The Monotony of Missing: A Billiards Practice Session

On Saturday I decided to take the 7 train out to Queens to practice my three-cushion skills. To make a long story short, the 7 was shut down in both directions. So I had to take a shuttle bus that took me past a place I'd never heard of, Spin City Billiards. I got off the bus and went in to check it out. One peek inside and I knew I was in a great spot. They had five or so Chevilottes, and a few other smaller pocketless tables that I was told are for a four-ball game called Yotsudama. Three snooker tables, all in use, were in the back and then of course there was a sea of regular pool tables. What's even better is that Spin City Billiards is only 11 blocks way from Master Billiards, where I usually play and where I was headed initially. A happy accident.

I hadn't played since last fall. And once I posted this recently I started itching to play again. It takes a while to get into the three-cushion mindset. Lately, in 8 ball, I've seen a lot of improvement in my cross-side banking. But a cross-side bank is child's play compared to what you need to know in billiards. Often I'd hit the first object ball too full and be left with no movement on my cue ball. Or, I'd nick past an object ball in a desultory attempt to get three rails, only to find I'd end up nowhere near the third ball. It's just tough. You get impatient. The constant missing can be a little numbing at times. I think a lot of it is that I have no real concept of what a safety is in billiards; every shot I made was an attempt to score a point. At the table next to me there were two guys playing and one of them (above) was routinely stringing together three- or four-point runs. After my hour was up I had scored six points.

Then I was off to Master Billiards for another hour of practice, which immediately got off to a better start. Here is a little video, mostly of misses. But I was scoring often enough that I did manage to capture a few successful shots in it. Look for when the camera switches to a wide shot of the entire table (:50 into video/1:30 remaining) and you can see two shots in a row where I almost score. Also, the five-railer at the end was a good feeling. It's hard to compare pool and billiards. It's sublime. It's more like in golf, sinking an impossible 25-foot putt on a green with a slope and a dip. It requires not only precise aim, but also precise tempo. It's tempting to think it's something outside of you, luck, that made the ball roll in. But then you realize "No, I planned that. I aimed it that way. I sure as hell am taking credit for it."