So, last week, after 9-ball league was over, I played this young kid some 1p. In the league, he’s a C and I’m a B. A few weeks prior to that we asked the LO for an appropriate game in 1P, and he said he thought 11-6 would be fair. That sounds pretty rough – but it would force me to play my best game.
It absolutely does. The problem is, on the nights when I’m not shooting well, I can’t handle the spot. When I’m really “on”, it’s a pretty fair game and I tend to come out on top, maybe only by a game or 2 in a session. But if I’m not shooting my best, I can’t possibly get there.
For example, in one rack, it was my break, his return missed and I ran 9 balls (the most I’ve ever ran in a game before)… but I still lost the rack. I kept trying to out-move him and never quite got there. He banks better than I do. The open shots I had, I went too aggressive and tried too thin of a cut, or just plain hit it bad, thinking “Sweet, I should be out here.” and not really focusing on the shot – just focusing on getting position on the next ball because I couldn’t possibly lose a rack where I ran 9 from the start. *rolls eyes*
The next rack, he broke and ran out. It was absolutely incredible. He literally broke – made a ball and ran 5 off the bottom of the rack. He’s a full-blown shooter, never really plays safe, doesn’t always know the best way to run balls, but once in a while, he hits this gear and falls into the zone and holy hell is he dangerous.
We re-adjusted the spot to 10-6, and I lost 3 in a row. Then I said 10-7, and still lost the next 3. At that point, he had won 9 games in a row, after me winning the first 3. I was done.
I was super tired and probably should not have been gambling, I know that – but still, I shouldn’t lose 9 games in a row. I was mad for missing those easy shots. Or maybe those “must-make” shots that are required. Regardless, I never miss a shot I haven’t made 100 times before. Just drives me nuts. I know I don’t practice enough to never miss a shot, but holy jesus, I should never miss some of those shots I do. Never.
For example, earlier in a 9-ball match I was left with this layout:
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So, I said to hell with it, and fired at the 8 all the way down:
It drops and I’m left with essentially a spot – cutting to my “good” side even. But, after getting settled and down on the shot, this happens:
That’s just ridiculous. Especially after making that 8 ball. And I even practice spot shots too. Now, obviously neither of those shots are “shots I’m not supposed to miss” – they’re both pretty difficult shots, but still. I consider myself a favorite to make a spot shot. *sigh*