Ever Overthink a Shot and Miss?

504Billiards said:
and instead of getting up and re-doing it, I took the shot and, of course, missed either the object ball or the cue ball setup
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Been there done that. Then seated in my chair the hind sight is 20 /20. 🤷‍♂️ It's easier to digest a miss when I am confident it was my best effort. A miss when there was a slight indecision leaves a much worse taste and for a longer time.
I enjoy watching snooker and have seen Ronnie O'Sullivan get up off the shot and start over. His isn't a slow dance but the steps are consistent, right down to the chalk to the tip and back to the pocket as he thinks.
 
504Billiards said:
It's always valuable to have outsiders watch and make suggestions based on what they see.
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Well? Have you heard the one about a camel is a horse built by committee?
Outsiders is a broad brush. 🤷‍♂️ CAUTION
I had the good fortune of asking for lessons from Backward Jan. I knew him as a Road Player that traveled the west coast with the seasons. My logic was that a road player needed to be able to read a person's ability quickly and accurately. My lessons started with a commitment. Rule number 1 was to not discuss my lessons with others. While in lessons, Rail birds advise is worth less than nothing. Shirley some would deride his methods. Just because a player is good doesn't mean they can teach. Teaching is a skill. Jan had that skill. His lessons were valuable. They did require a full commitment and practice to perfect. An hour a day of practice and NO Gambling while in lessons. 6 weeks at 1 lesson a week was money well spent. I recovered it the first week after he left the north to winter in the south.
And oh yeah, I thought I was a B+ player at the time. Rule number 2 was we go back to the Basics. That meant for the first week I worked on the dance steps. Period! The pre shot routine was something I thought was beneath my level of play. Oh boy was I rewarded for the commitment. It took years but I did get to a Master rating in the Northwest regionals.
My advice would be to take unsolicited advice with caution. 😉 I would be just as cautious in who I select to ask for advice. The response of, "let's go back to the basics" to an advice solicitation would be Pure Gold.
 
Speaking of committee, most people do a half assed job on themselves and then blame the method. I'm from the school that knows certain aspects of any craft have to addressed separately and micromanaged. Ok, well who but fanatics have time for competence? TS...
 
OK, this post is probably going to run a little long or a lot long, three more or less separate things:

As Greg and others have mentioned. Think standing. If you can't quit thinking or are uncomfortable with the shot, stand up! If your mind absolutely will not quieten in the down position, think one word related to the shot or a very short phrase. My mantra is "smooth" whether I am shooting pool or five steel plates in just over two seconds. I use it for almost any activity.

On to my pet peeve, keep thinking three shots ahead! Nope, don't do it. That means that you have to think after every shot and I am trying to make the entire inning one continuous action. It can't be if I have to stand up and add a ball after every shot. I plan my path to a safety or past the money ball every inning. Notice I said past the money ball. I know where the cue ball is going on the money ball shot too and I planned it at the beginning of the inning. Call that information a freebie, one more thing left to talk about.

Information. Information is a valuable commodity. Watch the other player carefully for any information large or small they might give away. Try to give away as little as possible yourself. You know where you want the cue ball after the shot, locking your eyes there a second or two can drive that home if you feel the need. Point the cue at that spot and you just announced the spot to the world and everyone including your opponent can evaluate how well you are shooting. We can give out false tells and I sometimes did, especially indicating shots I didn't like. I was like Br'er Rabbit, "please don't throw me in that briar patch!" Usually wasted effort, a lot of other things to focus on.

A piece of candy to close with, most players shoot too hard most of the time! As the Eagles sang, take it easy!

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
OK, this post is probably going to run a little long or a lot long, three more or less separate things:

As Greg and others have mentioned. Think standing. If you can't quit thinking or are uncomfortable with the shot, stand up! If your mind absolutely will not quieten in the down position, think one word related to the shot or a very short phrase. My mantra is "smooth" whether I am shooting pool or five steel plates in just over two seconds. I use it for almost any activity.

On to my pet peeve, keep thinking three shots ahead! Nope, don't do it. That means that you have to think after every shot and I am trying to make the entire inning one continuous action. It can't be if I have to stand up and add a ball after every shot. I plan my path to a safety or past the money ball every inning. Notice I said past the money ball. I know where the cue ball is going on the money ball shot too and I planned it at the beginning of the inning. Call that information a freebie, one more thing left to talk about.

Information. Information is a valuable commodity. Watch the other player carefully for any information large or small they might give away. Try to give away as little as possible yourself. You know where you want the cue ball after the shot, locking your eyes there a second or two can drive that home if you feel the need. Point the cue at that spot and you just announced the spot to the world and everyone including your opponent can evaluate how well you are shooting. We can give out false tells and I sometimes did, especially indicating shots I didn't like. I was like Br'er Rabbit, "please don't throw me in that briar patch!" Usually wasted effort, a lot of other things to focus on.

A piece of candy to close with, most players shoot too hard most of the time! As the Eagles sang, take it easy!

Hu
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wow good stuff in there. thanks
 
My problem isn't so much over-thinking the shot, it's re-thinking (second guessing) which shot would be best. When I do this, I usually miss....but I still do it. 🤦‍♂️
 
For some reason this thread reminds me of a shot that was a dead nuts
combination into the corner with the 9... to win the set.... and who knows
why but I decided I had to throw it. Ugh It only cost me $40, but I'm still
ticked off! :-/

That was over 40 years ago!

td
 
"Think long, think wrong"

Anyone over a 600 Fargo should see the correct shot in a few seconds for 95% of situations. Sure there are some times where they're are options, but one option is usually as good as the other. Pick your shot and shoot it confidently and things will usually work out.

For me, it's 40+ years of play combined with watching tons of pro pool.... I just see the shots very fast relative to most people I play against. Not saying I always execute them. :)
 
gregcantrall said:
My mantra is, "Don't make A ball unless I have a plan to make them all."
In the event that I let the cueball stray. I must revise the plan. So the path might change or safety become the shot if I don't see a way to "Make Em all", 🤷‍♂️ I have run racks with multiple revisions. 🤷‍♂️
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Yup, I have ran countless racks with some revisions required!(grin) However, when I make the revision it is once again to a planned safety or runout. When I played my best pool I very rarely stumbled into a safety after a shot. I often played a safety several shots before I had to because it led to a much stronger safety.

While I will make a ball or three to set up a monster safety I think the philosophy behind my play and your "don't make a ball if you can't make them all is basically the same. If I can't make the money ball I try to leave the opponent the nastiest runout possible! If that means safety on my first shot or later, whatever works.

Funny how out of hundreds of thousands, even millions of shots, there are a few that haunt us! That would be a fun thread. Name the one shot or up to three that have haunted you for years.

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
basically the same.
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Yes! Basic is just the foundation. The chin on hand starts there. The computation starts there. The next logic loop includes advantages and disadvantages as various solutions are considered.. 1739904871854.jpeg
As in chess I "prefer" more pieces. Often providing blocks. Or repositioning for leveraging angles.
My favorite memory of an 8 ball game came playing Rafael Martinez on a 7 foot table. I held him off for a half hour! He won but I had fun. 🤷‍♂️ We still won the team tournament. .
 
gregcantrall said:
Yes! Basic is just the foundation. The chin on hand starts there. The computation starts there. The next logic loop includes advantages and disadvantages as various solutions are considered..View attachment 808369
As in chess I "prefer" more pieces. Often providing blocks. Or repositioning for leveraging angles.
My favorite memory of an 8 ball game came playing Rafael Martinez on a 7 foot table. I held him off for a half hour! He won but I had fun. 🤷‍♂️ We still won the team tournament. .
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I used to play chess with a very high level genius. Neither of us were particularly chess players, just played a lot at work in slow times. I knew he was playing about seven moves ahead, any logical move, so I made an illogical move every three to five moves. He rarely beat me! One of my more common moves between amateurs was swapping queens. Few expected me to sacrifice my queen to take theirs but I often played without a queen while it usually threw other amateurs off balance. Same with rooks. Often my early play was mass carnage!(grin)

Hu
 
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