It's gonna creep up on you - old age and playing pool

Let's talk about growing older!  Photo "Did you know?" by Stockimages courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net

 So, it was quite something to be placed in the seniors by dint of just arriving on the cusp of being a veteran and not yet ready to be put out to grass.  It sounds pretty prestigious, doesn't it, being a Senior?  It reminds me of being at school and looking up at seniors who were older, cleverer and infinitely wiser.  And as for moving up to the Masters - well, that sounds even better.  A Master, eh?  It must mean that we have mastered our sport, are ready to pass on those skills and that wisdom to the younger players.  Doesn't it?
Well, as I muse the matter, the answer is yes...and no.  Many of us in the Masters age group - 50 plus - have graduated there after years of playing in competitions, semi-professionally or professionally, are teaching, coaching or mentoring and still have a bit of an edge to our game that can take us successfully through competitions.  And there are those of us who played to a very high standard as youngsters and then life took over, and we had to work for a living, have kids, have mortgage, need to work some more, with overtime yada, yada, yada.  Suddenly years stretched into decades of missing out on the game, on getting rusty and old...er, and one day we're back at the table, and the hunger to play, to play and win, comes flooding back.
Photo "Playing Billiard" by marcuso courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

But at that stage, when your lumber region creaks slightly as you lean forward to line up the shot, your bridge hand just doesn't feel as steady as it used to, and you realise you have to change to your other specs to guage the angle properly, you wonder, what are you master of, and do you still cut it?  Can you still beat those victory hungry youngsters that prowl round the table ready to devour your aging carcass at the first false move?  What is it about getting older, especially in a sport not renowned for physical exertion or strength or speed, that makes it that bit harder to win over the younger players?

 Interestingly, pool does require a degree of physical fitness - the muscles need to respond, control of your fine motor skills is essential, your hand/eye coordination needs to be sharp, the paunch has to go - never mind how much money you've invested in growing it over the years!  Get new specs - longer shots and sharper cuts are going to be harder to see, but these days, there's  no excuse for not dealing with that.  I'm sure we can all remember Dennis Taylor, the snooker champ, with his "upside down" glasses. And you need to have the stamina to play for hours and still be able to concentrate, to play the mind game, out-nerve and out-fox the opponent.  You need to be fit to do that.
Photo "Suphanburi...Feb19hossei" by pal2iyawit courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 Younger players do have unbelievable nerve - in a good way. They tend to be fearless and brimming with self-confidence.  They will chance their arm rather than go to the safety shot - and often it pays off.  Age brings with it the calm of years of experience, the years of potting the same shot time and again till it's as natural as breathing.  But it can make you over-cautious, or, if there's been a large gap in your game, self-doubt can somtimes trouble you enough to miss a shot you would never have missed in your teens. 
Photo by stockimages courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

But the beauty of the game is that pool non-exclusive as far as age is concerned.  I love the challenge of playing younger players, the chance to test myself again.  I enjoy the fact that they can sharpen their skills against me - younger players are the future of the sport, and in Gibraltar, it will be youngsters who will be taking Gibraltar into international championships as potential winners.  So for the younger players reading this, there are always some tricks to be learnt from an old fox.  And any Masters out there wanting to share their thoughts on this or their experiences, please comment, or contact via Google +, Twitter, Facebook etc.  We need to be old and proud together!
Photo "Mature man with raised arms" by stockimages courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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