Can a slump be diagnosed and fixed?

jeffj2h

jeffj2h

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Do you try to diagnose and fix your slumps?

UPDATE: I've updated the question to not "can you diagnose a slump" to "do you even bother trying to diagnose a slump"

Every few years I randomly go through a 4-6 week slump. It's demoralizing but I keep practicing and playing and eventually seem to magically snap out of it.

However, a friend of mine, a good A player, looks at slumps differently. She gets as equally demoralized as I do when in a slump, but is always trying to figure out why. She says "I think my grip is too tight" or "My backstroke might be too short" and so on.


So, do you try to diagnose your slumps, or just ride them out?

-Jeff
 
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MitchAlsup

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I just went through a 5-week slump.

In my case, what I figured out was that I did not want to win enough to play up to my ability. In practice before league started, I would win most of the games to players on my team--I wanted to beat them. Then in actual league, I did not care enough to beat the opponent. Sad, but apparently true.

Have not got down to the reason I did not care to beat the opposition, but I did notice I really did want to beat my team mates. Strange.
 
S

Superiorduper

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I don't believe in slumps, it's mind over matter. You just need to be aware of what it is that your are doing when you're not "in a slump" or just playing well. If your fundamentals are good then it is probably something you're not looking at that you usually do look at.
 
CreeDo

CreeDo

Fargo Rating 597
Silver Member
I simply choose not to believe they exist. And as a result, they don't for me.
I've never had more than one bad night, and even the bad night I know what's going on...
I'll be mad about something or bored or whatever.

You can play bad for a stretch due to a specific reason like injury.
But do people suddenly forget how to hold the cue properly and then miss balls for 3 weeks? I doubt it.

Why would someone's grip or backswing randomly change for the worse? Most of us have shot for like a decade or more.
Your mechanics should be down by now. If anyone legitimately sucks for a while due to something like grip hand or foot position or whatever,
I'd argue they either didn't have very solid fundamentals in the first place, or they're BSing themselves about how good they normally play.
Like they had a good stretch and then their game just reverted to the mean.

I truly feel the best attitude to have about "slumps" is to take them exactly as seriously as voodoo curses and horoscopes.
 
De420MadHatter

De420MadHatter

SicBiNature
Silver Member
CreeDo said:
I simply choose not to believe they exist. And as a result, they don't for me.
I've never had more than one bad night, and even the bad night I know what's going on...
I'll be mad about something or bored or whatever.

You can play bad for a stretch due to a specific reason like injury.
But do people suddenly forget how to hold the cue properly and then miss balls for 3 weeks? I doubt it.

Why would someone's grip or backswing randomly change for the worse? Most of us have shot for like a decade or more.
Your mechanics should be down by now. If anyone legitimately sucks for a while due to something like grip hand or foot position or whatever,
I'd argue they either didn't have very solid fundamentals in the first place, or they're BSing themselves about how good they normally play.
Like they had a good stretch and then their game just reverted to the mean.

I truly feel the best attitude to have about "slumps" is to take them exactly as seriously as voodoo curses and horoscopes.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%. You give power to the slump, and fuel it, when you acknowledge it. You start thinking about, then you tell yourself, "I'm in a slump", then your subconscious accepts this as fact, and now your playing like carp, because you believe your playing like crap.
I have a buddy who plays good, real good, but not pro speed. Slumpiest bastard I know. All it takes is him performing really bad in 1 tournament, or match, and boom, "I'm in a slump".
How do you get out of it, quit thinking about it imo. It's not like anyone figures something out, and Kazam, your out of the slump.
 
sixpack

sixpack

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
CreeDo said:
I simply choose not to believe they exist. And as a result, they don't for me.
I've never had more than one bad night, and even the bad night I know what's going on...
I'll be mad about something or bored or whatever.

You can play bad for a stretch due to a specific reason like injury.
But do people suddenly forget how to hold the cue properly and then miss balls for 3 weeks? I doubt it.

Why would someone's grip or backswing randomly change for the worse? Most of us have shot for like a decade or more.
Your mechanics should be down by now. If anyone legitimately sucks for a while due to something like grip hand or foot position or whatever,
I'd argue they either didn't have very solid fundamentals in the first place, or they're BSing themselves about how good they normally play.
Like they had a good stretch and then their game just reverted to the mean.

I truly feel the best attitude to have about "slumps" is to take them exactly as seriously as voodoo curses and horoscopes.
Click to expand...

That's a strong mental outlook CreeDo. I like it. I'm going to adopt it.

I do (used to :) ) occasionally have slumps that last a few days or a week.

When that happens I don't worry about trying to diagnose it. Knowing that I started twisting my wrist or whatever isn't really going to help any more than just making sure my fundamentals are good. And it'll take longer to diagnose it than it will to just make sure everything is sound.

I just go back to some basics and make sure my stroke is straight and dial down the english. Usually if I just throw out some balls and run them using only middle, top and bottom english for a half hour or so I start magically making balls much better and I also start thinking about simpler patterns.

Usually that takes care of it.

My *feeling* for why I get into slumps is that I get mentally 'loose'. Generally slumps follow periods where I am usually making balls great, moving the CB wherever I want and I get so comfortable that I start getting a little too comfortable. And then careless. Or start overusing English because it's fun! And then I start missing and it snowballs a little.
 
strmanglr scott

strmanglr scott

All about Focus
Silver Member
I'd be interested to know what the OP defines as a slump?

My level of play is pretty much a direct relationship to how much time I'm on the table.

If I'm off, 90% of the time it's that. Depending on what rust there is I do drills mixed w game play to regain that shine.

Of that 90%, it usually comes down to focus and lack of detail.

The other 10% is when I'm working on my game. I'm making a stroke change, I'm being conscious of my elbow, stance etc. This is conscious pool, which alone makes it tough but also a mechanics or mental change.

My pool game always suffers during salmon and steelhead seasons.

But as for just a slump of unlucky occurences, misses and losses. No, if I lost, if I missed, whatever then I did something wrong. Unless the opponent just ran rack after rack.
 
thintowin

thintowin

thin2win
Silver Member
i was told long ago that nothing fixes a losing streak or slump like winning ... so keep on playing!
 
MOJOE

MOJOE

Work Hard, Be Humble. jbk
Silver Member
When I slump, I have found that it's simply lack of focus for me. I keep a notecard in my case of a few things that I'm doing correctly when I'm playing my best game. I simply go over those and make sure I'm doing them. The game is simple if I did not let my mind get in the way.
 
hotelyorba

hotelyorba

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think slumps do exist. No one can always perform at the same level and if you let yourself be thrown off-balance by a bad performance or just a bad session, you can easily find yourself in a slump. This is a mental thing of course, but that does not make it any less real I think because pool is a highly mental game.

MOJOE said:
When I slump, I have found that it's simply lack of focus for me. I keep a notecard in my case of a few things that I'm doing correctly when I'm playing my best game. I simply go over those and make sure I'm doing them. The game is simple if I did not let my mind get in the way.
Click to expand...
Personally, I find myself in a slump a few times a year. When I do, I do the same as you although I don't have a notecard. I paid really close attention when I was playing well to get to know all the details of my pre-shot routine, rhythm and stroke. That helps me to pinpoint what I am doing wrong when in a slump, and that gets me out of it. So in a sense, diagnosing helps.
 
ctyhntr

ctyhntr

RIP Kelly
Silver Member
When you get sick, you usually try to take care of it yourself. When you're over your head, you seek out someone who has more experience than you, usually a doctor. I don't see why players shouldn't seek a coach or instructor, unless that person has less experience and knowledge than you.
 
tashworth19191

tashworth19191

Pool will make you humble
Silver Member
I bet most of it is mental and I believe blackjack has some good videos on helping you overcome them mentally.
 
N

Neil

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This topic comes up quite frequently. There is no need to ever be in a slump for more than one ball.
 
jasonlaus

jasonlaus

Rep for Smorg
Silver Member
Record yourself. Also line up then go down on the ball and 1 stroke it - it will tell you if your alignment is off
Jason
 
F

FranCrimi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
All athletes experience slumps.

Yes, you absolutely should diagnose the problem so you can prevent it from happening again or catch it early when it starts to happen again. We all have certain tendencies. Some are good and some are not so good.

Here are some examples of causes of slumps:

1.) The player gradually starts to fall out of his stance. It eventually reaches a point where it negatively affects his alignment. He doesn't realize it happened because it was gradual.

2.) A player starts to move his bridge hand while stroking. It starts as a tiny movement and then progresses to a larger movement to where the player starts to miss long shots.

Learn your tendencies and you will be able to catch yourself before it turns into a slump.
 
buckets

buckets

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I just stop playing for a month or so.

Slumps for me are always always always due to general burnout w/ the game.

When I get back to the table, I'm excited to play and shoot just fine.
 
HaroldWilson

HaroldWilson

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jeffj2h said:
UPDATE: I've updated the question to not "can you diagnose a slump" to "do you even bother trying to diagnose a slump"

Every few years I randomly go through a 4-6 week slump. It's demoralizing but I keep practicing and playing and eventually seem to magically snap out of it.

However, a friend of mine, a good A player, looks at slumps differently. She gets as equally demoralized as I do when in a slump, but is always trying to figure out why. She says "I think my grip is too tight" or "My backstroke might be too short" and so on.


So, do you try to diagnose your slumps, or just ride them out?

-Jeff
Click to expand...
I agree that fatigue has a lot to do with it.

If I am in a slump and have no playing commitments then I will take a break for a couple of weeks or month. When I return I might change shafts for a short time or change something slightly with my cue such as put a new tip on or change it to another type. In this way I seem to have a fresher start and tend to focus more on the fundermentals and either the old issue disappears or has been rectified.

I wouldn't have the patience to try and ride it out as it would be too frustrating and possibly counter productive for me personally.
 
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one stroke

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jasonlaus said:
Record yourself. Also line up then go down on the ball and 1 stroke it - it will tell you if your alignment is off
Jason
Click to expand...

Yep I like this , there is a reason by screen name is one stroke ,, the key is don't steer it shoot straight thru the ball ,aligne drop down fire you will quickly learn if your lineing up straight I showed a BCA instructor this he now uses it teaching

1
 
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