Wednesday, February 2, 2011

and never looked back...

Yes, in case you were wondering, I have stayed league-free. And I'm happy about it. There were those who doubted I could really do it. Even now when I say I'm taking a break from playing league, some people think that means I'm playing only one night. Others were sure that once the season rolled around that some invitation to join a team would pull me back in. There were invitations, and they were declined.

I've been to league nights. Sweated friends' matches. Enjoyed a spirited beverage or two. And never once have I regretted not being in the line up. I'll admit that I can feel a slight loss of edge, not having that weekly competition, but the reality is I think that was slipping anyway.

And now the fun begins. I've long wanted to go back and take a good look at my fundamentals and rebuild, something that just seemed too hard when I was competing weekly. That may have just been an excuse. Truth is I dread doing it, but know it must be done if I want to get to another level.

Aargh.
The video. The dreaded watching myself on video.
The drills. The dreaded drills that I loved when I first started and I did until I couldn't stand them anymore.
The awkward, not-comfortable feeling of changing well-grooved habits. ick.

Oh well, I'm a masochist anyway, so sign me up.

5 comments:

p00lriah. said...

i did the rebuild thing some times back, except mine was almost a complete change. the process was awful and painful. in the end though the result was well worth it, in my experience at least. (this is not a pep talk btw.) :P

during the delicate time of rebuild, i found it helpful to have a teacher who could give proper advice (or at least non-harmful ones). your mileage may vary.

poolminnow said...

Thanks, p00lriah. No, clearly not a pep talk. I'm happy to hear your sbout your experience.

I have enlisted qualified help. I don't think I could operate a video camera without it. More to come in future posts I'm sure.

p00lriah. said...

well, technically you could...my friend did it with a quality tripod; of course you can't change the camera angle as easily and you can't really use zoom without looking like a psycho running between the table & camera. :P (gotta love the homemade diy projects.) i'm glad you have qualified help though (hopefully a really good teacher); sometimes an extra eye (arrrrggghhhh!!!) really takes it to the next level. maybe we'll see the vids on youtube or viddler!

p00lriah. said...

hey, new layout! subtle, but with 3d effects. pretty nice.

Michael Reddick said...

Ahhh...the rebuilding process. I started this in October 2009 (when I started my blog). I found the video camera to be a great tool for self analysis. Of course, you sometimes get strange looks when you set it up in the pool hall, but hey, whatever it takes!