Anyone else too hard on themselves when they miss?

nineballsafety8

nineballsafety8

6ft 5" 285, hits 'em hard
Silver Member
So according to all of the "rate yourself" systems out there... I fall into the B+/A- category. And lately I have been playing the ghost in 10 ball ALOT. But it seems that in the last week or so, if I miss... I am getting really bent out of shape. Like I feel as if "a player at my level" should not miss...

I know however that this is not true... as im not an A, A+, AA, AAA etc... but why all of a sudden are my personal expectations of my game so high.

What can I do to get my mind right again?
 
at times I beat myself up pretty badly but it really depends on the circumstance at the time. if you would spend some time and watch the great pros play you will see that at times, they miss some really easy shots......if you get angry and do not "let it go" then the next shot you make is in jeopardy.....if I go to shoot some for the day and in a bad mood to start with, well, that is a different story. I never ever get so angry as I witnessed this weekend in a match for $$$$, the opponent missed a shot and flipped the ball a bird! that is a little over the top. :eek:
 
I think it among other things has to do with playing the ghost where a miss is ALWAYS a loss of game.
In competition you can miss several shots and still win the game.

gr. Dave
 
Double-Dave said:
I think it among other things has to do with playing the ghost where a miss is ALWAYS a loss of game.
In competition you can miss several shots and still win the game.

gr. Dave
Click to expand...

I guess I never really thought of that... but it kinda makes sense

I guess I just need to invite some other people over to actually play some games with LOL
 
It's an interesting question really.

I think on the one hand to get really good at this game it has to hurt you when you miss. It has to be what drives you to get better.

But...

On the other hand, you have to realistic expectations. Do you really know what your make percentages really are on certain shots? I used to get so ticked off with myself whenever I would miss anything. Eventually I realized I missed some shots because I was really lying to myself about what my REAL chances of making that shot was to begin with. Having an 80% make percentage on some tougher shots can be hard to attain, but even if you can make it 8 out 10 times this will lead to A LOT of misses.

So when you are approaching a shot that is difficult and you go for it don't beat yourself up too much if you miss it but try to learn from it and practice it some more.

Now when you miss an easy one....Go absolutely ballistic!!! That's what I do anyway. I try not to I really do. :)
 
While I realize the goal of playing the ghost is to run out how do you feel about playing the ghost as follows: run out if you can or play safe when you can't. I realize that at my ability I'm not likely to run many racks, but I feel my game and chances to win will improve by learning to play good safes. Usually after playing safe I will then try to make the escape shot to practice that aspect of the game.
 
BobTfromIL said:
While I realize the goal of playing the ghost is to run out how do you feel about playing the ghost as follows: run out if you can or play safe when you can't. I realize that at my ability I'm not likely to run many racks, but I feel my game and chances to win will improve by learning to play good safes. Usually after playing safe I will then try to make the escape shot to practice that aspect of the game.
Click to expand...

If safeties were something that I needed to work on, I would agree with this, but in coming up how to play... safeties were the only way that I could avoid getting slaughtered LOL.
 
I can tell you that we all have those times. Typically I can shake off any miss fairly easily and come back strong. There is one shot that is still haunting me from like 2 months ago. State team tournament. Last game it comes down to winner of that game wins the match for his team. I break and get a few then have to play safe. He gets a good hit and my balls are still very tough. I get to the second to last ball before the 8 and I am in perfect shape for the breakout. I get the breakout but I can only see a small portion of the pocket and I need to play it off the rail around one of his balls. I line it up thinking I will make it and that the cue ball will make contact with the 8 and leave me somewhere near the 8. Well I misread it and ended up on the headrail about a diamond away from the side and the 8 ball near the spot. I take my time and line it up. For whatever reason I just didn't feel quite right and I decided to hit it anyway. My speed was terrible and I missed the pocket by half a diamond. I went on to lose that game. I have been the anchor of that team for about 8 years now and that was the first time that when it came down to the last game no matter what I needed to do I did not come through for them.

That shot haunts me. I have probably played that shot a thousand times or more since then and am probably 80% or more making it. No matter how many times I make that shot I can not shake that miss. Anybody got anything for that one?
 
I used to smash my cue and break shafts, after missing shots I'm "supposed to make".
Eventually I realized that I had myself overrated, that missing is normal, and tricky
shots are supposed to be missed once in a while. You gotta be honest about the shots,
you can't look at an 80% shot and call it a 95% shot. You're gonna miss it approximately
1 out of 5 like clockwork, and that's assuming everything is working normally.

Knowing that my fundamentals are a little wrong, I see it as "OK, what did I do
that caused that and how do I fix it", I no longer get pissed unless I was truly careless
and missed a 100% shot due to treating it casually.

If you avoid playing careless, and put a full effort into the shot, then there's no reason to be mad.
All you can ask of yourself is that you give it a full honest effort. If you did that and still
missed, then look at it as a puzzle to solve and not "I'm such a dumbass, why don't I make those???"
 
I know for a fact that WHEN I miss... it's one of TWO things 99.9% of the time. A stoke error (jumping up or steering), or I looked at the cueball last instead of the OB.

Guaranteed that almost ALL of my misses are one of those two things... so frustrating.

I should caveat that with... when I am shooting a shot that I am supposed to make.
 
CreeDo said:
I used to smash my cue and break shafts, after missing shots I'm "supposed to make".
Eventually I realized that I had myself overrated, that missing is normal, and tricky
shots are supposed to be missed once in a while. You gotta be honest about the shots,
you can't look at an 80% shot and call it a 95% shot. You're gonna miss it approximately
1 out of 5 like clockwork, and that's assuming everything is working normally.

Knowing that my fundamentals are a little wrong, I see it as "OK, what did I do
that caused that and how do I fix it", I no longer get pissed unless I was truly careless
and missed a 100% shot due to treating it casually.

If you avoid playing careless, and put a full effort into the shot, then there's no reason to be mad.
All you can ask of yourself is that you give it a full honest effort. If you did that and still
missed, then look at it as a puzzle to solve and not "I'm such a dumbass, why don't I make those???"
Click to expand...

If ever two guys said about the same exact thing -- I think this is the case. :thumbup:

You must be a really smart guy or somethin'.
 
yes I was hard on myself just this weekend on a miss and it cost me the match in a tournament.

It was the match before the hot seat and my opp won the toss broke dry, I ran that rack then broke and ran the next 2 was on the way to a 3rd BR got straight in on the 8 needing to draw half way down table for the 9. Didn't follow thru stopped it instead leaving a tough cut on the 9 which I missed.

And I couldn't let that shot go caused me to miss the next 3 shots and the match to go hill hill which I lost. Did finish 4th in tournament though
 
poolhustler said:
Just do what I do.......Drink More!!
Click to expand...

I'm on this plan :p

(Not really....ok, sometimes...less now than before...honestly, heh heh)

I have tried to get better at this. I don't get as angry as I used to. It does still happen, especially on those shots "that I'm supposed to make" (there's that phrase again)....

I've really tried to reign it in. Anything longer than half the table, I can let it go most of the time. The 2-3 footers, tho, I can't help myself. Even if its a tougher cut, etc. It's usually because I'm too focused on getting shape. And its frustrating to let myself make that mistake as often as I do.

Tough game, this pool.
 
I beat myself up pretty bad at home but out at league I am more composed. I still can't beat the ghost I get close but miss usually last 1 or two balls.
 
I literally had the worst APA nights ever last night. I had just came from a video game convention and had to take off early to make it to league. As captain I had to be there. I'm a 6, so it's pretty expected of me to be great, but that didn't happen. I played possibly the worst pool ever against a 5, who in reality should be at least a 6 (damn APA ranking system). I lost 4-0, and to make matters worse for me, I had to ghost the following match, because nobody else on my team shows up anymore. I played a 7, and lost 5-0. I beat myself up so hard that I literally called it quits. I'm done captaining a team who rarely shows up to play and I'm fed up with the APA and its ridiculous regulations.
 
I do more than I should...

I'm hard on myself on the reg. I play on gold crowns, I'm only a solid C level, if I'm playing really really well I may beat the ghost...I've posted before about my terrible stroke. I've broken shafts, etc.

I'm not one known as a whiner, I'm pretty quiet actually. But just have to realize that I'm a C not an A. There are literally millions of things that can happen in the game that more often than not comes down to millimeters, and I've re-evaluated myself now to where consistency is now what separates me and not really ability.

Everyone who knows how to play and has the feel can break and run, I mean I do it only at most three times a night. I try to concentrate more on the things I see improvement in rather than the balls I miss, its the nature of the beast. The difference between a C and B+ is the correlation between shot making/position play. If we didn't do it to ourselves we would all be pros :)

If you did drills for 8 hours a day and were still missing then I'd say break a cue LOL but we're only humans :) and that's why the game remains fun.
 
dragon_beard said:
I literally had the worst APA nights ever last night. I had just came from a video game convention and had to take off early to make it to league. As captain I had to be there. I'm a 6, so it's pretty expected of me to be great, but that didn't happen. I played possibly the worst pool ever against a 5, who in reality should be at least a 6 (damn APA ranking system). I lost 4-0, and to make matters worse for me, I had to ghost the following match, because nobody else on my team shows up anymore. I played a 7, and lost 5-0. I beat myself up so hard that I literally called it quits. I'm done captaining a team who rarely shows up to play and I'm fed up with the APA and its ridiculous regulations.
Click to expand...

Why would anyone want to play in a league,where nothing is what it seems? A 6 playing a 5 (who should be a 6) and losing 4-0. Huh. How do you lose to a 7 4-0 ?









0
 
pool is a two player game(most of the time.)

nineballsafety8 said:
So according to all of the "rate yourself" systems out there... I fall into the B+/A- category. And lately I have been playing the ghost in 10 ball ALOT. But it seems that in the last week or so, if I miss... I am getting really bent out of shape. Like I feel as if "a player at my level" should not miss...

I know however that this is not true... as im not an A, A+, AA, AAA etc... but why all of a sudden are my personal expectations of my game so high.

What can I do to get my mind right again?
Click to expand...
The only way to rate yourself is only measured by tour results or you vs another player at money game.Only from these outcomes you must rate yourself at the better game human invented :wink:
Do not be too hard on yourself enjoy the game always even.. when you are 2000$ down at money games,there is always another day .
 
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