Topic: Developing a sequence for tournament play

[Old Meister]

Coming back to the game after all these years offers me the chance to do something that I found hard to do back in the day. I had all these shots I could draw on but after playing some of the bigger tournaments I learned that I needed to simplify my game plan, quality not quantity. It was hard to give up trying to impress with my variety but ultimately it didn't lead to the championship match very often. Now in rebuilding my game I find myself hitting some shots well, some good deadmans both ways, push and pull kicks. The tweener shots for both of these are harder than the longs in terms of percentages and the dinks and straights are ok. What i wonder is if I should really streamline my practice regimen to one ,push vs pull, or the other.

[alaskan thunder]

Well i never played back in your heyday but in terms of a sequence nowadays;

It may be boring, but nearly every successful tournament player shoots one series with numerous options. So in short, pick your best shot and focus on being consistent with all of your options. Be able to hit a deadman as well as a dink every time.

Now, given the qualities of the Tornado table, most everyone shoots either a snake or a pull. Many players can shoot 10 or even 20 different shots effectively. Unfortunately if you ever go to/watch/play in a major or big regional watch any final of any event and I bet you 50 bucks both forwards are shooting snakes or pulls. We have quite a few players at our local DYP who can dominate a game or 2 (or 3) shooting a near wall push kick or a back pin. Yet when it comes time to play the finals, they very rarely come out on top if they even get there at all. Hell I have won many a pick up game shooting nothing but scorpions dinks and weird spray pushes from the 3-1 yet when it comes tournament time I shoot the same shot 49 out of 50 times. I am not trying to deter you from trying but thats just how it goes these days. If i you enjoy the game more when shooting the more obscure shots by all means do it! We all play to have a good time some of us just like winning more than others

Chris

[gpeters]

Perhaps things haven't changed very much over the years after all.  I played in a relatively big Tornado tournament in 1974 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I got eliminated quickly.  My memory was that most of the players focused on a pull shot or fancy front toe (not snake but similar) shots.  I think it comes down to survival ... shoot high percentage shots or be eliminated quickly from a tournament.

[Old Meister]

Alaskan Thunder. I hear what you're saying and know the pull and pull kick were the most effective back then and understand that the rollover shots are in vogue now. I have always gone to the push as my main shot to set up the rest and even though that isn't used by most I think I'll stay with it.  At this point though as the game comes back to me and I learn the table better I find my game changing almost dayly. I guess that is why I'm considering streamlining my game so I don't waste time on the hacker type shots. That long push is beginning to smoke pretty good though,,,,