I get by with a little help....

For those of you who know me, you know that one of my current hobbies is billiards. For those of you who don't know me, well, now you know one thing about me.

I was having a bit of difficulty saying what pool is for me. Hobby, which is the word I used, really wasn't the right word, but I didn't find one I liked better. Right now I am finishing the current years regular season and going into the playoffs next week for two teams in two different leagues. I also have my trip booked for Las Vegas, where I will be participating in the VNEA Championships in both the Open Singles and Open teams event. I also try to get out and practice once as week. So, hobby isn't a very good word for it.

At the same time, I can't really say it is a job, or something I am a professional or even semi-professional at. When I was playing chess, I would have put semi-professional in front of it, as I could make money at it, but not enough to live on. But for pool, that just doesn't stick right now. I am somewhere in-between hobby and semi-professional right now.

Well, as part of my stated goal of change, this is one of the things that is changing...I have decided to see how good I can really be. To that end, I have hired a coach to help me develop my game. He is a professional player and former Canadian champion. We have entered into a coaching arrangement, and with his guidance, I believe I am going to get from where I am to something higher.

I am also getting a table for my house, so that I can get more consistent practice time in. For that, I have to thank my wife Kelly; without her constant support of my....whatever it is I call it....I have made it to this point, and she will be instrumental in getting me to the next level. My other goal in this journey is to show her my appreciation to her for supporting me in this challenge; don't tell her though.

My first session with Paul gave me the framework, and I can see a bit of the broad strokes of what I will need to do. Part of which will be in an upcoming post, not too long from now. I also have some homework to do already, so I better get on with it.

I will post more on this as I get close to the end of May and Vegas. Not sure if I am going to post while I am down there, likely I will be too much in concentration on my game to opine on it, but we shall see.

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