The Week in Review

Well that sucked.

The APA team I'm on, Excalibur, just came up short of repeating as league champions. What did we get for being 2nd?

Zip.

Zilch.

Nada.

We had a good chance to win. It was tied 2-2 and our team had the lead in points but in the 5th and deciding match our captain came up a bit short.

That's what kills me the most - we were so close! And, strategically, we had it set up the way we wanted with the match up we wanted only it didn't turn out the way we wanted.

Ugh.

I'm taking a break from the APA leagues to focus on playing BCA leagues and tournaments - "real" pool.

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So I've played 3 matches since going 2 and done in the Predator Tour and making that correction to my pre-shot routine (which is to actually have a routine and to follow it).

In the APA league finals I played 2nd in the line up with our team down 1-0. I played another skill level 6 so it was an even race to 46 balls. I started off really slow. I missed some dead easy shots, hanging them up in the pocket, and was down 12 balls at one point.

I chalked it up to nerves and I figured I had to relax, stick to the routine, and then those balls I've been hanging up would eventually drop.

I mounted a nice little comeback and ended up winning by 4 balls. Whew!

Wednesday BCA leagues at Skyline I got 2 on the wire in a race to 7 from...Dave? (I think his name is Dave so let's call him Dave. I'm so bad with names.)

Now I went into the match pretty confidently due to the fact that I've played Dave before, during Skyline's Tuesday night Open tournament, and beat him even up. Granted, the Tuesday Open is a short race, race to 5/race to 4, but it's still a good confidence booster to have going into a match.

I stuck to my routine, stuck to my strategy, tried not to let lucky rolls or anything bother me and ended up pulling out the win 7-5. I had a couple of nice outs during the match which I felt good about - ran out a tricky rack from the 3 balls for example.

Now comes last night match, BCA leagues at Amsterdam.

Ugh.

I got one on the wire in a race to 7 from Damien. (I remembered!) He's a decent player and it was a good match up. I had a lot of chances to win only I let myself get sharked by the table.

The tables at Amsterdam are very inconsistent to say the least. On the same table you'd have bouncy rails and dead rails. You'd even have some dead spots on a bouncy rail. Plus the balls are filthy, the tables are dirty, the cloth is worn...being one of the busy pool rooms in the area I guess they don't have time for simple maintenance stuff as the tables are almost always in use.

I'm following my routine, I'm sticking to my strategy, and then I hit a shot and what I was expecting to happen doesn't happen. The cue ball comes off the rail flat and I don't even get close to where I want to be leaving me a very tough shot on the next ball.

Fast forward a little bit in the match and I get another similar shot only at a different spot on the table. I hit it a little firmer, since the last time it came up short, and now, being a different rail, it comes off the rail like a rocket going twice as far as I expected leaving me another tough shot on the next ball.

So now how do I adjust now? I'm at a lost. I start over thinking every shot and I lost confidence in being able to make the ball and get into position for the next ball. I started to poke stroke, to not fully follow through on my stroke and, basically, get off routine in the middle of the match and have a mental collapse at the same time.

And basically that was that. The minute I'm off my routine I'm dead.

Ended up losing 7-4.

On the bright side the loss exposed how fragile my mental game has gotten and it gives me something else to work on. We'll see if I can turn it around this week.

Go Saints!

Predator Tour 2010

Well that sucked.

In my first tournament of 2010, in the new "easier" format of the Predator 9-ball Tour...

I went 2 and done.

No excuses - I wasn't ready and I played horribly.

On the bright side: I needed this.

I forgot how to compete.
I forgot how to win.
And I got lazy with my pre-shot routine.

(All the tinkering I did in 2009 didn't help my pre-shot routine either.)

A good pre-shot routine is suppose to help with execution. It helps with focus, calming of nerves, developing a rhythm, etc.


Since I wasn't following my routine:

I was, surprisingly, nervous.
I was distracted by everything going on.
I was shooting way too fast.
I was hitting everything way too hard.

Not a formula for success.

I lost my first match 7-2 (I think) and the 2nd match 7-4 (I think).

My opponents were okay, good but not great, and I had my opportunities. I just couldn't execute when I needed to and I made way too many unforced errors. I was happy with my strategy and with my game plan but you can't win if you can't put the ball into the hole.

On the even brighter side: I practiced later that night and worked out all the kinks. The next day I had a break and run out against two separate people. I usually do it once a month, maybe, but never twice in a day let alone within a few hours.

Since I'm really bored at work I'll give you all my thoughts about the Predator Tour.

The new format of the Predator Tour is where all the C and D ranked players are grouped together in the bottom half of the brackets and all the A and B ranked players are grouped together in the top half of the brackets. Pro and Open ranked players are now in a separate 10-ball tournament.

Since I would only play people of my own ability, more or less, until the money rounds it's "easier" than the old format. In 2009, with the old format, there was a really good chance you're gonna draw someone who's much better. This format guarantees that a few C and D ranked players are going to finish high in the money - something that would never happen in the old format.

First prize in this event was 1k with payouts to 12th place. And it's the real payout too. Not the payout with the side pot/Calcutta added in which the Tri-States reports to make it seem like they are paying out more.

It drew a big field too - 75+ ABCD ranked players. Unfortunately it only drew like 14 Pro and Open ranked players. (And with a couple of people in the Pro and Open event who weren't Pro or Open speed.)


While I think the format is successful I'm not sure if it's for me. I LIKED playing better players. Part of the reason I enter these events is to play better players. It's a form of cheap lessons. There's so much to learn from playing better players and the opportunities to play better players in a serious match, short of gambling with them, are few and far between.

The trade off is winning. It's nice to win. It's nice to cash and win decent prize money.

For people of a higher level, Pro and Open, I think this format is going to kill the event. Why is an Open player going to pay the same entry fee as a Pro if the Open players doesn't *really* have a chance? In the old format an Open player can win top money by getting a "good draw". Pros will met Pros and knock each other out, you can have a good match and win against A pro...but in this format there's no "good draw". All the players are going to be tough. Plus is the risk vs. the reward there? Paying $125 to try and win a 1st place prize of $850...

Now my idea would be to hold ABCD events but to take a part of the money to fund a true Open event. Like, say, one or two ABCD events a month and one true Open event every couple of months.

If they took $5 from every player in the ABCD event, and let's say they get 64 players, they'll end up with $320 to put towards the Open event. After 4 ABCD events that's an extra $1280 added into the prize money. With the money added in from the ABCD event it would be worth it for a lot of Open and Pros to get into the event.

The prize for the ABCD event aren't going to be lowered that significantly. 1k becomes $950 or $900 or even $850. That's still a pretty decent payout for an amateur event I think.

The only issue would be to figure out a way to reward the ABCD players so that they don't feel like they are being used to fund a Pro event. Maybe every $5 become an entry in a raffle for some sponsored items?

I don't know. You can't please everyone and not every tour is for everyone. Just thinking out loud and I'm just glad that at least in this area there's choices.

2009/2010

2009: Retrospective

I think I spent the majority of 2009 working on the basic mechanical aspects of pool. In trying to build a better foundation on which to improve my pool game I tinkered with the length of my backstroke, straightening my bridge arm, straightening my stroking arm and messed around with my head position and my feet position.

Results:

I shortened my backstroke. It’s improved my accuracy but now, sometimes, I end up poking at the ball. I need to work on keeping a shortened backstroke while still stroking through the cue ball.

I straightened my arm but it caused increased difficulty with my back (I have chronic back issues) so I went back to a modified bent arm. It’s “straighter” but it’s still bent.

I never could straighten my back stroking arm. It just wouldn’t straighten. I’m stuck with it being in towards my body a little. (Chicken wing.)

I raised my head up a little until, just recently, someone pointed out that my feet might be too close together. Now I’m widening my stance which allows me to bring my head lower and which might relieve some issues with my back (less bending) and allow me to sight the balls better.

With less pain in my back I might have to go back to tinkering with straightening my bridge arm again…

In short, 12 months of tinkering only resulted in a shorten backstroke with a pokey stroke.

Productive huh?

It was actually very helpful.

I think I needed to experiment to find out what works for me – my body type and my body quirks – and to settle in on “my style”. This is the way I’m going to stand, this is the way I’m going to hold my cue and this is what works bests for me.

PRODUCT PLUG: I got it in my head that there’s a “textbook” way to stand and hold a cue - since it’s always the same in every instructional book on pool out there - until I saw the IPAT video. Watching video 1 and watching how the Germans determine your stance and cue position helped me in being comfortable being “non-textbook”.

I only got video 1 so if anyone wants to send me videos 2 and 3…

IPAT videos can be purchased from those cool dudes at Pooldawg. Use Billiard Digest’s cover girl Sarah Rousey’s code: ROUSEY when purchasing at Pooldawg to get 5% off your order.

It was a good year and I think I've made improvements to my pool game or, at the very least, have a good foundation to develop a pool game.

2010: The Game Plan

I’m pretty comfortable with my mechanics now, but no guarantees that I won’t stop tinkering, so I think 2010 is going to be about working on my consistency – something all the tinkering around screwed up. For example, I couldn’t settle on a pre-shot routine since my pre-shot kept changing you know?

And with every change I made it was two steps back in hopes of going three steps (or more) forward which showed up in my match records for the year. Some great wins and finishes, 3^rd in a Predator A-B-C-D-event being the best individual result for me, but some ugly nasty losses as well. (Too many to recount here…and let’s not bring up that ugliness.)

Now that I’m settled in on my foundation I’m hoping I won’t have those extremely ugly losses to go with my moderate successes and to play at a more consistent level. Well, as long as I keep practicing regularly.

I’m also settling on a cue. I kept changing cues, trying low deflection shafts…and I’m going to TRY to stick to one cue for all of 2010 which should, I hope, also help with my consistency. This is, of course, unless I somehow end up getting another cue. I tried a Dennis Searing cue the other day…me likey. (Too bad I don’t have the 3k-5K+ to get one.)

Along with being more consistent in my mechanics and my approach I have to learn to be more consistent in my strategy. I have to play “smart” all the time and approach every match the same way regardless of opponent or situation; regardless if it’s “just practice” or a league match.

Here's an example:

Recently someone pointed out to me, after I took a really tough cut on a ball down the rail, that there are two things that are going to happen on that shot: you’re going to make the ball but its LOW PERCENTAGE or you’re going to miss and the result is you’re going to leave it hanging in the pocket. The best move here is to play safe and extending the game and hoping for another chance at the table rather than selling out and never getting back at the table. It’s recognizing these shots, playing the safety and not saying “fugit” and shoot at it anyway that I have to improve upon. (Either that or get really good at making really low percentage shots.)

I also plan to compete more in 2010. Due to the economy and changes in my financial situation I couldn’t compete in as many tournaments as I liked – and I think because of it my game focus and competitiveness waned. Things are better now financially and I’m hoping to compete more since it’s a lot of fun.

So that’s my game plan for 2010 – being more consistent and building on the foundation I set in 2009. We’ll see how long it lasts.

(Probably until March – March has the Super Billiards Expo event and I should have my tax return by then and with all those cuemakers...)

Laters.