Journal Live - Blog Central

Pressures of Pool

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 07:28:09 +0000

Life as a professional pool player is often not what people think. It would be a great life if all I had to do was to practise for 4-5 hours a day and still have a solid income to live on.

But is it realistic?

Nottingham Event

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 21:25:36 +0000

Last weekend I participated in the 9-Ball event in Nottingham that featured World Champion Daryl Peach, and U.K. number 1 Imran Majid.

The Rogue Rock

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:37:26 +0000

Something a bit different today. I was about 3 hours and 20 minutes into what would become a 3 hours a 50 minute journey to the Pool event. I was going through that auto-pilot mode that effects all drivers where we rely on second nature to keep going.

It was around about this point of my journey that I encountered the 'rogue rock'.

Not According To Plan

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 16:10:47 +0000

Unfortunately my return to the pro tour events did not go exactly according to plan. I was well beaten in both of my matches and played very badly.

Five Days Until First Tournament

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:32:16 +0000

The pressure is on, I will be practising more this week as it is now only five days until I go to Solihull for the first event of the tour season.

It will be the first full pro event since I played in Nuneaton in 2003.

Tour Preparation Continues

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 09:36:38 +0000

Practising 9-Ball can be quite a boring exercise. I fall into the trap of setting rack after rack and trying to run out without any real thought about what I am doing. If I am running them out time after time, that in itself can become mundane. I have always found the traditional practise "drills" boring, like the old-school snooker training which is to place the blue ball on its spot in the centre of the table and using a straight shot into the middle pocket, do that 50 times with focus on your stroke and stance.

Thanks Hatton!

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:46:09 +0000

I have started to get up really early and set off towards Darlington for a practise session at the Rileys club in the town centre.

It is open 24 hours a day and therefore my decision to put in three early hours of playing before heading back and still finding myself in the middle of the morning worked well last week, you still feel like you have the day ahead of you!

D-Day For Tour Looming

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 09:53:10 +0000

The final date for the decision on who gets the 96 places on the new professional tour is made on or around the 17th December.

The tour are no longer taking anymore applications so players now have to sit tight and wait.

Money Flying In For New Tour

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:27:51 +0000

The new 9-Ball tour is now close to confirming the list of entrants. They advertised the tour as a first-come first-served situation where only the fast people would get a place in the maximum 96 strong tour.

Obviously there will be obvious reasons why certain places are guaranteed for certain players..

GB 9 Ball Tour

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:29:59 +0000

Apologies for the long delay.

A home move, an arm injury and all sorts of things have stopped me playing recently.

But I'm back, and raring to go.

Cranking Up The Practise

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 09:40:14 +0000

I have been approached for a practise match by a young man from the Darlington area, called Phil Burford who is a rising star of U.K. 9-Ball.

I checked out his website and it really is a pity more players do not follow his example and take the game so seriously. Read on for the link.

Where to Practise?

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 14:09:14 +0000

Most 9-Ball Tournaments are contested further south than the North East of England. This is partly due to the organisers being based further south and logically arrange tournaments in these area, but also because there is not a suitable venue in this area, meaning 9-Ball players like myself have to do a large amount of travelling in order to compete in tournaments.

Practising for Tournament

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:35:54 +0000

It is my first practise session tonight, where I am going to test out my new "pool glove". Hopefully I shall be able to return to my previous form which saw me regularly run out racks one after the other when I was playing well.

Returning to 9-Ball

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 09:33:10 +0000

About two months ago I decided that I was bored. I was single, suffering from "The Groundhog Day" effect and needing a boost in life. As in most other respects, the only way you can really sort something out is to do that really difficult thing, and take action.

A mere eight weeks later, and I am struggling with getting three seconds to myself.

Keeping motivated

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:02:19 +0000

Keeping motivated is the key to getting fit, being successful, getting a better job, doing almost anything requires you to be motivated and driven towards your goals. Goal setting is also an important part of it. Here's my goals and how I'm achieving them.