Situational Offense: Stage 3 for Success in Competitive Play
- Raymond Linares
- Feb 10, 2017
- 6 min read
Now that the control and safety shots have been laid out in Stage 1 & Stage 2, the end game can’t be achieved unless you’re ready to fire at your hole and take the match with the offensive situations you’ve earned through a strong controlled kicking and safety game. These next two shots came up in key situations against the top Puerto Rican player who I mentioned in the first article. In succession they claimed me the hill and then eventually won me the set. I wanna dive into the situation and decision making so you have that as a reference point for your own decision making later on. In this match I found myself trailing 3-0 and 4-2 due to the 1 game handicap, a couple early combos, and that darn double kiss I mentioned on the 5. That being said I was able to stabilize and make a strong comeback, finding myself up 5-4 in front when approaching this first shot.
WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER
The table we were playing on is the notorious table 4 at Zingales, which if you’ve never played on, then you should know you can’t just go into this table firing on all cylinders because it plays a little gaffy tight. It’s one of those tables that if you’re not hitting a lot of balls it’ll grab you and make you wish you hadn’t forgot to set your cue on automatic pilot mode before the match. It can be a bit uncomfortable to play on and has gotten in the heads of many a player in the room. That being said I found myself in the position shown below. I had just played a cross table position shot off the 3 ball to line up relatively close to my work but with a “makable” shot up table; a thinner than half ball cut up table (between 1/2 and 1/4 ball). At this point in the match I was up 5-4 and knew one thing, I could take total control of this match right now by going for the thin cut up table. I knew that if I made the ball and got position, the hard work would be over and I’d be clear for the out.
I had 2 options, one was to play with outside english and go all in on making the ball and staying high above the 6, or the second being, play the shot with some insurance, using inside english to go up table and give myself a chance to get safe should I over-cut the ball. I chose the latter option and played the speed that if I over-cut the 4 ball it would come off the head rail and hide behind the 6. That also happened to be the speed that left me an easy, roughly half ball hit to go back up table off the for shape on the 7; so it was, for me, the best option. I went through my pre-shot routine, stayed down and floated the ball up table, securing the shot and decisive control of the match at 6-4 up racing to 7.
FIRE IT IN FOR THE DOUGH
The next shot is rather self explanatory and honestly sometimes pool can be very straight forward. This shot took place the very next game. I broke and was running out in this rack when I got myself straight on the 5 which was deep in the corner. I needed to get back up table and wanted to draw to the long rail and spin slightly to leave myself a shot on the 6 in the bottom right hand corner with natural position for the 8. Of course I didn’t do that, instead I decided to mishit the 5 and bang right into the 9 leaving myself this very envious and obviously intentional position shot on the 6. A shot worthy of an entry to the Derby City Bank Pool tournament.
To reiterate, I’m on the hill race to 7 and up 6-4 after trailing 4-2 earlier in the match. Momentum is entirely in my favor and to me, it’s a free shot to seal the win and take home an important match in the tournament. The bank was almost straight in, I had to cut it slightly to my left to get it on the right line. But as soon as I saw myself in that position I knew the bank was the right option. It was a free chance to close the set out right then and there, with built in position on the 8 and no further work to do with my cue ball. This was less difficult than the safety option and just felt like the right thing to do considering the rest of the match.
I lined up the bank and fired it in 1 rail straight back. With shape guaranteed on the 8 ball, and two rail position to the middle for the last shot on the 9 being built in, I closed out an important match and advanced on the winner’s side of the bracket.
IN REVIEW
I would eventually finish in 3rd place in the event losing to James Roberts for the hot seat and then a close match to another Puerto Rican player giving up a game. Against James I was struggling from a decision I made in the winner’s side final four match against Bobby Garza. In that match I was starting to crash energy wise and ate a bunch of cheese to try and get some energy but not slow myself down by eating heavy during the match. That had quite the negative effects on me during my match with James. My stomach settled down and I was better prepared for my match in the semis, but even then the fatigue of the long day and 12 hours of play with no food kind of got me. The mental acuity starts to go a bit and I didn’t execute at my best to make it back to the finals losing 7-5. It’s part of the challenge and rigors of tournament play to manage your food, energy and focus for long periods of time. Something I’ve had a lot of experience with in the past but just wasn’t able to act on in this event because of the constant play schedule. That being said I’ve already made some key adjustments in my prep for events that will help me keep that focus edge over time. More on that in a later post.
That being said I’m really happy with my decision making and play overall through this event. I’m glad I was able to keep my cool and make smart shots that won me extra positions, innings, games and matches against the best players in the state. In this event I had a tough draw and had to beat several of Florida’s top guys including Bobby Garza, Nathan Rose, Kyle Bova amongst others from outside the state and from the island of Puerto Rico. Giving up a game on the wire in that field gave me a bunch of confidence in my game to close out the year and definitely shows a positive push towards more consistent higher level play.
I hope this series has been informative and that you can take some good information from this article and apply the thought process and analyses behind these patterns and situations to your own game. If you have any questions or would like my input on one of your own tournament situations, feel free to email me or direct message me on instagram or Facebook with the specific situation. I’d love to get in depth with how you approached the shot and what made sense for you and your game. If you’re not connected with me on social media yet make sure to like my Facebook page and follow me on instagram for more news and posts. I’ve got a bunch of new articles lined up so make sure to subscribe as well for the latest.
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