There have been occasions since where I felt The Nerves. Cole needed the vodka to calm the nerves. One did it but he couldn't stop at 1.
My personal challenge was playing the Big Boys at the weekly 9 ball tournament. I decided I should learn to shoot with my hands trembling as they weren't going to stop until I MAKE A BALL. Whew. small success is a start and can lead to calm. A lot of success stories start with a leap of faith shot. You know like Butch Cassidy and Sundance. "The fall will probably kill ya anyway."
Reminder of surviving all previous failures helps calm my nerves. "I'm still here and still kicking ". Nothing sweeter than a kick it in for the win. Especially when I hooked myself.
Practice is crucial and a balanced regimen of competition at various levels helped me improve.
A $5 tournament I could win available every night led me to enter events where I was dead money but the lessons achieved were priceless.
I got to sweat a Reno Sands 9 ball match between Dan Louie and Earl Strickland . I sat near Dan and at the conclusion of the epic battle Dan confessed to me, "I just got nervous. "