Different emotional situations.
Im kind of at my wits end about this. I cant win any matches during tournaments. I have no problem playing $100 short sets against better players or spotting buddies a significant amount of weight on friendly cheap sets. I just cant win any tournament matches.
It seems Im always rushing, taking stupid shots. The players I play against always seem to find a way to get out of everything. My safety play is horrible.
We have a handicapped tournament series here every two weeks. The handicaps run from 4-11. I happen to be a 4 because I couldnt beat a blind guy in the tournament. I should be winning matches, I always have an opportunity at the table because it is alternate break.
Help!
Hi there,
Each one of these situations has a different mind set. A ring game, money game by the set,money game by the game,play for 5 dollars,play for 1000 dollars,winners bracket or loser bracket.
I played sets for thousands back in 1982. My wife at the time convinced me that pool was the problem in out marriage. I quit for a year and 1/2. After this time I went down to the bar to start playing again and was playing for 5 dollars a game and was so nervous. It only lasted a game or 2 but it was very real. I wasn't used to doing it anymore and just had to get my focus more on what I was doing.
The same thing happens when you don't play in a tournament. You can make all the shots in practice or gambling but in the tournament you only have one shot sometimes or oppotunity to get it right.
I quit about 10 times during my life . Some times for only short periods of time but it was long enough to lose the programming that I had in my mind for these dlfferent types of situations.
Now in a tournament you might be playing real well. Finally you are playing for 3 and forth. If you are playing someone that has never been there before you have an advantage. Now you are playing in the final match. Now we have a totally different situation again. The only time you can practice being in a final match is when you are in the final match. Regardless how big or small the tournament is, a final match is a final match. The mind set is different. You need to practice doing what you do in these different situations to be effective with them.
Ring game is totally different. You might not get to shoot for 5 racks and then you have to make this one tough shot. Different type of mental situation.
After playing in a ring game for awhile be it a couple of days or a couple of hours you will start to be comfortable with the situation.
The bottom line is you need to practice doing what you do on the pool table in these different types of situations to be effective. All the great tournament players know this. Some great tournament players don't gamble at all. Some of them feel they can't. But many times the problem is they might not do it enough to keep in the right mind set. And that's ok.
I always liked it when I would have someone come to my home town and play big money sets with me just before a tournament. If we played for 3 or 4 days I would really get in the right mind set for gambling and the tournament also. This worked for both of them for me. But I was already playing in alot of tournaments. This just made everything rock solid.
It's whoever can do it at that point and time. Mika won the US Open 2009. Everyone I saw made crutical errors at certain points. Mika did not. He made the shot when the chips were on the line. Is he the best player? Maybe not. Did he get it done in the critical situations? Absolutely.He was the best player in those critical situations that week.
No matter what you are doing with pool you need to practice in that situation so that you a comfortable with it. So you can focus the way that you know you can.
This is something that all pool players battle with.
Anyway, You know what you have to do. Practice playing in these different situation or try to simulate these situations when you practice.
But it's really hard to simulate playing in a final match at the US Open. Ask someone that has been there.
Ihope this sheds a little light on the subject for you.
Have a great day Geno.......................
