vortex

warning...long/rambling post about pool...

I'm sucked into the vortex of playing pool again. I played in a 9ball tournament on Saturday. It was a beautiful Fall day in Colorado (perfect riding weather) and I spent ALL DAY in a pool hall. I arrived at the pool hall at 10am and left at 5pm. ha...i never thought i would be doing that again.

But - oh my - pool is mesmerizing.

It's different this time around
First I will say I'm super stoked with the way i'm playing after such a long hiatus - 7(!) years. And out of 23 players - I finished 7th/8th.

Actually - i think my mental toughness is better than it was all those years ago. My skill level isn't up to par - but mental toughness can go a long way.

The wonderful thing this time around is - I truly, truly don't care if make the ball i'm shooting.(and boy-oh-boy did i CARE about that back in the day - my whole mood depended on whether I played well or not)

This time around the only thing I care about is my form - if i have good form the ball will magically drop and I'll have position on the next ball. it's crazy how that works - when I start caring about 'winning' or 'dropping the ball' - I tighten up and my game goes to crap.

So this time around I'm very disciplined going through my pre-shot routine, making a decision, committing and then letting go of the results. If I get excited about a couple of great shots - I walk away from the table/get a drink of water/reapproach the table as if I didn't make the last shot/I let go of the results and focus on my form.

one thing remains the same
I do love the game and all that's involved - the physics of knocking 2 balls together, the mental focus needed, the strategy, the beauty and finesse of the game. It truly is a beautiful thing.

sandbagging sux
One thing about Colorado is they have APA rules and the games are handicapped. I don't recall being handicapped in Texas.

I always kid around and tell my friends "i wish i was good enough to sandbag in mtn bike racing". Mtn bike racing is full of sandbaggers and I've never understood that.

Now here I am in a situation where people think I'm sandbagging and it sucks. I'd rather play someone straight up than to have the advantage of a handicap.

I do feel my ranking is a bit low - but since I'm a *new* to the scene player they seem to want to start me off low until I establish myself.

When I first spoke to the tournament/league director - she asked me how I should be ranked on a scale to 2 - 9. I told her I wasn't a beginner and once upon of time might have ranked myself a 6 or 7 - but now I was probably a 4 or 5. Last week they started me at a 2(!) and boy was the other team furious. I called her the next day and INSISTED she bump up my ranking - so for this tournament she ranked me a 4.

Rankings are based on stats - avg # of balls you knock in during 1 turn at the table - # of turns at the table it takes you to clean a rack - how badly you beat your opponent and other pieces of the formula that i'm not aware of...

Hopefully I can remedy the situation pretty quickly if I play well the next few weeks and my stats bump me up.

I encountered an interesting personalities during my 6 matches.
match one - the tough guy.
This guy was intimidating - an older (probably my age) looking guy that looked like he was from Jersey. He had a nice finesse game and seemed really steady. I thought to myself 'uh oh - this guy is no slouch' He name was Neal and he was super nice to me.

I was very nervous at first but once I 'settled in' I started playing well.

The match was neck-and-neck.

Once when I was shooting (and just got through running 8 balls) I saw - Neal whispering to another guy. Basically they were saying I was playing way too well to be ranked a 4. I felt bad that they thought that but at this point in time there is nothing i can do.

The last rack of the match was tough - whoever knocked in the 9 ball was going to win the match.

The 5, 6 and 9 were left on the table and Neal hooked me on the 5. I calmly trusted the process - measured the angle for the double kick shot - let go of caring what happened and executed the shot. That 5ball magically went in. I was shocked - I seriously couldn't believe it. I played safe on the 6 and Neal played safe back at me. Again - I measured the long bank shot on the 6 - let go of caring - executed the shot and it was a thing of beauty - i split the pocket and 6ball dropped. I was left with a medium-hard shot on the 9ball - I lined up - let go of caring and drilled that puppy. holy moly - that was so crazy. I had come from behind and hung tough and won the match.

Neal later told me. 'you were shooting *lights out* and rarely missed. I'm a good, solid 5 and I gave you my best game, I played well and you out played me.' It was a very generous compliment.

I saw him go over to the tournament director and suggested she bump up my ranking.

match two - the quiet average guy
The next guy I played looked like the average Joe Blow. A nice, quiet guy with a slight limp. He had a good steady game.

After the intense first match - I was mentally exhausted and I couldn't seem to focus as well on this match. I feel I got lazy and somewhat 'laid down' on the match. Needless to say - that type of mental attitude - I lost this match. Not badly - but I was slightly disappointed in myself for not hanging tough.

Now I was in the losers bracket and my next loss meant I would go home. I thought to myself 'oh well...if I get knocked out there will be time to go for a ride on this beautiful day.'

match three - the well dressed clean cut guy
I had seen this guy practicing early and he was really good. He was the kind of guy that would get out on any open rack. He was super nice too.

We started playing and pretty much played neck-and-neck - however since I had the handicap (i was a 4 - he was a 6) I ended up winning the match. This time I was able to hold my own from the beginning and was happy with the way I played.

I saw this guy mention something to the tournament director about my level of play. sigh...

match four - confident woman player
This match was with a woman ranked 4. At this tournament the players have the option of playing on the 9ft or 7ft tables. Personally I prefer the 9ft because they are harder to play on - the opponent wanted to play on the 7ft tables.

She got off to a good start but on the 2nd or 3rd rack - I ran the rack. She was a good player and dangerous to let at the table so I really focused, took advantage of the momentum I had and won the match.

me: 'you play really well'
the girl: 'yes - i do play well - but you play better'

match five - an older woman who played well but verbalize a lot of negative self-talk
my next opponent was a older woman (maybe in her 50s) and talked a lot during the match. I tried to tune out her negative talk - things like "this game is stupid" "that was really bad shot" "i'm terrible at this game".

I'm not much of a talker when I'm playing and keep my responses to a minimum when people talk to me during a match.

I felt I was a better player than this women (she was a 4 too) but again - I let my mental focus down and let her get ahead. However, I was able to get my mental focus back and come from behind and win the match.

I was super happy i didn't give up and was able to regain my focus.

match six - another average joe blow
I feel I played well during this match but my opponent played better. I gave it everything i had at the time and came up short. Again - this went down to one last ball and this time my opponent made some great shots and won the match.

aftermath
Once upon a time I would have been furious that I had been so close to advancing further in the tournament and losing. But yesterday - I walked away happy with how I played. I wasn't crazy about having the handicap - but most of the matches I won - I won decisively and would have still won if i had been ranked higher.

Another thing I was happy about was I was able to keep my negative thoughts to a minimum. Sometimes I would catch myself thinking 'i hope they miss so i can have another turn at the table'. Luckily most of the time I was aware of these thoughts and changed that direction of that thinking. I want to respect my opponent and always stay positive and happy...if I ever start going down that dark road again - I'll quit.

Now the challenge is to maintain that attitude and not get attached to the results.

The good think about getting put of the tournament was it was 5pm and I was starving. I texted the crew to see if anyone wanted to get together for dinner and tracy/jason - me/dave - jen/jesper all met up and had a wonderful fun dinner out on the town.

Another thing this time around is pool won't be the center of my life - i have many other things in my life so this will only be a small piece of it - unlike years ago where pool was the center of my universe.