Speed Pool

Last night XY got me to go the pool hall after I had intentionally left my stick at home so I wouldn't go during lunch. I felt I just needed a break.  But, I went ahead and gave it a try anyway.  Although I was feeling quite exhausted for some reason most of the day, I still played decently.  It a pretty low-key night, nothing was too serious and I even got a chance to run a drill, so to speak.  She was taking a break and suggested I run the 9-ball position drill, but i really hate that one, so I did this one instead:


Which, i can't say i've ever done start to finish before.  I even got out of line a few times and was able to go 3 rails to get back in position for the next shot.  That's a definite improvement over my last attempt from just a few weeks ago.  So... that made me feel good.

After another few games, it was getting late and things were getting silly.  Then XY said she wanted to see how fast she could clear the table.  So, we broke out the stopwatch on my phone heh. The initial goal was 2 minutes.  She got close a few times, but never made the 2 minute mark.  AJ made it in 1:57.  Then I made it in 1:21.  he tried again and got 1:32, then I tried again and got 0:57.  It's all about the break. :) If you get a good break, it's all gravy from there.  No one beat that time last night.

As silly as it seemed at the time - I really think that little game was pretty helpful.  I didn't have time to mull over each shot and plan everything out to the letter. I had just enough time to get down, shoot and hope the CB goes to that area for the next ball.  It really took a lot of the mental anguish over shots out of the game and just let me body take over.  It's almost like a reset.  I'm planning on what to do as I'm walking around the table then I get down and pull the trigger.

It's by no means a way to play - but it is, I think, something I will keep in mind for those days when nothing is working.  I should run a few racks like that to shut off the brain and let my muscle memory free.