As expected I have a tough draw at Birmingham. All the groups are very hard.
My group is as follows:
Paul Snowdon - Thrashed me before
Geet Sethi - Past World Champion. What else is there to say?!!
Michael Williams
Mick White - both very active on the ABC Circuit they both win quite a few rounds and the plates.
Still my target is to win a game.(Doubtful) or score 100 points in a game either will please me.
I will have to get a bit of practice in this week ready for the weekend. A period of quiet reflection is needed. I have not seen the last two play but they have racked up a few breaks in the 70-90 mark. Paul has recorded a few 60-70breaks this season but I can't help feeling if he gets going he will really pull out a big break after all he plays with Billy Bousfield.
My main job is to learn from them and rack up another few hours practice.
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Disley Golf Club, High Lane, Stockport
I had an interesting meeting last night at Disley Golf Club last night with Geoff Yeoman. He is the Captain of the Billiards Team. They play every Thursday 200 up. It is handicapped +/-5 after each win or loss. I had made enquiry's regarding all the local leagues to see if any wanted an extra player for the coming season he is the last to get back to me.
We had arranged to meet and play so he could see me and get an idea of my playing level to formulate a handicap for me and to see if I wanted to play. The table was very nice, an old Ashcroft Table the club got it in 1920. We played 200 up and in the first half I caught him cold I ran in 19,26,24,21. Virtually straight away each time missing a stupid ball to carry the break on. On 26 I missed a simple pot red at top of the table with the white just near the black spot.
He did get going and started to score quite well with 12,17,18 to begin a come back. He was clearly an experience player and was doing everything to stop me scoring. He had good sight of the half ball shot and played mainly cannons where my game is tending to be red ball play in particular middle bag losers.
I eventually won 200-120. I didn't feel that good as I had missed out on a few chances. I found out he had not played for several months. He was quite happy with my game and said they would be happy to have me on the team. I cannot make up my mind which team to play for I think the Macclesfield League will have the higher standard of players but the Stalybridge League will have less travelling and my Friend Mark will play Snooker whilst I do the Billiards.
I will have to think long and hard about this one.
We had arranged to meet and play so he could see me and get an idea of my playing level to formulate a handicap for me and to see if I wanted to play. The table was very nice, an old Ashcroft Table the club got it in 1920. We played 200 up and in the first half I caught him cold I ran in 19,26,24,21. Virtually straight away each time missing a stupid ball to carry the break on. On 26 I missed a simple pot red at top of the table with the white just near the black spot.
He did get going and started to score quite well with 12,17,18 to begin a come back. He was clearly an experience player and was doing everything to stop me scoring. He had good sight of the half ball shot and played mainly cannons where my game is tending to be red ball play in particular middle bag losers.
I eventually won 200-120. I didn't feel that good as I had missed out on a few chances. I found out he had not played for several months. He was quite happy with my game and said they would be happy to have me on the team. I cannot make up my mind which team to play for I think the Macclesfield League will have the higher standard of players but the Stalybridge League will have less travelling and my Friend Mark will play Snooker whilst I do the Billiards.
I will have to think long and hard about this one.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Denis Wood Birmingham
I have entered the Open Comp in memory of Denis Wood at Birmingham. I had not received any information so I contacted Paul Dunning who told me the entry list was on Billiard Junkies Web Site.
I have just had a look at the list and I am more than a little horrified. It's a list of who's who in Billiards and tucked away in there is me!. There are lads here who think a 100 break is normal. I will be the worse player entered but it's a bit of fun I may even learn something.
I was reading an article about Dhruv Sitwala on the Internet this morning where he gives an interview to a local paper (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/anxiety-to-win-is-killing-my-chances-sitwala/480548/1) it's worth reading as it gives me hope he states that it takes 6 years just to become an average player.
One of the problems with Billiards is that you never see the hundreds of players who play the game but are average or below, they just play in the local clubs and leagues and never really do anything to improve their game, They just turn up and play. I tend to only be looking at the good players all the time as it's only the good players that appear in the major tournaments and on video on the Internet. This tends to give my confidence a bit of a bashing when I shouldn't beat myself up these guys have been playing for years at the top level.
I have just had a look at the list and I am more than a little horrified. It's a list of who's who in Billiards and tucked away in there is me!. There are lads here who think a 100 break is normal. I will be the worse player entered but it's a bit of fun I may even learn something.
I was reading an article about Dhruv Sitwala on the Internet this morning where he gives an interview to a local paper (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/anxiety-to-win-is-killing-my-chances-sitwala/480548/1) it's worth reading as it gives me hope he states that it takes 6 years just to become an average player.
One of the problems with Billiards is that you never see the hundreds of players who play the game but are average or below, they just play in the local clubs and leagues and never really do anything to improve their game, They just turn up and play. I tend to only be looking at the good players all the time as it's only the good players that appear in the major tournaments and on video on the Internet. This tends to give my confidence a bit of a bashing when I shouldn't beat myself up these guys have been playing for years at the top level.
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Leagues Everywhere
Not played much lately I have not really had the time. I thought it would be a good idea to do a few weeks work to give me a bit of extra spending money for Florida.
It's a bit of a shock actually going to work but managed to put a little away over the past 5 weeks to pay for the spending money we need.
I have been looking for players or teams to play on and I have signed up for St Peters in the Stalybridge Church League starting in September. It's funny because I also contacted Norman Routledge a contact from Paul Dunning who plays in Macclesfield. He passed my details on to the Team captains and I have been contacted to a chap called Geoff from Disley which is only a few miles away to arrange a game and see if I can play for them. I am going to see them on Monday they play 250 up and you gain or lose 5 points on each win or loss.
This has put me in a bit of a position as both teams play on a Thursday and I want to play for them both. Still I will see which league has the best players and go with that as the criteria. The only thing is the St Peters lot are a really nice bunch of lads I have got to know them well over the past month or two.
I went to St Peters on Thursday, I played Phil the Captain beat him 100-12. However I did suffer my first defeat. One of the other players Mark turned up he was a much better Billiards Player. I beat him 100-40 in the first game having had a 29 and a 20. But in the second game I scored 16 on my first visit and had positioned both balls for middle pocket losers. I decided to play the white ball first pushing it down to the top of the table position and then I missed the red in the middle. I had played so well to get the balls in this position and fluffed it.
This put me off and before I knew it Mark had got a few little runs and 12,13,16. I just went to pieces and the harder I tried the worse it got. He beat me 100-71. I made it up later beating him 150-80 but he can play a bit.
I have just realised the Denis Wood Memorial Open is on in Birmingham next week. I had forgoten about that one I had sent my cheque off a couple of months ago I must buy a new waistcoat as mine is rather small. I must spend as much time as I can getting some practice in. I am getting lots of little breaks but I am always breaking down around the 30 mark. I can't understand it I know what I want to do I just miss really stupid shots that I get 10 times out of 10 in practice.
You know it never rains when it pours. I have been contacted by Derrick Hey from the police tournament he is from a small village called New Mill, near Holmefirth which is 16miles away over the Woodhead pass he has a vacancy on the billards team. They play on a Tuesday, it's a bit of a trek, the Woodhead is 1500ft high so if it snows during the winter it might be little hard to get to I suppose I could go the long way round over the M62. Still I have said Yes. Things are looking up for my first full year of Billiards.
It's a bit of a shock actually going to work but managed to put a little away over the past 5 weeks to pay for the spending money we need.
I have been looking for players or teams to play on and I have signed up for St Peters in the Stalybridge Church League starting in September. It's funny because I also contacted Norman Routledge a contact from Paul Dunning who plays in Macclesfield. He passed my details on to the Team captains and I have been contacted to a chap called Geoff from Disley which is only a few miles away to arrange a game and see if I can play for them. I am going to see them on Monday they play 250 up and you gain or lose 5 points on each win or loss.
This has put me in a bit of a position as both teams play on a Thursday and I want to play for them both. Still I will see which league has the best players and go with that as the criteria. The only thing is the St Peters lot are a really nice bunch of lads I have got to know them well over the past month or two.
I went to St Peters on Thursday, I played Phil the Captain beat him 100-12. However I did suffer my first defeat. One of the other players Mark turned up he was a much better Billiards Player. I beat him 100-40 in the first game having had a 29 and a 20. But in the second game I scored 16 on my first visit and had positioned both balls for middle pocket losers. I decided to play the white ball first pushing it down to the top of the table position and then I missed the red in the middle. I had played so well to get the balls in this position and fluffed it.
This put me off and before I knew it Mark had got a few little runs and 12,13,16. I just went to pieces and the harder I tried the worse it got. He beat me 100-71. I made it up later beating him 150-80 but he can play a bit.
I have just realised the Denis Wood Memorial Open is on in Birmingham next week. I had forgoten about that one I had sent my cheque off a couple of months ago I must buy a new waistcoat as mine is rather small. I must spend as much time as I can getting some practice in. I am getting lots of little breaks but I am always breaking down around the 30 mark. I can't understand it I know what I want to do I just miss really stupid shots that I get 10 times out of 10 in practice.
You know it never rains when it pours. I have been contacted by Derrick Hey from the police tournament he is from a small village called New Mill, near Holmefirth which is 16miles away over the Woodhead pass he has a vacancy on the billards team. They play on a Tuesday, it's a bit of a trek, the Woodhead is 1500ft high so if it snows during the winter it might be little hard to get to I suppose I could go the long way round over the M62. Still I have said Yes. Things are looking up for my first full year of Billiards.
Monday, 15 June 2009
8 Shot
Went to St Peters on last Thursday as a couple of the Billiards team were going in for a game.
I had not met them before so I went and introduced myself to them and had my first game with Stuart. The game was a little bit strange with the ball never really running well for either of us. I kept getting 10 and 15 breaks with a high of 21 but nothing to shout home about. Stuart was hopeless getting only single figures. Somehow I always left him very awkward.
I ran away 150-31.
I had to wait for my next game and the standard for a league is rather poor the next two lads were also hopeless. Eventually Mike ran in a 26 mostly from Pot reds and won 150-48.
I was then up to play Mike. He went for a thin cut after I made a really poor breakoff and missed and went straight in the bottom pocket. I spotted the balls and played the long loser from the middle spot. The table is slightly wider so I moved my ball over 1inch from my normal spot and it flew in the bottom came round the angles and left me on with an in off in the middle. Nice!!
I got 21 and missed a simply red pot in the bottom. I had got my arm going and scored 10+ on every visit. I then ran in 27 to finish the game. No really good breaks but again I thrashed him 150-25.
I am afraid the standard of the league is going to be so poor that I am not going to learn anything from the other players. I know the handicap will level things out but I am not even an average Billiards player yet. I am still working on and learning about the game. I suppose all I can do it try to play the best game I can and ignore the other player completely, treat the table as the opposition.
I did acheive a notable shot in my next game with an eight shot. I went for a long cannon off the red with the red in mid table and the white on the near the bottom left pocket. I hit the red got the cannon and the red bounced off two cushions and into the middle my yellow glanced off the white and went in off in the bottom. If my maths is correct that's 2 for the cannon, 3 for the pot red and 3 for the in-off the red (even though it actually went in off the white I think its the first ball that it hits which counts).
Final score 150-52 to me. I understand my handicap will be -50 to start off with so even that should not be a problem although it goes up or down 5 points with every win or loss.
One of the lads said to me that I was the best Billiards player he had ever seen. I was a little surprised at this as I have only just taken up the game but I realised that they have not had anyone to show them how to play properly. The game is all about the shots and angles and where you leave the balls for the next shot. I read in one of the online book and John Roberts that a player can play for 30 years and never be any good but if they had some coaching regarding the shots and positions to play for they would be able to beat any average player in a club.
So even with my basic knowledge of the game I can beat most average club players. Which also explained how I always lose to more experienced players. They hit the ball the same as me but know the best way to play from a given position. They may still break down but just score a few more than me from the same position.
I had not met them before so I went and introduced myself to them and had my first game with Stuart. The game was a little bit strange with the ball never really running well for either of us. I kept getting 10 and 15 breaks with a high of 21 but nothing to shout home about. Stuart was hopeless getting only single figures. Somehow I always left him very awkward.
I ran away 150-31.
I had to wait for my next game and the standard for a league is rather poor the next two lads were also hopeless. Eventually Mike ran in a 26 mostly from Pot reds and won 150-48.
I was then up to play Mike. He went for a thin cut after I made a really poor breakoff and missed and went straight in the bottom pocket. I spotted the balls and played the long loser from the middle spot. The table is slightly wider so I moved my ball over 1inch from my normal spot and it flew in the bottom came round the angles and left me on with an in off in the middle. Nice!!
I got 21 and missed a simply red pot in the bottom. I had got my arm going and scored 10+ on every visit. I then ran in 27 to finish the game. No really good breaks but again I thrashed him 150-25.
I am afraid the standard of the league is going to be so poor that I am not going to learn anything from the other players. I know the handicap will level things out but I am not even an average Billiards player yet. I am still working on and learning about the game. I suppose all I can do it try to play the best game I can and ignore the other player completely, treat the table as the opposition.
I did acheive a notable shot in my next game with an eight shot. I went for a long cannon off the red with the red in mid table and the white on the near the bottom left pocket. I hit the red got the cannon and the red bounced off two cushions and into the middle my yellow glanced off the white and went in off in the bottom. If my maths is correct that's 2 for the cannon, 3 for the pot red and 3 for the in-off the red (even though it actually went in off the white I think its the first ball that it hits which counts).
Final score 150-52 to me. I understand my handicap will be -50 to start off with so even that should not be a problem although it goes up or down 5 points with every win or loss.
One of the lads said to me that I was the best Billiards player he had ever seen. I was a little surprised at this as I have only just taken up the game but I realised that they have not had anyone to show them how to play properly. The game is all about the shots and angles and where you leave the balls for the next shot. I read in one of the online book and John Roberts that a player can play for 30 years and never be any good but if they had some coaching regarding the shots and positions to play for they would be able to beat any average player in a club.
So even with my basic knowledge of the game I can beat most average club players. Which also explained how I always lose to more experienced players. They hit the ball the same as me but know the best way to play from a given position. They may still break down but just score a few more than me from the same position.
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Summer Break
Not much to report on the Billiards or Snooker front. Season has ended for both games. It's now a waiting game for the new season in September. I have been up to St Peters, Stalybridge a couple of times although there has not been anyone to play.
I was quite glad as I wanted to get used to the table. It is a very old Thurston table it has a date of 1897 on the plate underneath. It is certainly a very strange table I have measured the table, the length is spot on but it is about 1.5inches wider than a modern table. It still plays very well and has a very fast cloth but the pockets are cut in a strange way unlike any other table I have played on.
The cloth is very quick but has quite a decent nap, so that any side on the ball really bites in.
I have knocked the balls about and had several 40 breaks in practice, I will have to wait until september for a match though, My cue is great with the new tip, it's really playing well no miscues and the talisman tip hardly needed bedding in.
I was quite glad as I wanted to get used to the table. It is a very old Thurston table it has a date of 1897 on the plate underneath. It is certainly a very strange table I have measured the table, the length is spot on but it is about 1.5inches wider than a modern table. It still plays very well and has a very fast cloth but the pockets are cut in a strange way unlike any other table I have played on.
The cloth is very quick but has quite a decent nap, so that any side on the ball really bites in.
I have knocked the balls about and had several 40 breaks in practice, I will have to wait until september for a match though, My cue is great with the new tip, it's really playing well no miscues and the talisman tip hardly needed bedding in.
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