How to Develop Confidence to Battle the Champions

CJ Wiley

ESPN WORLD OPEN CHAMPION
Gold Member
Silver Member
I've been in Florida for over 4 months working on a significant business deal. Yes, it's pool related, and no, I can't comment on it yet. It is something that will positively influence pool to be more entertaining, exciting and strategic, so I'm looking forward to sharing it asap.
 

Rusty in Montana

Well-known member
Thank you for addressing this issue , many year's ago when I was seriously doing my best to learn the game of pool and become more accomplished as a player I met and became friends with Frank McGowan who helped me with some thing's but more importantly gave me the opportunity to meet other world class players that I was given the chance to play against .
I didn't win many games but it did instill a desire to practice and get better , for that I'm eternally grateful .
I'm the first to admit that there's a great deal I need to improve on with my game and chances are there always will be .
Yes I certainly miss them since they all have passed away or moved out of state.
Allan
 

CJ Wiley

ESPN WORLD OPEN CHAMPION
Gold Member
Silver Member
Thank you for addressing this issue , many year's ago when I was seriously doing my best to learn the game of pool and become more accomplished as a player I met and became friends with Frank McGowan who helped me with some thing's but more importantly gave me the opportunity to meet other world class players that I was given the chance to play against .
I didn't win many games but it did instill a desire to practice and get better , for that I'm eternally grateful .
I'm the first to admit that there's a great deal I need to improve on with my game and chances are there always will be .
Yes I certainly miss them since they all have passed away or moved out of state.
Allan
That's great that you had that opportunity with Frank, it's priceless to tap into that degree of knowledge.

The main reason players don't have confidence is because they are unwilling to show courage, which is the ability to do the right thing no matter what the personal consequences. I remember several times in my life when I was forced to show courage, and, at the time, didn't want to....but I had older, more seasoned players pushing me and I'm eternally grateful they did.

I don't think it's important to gamble, especially for amounts of money that would hurt you if you lost. I believe it's better to play in tournaments with better players and force yourself to play in front of an audience, on streaming video or whatever makes you the most uncomfortable (at first) and I'll assure you it will build your confidence more than winning against players of your own caliber.

The Game is the Teacher
 

Rusty in Montana

Well-known member
I totally agree gambling is fine for some but playing in local bar room tournaments is a great way to improve your game !
Even if it's a blind draw tournament it'll make you step up and play if you don't draw a partner that's capable to play on or above your level .
My seniors pool league teammates and I would meet at whatever bar we were to be playing at that week , and we played for the table or loser racks granted it isn't much but still gambling on a innocent level if you would .

Frank was very helpful as was Grady Mathews and Cowboy Jimmy Moore even if they were available for a short while .
On the down side watching Jimmy play could develop bad habits if you tried to emulate his slip stroke ha ha .
Then there was Billy and Lance Saunders who were accomplished players in their own right , Billy has passed away and I understand Lance lives in Iowa ?
One of my prized possessions is my Billy Buska custom bar cue similar to what Lance played with back then which was my introduction to a " Sneaky Pete " pool cue .

I don't mean to hijack you're thread honestly I've mentioned this to give folks another idea to expand the possibilities to improve their game which may come in a unconventional form .
In other words take advantage of any opportunity to play within you're means as mentioned above the Game is the teacher.
Allan
 

CJ Wiley

ESPN WORLD OPEN CHAMPION
Gold Member
Silver Member
I totally agree gambling is fine for some but playing in local bar room tournaments is a great way to improve your game !
Even if it's a blind draw tournament it'll make you step up and play if you don't draw a partner that's capable to play on or above your level .
My seniors pool league teammates and I would meet at whatever bar we were to be playing at that week , and we played for the table or loser racks granted it isn't much but still gambling on a innocent level if you would .

Frank was very helpful as was Grady Mathews and Cowboy Jimmy Moore even if they were available for a short while .
On the down side watching Jimmy play could develop bad habits if you tried to emulate his slip stroke ha ha .
Then there was Billy and Lance Saunders who were accomplished players in their own right , Billy has passed away and I understand Lance lives in Iowa ?
One of my prized possessions is my Billy Buska custom bar cue similar to what Lance played with back then which was my introduction to a " Sneaky Pete " pool cue .

I don't mean to hijack you're thread honestly I've mentioned this to give folks another idea to expand the possibilities to improve their game which may come in a unconventional form .
In other words take advantage of any opportunity to play within you're means as mentioned above the Game is the teacher.
Allan
I haven't heard some of those names in 20+ years, so thanks for the memories! Cowboy Jimmy Moore had a classic slip stroke, like Cornbread Red they could get some serious power using that technique. Modern day players like Chip Compton and Josh Roberts use a slip stroke but it's not as pronounced as Cornbread and Cowboy!
 

Rusty in Montana

Well-known member
I'll be the first to admit I was fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time to of met these players come to think of it I met and played Steve Mizerak is a exhibition game .
What a gentleman he was !
My point is that practice is important with a strong foundation and mechanics and keep a open mind and look over the table while setting up a road map to success if you will to get another win or through a rack of balls depending on what game you're playing .
While being open to suggestions and when given the opportunity watch and make mental notes of what happens when this or that happens when your watching a video of a match or in person of quantity players .
 

boogieman

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
Courage is a great skill to build. When relating to shot selection, I think we have to know when we're being courageous, and when we're fooling ourselves into taking a low percentage shot. They aren't the same thing. It often takes a lot of courage to play a safe when it's proper to do so. You must trust that your safe will change the game to your favor, and not just sell out. It definitely takes courage to give up your spot at the table.

The real trippy thing is that if you get comfortable with safety play, it can get hard to build the courage to finish off a rack. 8 ball, should I run the last 4 balls, or should I shoot one and play safe? Safety play is of the utmost importance, but unless you have the courage to switch into offense mode at the proper time, you may give up any chance at winning.
 

CJ Wiley

ESPN WORLD OPEN CHAMPION
Gold Member
Silver Member
Courage is a great skill to build. When relating to shot selection, I think we have to know when we're being courageous, and when we're fooling ourselves into taking a low percentage shot. They aren't the same thing. It often takes a lot of courage to play a safe when it's proper to do so. You must trust that your safe will change the game to your favor, and not just sell out. It definitely takes courage to give up your spot at the table.

The real trippy thing is that if you get comfortable with safety play, it can get hard to build the courage to finish off a rack. 8 ball, should I run the last 4 balls, or should I shoot one and play safe? Safety play is of the utmost importance, but unless you have the courage to switch into offense mode at the proper time, you may give up any chance at winning.
Yes, this shouldn't be an issue, but because of the rule changes to "One Foul" players try to win games by playing safe.
Back when we played 'Two Shot Shoot Out' (Push Out) this wasn't a factor, you had to WIN every game. Safety play should be to set up a winning shot, not to force someone to kick, miss the kick, get an easy ball-in-hand and run out.

The rules we use in rotation games have diluted the game down significantly, I'd say it's just 33% of what it could be AND it's made players less aggressive which is boring since there's not as many great shots attempted and made!
 

boogieman

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
I have to say thanks for talking about the technique at around 2 min in the video.

I really enjoyed trying out this technique last night and will continue to do so. I sub for a team on a non handicapped league and I just got over pneumonia so I was about 2 weeks rusty on the table. I lost my first two matches by making a couple small mistakes. I tried the technique and:

what you've done is become more in tune with the room and you can ignore everything but pool and what you need to do on the table. You're grounded and it's like tunnel vision you get in dead stroke. It's pretty damn amazing, might not work for everyone, but it put me in the ZONE. No distractions and I could properly set my intent. I won two games in a row against much stronger players and it looked like I was toying with both of them. I even gave one guy BIH purposely because I knew he was scared to break out one of the two clusters and would shoot his blocker "duck" out of my way. There was no way to win unless one of us made a mistake. The thing he didn't account for was that my "mistake" was an inescapable trap. He knew his duck had to be made, but I got a read on him, he would refuse to do so and shot himself into worse trouble. I wasn't feeling particularly mean or anything, but I made sure to roll his duck into the pocket as I was getting pinpoint shape on the 8. There's no way I have the focus to do this normally and would usually have sold out through impatience.

I'd say my focus level was at peak and it was so easy to maintain. I'm excited to keep using this and see where it gets me. I've also heard about this technique when looking for tips on dealing with ADD. It's a grounding technique that is suggested for dealing with anxiety/adhd/some forms of autism/and other issues that can cause over stimulation. It's pretty rad to feel fully grounded, the background distractions vanish and you get the good old tunnel vision. It's absolutely nuts, I'm not great at reading people. I can read them, but it takes effort to do so. Last night, it was almost like I could hear their internal dialog by observing the opponent's body language and use that stuff to my advantage. You can tell quite easily what shots a player is good or bad at by simply observing. You can't really observe if you're distracted and not grounded.

They used to say that good players showed up at least 30 min before a game so their eyes could adjust from the daylight to the dim pool halls. It's like that but you can get it to happen instantly.
 

CJ Wiley

ESPN WORLD OPEN CHAMPION
Gold Member
Silver Member
I have to say thanks for talking about the technique at around 2 min in the video.

I really enjoyed trying out this technique last night and will continue to do so. I sub for a team on a non handicapped league and I just got over pneumonia so I was about 2 weeks rusty on the table. I lost my first two matches by making a couple small mistakes. I tried the technique and:



I'd say my focus level was at peak and it was so easy to maintain. I'm excited to keep using this and see where it gets me. I've also heard about this technique when looking for tips on dealing with ADD. It's a grounding technique that is suggested for dealing with anxiety/adhd/some forms of autism/and other issues that can cause over stimulation. It's pretty rad to feel fully grounded, the background distractions vanish and you get the good old tunnel vision. It's absolutely nuts, I'm not great at reading people. I can read them, but it takes effort to do so. Last night, it was almost like I could hear their internal dialog by observing the opponent's body language and use that stuff to my advantage. You can tell quite easily what shots a player is good or bad at by simply observing. You can't really observe if you're distracted and not grounded.

They used to say that good players showed up at least 30 min before a game so their eyes could adjust from the daylight to the dim pool halls. It's like that but you can get it to happen instantly.
You're welcome, these techniques can be used in many aspects of life and competition.

I always recommend the books 'Zen in the Art of Archery' and 'The Mental Edge' to players that are striving for greatness. I have a professional player in Europe that is playing in the world championships this year reading and doing the written exercises in 'The Mental Edge' - it's brought several things to his attention and I answer his specific questions to help him reach his full potential mentally (and physically, he's also a martial artist). The mental game in pool is complex but anyone can improve if they are willing to challenge themselves, this usually means practicing techniques that are uncomfortable.......looking back they will see they were just growing pains.

The Game is the Teacher
 
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