Monday, March 30, 2009

The best time of year

State Pool tournament time, of course. Now just a slim 48 hours away. 9-ball, 8-ball and teams.

In review of the past state tournaments, I hope to increase my showing, as I feel after the VNEA two weeks ago, I think that I am hitting them as good as I ever have. I just want to bring that level to the table starting Wednesday.

If I can get all my real-world concerns taken care of this week, I hope to leave with a sense of focus and see if this couldn't be a breakthough year.

Not that I am thinking of quitting, but without some type of success, it may be harder to justify this type of excursion in the future.

maybe that's just life....

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Big letdown Dog

Wandered up to the Big Dog last night to see if I could get in the non-handicapped 8-ball tournament. For a whopping $7, I could get in on the fun.

Mentally stale is a nice way of describing how I played. Some flashes of brilliance, but overall, it was a frustrating night to say the least.

I did break and run out the hill-hill match with Phil. Which is saying something. A short race to 3 is tough to judge anything by as the luck and momentum shifts can contribute to the outcome more than skill and ability.

End of the year league tournament starts tonight and VNEA is knocking down the door. Hopefully things can move forward in the next week.

Some time at the practice table wouldn't hurt either.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Good vs Great

well, with the start of a new exercise program (which was sorely needed) I wonder how it will affect my game in the short term and long term. Ha, new exercise, sore... I get it... HA....

So far I have been too sore to walk this week, much less practice any. but in the long term I think that the greater flexibility and core strength will help.

Big tournament in a week and 3 days. Should be fun and exciting. I should do well and have been working to improve this year. I hope to just play my best and see what happens. The tournament is a short race and I think that will probably come into play more than once. Shorter races favor luck over skill too often and have less margin for error. I guess we will find out.

I am hoping to get out tonight to play some and test drive my game some. Sometimes I have been pleasantly surprised by good performance after a particuluarly long lay off. I wonder what the reason is? Especially after I have been practicing hard for a while, a three or four day lay-off and then when I play again, it seems to have positive effects. Things that make you go hmmmm.

Later