Enhancing the "Mental Game" of Pool - What's the Best Way?

[CJ Wiley]

We hear many players talk about "the mental side of pool," and how important it is - the question is "how can we really improve our mental game?"

One of the things I teach is how to raise mental potential in various ways playing pocket billiards. The subconscious is an amazing tool when utilized correctly and can actually be detrimental {in ways} if it's not. I believe it's important to learn ways to maximize our potential, not only in our pool games, also in business, and personal areas of our lives.

Our senses tend to get stronger in one area, when weakened in another. For example, if the lights were to suddenly go out we all instantly have better touch and feel - it's proven that blind people have better hearing (and touch for reading braille) and visa versa. Many people don't "real eyes" that we can intentionally decrease and increase our senses.

We can use this phenomenon to our advantage when we get down on a pool shot. Above the ball we want to be 90% (for example only) visual and only about 10% kinesthetic (feel and touch).....we stay in that mode and concentrate mostly on the object ball until our hand hits the table and our focus shifts to the cue ball.......at this point our visual sense should be deliberately diminished (towards the object ball) so we can raise our sense of touch (and feel) to connect and fully absorb into the shot.

Understanding how this is done is a HUGE advantage because it enables the player to maximize both their visual experience AND their "feel and touch" experience on the same shot by effectively shifting back and forth from one to the other at EXACTLY the vital time, thus synergistically increasing both sense's full potential.

This information can be amazingly beneficial so give it some serious thought....you'll be glad you did and if this process "clicks" you will have a very powerful mental tool in your "pool box" that may also enhance other areas of your life.

 

[Bella Don't Cry]

We hear many players talk about "the mental side of pool," and how important it is - the question is "how can we really improve our mental game?"

One of the things I teach is how to raise mental potential in various ways playing pocket billiards. The subconscious is an amazing tool when utilized correctly and can actually be detrimental {in ways} if it's not. I believe it's important to learn ways to maximize our potential, not only in our pool games, also in business, and personal areas of our lives.

Our senses tend to get stronger in one area, when weakened in another. For example, if the lights were to suddenly go out we all instantly have better touch and feel - it's proven that blind people have better hearing (and touch for reading braille) and visa versa. Many people don't "real eyes" that we can intentionally decrease and increase our senses.

We can use this phenomenon to our advantage when we get down on a pool shot. Above the ball we want to be 90% (for example only) visual and only about 10% kinesthetic (feel and touch).....we stay in that mode and concentrate mostly on the object ball until our hand hits the table and our focus shifts to the cue ball.......at this point our visual sense should be deliberately diminished (towards the object ball) so we can raise our sense of touch (and feel) to connect and fully absorb into the shot.

Understanding how this is done is a HUGE advantage because it enables the player to maximize both their visual experience AND their "feel and touch" experience on the same shot by effectively shifting back and forth from one to the other at EXACTLY the vital time, thus synergistically increasing both sense's full potential.

This information can be amazingly beneficial so give it some serious thought....you'll be glad you did and if this process "clicks" you will have a very powerful mental tool in your "pool box" that may also enhance other areas of your life.

Nice post :thumb up:
But not really attacking the mental aspects of the game. The agenda changed to touch and feel... On the mental side of anything let alone pool, lifestyle has a huge impact on the mental stability and capability of an individual who seeks to take part - conduct - conclude a task.

E.G. - Healthy relationship(s) (male or female) will be beneficial to all aspects of life - THIS INCLUDES PLAYING POOL.

DIETRY (including physical dietary - daily exercise) habits are also extremely huge on the mental aspect of the game. I believe this to be one of the MAJOR advantages the Europeans currently have over the Americans in the world of Pool. This can also be said of the Asians...

It can be argued that the Asians have a more modest dietary due to the more likely hood of poverty. As the saying goes (NOT MY BELIEF BY THE WAY) 'Salad is for poor people'. Whether you agree with this or not is irrelevant - what is relevant is that Salad, freshly grown vegetables and access to FRESH FISH will increase your physical capacity as well as your mental stamina - ALL PROVEN FACTS.

SO - to better the mental aspect of your pool game one must:
Eat well, play well and choose your friends wisely... LOL :thumbup:

 

[gpeezy]

A friend of mine once asked me how to get over being nervous gambling. I said "go bust". He simply replied "isn't that what I'm trying not to do", "yes but it's what you are scared of, go bust and you will see it's not that bad. Then you can start from there"
Little off subject but I feel anyone struggling with a mental aspect of the game can relate.

 

[Bella Don't Cry]

A friend of mine once asked me how to get over being nervous gambling. I said "go bust". He simply replied "isn't that what I'm trying not to do", "yes but it's what you are scared of, go bust and you will see it's not that bad. Then you can start from there"
Little off subject but I feel anyone struggling with a mental aspect of the game can relate.

I agree - Too free your game is to free your mind, which will help the mental side of the pool :thumbup:

 

[Eagleshot]

A friend of mine once asked me how to get over being nervous gambling. I said "go bust". He simply replied "isn't that what I'm trying not to do", "yes but it's what you are scared of, go bust and you will see it's not that bad.

I practice going bust all the time. For some reason I have no problem finding a game??

 

[CJ Wiley]

Money seems like it makes life easy, however, this is a snare

Sometimes the wisest things go against "common logic".

I heard that a long time ago about the Filipino players - the ones that came from money never developed the mental games that ones like Efren and Bustamante who were very poor. Money seems like it makes life easy, however, this is a snare, it really makes people "soft" and mentally or physically lazy for the most part.

The challenges and tribulations in life are designed to give us an "EDGE" - like sharpening a knife, you can't develop a sharp blade by rubbing it against something soft and comfortable, it must be against something ROUGH....and such is life.

'The Game is the Teacher'

A friend of mine once asked me how to get over being nervous gambling. I said "go bust". He simply replied "isn't that what I'm trying not to do", "yes but it's what you are scared of, go bust and you will see it's not that bad. Then you can start from there"
Little off subject but I feel anyone struggling with a mental aspect of the game can relate.

 

[King T]

I dont get it????

Sometimes the wisest things go against "common logic".

I heard that a long time ago about the Filipino players - the ones that came from money never developed the mental games that ones like Efren and Bustamante who were very poor. Money seems like it makes life easy, however, this is a snare, it really makes people "soft" and mentally or physically lazy for the most part.

The challenges and tribulations in life are designed to give us an "EDGE" - like sharpening a knife, you can't develop a sharp blade by rubbing it against something soft and comfortable, it must be against something ROUGH....and such is life.

'The Game is the Teacher'

So does that apply to the American players? There have been champions from every background in this country? Even the champions from China come from a very diverse background, Most are not poor!!!! They are middle class, average to modest income for the nation that they come from, so is more discipline and desire?

 

[row21097]

please direct me to any scientific study supporting your conclusion. my experience is the direct opposit (and i think the science supports my position). chilidren of affluent families have, on the whole better nutrition, better education, and greater opportunity.

Bert

 

[King T]

So what about...,

Is it the diet or is it drugs, alcohol and a lazy life style that holds the American players back? Is it a unwillingness to put in the work and compete?

 

[gregcantrall]

please direct me to any scientific study supporting your conclusion. my experience is the direct opposit (and i think the science supports my position). chilidren of affluent families have, on the whole better nutrition, better education, and greater opportunity.

Bert

All of that does not give them the hardening they would get growing up ......well like the boy named Sue.

 

[one stroke]

It's impossible to achieve any high level with out a high level of concience thinking
subconcience thinking is a break off of muscle memory
Like remembering how to tie your shoes you don't think u just do

The key is being able to keep your concience mind on the task at hand
Like a computer if you have to many open programs its slows down too many more and it locks up
The key us not letting you mind stay in the thinking side outside of the task
A sports shrink told me the best way to do this is not look at anything or listen to anything longer than a split second
or think any negative thoughts when this happens your brain stays on the thinking side to long
We hear the term often in football short term memory
What this is actualy is the ability to keep the mind concertraiting on the task at hand not allowing bad thoughts to take over concience thinking

1

 

[Agent 99]

We hear many players talk about "the mental side of pool," and how important it is - the question is "how can we really improve our mental game?"

One of the things I teach is how to raise mental potential in various ways playing pocket billiards. The subconscious is an amazing tool when utilized correctly and can actually be detrimental {in ways} if it's not. I believe it's important to learn ways to maximize our potential, not only in our pool games, also in business, and personal areas of our lives.

Our senses tend to get stronger in one area, when weakened in another. For example, if the lights were to suddenly go out we all instantly have better touch and feel - it's proven that blind people have better hearing (and touch for reading braille) and visa versa. Many people don't "real eyes" that we can intentionally decrease and increase our senses.

We can use this phenomenon to our advantage when we get down on a pool shot. Above the ball we want to be 90% (for example only) visual and only about 10% kinesthetic (feel and touch).....we stay in that mode and concentrate mostly on the object ball until our hand hits the table and our focus shifts to the cue ball.......at this point our visual sense should be deliberately diminished (towards the object ball) so we can raise our sense of touch (and feel) to connect and fully absorb into the shot.

Understanding how this is done is a HUGE advantage because it enables the player to maximize both their visual experience AND their "feel and touch" experience on the same shot by effectively shifting back and forth from one to the other at EXACTLY the vital time, thus synergistically increasing both sense's full potential.

This information can be amazingly beneficial so give it some serious thought....you'll be glad you did and if this process "clicks" you will have a very powerful mental tool in your "pool box" that may also enhance other areas of your life.

We have talked about this before, CJ ... You are a brave man, so at the risk of sounding crazy I'll throw in my two cents.

I'm not a doctor and I've never played one on TV. One day long ago I found out that you really have two minds, a conscious and an unconscious mind. This was amazing to me as I was not really sure I had a mind at all.

After being reassured that everyone had two minds I immediately felt empowered.

The conscious mind is always on, unless you are asleep or learn how to turn it off while awake.

The conscious mind is rational and protective. It's like a warning system for your well being. The conscious mind sees someone getting hit over the head with a beer bottle when you walk into a joint, and it tells you to get out of dodge.

The subconscious mind knows no fear ... it can never be questioned, by anything or anybody. This sub mind really knows all and can do all, but is rarely ever given the chance to do anything, unless we sleep, having no choice but to hand over the operation of our bodies and all our functions to it.

The conscious mind sees the world through your eyes, while the sub mind has eyes of it's own. This set of eyes remains a mystery to me to this day. But these are superman eyes ... You can close your physical eyes and the sub mind can keep on seeing anything it wants to.

Like a pool shot.

Visualization empowers the sub mind. Once the sub mind knows the shot it can never miss it, never. Unless you allow that conscious mind to sneak in there and create doubt.

Well I'm certain that I must sound crazy about now, but it's too late to stop.

Now CJ knows this about me, he has helped me to understand what I'm actually doing, and that has allowed me to improve on it. I will try to describe it to you all how I use my conscious mind to line the shot up and help me down, then I turn it off and let the sub mind determine the speed of hit and make the shot.

I need that rational mind to warn me of the dangers of ending up on the wrong side of the next object ball. I need the conscious mind to tell me what type of English I need to apply, and after that I'm through with it until before I get down on the next shot.

Once down on the shot you will be lucky to be able to see the whole shot, most of the time it's simple impossible, like when your shooting at the foot rail and need to send whitey resting 2 inches off the head rail.

We do not have eyes in the back of our heads. But our Sub Mind does.

Once over the shot I stop seeing with my physical eyes and start visualizing the shot in my mind. Through my sub mind, or my imagination if you prefer.

After visualizing the shot completely through, and that means until the cue ball stops rolling, I shoot it. The speed of the hit is 100% based off a mental image in my mind of the shot.

That's it in a nut shell ... we are all different, but we all have two minds. Once down, your visualization process, which is shutting out the conscious mind, is the determining information that the sub mind needs to make the shot every time, and it does.

The real trick is getting the conscious mind the hell out of the way when you do not really need it, and making sure the sub mind has all the info it needs to take care of business.

Time for me to go to my meeting with a young doctor in a white padded room.

Good rolls

 

[the chicken]

I'm not trying to be a smarty pants, but if you want to improve your mental game, starting winning. It's just that simple!

Shoot safe,

John

 

[trinacria]

hemp vape???? I smoke a fat bowl of weed, who needs some chemical shit. maryjiuana is everywhere, where were you brought up??? slim shady.....

 

[(((Satori)))]

There are many aspects to mental game that combine to make you a much better player. Mental game is not simply one thing and you can see that in this thread. I see people saying "mental game is this and you must do this"... then the next guy "no mental game is this and you must do this."



Imo my opinion mental game is a combination of:


Motivation and determination- setting goals and having the drive to persist after them. (both rich and poor can be highly motivated and persist through the tough times)

Perspective- the way you see things and what you say to yourself, your inner thoughts (you have to believe in yourself)

Energy- Being able to maintain YOUR ideal performance state, in control of your energy balancing high-low and positive-negative (being able to deal with the physical and psychological stresses)

Focus- Staying in the hear and now, eliminating distractions, and holding this concentration for periods of time are elements of focus (The distractions can also include your own mental instructions as you play)

Miscellaneous aspects- dealing with the fear of failure, knowing how to overcome mistakes, developing courage to step out of your comfort zone (these are all parts of the mental game also)



You can develop each and every aspect to become stronger mentally which in turn makes you stronger physically... but of course you need a physical game in the first place.





So you can see... the BEST WAY to develop "mental game" is dependent on each individual. Does that person need help controlling their emotions? Does that person need help dealing with distractions? Does that person need to develop more confidence, more courage, and on and on?

 

[Colonel]

please direct me to any scientific study supporting your conclusion. my experience is the direct opposit (and i think the science supports my position). chilidren of affluent families have, on the whole better nutrition, better education, and greater opportunity.

Bert

They're not as hungry, period.

 

[(((Satori)))]

They're not as hungry, period.

That's a myth!

A rich kid/athlete can be just as hungry for success as a poor kid/athlete.

 

[Colonel]

That's a myth!

A rich kid/athlete can be just as hungry for success as a poor kid/athlete.

Whatever, I'll agree to disagree.

 

[Mitchxout]

Whatever, I'll agree to disagree.

Me too. When you have to cut the 9 down the rail for the rent, it gives you a whole new perspective.

 

[voiceofreason]

As always, thank you for your thoughts CJ. All of your posts like this give me something to think about.

Regards,

voiceofreason