Local pool players miss being “in stroke”
It's not just the participants in outdoor sports who are currently frustrated by the Covid-19 crisis, as leagues in indoor sports such as pool cannot continue either.
On hearing someone talk about a double cheeseburger, “donut” and duck soup, it is easy to presume it is a conversation about food, but it might not be so.
An avid pool player will interpret it as a situation where both players only need to win one game to win the match, or it might be that a player has not managed to win any games during a match. It could even be a scenario where everything has gone according to plan.
The players of TuksCue Sports Club will give anything to be able to use any of this terminology in the foreseeable future. It has been more than four months since most of them had held a cue stick in their hands. Let alone playing a drive-through shot or execute a so-called “feather”.
According to the club’s chairperson, David Malangu, only two players have pool tables at home.
“The rest of us have to do playing 8-ball-pool online. It kind of help to keep one sane, but it can’t ever replace playing the real thing. The past weeks have been the longest that I have gone without playing pool in my life,” Malangu commented during a recent interview.
He can’t help but wonder about what could have been.
“We had the perfect season set up. The plan was to enter a Tuks team in four tournaments as part of the built-up to the USSA Tournament. We were even negotiating with a sponsor. Then the Covid-19 pandemic happened. The one good thing that might come from this is that the time away from the pool tables has rekindled the player’s passion. I would bet on it that when our training resume, there no one will have an excuse,” said Malangu.
For now, blackball is the game of choice at Tuks. Malangu is quick to point out that to be competitive takes the same discipline and skills as it would take to become a good golfer.
“It is 100% about technique and mental toughness. If you lose focus, you will lose the game. It is that simple. Pool is essentially a game of process. You got to have the right stance. You should be able to align your feet with the ball, and then you got to align your hips and shoulders to be able to execute your approach to the ball to perfection. The stroke is of utmost importance,” he explained.
According to Malangu, the difference between a good player and a bad player is that a good player can feel the table quicker.
“They are also able to adjust their play to the feel and go into a rhythm. It takes hours of practise to be able to do so. With enough hours, you get to a stage where you can control the speed and flow of the ball with absolute perfection. But then you need to train on a pool table and we can’t. It means once the lockdown ends, everyone is going to be back at square one,” he concluded.
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