Focus management

The reason you're experiencing a drop in performance is because deliberate practice (which is different than just shooting balls) takes different skills than actual playing. You cannot play and learn at the same time...they are two distinctly different skill sets. You need some quality video analysis to help you get your routine examined and ironed out. I see you're located in Greece. I have a very qualified professional instructor in Athens. His name is Robert Parrish, and he has a pool school that can help you. It's easiest to find Robert on Facebook. :thumbup:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

-Dinos- said:

Greetings instructors.

I'd like your opinions about a situation i'm facing. When i focus on learning, or improving, a particular skill, i face a performance drop in the rest of my game.
For example, focusing on shotmaking, will result in position errors.
Focusing on position play, will result in shotmaking errors.
Focusing on the break shot, will result errors in shotmaking and position play.
And the list goes on..

How can i achieve a more balanced learning process? What can i do to evenly split my focus to all important skills that are required to play great pool?

Click to expand...

What you're going through is perfectly normal. I went through it too on my way to becoming a professional player.

Here's something that might help you: First, recognize the difference between practice and performance. Performance is a mix of conscious and sub- conscious actions. Practice is mostly conscious as you learn and figure out new things.

While it's important to spend a lot of time practicing, you should also make sure that you spend time performing. You must take the time to just play and not think too much. This way, you won't lose the performance process.

Getting better at pool is a backwards and forwards process. You'll drop back a little and then you'll jump forward a lot. Just make sure you fit in enough performance sessions to keep your mind working correctly. And remember not to think too much when you're performing. Just play, and trust that your sub-conscious mind will remember to do what you taught it to do.

I certainly agree with Fran's assessment and recommendations. That said, the initial ability to diagnose any change in your confidence, your pool temperment, or your routine, is learned and taught to be corrected (whether it's mental or physical or both) via a complete video analysis. Robert Parrish is a qualified PBIA instructor, and he is in your country.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com