Billiards in 2012

Goal 1: Play tournaments. It should go without saying that this is paired with: play well, place high and win.

2012 is going to be my tournament year. I plan on playing one tournament a month and actively competing in the NWPA, ACS and BCA regional and national tournaments. That said, my focus will be on NWPA and BCA tournaments, largely 9-ball. I have a busy year penned in the calendar already with an 8-ball team in March and a 9-ball team in October. I am most excited for the 9-ball tournament (my favorite format) and I am also really excited to have been asked to play on a team with the newly crowned US Amateur Champion, Suzanne Smith. 

Goal 2:  Work with a coach on a regular basis.  Outcomes expected: Improve upon my knowledge, mechanical/fundamental skills and strengthen my mental game. On the latter, mental toughness is all about confidence. The more you play- both in practice and in competition- is key to the confidence you need to have the much desired quiet and confident mind. 

Excelling in higher level play is not possible without continued education and practice. I have been working with a coach who is somewhat of a local legend and known as one of the best bar table players in the world. I can vouch for his intensity and prowess, indeed. Glenn Atwell and I have worked on and off for the last six months and a few years before that.  Each time I discover something new about myself, the game, the theory, you name it.

I enjoy regular coaching once or twice a month and find my game improves (as one would expect) considerably. I find that feedback and instruction is so important in a game which is played in a physical sense such that you cannot see yourself in action and cannot see issues such as poor stance, poor follow-through, etc. Coaching and dedicated practice has greatly improved my game and for so long that I compete, will be a regular part of my work. Glenn is on the road a lot- last week he called from Kansas. He is playing a ton on the road and will continue for the next many months.  This gives me an opportunity to work with another local Grandmaster player, Steve Lingelbach starting in a few weeks. Everyone has a unique perspective and I have heard encouraging things about Steve's style and approach.

2012

2012 is nearly upon us and I find myself wondering what new years resolutions I might settle on. I tend to do things with vigor- basically totally OCD- or...not at all. I'm quite binary like that, I suppose. It's all or nothing and I know real quick if its not gonna light my fire for more than a moment. Here are a few things that do:

Billiards - I've loved the game in different ways for more than 20 years now. As a kid, I just loved to play. I had no understanding of fundamentals or theory-- nada- I just played and had fun. As an adult, I still love the game and have been playing regularly for years but am now on the verge of competing more, at higher levels and with a new focus.

IT - After an 18 year career in Information Technology and many, many interesting and challenging roles, I cannot imagine a career in any other space. I have seen the industry evolve so much in such a short amount of time that I truly believe there is no more potent skill-set than a combination of technology expertise and a deep knowledge of the business you are supporting.

Education- I am largely self-taught and consider myself a lifelong student. I've even spent 10 years on the other side of the classroom, too. From 2000 until my recent hiatus, I was adjunct faculty at Portland Community College where I taught technology courses such as the Microsoft MCSE tracks and the CompTIA A+ and Network+ certification tracks. I am always learning and always in the pursuit of knowledge.

Marriage- My marriage is the most important part of my life and Matt is the most important person in my life. To me, marriage is the backbone of all the other things I do and love and provides a lot of the courage and inspiration that drives me forward. Life is busy, work is busy, the weeks fly by and turn into years and sometimes your marriage wears the battle scars of all of these seemingly ancillary things. It is my goal to have the best marriage I can and to be the best wife and human I can be. It is always a work- and important work- in progress.

Healthy living- The underpinning of all of the above is mental, physical and emotional well being. I try to find this balance through exercise, healthy foods & home cooked meals and mentally enjoyable things such as: billiards, gardening, long walks, music and funny movies or books.

I will be ruminating on these topics and hopefully settling on some meaningful personal goals for 2012. Thoughts so far include:

• What do I want to achieve personally professionally?
• What are the stress points or negatives in my life that I need to reduce?
• As a woman in her mid-thirties, what are my health goals? Should I be losing weight (my BMI is in the high range), getting more or less exercise (is 45 minutes of cardio 5 times a week what I need?), drinking less, or eating less (or different kinds of) meat?
• What kinds of ways can I volunteer and help my community? One of the areas I am exploring is conducting free technology and business classes for men and women in the local area Portland shelters. Years ago, I did work for the homeless "transition projects" and that was when the idea first sparked: surely I could do more than just serve food...

More to come-- perhaps my next post will be on Jan 1, 2012 where I'll unveil my 2012 Aspirations.