The severe shortage of entries in this 'blog lately are mostly caused by my wrist injury and the lack of practice it's caused, but when I do practice I'm having to deal with yet another problem - whether to play as Banks Dave or as Straight Shot Dave.

You see, Banks Dave and Straight Shot Dave have two completely different attitudes - attitudes forced upon them by the games that they play.

Most games, 9-ball, 8-ball, one-pocket, and the like share the same ultimate need of extreme accuracy. In these games missing is simply not an option. You play safe or you make the ball. Luckily, this accuracy can be obtained and maintained by the proper level of concentration.

In banks you simply have to accept that misses will occur. There are just too many variables in a bank shot to ever make much more than half the shots attempted. A banks player has to be able to accept these inevitable misses unconditionallly or he will soon go insane. A banks player's attitude is much more relaxed. It has to be, or the common cycle of safety, safety, safety, miss that repeats so frequently in banks would destroy any chance of an enjoyable experience.

As I continue to find myself on the verge of ending my long slump I've been trying to balance my time between practicing banks and practicing games like 8-ball and 9-ball. I need the banks practice as the Derby City Classic is less than two months away, and I need to practice the other games to maintain my resurgence.

The problem comes when switching back and forth. Banks Dave, when trying to play a game like 9-ball, looks like he's just whacking at balls. There seems to be no concern for cueball position. Easy shots are missed just as often as hard ones.

Straight Shot Dave, trying to play a game of banks, gets frustrated very quickly, failing to understand that all the accuracy in the world does no good if it's not properly blended with shot speed, cueball spin, equipment condition, and even a little luck.

I'd like to be able to blend the mindsets of these two pool personas into a single player but I haven't been able to do it yet. I'll have to ask Nick Varner and/or Shannon Daulton how they do it.

Perhaps then I'll start addressing the difference in the physical styles of the personas, but that's another subject.