Can't Sleep After Competing....Help!

B

BasementDweller

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have been having this problem for a while now:

When I go out and compete, when I finally get home and try to go to bed - I can't sleep. The balls will not come to a stop in my head...they just keep rolling and rolling and colliding into each other and the rails, and the break shot is so loud in my head, then I start seeing the dead combos that are lined up, then it's the missed shots, then it's the great shots, and on and on and on.

The other night I played so horrible (worst I can remember) that I NEVER even fell asleep at all. I lied in bed from 1 to almost 7 o'clock with not even a wink of sleep. But even when I play good, or just okay, I have a hard time sleeping.

Typically, I don't drink when I play pool but about the only thing I can come up with to help me unwind is to get a drink right before I call it quits.

I don't know...what do you guys do to unwind when you're done playing?
 
I am the same way. Gotta have a few drinks before sleep.

Pisses me off too...stay out all late, need to get up early and can't fall asleep. WTF?!!?

BasementDweller said:
I have been having this problem for a while now:

When I go out and compete, when I finally get home and try to go to bed - I can't sleep. The balls will not come to a stop in my head...they just keep rolling and rolling and colliding into each other and the rails, and the break shot is so loud in my head, then I start seeing the dead combos that are lined up, then it's the missed shots, then it's the great shots, and on and on and on.

The other night I played so horrible (worst I can remember) that I NEVER even fell asleep at all. I lied in bed from 1 to almost 7 o'clock with not even a wink of sleep. But even when I play good, or just okay, I have a hard time sleeping.

Typically, I don't drink when I play pool but about the only thing I can come up with to help me unwind is to get a drink right before I call it quits.

I don't know...what do you guys do to unwind when you're done playing?
Click to expand...
 
Me three. I have the same problem for years. It is bad enough that I won't play in a tourney if I have to work the next morning.:mad:
 
I have had the same issue with a lot of things - anything I take seriously -
competitive pool, other sports, work.

The trick I have found is to learn to draw a line and let it go.

For work, I blast music in the car and then read for about 20-30 minutes to wind down when I get home.

With boxing I would soak in the shower and use that time to reflect on what went right/wrong and next steps to get better. By the time I got out I had a plan for tomorrow and made a point of putting today's match behind me (girlfriend/tv/reading helped to take my mind off as well).

With pool I take the boxing approach - jump in the shower, do my thinking, and step out into the rest of my life.

I think the main thing is to do something to remind yourself that it is over and set a personal boundary for yourself. If you don't then it is much harder to stop the wheels from spinning.
 
If you have that attitude after your match, you may also be letting game situations affect your match as you are playing. You really need to work on letting it go. You can't change it. It's over. Move on. This can make a big difference in your play as you are in the moment, not letting previous shots affect the shot at hand.
 
JCMn said:
If you have that attitude after your match, you may also be letting game situations affect your match as you are playing. You really need to work on letting it go. You can't change it. It's over. Move on. This can make a big difference in your play as you are in the moment, not letting previous shots affect the shot at hand.
Click to expand...

Excellent point. +1 internets
 
Me four! I even need some time to get to sleep after a good practice session...I leave the pool room totally exhausted, but by the time I get home I'm ready to hit the table again. Today I've got sores on my bridge-hand knuckles, a bruise on my chin (from a few stroke shots, sometimes the stick ends up colliding with my chin on the follow through) and I still can't get all the Blue Diamond chalk out of the crevices in the palms of my hands from last night's session. I spend a lot of nights drifting off to sleep in the middle of planning a run out. I shoot hypothetical racks of 14.1 and 9 Ball when I jog or work out at the gym, too. I've been like that for almost 30 years. Guess I'm not alone in being a tad too much into this game, huh?!!
 
BasementDweller said:
I have been having this problem for a while now:

When I go out and compete, when I finally get home and try to go to bed - I can't sleep. The balls will not come to a stop in my head...they just keep rolling and rolling and colliding into each other and the rails, and the break shot is so loud in my head, then I start seeing the dead combos that are lined up, then it's the missed shots, then it's the great shots, and on and on and on.

The other night I played so horrible (worst I can remember) that I NEVER even fell asleep at all. I lied in bed from 1 to almost 7 o'clock with not even a wink of sleep. But even when I play good, or just okay, I have a hard time sleeping.

Typically, I don't drink when I play pool but about the only thing I can come up with to help me unwind is to get a drink right before I call it quits.

I don't know...what do you guys do to unwind when you're done playing?
Click to expand...

Grind, roll then smoke.....
or skip rolling and smoking and go directly to vaporizing.

repeat if necessary.

Oh yeah, don't call me in the morning.
 
I'm the same way

It takes me 1-2 hours to unwind after playing in a tournament, even a little weekly tournament. I usually just watch TV for a couple of hours before going to sleep, but when a weekly tournament starts at 10 pm, and doesn't get over till about 4 in the morning then having to unwind till 6, it makes my sleeping erratic at best.
 
I certainly understand the OP here. I had a pretty bad loss in the finals of the weekly 9 ball tourney last Saturday- opponent slopping balls in multiple times including the 9, etc. In years past, I would have been staying awake seething over this type of thing. No longer. I slept like a babe in arms. Full disclosure though, I did have a couple after the match...:cool:

In all seriousness though, there will be other matches. Many in fact. Next week you'll play great. The next, perhaps not so great. Gotta roll with the ebb and flow. Just enjoy the ride...
 
Oh yeah, I watched Chris Bartram slop in multiple balls in the case game in his match against Efren at the derby this year for the win. I seriously doubt that Efren lost any sleep over this.

Perhaps you can just do like Efren does when he makes some silly error - just smile big, mess with your shirt collar or scratch your head, and then don't worry about it.
 
Relax and enjoy playing. When you get older, you'll fall asleep in your car when you pull up to the poolroom parking lot before you go in to play. :boring:
 
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I watch some pool videos. There is one that whenever I watch it I will always fall asleep at the same spot. I guess it is conditioning. If I wake up I back it up to watch and then fall asleep again. It doesn't matter if they are instructional or matches they make me fall asleep.



.
 
BasementDweller said:
I have been having this problem for a while now:

When I go out and compete, when I finally get home and try to go to bed - I can't sleep. The balls will not come to a stop in my head...they just keep rolling and rolling and colliding into each other and the rails, and the break shot is so loud in my head, then I start seeing the dead combos that are lined up, then it's the missed shots, then it's the great shots, and on and on and on.

The other night I played so horrible (worst I can remember) that I NEVER even fell asleep at all. I lied in bed from 1 to almost 7 o'clock with not even a wink of sleep. But even when I play good, or just okay, I have a hard time sleeping.

Typically, I don't drink when I play pool but about the only thing I can come up with to help me unwind is to get a drink right before I call it quits.

I don't know...what do you guys do to unwind when you're done playing?
Click to expand...


used to happen to me real bad when i was first playing, first couple years. I never figured a to fix it, if i took a sleeping pill, i would just dream about pool, so that was useless. Over the years it just kinda faded away, my interest in pool hasnt changed, now if i play big action or small for that matter its all the same and I can go to sleep within 30 minutes after playing, i'm not pumped up win or lose. I suppose it's because i have played so much it aint a rush to win or lose-its just pool. Thats my 3cents

fatboy:smile:
 
TheBook said:
.


I watch some pool videos. There is one that whenever I watch it I will always fall asleep at the same spot. I guess it is conditioning. If I wake up I back it up to watch and then fall asleep again. It doesn't matter if they are instructional or matches they make me fall asleep.



.
Click to expand...


This is funny to me. I thought I was the only one. I LOVE pool and everything about it. But if I watch a pool DVD at night, I fall asleep in 10 minutes. Great for insomnia! Sucks for learning!
 
I figured this was a comman condition. You stay up late in the evening, playing a tourney or session and think you'll just go home and fall asleep. Instead you find yourself replaying the highlights and lowlights of the matches. You may also imagine a different outcome from some of the game situations if handled differently.

For me, I have to stop playing late at night, especially if I have to work the next day. A good nights sleep is just too valuable for me.
 
JMW said:
This is funny to me. I thought I was the only one. I LOVE pool and everything about it. But if I watch a pool DVD at night, I fall asleep in 10 minutes. Great for insomnia! Sucks for learning!
Click to expand...

I hope it was'n't mine...:smile: I take 2 Tylenol PM on my ride home.
By the time I get to bed I'm ready, usually, but, sometimes I can't shut it off.
 
You just have to pay......

It's probably just the guilt you feel about leaving your family to be with your green felt mistress.

Either that or your Circadian rhythm has been offset.

Both have a price.
 
BasementDweller said:
I have been having this problem for a while now:

When I go out and compete, when I finally get home and try to go to bed - I can't sleep. The balls will not come to a stop in my head...they just keep rolling and rolling and colliding into each other and the rails,
Click to expand...

you are not alone...........this is your mind on pool
 
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