Well, of course there’s a difference between aggressive and reckless, but I believe you have to fire back at an aggressive player or you’ll just spent the entire game digging out balls from near his pocket. And even against a pinch and squeezer, you have to maintain an aggressive offense, or eventually they’ll get you in an unbreakable toe hold. IOW, you can never not play aggressive, to one degree or another.
IMO, an important distinction is how the game has evolved over the last few years. Shots that use to be considered hyper-aggressive are now just par for the course. On many shots that use to be primarily safety shots, many more players have now learned how to shoot them as two-way shots that are both defensive and offensive.
I think there are at least three reasons for this: First, Efren came to this country and raised the bar for pool playing in general. It went from just kicking at a ball to make contact, to kicking to hit a particular side of the ball, with a particular speed, to achieve a particular outcome. Second, Accu-Stats came along and people could see how the shots were played and listen to the expert commentary by guys like Grady, Icardona, DiLiberto, and a host of others. Ronnie Allen once said of this phenomenon, “Shots it took me 15 years to learn, 17 year old kids are shooting nowadays.” And third, 1pocket became much more popular and with more players interpreting the game, the evolution of the game sped up and the general level of play rose.
IOW, it ain’t your mother’s 1pocket anymore.
Lou Figueroa
gulfportdoc said:
What's the consensus? Does one play tight against an aggressive player, and aggressive against a safe player? It seems to me that when I play a guy who wants to keep shooting at low percentage shots, or flyers, if I play tight and patient, he'll sooner or later sell the farm.
Of course if I try to play loose against a super tight player, it might be ME who sells the old ranchero! So I suppose one must match tight with tight... All the posts about Artie B's lock-down style of play has got me to thinking.
What has been y'alls experience?
Doc