Pace of Play (Part 2)

I’ve had a chance to discuss the “pace of play” post from a few days ago with some of the PACS players.  The main objective of the post is to make players aware of their pace so that everyone can try to get home at a reasonable time.  As mentioned, I understand that some games and some matches are going to take a long time if the match goes to the hill and there are many safes being played.  However, there are some things that can be done to try to speed up the night which shouldn’t hinder the more deliberate players.  Here are a few…

1.  Be ready to shoot when your inning starts.  (Drink your beer, chalk your cue if you carry your own chalk, etc while your opponent is at the table).  If you are breaking, break the balls when the “racker” has racked and has walked away from the table.
2. Try to have a game plan as to who the next shooter will be.  I realize that 50% of the time, you will be reacting to what the other team does but you should still have a game plan.  An NFL team would not go to the draft without trying to have some sort of game plan ahead of time of what their needs are.
3. Pay attention to the match when it is not your turn at the table.  Try to strategize in your mind ahead of time so that when you walk to the table, you are already familiar with the table layout, your “trouble balls”, your opponents trouble balls, etc.  If you ever watch professionals play, they are watching intently when their opponent is at the table.
4. Try to get your smoke break, bathroom break, chicken wings, etc out of the way before the next match starts if there is any possibility that you might be playing next.

If there is a physical reason that causes a player to take a little longer to get around the table, take more bathroom breaks, etc, most players are going to be understanding of that.  Where players lose their patience is when they see a player being slow because they are not doing the things mentioned above.   I don’t know of any one “homerun” idea that is going to knock one hour off of the length of the night.  But if we can get lots of singles, we may be able to shorten the night by 30-45 minutes.   That time saving can make a big difference to the person who has to get up at 6:00 the next morning.  Thanks for your cooperation and understanding.