Please explain this

mvp

mvp

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've played my whole life (aprox 30yrs) 10 of which were pretty serious. For whatever reasons I got bored/platue in skill so I quit playing, fast forward about 2yrs I recently subbed for a league and ran 3/4 games, brushed it off as lucky and 2weeks ago I played a match up tourny with old friends and out of the 7games I broke I ran 6 tables. So here lies my question: I was pretty good, a strong apa7 but still a lower b player. Why I'm I shooting so good? Pressure? Concentration? But when I played in my home I think I only ran 1-2 out of 20 or so games. This has to be a mental thing because I've proven I can play good. What do you REAL instructors think? Have you heard of people improving by not playing much?
 
Bob, im not joking at all, my best guess is I have no fear of losing because I have an excuse if I play bad? or maybe I'm really focused/not overthinking or my last guess is that there's no pressure or expectations! But when I play in my home this week im not as good as I should be. I'm trying to figure what all this means
 
I've seen it a few times. The most likely cause is that when you were playing a lot, you had some bad habits creep in which limited your play. Taking time off, you forgot how to do those bad habits, and started right out playing like you were supposed to be playing all along. If you aren't careful, those bad habits will creep in again, and your play will drop.

Another possibility, is that when you came back, you really payed attention to just what you were doing. Often, when playing a lot, people tend to get sloppy and not really pay attention. That is when the bad habits creep in.
 
Neil said:
I've seen it a few times. The most likely cause is that when you were playing a lot, you had some bad habits creep in which limited your play. Taking time off, you forgot how to do those bad habits, and started right out playing like you were supposed to be playing all along. If you aren't careful, those bad habits will creep in again, and your play will drop.

Another possibility, is that when you came back, you really payed attention to just what you were doing. Often, when playing a lot, people tend to get sloppy and not really pay attention. That is when the bad habits creep in.
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I agree with both of these, especially paying closer attention. In fact, I think lots of improvements happen as a result of simply paying closer attention to something.

pj
chgo
 
I'm willing to bet it has to do with your level of focus. Clearly you had some level of skill in the past but something was keeping your at a plateau.

It's unlikely that your skill has improved without practice so it's probably some aspect of your mental game that has improved. It could be a lack of fear or improved focus now that you no longer have the burden of performance expectations upon you.
 
You probably aren't hitting the ball any better but your planning and attention to detail in running out is likely improving. When you play a lot you get used to certain run outs and if you picked and remembered some bad runouts you tend to stick with them. When you come back from a break you pay attention because you doubt your abilities and tend to pick the simpler higher percentage options.

Either way, keep it up.
 
mvp said:
I've played my whole life (aprox 30yrs) 10 of which were pretty serious. For whatever reasons I got bored/platue in skill so I quit playing, fast forward about 2yrs I recently subbed for a league and ran 3/4 games, brushed it off as lucky and 2weeks ago I played a match up tourny with old friends and out of the 7games I broke I ran 6 tables. So here lies my question: I was pretty good, a strong apa7 but still a lower b player. Why I'm I shooting so good? Pressure? Concentration? But when I played in my home I think I only ran 1-2 out of 20 or so games. This has to be a mental thing because I've proven I can play good. What do you REAL instructors think? Have you heard of people improving by not playing much?
Click to expand...

You got rid of the thing that was holding you back before. I suspect it had to do with your expectations. Often, trying to meet our expectations causes us to fumble. When you stop putting pressure on yourself to perform at a certain level, it allows you to relax and just play. The result is that you're playing more to your potential than before.

The hard part is to not let those expectations creep back into your game. Just play. Focus on the table and stay out of your head.
 
you guys all seem to agree on my improved focus and concentration but how do you really know if my bad habits start to creep in? Is this performance detected only? I appreciate you all for responding and I bet you will never guess where I'm spending the wknd! Lol
 
If it was me, and the weather was nice it would be on the bike in your avatar.

:wink:

mvp said:
you guys all seem to agree on my improved focus and concentration but how do you really know if my bad habits start to creep in? Is this performance detected only? I appreciate you all for responding and I bet you will never guess where I'm spending the wknd! Lol
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