The Missus

It’s no wonder that pool players often find it difficult to keep off the weight. It’s easy to see why!!!

Being a dancer, I appreciate the need to keep my vitamins and minerals actively under control and my weight / height ratio balanced correctly. However, I am sat here having to eat cheese burger (and a greasy one at that) and chips because there aint much else.

Admittedly, at certain times at this particular club, you can get the most gorgeous curry - of which I partook of yesterday - a chicken tikka masala with plain rice and naan bread. It even tasted healthy!

Why can’t pool clubs provide a healthy option for their clientele? You know, salad wraps, the odd pasta dishes, some quite easy dishes to establish in a simple kitchen. I’ve made a simple but tasty pasta bolognaise whilst camping at a music festival on a gas stove and one pan.

A player’s body and mind would be a much better place if fed with fresh vegetables and smoothies, rather than sugar filled lager and fat dripping fry ups. Some matches go on for 2 1/2 hours and you can visably see the sugar levels drain and the body fighting to find some extra energy at about an hour into the match. When the tv lights are on them, many find it difficult to cope as their bodies sweat glads over react to the overheating. Surely this doesn’t help to having a clear mind?

As I write, the burger that I am munching on drips with fat, making me feel quite ucky (if that’s a real word). I can feel the spots breaking out over my “T” zone as I preach about healthy eating and clarity of thought.

But seriously, what is it about “easy food”? I can’t see how having to fry (all with different cooking times) a variety of fat soaking foods is easier than wrapping together a selection of salad items with perhaps some interestingly marinaded meat. The carbohydrates in fatty foods burn off so much quicker than those of fresh foods, and natural sugars will replace the glucose in the blood for much longer, aiding concentration.

So come on lads and lasses, lets bully the clubs into providing us with better food and a healthier lifestyle. I hate to think what the average life span is of some of these guys, but I know that my grandad, now 93 would have had a better innings!

Why can’t the top three or four players be beaten on a regular basis? Many factors have an influence over this issue. Imran is likely to get a grande slam (lastest news on GB 9-Ball Tour) because of his experience, confidence, equipment, practice time and overall skill. Yes, there are a number of others who, when Majid may have an off day, may sneak through the fence. However, I think a lot of it is practice under pressure.

When you are in a club, practising against your mates - there might be a bit of silly money on the game, but there is very little to do with reputation or pride thrown in to the measure. You can laugh it off if you lose 11 - 1. However, the pressure to perform in a big tournament such a GB 9-Ball Tour, where there are 126 other players watching, all analysing form, competence, ability, however, you’d like to phrase it, a different animal emerges.

Pride, doubt, question, nervousness, hesitation, humiliation, tension, justification … I believe a lot of the final question of ability comes down to self-confidence, self-assurance, relaxation, positivity, assertion and objectivity. When Imran is 10-6 down in a race to 11, all the above kick in. His opponent starts to feel the negative influences ten times worse, because the element of “What if…” comes in to play. Majid is able to shrug off the negative and pull on his positives - you can see it in his posture, his gaze, his stance and the way he moves around the table. His poise and grace exhumes his sense of relaxation and self-confidence.

I’m sure that every single player in the GB 9-Ball Tour has pulled off every shot needed in practice - but it’s the pressure that stops them from performing “on the stage”. I believe it is the same with a number of the top players - their knowledge and understanding of the game is enhanced by a sense of self-belief - not arrogance, because this can be negative, too.

Believe in your ability, relax whilst playing the best players, take your time and don’t doubt yourself - you’ve done it before in practice, so you can do it again.

I’m gonna have a bit of a rant now.

I come from one of the most bitchest professions in the world - the performing arts. I have been a dancer practically all my life and the competition is high - and so are the comments. To be a dancer you have to be dedicated, know your “equipment”, have the proper training, get a variety of styles under your belt to be an all rounder. I can equate this to pool.

As I sit back and watch those who are best at this sport, I see those who are dedicated; they have the right equipment, are obviously practiced at their skill, know, can and will play a variety of their sport to improve their ability, they have the attributes to win. This also includes a certain amount of confidence. Like being a dancer; if you can’t perform in the “lime light”, then there is no point you doing it. In pool, and many other sports I have found that this confidence often tends to lean towards an arrogance, which is fine, because often we have to be very sure of ourselves.

However, what I can’t understand, and I know I am not the only one, is why there is so much bitchiness in the pool industry. I can understand in the performing arts business, where, and this is going to be a huge generalisation, a large majority of its participants are self-absorbed and want the part / performance that everyone else has got, but in a sport such as pool, why on earth is there so much petty blame and malice. One can be competitive without “dissing” others.

I am also a full-time teacher at a secondary school. As a school teacher, I try to instill in my students a sense of sensitivity, goodwill and understanding for others. Instead of blaming others for their actions and opinions, or judging others purely on what they say, who they are or the people they associate with, try to find reasons and understand from their perspective.

Surely as an industry that is growing enormously across the world, we should be trying to build a professional face for pool - not be squabbling between us, just because they have one set of rules, and they play with a different sized table. Surely that’s the same as saying “Oh, I can’t sit next to her because she’s got brown hair and I have blonde”. Why can’t there be one goal? I understand that there needs to be different organisations, but why can’t they work together - get over it!!!! Holding on to past conflict does nobody any good. I guide the students in my tutor group through their differences practically everyday, because I need them to get along to aid their concentration on learning. It seems that the pool industry spends more time worrying about who they are in conflict with, rather than trying to come together and look professional.

I’m sorry if this post may have offended anyone, because obviously the opinion of some woman doesn’t count (ha, te, ha, ha!) but I know that I am not the only one who feels like this.

Please can we stop the bitchiness and get along so that this industry can stop being made a joke of and make some head way!

I know its my summer holidays and all, but us teachers really don’t get much rest! Especially when we have a husband who has a business like CueSport.tv! I must admit, when the pool is fast and engaging, I quite like watching it - a good job really. A yawn did escape my face once or twice in the group round (they know who they are!) and the race to 11 made the matches quite long - my butt got quite numb and I’m sure DVT started to set in. However, the lads are pleasant and the witty repartee keeps my spirits up.

Thanks to Shir for helping me with the Belgium and Netherlands pool forums - the Netherlands ended up being our 4th largest audience.

I was impressed with the hotel Richard put us up in, but apparently he got a cheap room rate. I certainly got some service with a smile - well it made me smile. Nice comfy bed, that’s all I’m saying!

Drive home was a nightmare -so much for the quicker way home - MIKE ROGERS!!! - the A10 and A1(M) I’m sure is usually faster, but there was a really nasty accident on the other side of the road that caused our carriageway to rubber neck the large lorry that had gone into the back of a large crane vehicle - not much of the lorry cab left - I’m sorry to say. Will they please do something about the M25!!!! Half an hour crawling at every junction, and living in Dorset (that has no motorways, which is really handy) we had to go right to the other side.

Anyway, the 10-ball was an education - saw two different rule sets in one weekend - Andy Nicholson getting a lot of air time. Richard - your tables need a good clean after Walshy and his excessive use of baby powder. He obviously gets very sticky does David! Although I enjoyed David’s air guitar - most entertaining.

Best get back to the hard slog of working for Pete!