Have you ever played pool? I throw this question often and 99'9% of times the answer I get is yes. It is very difficult to find a person who has never played a game or who does not know what you mean when you talk about smooth and scratched. Billiards, fortunately, is a universal game that allows us to socialize and have a good time, that's why it is so popular. But what really hooks us up? Here are the six aspects that make us the most crazy about this beautiful sport.
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1- An entertaining and fun game
First of all, billiards is a game. And a very entertaining and fun game. Take any child to a room full of billiards and you will go crazy with the excitement. The primary purpose of the game is to have a good time, disconnect and enjoy.
2- Tests us mentally
Whether you play sporadically with friends or compete regularly, billiards will test you mentally. When you want to impress your colleagues or think about winning (high expectations), you often fail. When a problem comes to your head, you play worse. Billiards is a fantastic tool to discover who you are, what your fears are and what you can do to face them.
3- Ideal for improving your coordination
When we take the cue for the first time our position is even funny. It is fantastic to see how by default we complicate our existence by using a disastrous bridge or by placing our feet upside down (the right one if we are skilled, when it is totally uncomfortable). We are not born taught, but little by little we improve that position and, therefore, our coordination. Like tennis or golf, it requires a lot of technique.
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4- The pleasure of small movements
There is a good billiard book entitled "Pleasures of small motions". I can not agree more with the author. The impacts of the balls, the curves, the effects or the rebounds in the bands produce pleasure. Hands up for me. I perceive it as something beautiful, it fascinates me. There is nothing prettier than seeing a billiard player dominate the white ball as if he had a remote control and leave it at every shot exactly where he wanted to park it.
5- A good mathematical learning
Physical laws, tangents, calculations, probabilities, curves ... At a pool table you can learn maths as much or more than at school. It is a purely mathematical game: if you hit the ball exactly this way and with this force, you can predict its reaction. But the grace is that, although it is very squared, in each shot come into play a lot of factors that can alter that foresight.
6- It lets you meet people
And finally, billiard games are cool because it is a great tool of socialization. One of the things that most experienced billiard players like is to travel to other places and meet new people in the championships. The same thing happens if we only play at the bar with friends. Along the way you make friends. Long live to billiards! :)