Do you play to win or excel at game?

A

Ak147

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What is your mindset before going into a competitive/money game specially if you are up against better/unknown opponent.

e.g. I have to win this game or I am going to play my best game and not thinking about the result.

Does it change during the match when you are leading (on hill) or trailing significantly?

For me having win/result on mind put extra pressure on me and affects my game. So I try not to think about result or ahead of time.

Guess what I am trying to ask is - what should be the right mindset for game?
 
I think they should kinda go hand in hand. If I play my best and don't win, I was in a bad game. I should have matched up better. Ha
 
You should only set short term goals that you know are within your control. A goal of "I will play as well as I can" or "I wont make xyz stupid error that I did last time" can give you focus and motivation to help you play better. A goal of "I'm going to beat this guy" or "I'm going to win this tournament today" will only put more pressure on you if it happens to be a close match which can often come about through sheer bad luck.
 
Playing for money I don't care how well I play. Finding a way to win is the only thing that matters. Game selection is important - the opponent, the setting, the time. I'll never take money from someone who is drunk if I am sober though or from someone who can't afford to lose their money.

In a tournament just play the best I can - there's a lot of luck involved and I'll win if I play well enough and run well enough.

In a league game - a bit of both as it all ends in beers anyway.

I think my mentality is about right for the level I play at. At a higher level I'd need to be more ruthless.
 
Swighey said:
Playing for money I don't care how well I play. Finding a way to win is the only thing that matters. Game selection is important - the opponent, the setting, the time. I'll never take money from someone who is drunk if I am sober though or from someone who can't afford to lose their money.

In a tournament just play the best I can - there's a lot of luck involved and I'll win if I play well enough and run well enough.

In a league game - a bit of both as it all ends in beers anyway.

I think my mentality is about right for the level I play at. At a higher level I'd need to be more ruthless.
Click to expand...

And what level would you consider that to be?
 
I play to excel. Screw winning! Winning is for suckers. I'd rather come in second place any day as long as I excelled. I've dedicated my whole live to excelling and I'm one of the best excellers I know of. I may go out a loser, but by God people are going to say. "Hey, that guy excelled." :smile:
 
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just do it

when i am playing i am playing ...dont think
all the knowledge,experience (30+years....) do the work
i mean if i got play safe i play safe
if i got to run out i run out
everything else must not come to the pool table
pool is simple
when you practice you practise
when you play (money game or tournament game or killing time game with an opponent)
you play
JUST DO IT
DONT THINK PLAY
 
I used to play more for exceling the game but later I went towards winning because that lead better/wiser shot selection. One have to balance between these. Too much winning oriented game leads for anger too easily and your fundamentals suffer. Too much exceling on the game leads low % shots too often and tactical aspect of game suffers too.
 
The right shot is the winning shot...for you.
Pool is a war game...like chess.

If you don't play winning shots, you'll never understand the game.
 
My mindset is to devastate and destroy my opponent. Shock and Awe. Take no prisoners...blah, blah, blah.
 
Ak147 said:
What is your mindset before going into a competitive/money game specially if you are up against better/unknown opponent.

e.g. I have to win this game or I am going to play my best game and not thinking about the result.

Does it change during the match when you are leading (on hill) or trailing significantly?

For me having win/result on mind put extra pressure on me and affects my game. So I try not to think about result or ahead of time.

Guess what I am trying to ask is - what should be the right mindset for game?
Click to expand...

When I play in a cheap tournament, I play to play my best, if I don't, I usually just give them the last few balls if I see an easy layout or just give them the set so I can go read or watch a video or watch my son play or whatever else there is to do. I'd rather just go relax that get frustrated with missing shots or playing bad safeties. If I have to pay more than $10 to enter, then I try to win no matter how I play.
 
Practice to excel and play to win. If you play to excel, your pride comes into play and puts extra pressure on you. Pride and fear of losing face are the most common reasons players get angry when they play. Winning is about being humble and taking one shot at a time and paradoxally forgetting about winning all together. If you concentrate on winning, you will lose focus and add another notch of extra pressure on you.
 
Ak147 said:
What is your mindset before going into a competitive/money game specially if you are up against better/unknown opponent.

e.g. I have to win this game or I am going to play my best game and not thinking about the result.

Does it change during the match when you are leading (on hill) or trailing significantly?

For me having win/result on mind put extra pressure on me and affects my game. So I try not to think about result or ahead of time.

Guess what I am trying to ask is - what should be the right mindset for game?
Click to expand...

I think both. At first you want to get better but when you start competing you want to win. Also once you reach a certain level of play you may become lazy and languish.

That is what I did even when I owner a pool room I still was too lazy to do the extra it took to play my best. I played good but I could have played better.
 
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