Friday night I went over to the Classic Q and played a bit of 9 ball and a lot of 8 ball. I'm not sure if my game improved or not, but hopefully the time I put in on the table has a cumulative effect and starts to show improvement in my game again. I found a few drills in my book (Phil Capelle's - Play your best eight ball) that I'd like to try out. I just have to find some time on a table by myself where I can actually run through some of them. I'm finding that when other people join me to play some 8 ball, I don't focus on improving my game all that much. I tend to play with winning in mind instead of practicing and improving my shot (at the expense of winning the game). Certainly playing 8 ball can give me more experience but I need to be highly focused on my shot making and my shot choices. If I play someone in 8 ball and I make a poor shot, I don't get to set it up and try again, like I would if I were just doing drills. Don't get me wrong, drills can get boring in a hurry but they sure accelerate the learning curve.
I think if I play 8 ball against someone in practice, I'm going to have to start finding ways to add pressure so that I get more accustomed to that aspect of play. I think one of the ways for me to simulate the pressure of a game is to play in a tournament once in a while. I think this will mean that I need to spend waaaay more time on the table.
This has also prompted me to start thinking about ways I can put in a table at home. When I first measured my basement and decided that it wouldn't work. I was measuring for a 5x10 table and with the rails added on plus the extra room needed around the table, there just wouldn't be enough room. That definitely won't fit in the basement space that I have available. However, it occurred to me yesterday that I could still practice on a 3.5 by 7. So I started the calculations. Add a foot for rails, so now the table is actually 4.5 by 8. I also have to make sure I have room for a cue to fit all the way around. That means 5 feet added to those numbers. When went down again to measure the basement I had a 8.5x12 space in mind and thought that this could actually work. Then I realized that I need 5 feet *ALL* the way around not just on 2 sides. so my numbers are more like 13.5 by 17. I think I could still make that work though. There would be 2 poles in the way though (a plumbing stack and a support beam). So if I can live with that, then maybe a table in the basement could actually work!
Just for shits and giggles, I went on the internet and checked out used bar tables (3.5x7) and actually found one for 20 bucks in Edmonton. It was pictured unassembled but even if it was missing a few parts I'm sure I could source them and still have a working table afterwards for well under the going used rate of a 1000 dollars. The only problem is that I would have to buy and store the table before Friday this week. Did I mention that it's in Edmonton? Yeah, I'm not that motivated. I'm sure another deal will pop up before I'm ready to put in a table.
If I did put in a table, I'd have to sacrifice my other plans for my "man cave". I don't think I could reasonably put in a couch and a couple of chairs as well as my big screen TV, plus fit in my elliptical trainer as well. Hmmmm decisions decisions. I think I might just wait on the table and focus on buying a house next year. ;o)
Anyway... I woke up early this morning and snapped this picture of a beautiful September sky. I think it's going to be a good week!
No comments:
Post a Comment