Can't make a ball to save my life playing 14.1. I've been playing LOUSY straight pool for weeks. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong but it feels like it's in my head. I can actually visualize myself missing simple shots, and sure enough I miss them.
I don't think I ran more than 5 or 10 balls the entire night.
What do you guys do to get out of a major slump? Do you find that some sort of drill helps?
I think there are two schools of thought on this matter. One is to persevere through it, and eventually you'll find the solution. The other is to change what you are doing immidiately and try to actively search for what is holding you back.
I am in the second camp. While you will probably come out of the slump sooner or later, I'd much rather take an analytical approach and attack the problem head on.
First determine your problem. Make a plan to address that problem. Then follow through on that plan and eventually evaulate your results to determine if you should change plans.
Currently you are feeling a bit negative about your game and you are not getting your results. Specifically your runs are shorter than you expect them to be. So you need to adress the cause of these problems.
Phase 1, analysis, and a bit of fun:
Personally I'd go with Bowilliards as a training tool. It's similar enough to straight pool, while still being an open game (without many clusters or random variables in layouts that straight pool seems to present you with). There really are no excuses in Bowilliards. I don't have the detailed rules, and you don't really need them, anyway. Just rack up 10 balls, blast them open. Try to pocket them all in 1 inning or if you miss, 2 innings. Score like bowling. 10 frames, max score 300. All balls in first inning is a strike, second inning is a spare. Note if you miss balls or position and specifically what shots give you trouble. Try your best to have fun doing it. Not many people have played this game, so it takes the pressure and expectations off you a little bit. Easier to just enjoy pocketing balls this way.
Phase 2, what did you note in phase one? Set up these shots and shoot them a few times to see if you really have problems with these shots, or something else may be the cause.
Phase 3: Make an exercise or adapt an existing one, using these shots. Try to get as many shots in as possible without boring yourself. Only you can determine the best way to do that. Personally I like to go for a high run, you know 10 in a row or 20 in a row etc...Keeps me motivated.
Phase 4. Play bowilliards again.
Phase 5: Evaluate.
Most importantly: Have fun! Enjoy striking the cueball, try to get a pure strike. I don't know about you, but to me it's one of life's best feelings when you are hitting the cueball purely and with good timing. Listening for that sweet ping from my Mezz or my other playing cue and enjoying myself, I sometimes completely forget to count the balls. I'm in the moment like few other times in life. To me it's what the game is all about, to others it may be winning money and trophies, and that is of course part of it, but to me the pure enjoyment of the game is what I seek. If you don't laugh or smile ever while playing this game, you're not doing it right.