Experiencing a slump...maybe this will help

gunzby

gunzby

My light saber is LD
Silver Member
About a month and a half ago I was playing like a champ, or at least I kept getting better. I then got sick due to the weather getting warm and cold. I got over that and immediately got another cold for two weeks. As soon as I was better I found myself playing horribly.

I just couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong so I figured I would keep torturing myself through practice and tournaments to figure it out. I realized over the span of four very painful weeks what I was doing wrong. Once I figured out the final piece to the puzzle I wrote down my stroke routine in case this ever happens again. This way I won't spend the next month of weekends figuring out what is wrong with me.

I will type out what I typed and printed out to put in my case. This may be word for word for some and it may need some tweeking for others, but hopefully it helps some out. In blue are the things I was doing wrong.

-Chalk your cue
-Figure out what you are going to do (pot the ball, safety, combo/carom jump etc)
-Check the table layout for position on the second, third and fourth ball
-Imagine CB path and final destination
-Decide on tip placement and line up accordingly
-Step forward into CB (pre-stance)
-Get into your final stance
-Set your stance (Be a statue. Do not move your feet or hands)
-Check tip placement
-Take practice strokes checking tip placement
-Set tip on final practice stroke
-Focus on contact point of OB. Do not move your eyes
-Set
-Bring cue back in straight controlled motion
-Pause
-Begin cue forward in straight controlled motion
-Shoot through CB
-Finish your stroke and do not move your eyes until the ball falls

Just figured that I would share a structured way to get through a slump as I have found that most of the time it is due to sudden errors in your stroke.

<<<<<<<<And now on to my next thread ;)
 
MRP2k12 said:
This is a pretty good checklist thanks, Im in kind of a slump/getting back to the table after a long break and these are the things i try to remember at the table,and when i forget i can feel my game going down.
Click to expand...

Once I finally got it all figured out I forced myself to type this list up and print out to put in my case. The next time it happens I will just go through the list to find out where I am going wrong.

Just figured I would throw it out there for anyone wanting pointers on making up their own list as mine isn't the be all end all for everyone. Some ppl may have a much shorter list and some may have a longer list. The important part imho is to understand your own list completely.
 
gunzby said:
About a month and a half ago I was playing like a champ, or at least I kept getting better. I then got sick due to the weather getting warm and cold. I got over that and immediately got another cold for two weeks. As soon as I was better I found myself playing horribly.

I just couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong so I figured I would keep torturing myself through practice and tournaments to figure it out. I realized over the span of four very painful weeks what I was doing wrong. Once I figured out the final piece to the puzzle I wrote down my stroke routine in case this ever happens again. This way I won't spend the next month of weekends figuring out what is wrong with me.

I will type out what I typed and printed out to put in my case. This may be word for word for some and it may need some tweeking for others, but hopefully it helps some out. In blue are the things I was doing wrong.

-Chalk your cue
-Figure out what you are going to do (pot the ball, safety, combo/carom jump etc)
-Check the table layout for position on the second, third and fourth ball
-Imagine CB path and final destination
-Decide on tip placement and line up accordingly
-Step forward into CB (pre-stance)
-Get into your final stance
-Set your stance (Be a statue. Do not move your feet or hands)
-Check tip placement
-Take practice strokes checking tip placement
-Set tip on final practice stroke
-Focus on contact point of OB. Do not move your eyes
-Set
-Bring cue back in straight controlled motion
-Pause
-Begin cue forward in straight controlled motion
-Shoot through CB
-Finish your stroke and do not move your eyes until the ball falls

Just figured that I would share a structured way to get through a slump as I have found that most of the time it is due to sudden errors in your stroke.

<<<<<<<<And now on to my next thread ;)
Click to expand...

Famous last words.

Guy comes up to you in the pool room and says,

"I can't believe it, I just figured out what I have been doing wrong"!!!

Till next week.
 
I think OB last or CB last is an interesting point of discussion. IMO, it's a personal preference thing... I like to look at the CB last because I believe that once I get down on the shot, my stroke is straight enough that I'm lined up in the line of aim I want to be in. The OB isn't going to randomly move while I am practice stroking so the most important part for me is that I contact the CB exactly where I want.
 
Aten said:
I think OB last or CB last is an interesting point of discussion. IMO, it's a personal preference thing... I like to look at the CB last because I believe that once I get down on the shot, my stroke is straight enough that I'm lined up in the line of aim I want to be in. The OB isn't going to randomly move while I am practice stroking so the most important part for me is that I contact the CB exactly where I want.
Click to expand...

Man I gp back and forth on this one;some shots CB last some shots OB last.
 
I do the same, still struggle with trying to do it the way most other people apparently do but I learned CB last and I guess still do it to this day.

As for the checklist, good idea. I have the same thing, although it's about a page long with bullet points and more descriptive since I get pretty OCD about certain things. It has helped in the past, but I find that lately my playing ability rises and falls based on one simple thing - confidence. A lot of that has to do with taking time off and the number of changes I've made in the meantime. As I continue to gain confidence in my "new" style and game, I find that my confidence is boosted by starting the session playing the way I expect to play, which in turn happens by some simple things - grip pressure and type, taking the correct amount of time over the shot, and concentration. And NOT overthinking things as I love to do... :)

Scott
 
I'd like to add one thing...that is finding out what is causing the slump. Some people have mentioned confidence...and that is probably a big part of it.

I am still in a big slump...it has destroyed my confidence. Whereas I used to go to the table and know the object ball was going in (2-3 months ago), now I can't be sure. It causes me to second guess everything. This has had a big effect on my game. Instead of concentrating on where the cue ball would end up...I had to place all my focus on just making the shot. This meant my position play was suffering.

But I think I figured out what caused my slump in the first place. I hurt my back bad several weeks ago. I couldn't bend over the table without a lot of pain. Eventually the pain went away, but my back and neck were so stiff that I would (inadvertantly) tilt my head when getting down on the shot. Because my head was tilted (left eye higher than right eye...sounds strange, but basically I'm saying that my head wasn't level), I wasn't seeing the shots correctly. I knew where the hit the OB...and even thought I was lined up to hit the OB in the correct place...but I wouldn't hit it there. I was often a full diamond off when cutting shots into the corners.

Well, after several weeks of pure frustration, I started focusing on keeping my head level (I had to change my stance to do it...more of an open, snooker like stance), shots started dropping again. I'm not back to where I was...but at least I'm headed in that direction.

So, for me, it was something physical (in my set up) that caused the slump. From there it had a cascading effect that ultimately hurt my confidence, and my whole game.

John
 
Aten said:
I think OB last or CB last is an interesting point of discussion. IMO, it's a personal preference thing... I like to look at the CB last because I believe that once I get down on the shot, my stroke is straight enough that I'm lined up in the line of aim I want to be in. The OB isn't going to randomly move while I am practice stroking so the most important part for me is that I contact the CB exactly where I want.
Click to expand...

I went back and forth between the 2 options. On long shots the OB was far enough away, my eyes took too long to focus when I shifted from CB to OB.

I finally settled to focus on the aim line midway between the CB and OB. Making sure my cue stays on the aim line the whole time, especially on the follow through. This has helped my ball pocketing be more consistent.
 
jwalko1 said:
I'd like to add one thing...that is finding out what is causing the slump. Some people have mentioned confidence...and that is probably a big part of it.

I am still in a big slump...it has destroyed my confidence. Whereas I used to go to the table and know the object ball was going in (2-3 months ago), now I can't be sure. It causes me to second guess everything. This has had a big effect on my game. Instead of concentrating on where the cue ball would end up...I had to place all my focus on just making the shot. This meant my position play was suffering.

But I think I figured out what caused my slump in the first place. I hurt my back bad several weeks ago. I couldn't bend over the table without a lot of pain. Eventually the pain went away, but my back and neck were so stiff that I would (inadvertantly) tilt my head when getting down on the shot. Because my head was tilted (left eye higher than right eye...sounds strange, but basically I'm saying that my head wasn't level), I wasn't seeing the shots correctly. I knew where the hit the OB...and even thought I was lined up to hit the OB in the correct place...but I wouldn't hit it there. I was often a full diamond off when cutting shots into the corners.

Well, after several weeks of pure frustration, I started focusing on keeping my head level (I had to change my stance to do it...more of an open, snooker like stance), shots started dropping again. I'm not back to where I was...but at least I'm headed in that direction.

So, for me, it was something physical (in my set up) that caused the slump. From there it had a cascading effect that ultimately hurt my confidence, and my whole game.

John
Click to expand...

For me the confidence starts with the stroke. If it feels foreign as it did to me last month you lose confidence. Once I started going through the steps I gained more and more confidence.
 
At the expense of sounding like I am promoting Charlie's videos, I would like to make a small comment about this topic.

Years ago, when I was in a slump, I would just force myself to play through it until things lined back out. Now, after sitting through so many of Charlie's lessons and now working on these videos with him, I have come to find that the more I understand about the individual skills that make up my game, the easier it is for me to pin point what is going wrong and correct it in no time at all. Some times it is me getting lazy with my pre-shot routine and sometimes, it is me throwing my wrist out in my stroke, which is out-of-the-norm for me. No matter what it is, now that I know how to diagnose the problem, it never carries over more than a couple games.

As far as OB or CB last... I think it is a personal preference but I tend to follow Charlie's teachings on this. There are many shots where object ball last is the best option and then again, there are a select few shots, such as kicking, where Cue Ball last is important because tip placement is so crucial.

Just my honest opinion...

Heather Bryant
 
That checklist is

pretty long to run through it in your head very many times. On a hard shot, especially cueing off the cushion sometimes, I will run 'make sure your stroke is nice and smooth' through my head a couple of times before I shoot the shot.
 
My game was slowly deteriorating over a few weeks, couldn't explain why. Then I finally noticed that my cue shaft was slightly sticking in my bridge hand, not sliding smoothly (I wear a glove). For some reason I'd waxed the shaft thinking it help it glide smoothly. But it gradually got sticky. Cleaned it up with mineral spirits and buffed it hard with a piece of leather - and my game seemed to came back (to it's usual mediocre level). Sounds weird, but I don't think it's just my imagination.

Steve
 
slach said:
My game was slowly deteriorating over a few weeks, couldn't explain why. Then I finally noticed that my cue shaft was slightly sticking in my bridge hand, not sliding smoothly (I wear a glove). For some reason I'd waxed the shaft thinking it help it glide smoothly. But it gradually got sticky. Cleaned it up with mineral spirits and buffed it hard with a piece of leather - and my game seemed to came back (to it's usual mediocre level). Sounds weird, but I don't think it's just my imagination.

Steve
Click to expand...

That's not your imagination! Don't ever use wax on your shaft.If you want to clean it use Mr Clean Magic Eraser with a little water in it,buff and rub to your hearts desire,it will remove the blue from any chalk.It will also raise the grain of the wood so do it in steps,you don't want to get too much moisture in your shaft!Let it dry,and burnish with a good piece of leather.

That's all the maintenance that's ever needed for a shaft aside from pulling the occasional ding!

I've been wearing a glove since they came out and that's all I have ever done to my shafts.

Hope this helps
 
Focus and confidence or lack of can put you in a slump real quick.

For most shots I look at the OB last, some shots like when jacked up on the rail definitely CB last, some shots I can close my eyes :cool:
 
When I'm missing more shots than usual, it's usually due to the cue alignment relative to my eyes. I may be tilting my head a little bit, or I may have the cue aligned in the wrong spot. I've noticed that my eyes tend to change every once in a while. Sometimes I pot balls dead center with my cue aligned in the center of my chin. Sometimes it works better with my cue aligned on the right point of my chin. Can't explain it, but I know that your vision can shift on a day to day basis (ask any pilot). My vision is horrible as it is. Can't wait til I can afford more contact lenses.
 
Snapshot9 said:
pretty long to run through it in your head very many times. On a hard shot, especially cueing off the cushion sometimes, I will run 'make sure your stroke is nice and smooth' through my head a couple of times before I shoot the shot.
Click to expand...

If you really think about the entire process of making a shot that list is actually quite short. It's certainly not something I run through my head on every shot because most all of it is automatic, but when I go through a slump going through it step by step will make what you are missing stock out like a sore thumb.
 
If I see someone missing and they can't figure out why, I tell them to stop trying to miss close. Shoot the balls into the pocket.

I will also tell people to don't shoot the cueball until you know you have the
shot lined up right.

Sometimes, you can just see where to hit the ball without thinking.

If I am playing good, I don't even need to look at the pocket. I just know where to hit the balls to make them.

If I'm on a losing streak, I'll switch to a different pool cue.
 
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