Anyone get worse after the first few years?

[stir22]

Great thread, thank you for posting it. Lots of great feedback. I'm in my fifth year, and totally understand the OP's thoughts and emotions. I feel this way sometimes; when I do, i take a step back, and take fewer games in parochial leagues, jr. high, the leagues that aren't high school. This helps. As one poster said, the quality of ball in the much lower levels is so brutal sometimes that it can make anyone question their abilities as an official.

I talk to a lot of the guys/gals in my pool about it...not just my mentor. Their opinions are candid and honest.

One thing that helped me is this- I put together an informal "study club" of guys/gals...most have about my level of experience or less, but anyone is welcome. We get together once/twice a week, usually at a coffee place, drink coffee and talk. We talk rules, nuances, and water-bucket issues. This helps a lot. We have our regular study club, but our informal one is totally different.

The truth is, we are seldom as good as we think we are on our best nights...and not as horrid as we knew we were on our worst nights.