So, it’s that time of year again and the “what did I do this year” question is looming large. So, I had a review of my goals for this year, which I fortunately documented in this post. Now, the funny thing is how wrong I was about so many things when I made those goals.
First off, a year ago, I was unable to accurately and objective judge my skill level. I mentioned that I felt like I was SL5, which is entirely wrong. At BEST I was a 4 then. But since I had no real standards or other measures to use, I just kind of threw a dart in the dark. I wasn’t too far off, but my expectations were. I had said that I wanted to raise my level from a 4 to a 6. Also, keep in mind that at the beginning of January, I was not in a league, so the numbers were “mystery” numbers to me. It wasn’t until the next month I joined a league and started to see how 4’s, 5’s, 6’s and 7’s play.
Anyway, lets look at the goals I set out with:
| Goal | Desired Result | Actual Result | Notes |
| Personal Rating | 4 to 6 | 4 to 5 | I joined a league, was rated a 4, will end this session as a 5. |
| Practice Partners | Find several | Found Tattoo John, Mike Renick, and Dustin | Only Dustin is interested in drills, but John and Mike have been excellent sources of knowledge as well. |
| Run-out Frequency | Weekly | Weekly | While it took me the bulk of the year to get to the point where I can/do run out at least once a week, it’s a goal: accomplished. |
| Speed Control | 6″ Position | 12″ Position | This was an undocumented goal, but necessary to improve runout percentage. I’m far better at getting area position, but still not as precise as I would like. |
So, when I look at it this way, my year was pretty successful. I achieved all the goals I set out with at the beginning of year, with the exception of the rating level, but I can’t really count that since I had no real foundation for making that a goal. However, I did raise my rating and that has come because of my smarter play, more consistent ball pocketing and better CB control. While I will be a 5, officially, at the end of the next week, I know I’m not a strong 5, so I will have quite a bit of work to do in order to help the team to a full 5’s potential.
I don’t practice as much as I used to, and I believe that I did spend more time alone at the table than messing around with other guys, I’d get back to the rapid improvement I saw the last half of 2009. You guessed it, this will feed directly into my goals for 2011 (which will be a different post).
To sum it up with videos, here’s a video of me playing around with some 9-ball back in July and here’s a video of me playing around with 9-ball from November. Even the videos of me running out aren’t perfect. I still rely on getting a roll once in a while because my position isn’t as accurate as it needs to be. Still, I’m a better shot-maker than I was, I come up with better ideas and I execute them more solidly than I did a year ago. I’m excited about what 2011 will bring!