Inconsistencies When Catching a Gear

[Kris_b1104]

Does this happen to many of you or is it just me? Some days I would go out playing with my friends and from the very FIRST game, I come out guns blazing, pocketing everything and running out. Then after about 5 or 6 games, I go from playing lights out to an APA 3, after I have a considerably big lead over my friends, only to have them catch up to me.

Then, on a completely different day, I would start out playing terrible, and then about an hour before we are about to leave, then is the time my stroke decides to come to me :frown: I play lights out, but by this time it doesn't even matter because I still won't be able to catch up to their score before we leave. We are very competitive right now and always keep score, sometimes the person with the least win/loss ratio has to foot the bill or has to buy drinks after or whatever the case may be.

What is the cause of this inconsistency? I feel like it's focus, but even on the days that I play terrible from the start, I feel like I am focused as much as when I'm playing great.

Ahhh, the life of a pool player

 

[macneilb]

My best advice would be to make a conscious effort to develop a routine in how you shoot. That lends itself to consistency, and consistency is the difference between good and great. Like you mentioned, we all have moments where we're shooting lights out for a certain period of time, and then we go into a mode/slump where we're not - that's inconsistency. You don't want to be a player that has "that gear" that you can slip in and out of, you want to be one that is consistently just playing at that high level. While players with that high gear like Keith are always fun to watch, Buddy is one of my all time favorites because he was so damn consistent, he hit everything almost the same way, smooth and methodically.

A big positive is knowing the fact that you can play at that high level means you have the potential to shoot great. You just have to figure out a way NOT to prolong how long you can do it - but to figure out a routine to adhere to so that that high level just becomes that way you shoot by default / habit.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

Aristotle

 

[Kris_b1104]

My best advice would be to make a conscious effort to develop a routine in how you shoot. That lends itself to consistency, and consistency is the difference between good and great. Like you mentioned, we all have moments where we're shooting lights out for a certain period of time, and then we go into a mode/slump where we're not - that's inconsistency. You don't want to be a player that has "that gear" that you can slip in and out of, you want to be one that is consistently just playing at that high level. While players with that high gear like Keith are always fun to watch, Buddy is one of my all time favorites because he was so damn consistent, he hit everything almost the same way, smooth and methodically.

A big positive is knowing the fact that you can play at that high level means you have the potential to shoot great. You just have to figure out a way NOT to prolong how long you can do it - but to figure out a routine to adhere to so that that high level just becomes that way you shoot by default / habit.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

Aristotle

Thanks for this! I'm probably focusing on the wrong things, maybe I need to go back to my fundamentals every time. Definitely will try to do better tonight.