A level basement, C in tournaments.

J

Jason Robichaud

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have been putting in great practice and running like mad at home. I started to play in tournaments, first time in a long while, and suck. I use to love the challenge and pressure of a match. The better the player the better I would play.

All I see walking to the table now is trouble... don't go too far with CB, don't over cut, don't....... I am playing against solid players and winning like 50%. I will get up a few games and talk myself out of the match. I am losing 11-9, 7-5 etc and playing horrible. I played a match yesterday.. and made 3 balls on the snap at least twice and couldn't get out! I ran 8 the other day in practice and couldn't string 2.

I have to get out and gamble some to get my nerve back. I paid the dues once, sucks needing to do it again.
 
Jason Robichaud said:
I have been putting in great practice and running like mad at home. I started to play in tournaments, first time in a long while, and suck. I use to love the challenge and pressure of a match. The better the player the better I would play.

All I see walking to the table now is trouble... don't go too far with CB, don't over cut, don't....... I am playing against solid players and winning like 50%. I will get up a few games and talk myself out of the match. I am losing 11-9, 7-5 etc and playing horrible. I played a match yesterday.. and made 3 balls on the snap at least twice and couldn't get out! I ran 8 the other day in practice and couldn't string 2.

I have to get out and gamble some to get my nerve back. I paid the dues once, sucks needing to do it again.
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I'm sure you'll be able to find some good matches at the Acadia Centre next weekend.
 
It's funny

but you have to keep yourself fine tuned for action out in the Pool world, at home practice won't do it. The environment is different, and you need to play different people, and perhaps gamble to feel fine tuned.
 
I don't have anything constructive to offer, so I prolly shouldn't even be posting, but I find that I'm pretty depressed reading that. I know there are some people who need to gamble to bring out their A game, but that's a real pisser.

I hate the idea that someone can run 8 racks (right? you didn't mean 8 balls I assume) and not play at even half that speed without cash. I mean that's pretty f@#$ing sporty and it goes to waste because you can't or won't focus without some kind of risk.

You must love pool to practice alone for free, it doesn't sound like pool is just a means to make money for you, so why is it so different in a tournament? Anyone who can put up an 8-pack at some point in his life should be better than everyone else in the field at a local tournament. Maybe that's the problem... you say you "the better the player, the better I would play". But if everyone you're playing is 5 speeds below you, your own game must go straight to hell.
 
Ive got the same problem right now. And on top of that im playing on a much tougher table at home.So it should be that much easier when i got out, but its not.
Gambling does seem to help. It stops you from being lazy and just taking things for granted.
 
CreeDo said:
I don't have anything constructive to offer, so I prolly shouldn't even be posting, but I find that I'm pretty depressed reading that. I know there are some people who need to gamble to bring out their A game, but that's a real pisser.

I hate the idea that someone can run 8 racks (right? you didn't mean 8 balls I assume) and not play at even half that speed without cash. I mean that's pretty f@#$ing sporty and it goes to waste because you can't or won't focus without some kind of risk.

You must love pool to practice alone for free, it doesn't sound like pool is just a means to make money for you, so why is it so different in a tournament? Anyone who can put up an 8-pack at some point in his life should be better than everyone else in the field at a local tournament. Maybe that's the problem... you say you "the better the player, the better I would play". But if everyone you're playing is 5 speeds below you, your own game must go straight to hell.
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My reply got lost! I am playing good players "A" level. I am not losing to "C" players. I beat a strong player yesterday, he finished tied for 17th at U.S. Open in 05, beat the next guy and then lost my head the next match. Rather than think about winning, I think about losing. When I played lots of events I was a winner thinker.

8 pack was good in practice, but my table breaks nice and I didn't think about running. My game doesn't drop to a "C" I just feel off and not comfortable the entire time. Every shot I think about losing/missing rather than potting, shape and winning. That grind and hunger to win doesn't show.
 
TXsouthpaw said:
Ive got the same problem right now. And on top of that im playing on a much tougher table at home.So it should be that much easier when i got out, but its not.
Gambling does seem to help. It stops you from being lazy and just taking things for granted.
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My table is really tight to. I posted a video on the corner pockets kicking out balls. I have a few events still to come... hope I get my sht together.
 
This is the one thing that I didn't realize would happen when I got my home table.

I definitely got better over the years of playing here at the house, but when it comes to tourney time, I fall apart. I can't explain it.

All of the tables out at the local tournaments are 8 footers with generous pockets. My 9' table is much harder to play on, yet I can run fairly consistently at home. Tournments - not so much.

I really don't know what to do about it other than to join a local league. At least then I'd be in competition regularly, but that would defeat the purpose of having a home table (avoid paying any more for pool).

It's frustrating.
 
You need to stay focused on being in the present, not the past or future (winning or losing). Practice your mental game at home too.
:p
 
Get out of your basement and go match up as often as possible in as many different venues as possible, even if its free play there is something about playing a stranger in an actual pool hall or bar environment that helps when it comes to tournament time.

Anything you can do to push yourself out of your home environment will help, play in as many tournaments as you can find, even if its a $5.00 tourney.

Try the hypnosis tapes, they worked for me big time years ago.

You need to condition yourself to win, I know it sounds all zen and strange but positive visualization and self talk will help you do it, I used to lay in bed at night and visualize myself at the table making shot after shot, running rack after rack, destroying my opponent and combined with the hypnosis it brought my game up to a level I had never experienced before.

When you get to the pool hall, shoot a few hundred straight in easy shots and tell yourself over and over that everything you shoot at goes in, its not important that the shot be a hard one, it is important that your mind sees the balls going in the pocket, one after another.

Anyone that tells you pool is not a mind game is not worth hearing.
 
One more thing is force yourself and I mean FORCE yourself to concentrate on every shot in your home practice like its the most important shot of your life and when you are tired of practicing force yourself to go another hour with your full concentration turned on, its painful but it pays off under stress.
 
Jason Robichaud said:
I have been putting in great practice and running like mad at home. I started to play in tournaments, first time in a long while, and suck. I use to love the challenge and pressure of a match. The better the player the better I would play.

All I see walking to the table now is trouble... don't go too far with CB, don't over cut, don't....... I am playing against solid players and winning like 50%. I will get up a few games and talk myself out of the match. I am losing 11-9, 7-5 etc and playing horrible. I played a match yesterday.. and made 3 balls on the snap at least twice and couldn't get out! I ran 8 the other day in practice and couldn't string 2.

I have to get out and gamble some to get my nerve back. I paid the dues once, sucks needing to do it again.
Click to expand...

Jason, obviously you've got game. The only thing that comes to mind when reading your post is it sounds like when you are in a tournament you're forgetting to have fun.
 
CreeDo said:
I don't have anything constructive to offer, so I prolly shouldn't even be posting, but I find that I'm pretty depressed reading that. I know there are some people who need to gamble to bring out their A game, but that's a real pisser.

I hate the idea that someone can run 8 racks (right? you didn't mean 8 balls I assume) and not play at even half that speed without cash. I mean that's pretty f@#$ing sporty and it goes to waste because you can't or won't focus without some kind of risk.

You must love pool to practice alone for free, it doesn't sound like pool is just a means to make money for you, so why is it so different in a tournament? Anyone who can put up an 8-pack at some point in his life should be better than everyone else in the field at a local tournament. Maybe that's the problem... you say you "the better the player, the better I would play". But if everyone you're playing is 5 speeds below you, your own game must go straight to hell.
Click to expand...


I've been experiancing a similar problem to Jason. Maybe he is in a bit different situation but, it's not that I need to gamble it's more that I've been out of competition for too long that I am starting to over think things. In practice you have benefit of being able to try again should you fail, which is enough of comfort to keep you from failing. It's a lot easier to get into that comfortable, confident space that you need to be in to run lots of balls and racks.

If you take a long time off from competition but continue solo practicing in the mean time, your competitive game will be in the pits. Practicechampionitis is one of the most frusterating afflictions.
 
I guess I see what's up. I can empathize a little.
At my most recent tournament I shot pretty well. I win about 80% of my league matches (over the course of 100+ games)... and in the tournament I went 8-for-10. So I shoot at my regular speed. I guess you could say I shoot was well in tournaments as I do in 'practice' though practice for me still involves a racker :)

For me to do that, I sincerely didn't care about the outcome. But I did, somehow. I cared enough to get a little bit of the shakes even. I like to joke with my buddies that you have to go in expecting to lose. "Trust me, we are GOING to lose, so relax... nothing you do will matter at all". I call it The Power of Negative Thinking®. I try to stay in a casual "no worries if I lose, supposed to lose anyway" mindset. And for me, it somehow works and I can play pretty well. I remember during the commentary of the Action Challenge between Corey and Shane how Corey was down many racks but was starting to hit 'em nice and shoot pretty well, I think Grady had said that he had gone into that "give up stroke" where you hit 'em smoothly because you're resigned.

Sounds crazy but maybe that's what you need. You don't need more intensity, you need less :)
 
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