Patience, Hard Work, Progress

[itsnoteasy]

Good post Sonic, it's easy to let a bad start to a session ruin it, grip tightens ,tension comes in as you over try, games up.

[inevermissblue]

Well...After quite a baron spell. Not playing anywhere near my ability iv'e cracked it!
I decided to swap my Joe Davis 57 3/4in ash for a Joe Davis Maple which is 56 1/2ins. I have this hobby of getting cues from where ever i can and i will just refurbish and sell them on. Whether i make money or not isn't too important, as i just enjoy messing around with them. New ferrules fitted, slim downs etc...
Well i have always felt as though cues measuring over 57ins are just a bit too long for me. Plus iv'e never liked to hold any cues further down the butt as i like large diameter ones.
Anyway. I got this cue and proceeded to renovate it, thinking this might do me as its maple (i love maple), its a bit shorter, i have just fitted a stainless steel ferrule onto it...We're in business here!!! Well.....not quite.
To cut a long story short, i have managed to fight my way through the turmoil of struggling with said cue, but to be honest it was as much me than the cue. As i was saying i was getting really down about things and was, at the time convinced that it was because i had gone shorter. So to cure my curiosity i went back to my old cue and you guessed it. I was also unable to use that one. It felt completely alien even after say a couple of weeks.
I play really decent opposition every week who if you are'nt playing well will get obliterated! Well this was happening and i was getting very frustrated.
So i decided to just give the new cue a fair crack of the whip. I had the added reassurance that my original-original cue from years ago had gone down to 55 1/2 ins over time and i'd had some of my best achievements with it....namely back2back tons! 100 & 136. So this alone proved to me that my theory about using cues that were too long for me was very real!
Well i went on my own for an hour and a half last week on a star table to put myself and the cue to the test and the solo time proved to be very important!
I had basically neglected my approach to the game near on entirely, having so much swimming around in my head. Though once i had put a few drills out i got to learn about the cue and what i was missing. Bringing quite a few of 'those' crucial elements back, made me a lot more aware of their effectiveness.
I came away pleased as punch! As the next time i played i made an 88 with it. This was enormous in comparison to my measly 40 odds with it. Then the next time i went which was last night, still fresh in my mind were the certain attributes needed. 1st frame 83, 2nd 62 and 3rd 53. I had 5x 50+'s with it last night and it feels incredible!!! The point im making is that, iv'e made plenty of multiple breaks over 50 in sessions dozens of times, but with what is clear. A cue that is too long. So whats in store for me now??? Slighty excited Slighly scared!!!
Just had to tell someone else so why not millions!!!!!

[itsnoteasy]

Great post .