Week Three: The Game is On

So, I am here today to proudly declare that I have officially won a game -- by default. Honestly, I'll take the win, but its not as great as I thought it is, and I think this might be because I didn't really earn it. This made me rethink some of my goals when it comes to this project, and I have come to the conclusion that while winning is important, it is no longer my primary goal. From this moment on I am going to take the high road and aspire to improve my game and my overall skills instead of beating my family. Hopefully getting rid of this resentment and anger that has since plagued my billiards games will help me to focus instead on getting better, so I can win more games learn some tricks for future games. 

Onto the research, which was much more fun to do this week than last week, but still had math. First I’d like to give a huge shout out to Phil Capelle, Pool’s #1 Instructional Author. A family friend on his college billiards team lent me a copy of his book, Play Your Best Eight Ball, which has been a huge help. It has everything from motivation to personal experience from his competitive billiards career. The most helpful aspect of this book is the ABC system, which gives instruction to three classes of players, C, B, and A (I fall in the C category). 

Link to the Colorado Site

It shows you the difference between offensive and defensive play strategy, and helps you to learn the criteria which will determine which version to use. He even included practice methods and drills for eight ball to practice when you aren’t competing, which I have used all week. Other than Phil Capelle, the only other source I’ve really been using this week is Colorado State’s website with more information on billiards to look into and improve my overall game (which needs a lot of work). So, long story short, my game has been greatly improved by Phil Capelle’s book and my life will never be the same.

Now to the part you’ve all been waiting for, the train heading for a cliff that at the last moment turns away but catches on fire (aka my life). Let’s talk about failure, which has come to be a close companion of mine. This week we got to play five pool games, and I lost four and won one (which was only because it was late and we gave up, but I was ahead by one so I won). Anyways…I haven’t really accomplished any of my goals. Well technically I did improve my skills and learn how to better play 8 ball so that was a lie, but the whole winning and calling pockets thing definitely didn’t happen.

                          

Backstory time: I’ve worn glasses since I was two years old, and I’m both nearsighted and lack in the depth perception department. While the winning is my lack of skills, my lack of skills is mostly caused by my lack of vision (in my mind), because I can’t really visualize angles when I can’t tell where an object is in space. Point is, I’ll think that I aimed it to the right enough to call the top right pocket but then the ball will go to the left a bit and bounce off the wall instead, ultimately missing the pocket. 

So, besides my lack of vision and need for sleep (referenced in my earlier post this week), I should be a mediocre billiards player on my way to almost great. However, with these problems I'm a terrible billiards player on the way to...more terrible. Normally I'd be upset, but after embracing my new mentality I'm totally fine with it (okay, maybe slightly bitter). Whatever happens from now on will be dealt with as it comes, and hopefully with as little stress as physically possible. Besides, as they say "stress doesn't help you win billiards games", so to be true to this project I need to have the lowest stress levels possible.

Okay, so now let's talk about the positives of this week. Basically, there are none. Just Kidding! I learned some super interesting facts about billiard balls that absolutely nobody will care about, but are odd nonetheless.  Did you know some billiard balls float? Depending on the material the ball is made of and when it is made, some balls with float (don't try this at home though, it could go wrong). Also, there is a Billiards Congress, Tom Cruise did his own trick shots in The Color of Money, and billiards was the first sport to have a world championship. 

                           

Speaking of facts, on to my favorite topic, history! Billiards has a rich history that may or may not be factually accurate, but is super cool. Now that we've gone through that disclaimer, here are some historical facts about billiards from the Billiards Congress of America! 

1.  In 1586, Mary, Queen of Scots castle was invaded and conquered. After this, the invaders made a note in written records of the time of denying her the use of her billiards table.

1. Captain Mingaud (the inventor of the leather cue tip), was imprisoned for political opposition during the French revolution, but was able to procure a billiards table in his cell. He ended up actually asking for a longer sentence just so that he could continue his study of billiards. 

1. The earliest documented record of a billiards table was in 1470, when King Louis XI of France was said to have one in his possession.

                                      

Now it's time for the reflection, everyone's absolute least favorite part because all I do is just sum up what you were just reading about (boring, right?). If you're nodding your head, for shame, this is the part where you say "Oh no, we love this part, your blog is so interesting!"Whatever, I get it. Anyways, this week both taught me the game and how to lose gracefully and move on from that devastating, all encompassing loss.

Anyways, I've spent too long on this post as is. Hopefully you've read to this point, and hopefully you still want to come back and read again next week, but it not I don't blame you. For those who decide to stay, I'll see you next week!