Rack ’em up!
If you have spent much time around a pool table, you will have noticed players that are trying to influence their opponent with humor or challenges. It is the same as when your team is yelling “No-batter!” in a baseball game. It is heckling the opposition, and is it fair?
Well, yes, it happens when teams or opponents meet for competition. Slim was noting the other day, “You can heckle all you want. I play in bars where there is tons of distraction.
It is the quiet that gets to me.” Well, shut my mouth; now that I know how to get to him, I’ll try it out.
The latest edition of Billiards Digest has a picture of pools proplayer, Jason Shaw giving the opposition a little dig, he is holding his hands out showing two zeroes to reflect the opposition’s score. Apparently, it is a tradition even the pros use. I used to play a person that would always say, “Don’t miss,” after they had just missed a ball. It was his way of adding pressure to the other player, and it often would work to his benefit.
During a game the other night, several players were engaged in some rough intimidation, they would ask you which pocket you wanted to play, just as you were about to shoot your ball. They were waving their arms while standing at the pocket you were trying to play the ball in. You can only get away with those antics if you are playing with good friends. I mean, really good friends, because those actions could cause a disturbance if the person goes on to miss that chosen pocket, while you were obviously trying to cause them to do just that.
Although it can be distracting, it can also be a sort of compliment. If they are that desperate for you to miss, things are probably going your way anyway and you can remain calm. Hopefully, you can, that is.
Cowboy would give you a withering stare if you moved, even slightly in your seat or in any other direction, let alone approaching near the pocket he was playing. Cowboy was of the old school of thought that you never tried to distract the other player. He would sit calmly and wait for you to either run-out or miss, then he would play his very best to win against you, letting his game do the talking for him.
Earl Strickland, another famous pro pool player, would challenge the rack, but usually not until the other player was about to break the rack. Earl would wait until the player was just about to break the rack, stand up and call time and approach the rack and complain it was crooked or loose, it didn’t matter what he claimed, it was to upset the other player.
It wouldn’t bother Earl if the referee determined the rack was valid, what mattered to Earl was he had tried, and maybe successfully, to knock the opponent’s rhythm off. What do you think, is it fair to use anything short of cheating to win, or should your game do the talking?
With a new player, they often walk to the pocket you are playing, not to distract you, but to watch the ball go down. They have no idea they are causing a problem. You can educate them by requesting they move from the pocket you are playing and explain why.
CUE TIP » When you are playing 8-ball pocket billiards and your opponent starts to create distractions, you must decide on what to do. If it bothers you and you don’t like it, put a stop to it. Most players will agree to conditions in order to keep you playing. If they won’t stop interfering, quit playing them. If, on the other hand, it isn’t bothering you much, let it continue because your opponent has lost focus on their game, concentrating on your game instead. You may be intimidating them, enough so, they are desperate to throw you off your stride.
Stay calm — if possible — and look at it as a compliment on your efficiency at playing pool. When your opponent is at the table you should be paying attention to their game only for a weakness, or a foul. When they make a ball you should then look at the result to determine if it has helped, or hurt, your layout. When you closely concentrate on your own ball layout, you will have a better chance of doing well. Contact me at mcbohanon@gmail.com.