Signs of Improvement

Most days when I go out to shoot pool I am practicing on my own, which is why I have put so much effort into finding fun and instructive drills.  However, it has been difficult to see if I have really improved, as a lapse in concentration (easy to do when practicing alone) can make it seem like I am not shooting well, even if I have lifted my game quite a bit.

Recently, though, I twice happened to find someone willing to play some pool with me at the pool hall.  The first time was a short 8-ball match against someone at Buster's in Somersworth, and I won all three games (though luck played a part in one of them).  The second time was a much longer match, and (to me at least) was more of an indicator of how far I have come.

I went to Legends in Portsmouth a couple of weeks ago, as I often do on Monday nights.  As soon as I got to my table at around 5:45 (usually I practice from 7 to 9, but I was early that evening), I got into a conversation with the man at the table next to mine, and we agreed to play some 9-ball.  We played for the next three hours, until I had to go, and it was a lot of fun.  He was a pretty good player, but I was able to use a lot of what I have been practicing and I won the match 22-13.  It reminded me a lot of the marathon 9-ball sessions I had with my friend Christopher in Chicago about 15 years ago.

I recently signed up for the Straight Pool League at Buster's, which starts in a week or so.  I have not played Straight Pool in a league since I lived in Chicago, but it has remained one of my favorite games.  It is a handicapped league, meaning that each player needs to sink a different number of balls based on their ability as judged by the man running the league (in this case, Frank at Buster's).  Frank has seen me rebuilding my game for a while now, but I don't think he knows that I used to shoot Straight Pool quite a bit.  He has said that he will start me out "in the lower division", whatever that means.  At the very least, I should have a once-a-week barometer of how I am doing.

In anticipation of the start of the league, I have been practicing Straight-Pool related drills (which the Q rating drill in my previous post is, sort of) and also practicing lags and the Straight Pool break, which is not like an 8-ball or 9-ball break at all.  In Straight Pool, you basically do not want the break, as on the break you try to drive two balls to a rail while not leaving your opponent a shot.  It is a tough break to master.

One way in which I know I am improving is my ability to run at least 10 balls in a row, whether in the Q drill or in a Straight Pool setup.  It used to be quite an accomplishment to do this once in an evening of practice.  Last night I ran at least 11 balls three times in a row in the Q drill, and also ran at least 10 in Straight Pool practice (high run of 13, done twice) four times in the space of about 6 racks.  What made me happiest was that the Straight Pool runs went from one rack to the next, involving a break shot on the rack in the middle of the run.  This is one of the hardest things to be able to do consistently.

I am really looking forward to my first Straight Pool match in the league.  I have no idea of what my handicap will be, or who I will be playing against, but I will be posting results and reactions here.