speeds of the tables, the weight of the balls, the lighting, etc.

I posted this at www.playpool.com as well so pardon the "double post" if you frequent that board as well.

Any suggestions?

Ken (pool makes my brain hurt sometimes)

[SPetty]

Okay, now my brain really really REALLY hurts! [img]/ccboard/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

(Oh looky - I made a cutesy icon smiley face without even wanting to! How can I make just the old fashioned emoticon? Oops, another drawback of this board!)

[Doctor_D]

Good evening Ken:

When I shift to Bar Boxes fromt the 9' tables I tend to be over confident and then get sloppy. I have worked on this by pursuing all Bar Box matches as if they were on 9' tables and not taking any shots for granted. I spend 95% of my time on 9' and 10' tables, so when I am on a bar box there are NO long shots and as such we may not focus as much as on the longer tables. With the Bar Boxes there is lots of clutter and alot of extra safty play, especially with 8 ball. This, coupled with the weight issue of the cue ball and terrible cloth, can and will impact your game.

Hang tight and kick some butt...

Dr. D.

[heater451]

: )

There's no reason your game should suffer on a bar box. Yeah the CB is heavier and the cloth sucks but there's "no long shots" so that fact should negate the disadvantages. Is it the pressure of not wanting to disappoint your teammates?

[Tom_In_Cincy]

Ken

Congrats on the improvement.. the old saying of "Perfect Practice, make for Perfect"

You identify your problems, speed, weight of cb, lighting, and not playing 8 ball during practice.

You might want to start using some practice time at the 7 foot tables. Build up your confidence with the diffent weighted cue balls. Wear sunglasses..(just kidding)

But, you have to vary your drills to include breaking up clusters and controlling the heavy rock.

[Ralph S.]

Hello there. Fisrt i must say i wish i were in your shoes for the reason that there just isn't any top quality 9' tables in my area. Predominantly the dreaded bar boxes, but they aint all bad once you get used to them. Try just a little of the practice time mainly for the bar box. I dont think it will hurt you when you do leap back to the 9'ers.
Ralph S.>wishing there were some good 9'tables in my area

[Alfie]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote: Tom_In_Cincy:</font><hr> Ken

Congrats on the improvement.. the old saying of "Perfect Practice, make for Perfect"

You identify your problems, speed, weight of cb, lighting, and not playing 8 ball during practice.

You might want to start using some practice time at the 7 foot tables. Build up your confidence with the diffent weighted cue balls. Wear sunglasses..(just kidding)

But, you have to vary your drills to include breaking up clusters and controlling the heavy rock.

<hr></blockquote>

Another option- find an in house league somewhere with 9 footers.

[stickman]

I had a similar problem at one of my league sites. We play on barbox tables, but this place has the worst. We call the cueballs, mudballs. They are terrible. The tables are level and have the old slow cloth. The cueballs are so heavy that it is almost impossible to get any draw on the cueball. Most of the coin ops I've played on aren't this bad. I usually practice on a barbox, but with the fast felt, and a non coin op cueball. While I finesse the ball around on my regular table, I find I have to horse the ball around on these. All the same, that's what we had to play on, and everyone else was at the same disadvantage. I don't think I could ever get used to playing on these, but I found if I arrived early and shot a few practice games before league play started, it helped.

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote: Ralph S.:</font><hr> bar boxes, but they aint all bad once you get used to them. <hr></blockquote>

i was close to a bar box, for the first time in many, many years, tonight and that thing scares the poop out of me. i don't want any part of it. watched my friends playing with that tiny, little bitty stroke, pushing balls 3 to 5 inches every shot (or so it seemed) and finally understood why there are so many fights around bar boxes. everyone is so frustipated from not being able to let out a stroke. marlene is a full 9 feet and i can stretch out on her.

itsa whole different game.

dan