Interesting Insights from Rory Mcllroy's Psych Doc

trob said:
That’s the dumbest thing I’ve read on this forum in a long while 🤣 not everyone who becomes a champion is an idiot savant. why would you learn everything on your own when there are people out there that already gone through it or studied it and now can pass that info on to you? This is like saying anyone that needed a teacher to learn how to read is an idiot who needs a crutch to learn 😂

everyone do yourself a favor.. don’t compare yourself and how you learn or what equipment you play with to people who were born with natural god given ability that you weren’t. Everyone has their own journey
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You do realize the thread is about psych coaching? Not swing coaching. Most champions at some point got some swing coaching, that's pretty normal. Psych coaching, on the other hand, I can't think of many who really relied on it. You have your same head after the psych coaching that you did before.

However, the veracity of your response leads me to believe that in some rare cases, maybe psych helping is needing. I hope you are successful in receiving it.

All the best,
WW
 
billiards_watch said:
I have taken up weight training and lifting a lot of weights to supplement my pool game. I also do a lot of cardio. I do it for pool and not for my well being. LOL

Before anyone talk about anything with training and coaches you need to ask yourself do you train for pool? Is it overkill? Perhaps. I have treated pool like its a sport similar to basketball and football. LOL

Yes it has helped my pool game tremendously.

I may make a thread on this. How many of you guys train to play pool?
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I have some answers for this that well could get longish wink.
I have trained to play. I have training in more sports than most.
So I will hold off for your training thread.
Oh and Yes my training paid off. The money I could make playing pool was a fine hobby, just like my gold prospecting.
My training got me too a Master ranking in the Northwest BCA. Two first place finishes as a Senior, 9 ball and 8 ball got me kicked to the A devision where a 4th in the 9 ball kicked me up to Master. 🤷‍♂️
I know a thing or 2 about training.
 
JPB2 said:
Well, it is a mistake I make sometimes. If I am interested in something I tend to read about it. I am not perfect about it or anything. I feel like I could better use some of the information out there. But I read and then tend to have a shelf of books on it. So I have golf and pool books. Used to play some poker and had books. I guess I assume that others who are interested read the information out there. Some don’t learn much that way, OK. But if there is info out there why wouldn’t a competitor want to avail themselves of it.
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Just figured your game was about as good as it gets. Didn't think you needed any of that.
 
WildWing said:
You do realize the thread is about psych coaching? Not swing coaching. Most champions at some point got some swing coaching, that's pretty normal. Psych coaching, on the other hand, I can't think of many who really relied on it. You have your same head after the psych coaching that you did before.

However, the veracity of your response leads me to believe that in some rare cases, maybe psych helping is needing. I hope you are successful in receiving it.

All the best,
WW
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In all fairness to the old school players, none of that was available to us. Only mentioned perhaps in certain circles, as were tips about shots, stroke, etc... you paid for the info. Some high, some low, but finding a good mentor or player to learn from, one who would show you the nuances of this game was rare indeed. In my experience anyway.
You got that you paid for. I consider myself well read, but didn't hear about those type books until I hit my mid 20s, maybe later. Not sure they had even been published yet.
File that under all the other crap I've forgotten. Would fill the Titanic's hold .🤣🤣
 
lfigueroa said:
Interesting to read the comments on this.

The truth is not everyone can appreciate a well written haiku and its simple, subtle, insightful lines; or maybe see the light in a Sargent portrait; or just be able to know that you don't know what you don't know.

But do you know what? If you're a ham and egger just pounding balls into the rubber at you local APA soirée you are not going to understand a lot of stuff like this. Blessedly, many folks see that Trevino, Snead, or Nelson would never be competitive on today's tour, even with the latest equipment (or Coke bottle ;-)

Personally, I think once you get into the rarified air of Grand Slams, on today's tour, someone to help with the mental part of your game would be invaluable. You guys who are an APA 3 at your local bar... don't worry about that stuff.

Lou Figueroa
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Nice post! It might take a slightly different approach to be the best in the world, as opposed to the 10th guy in your local room.
 
Oh I do have an on topic nugget.
My little league baseball coach was Ray Ellis who pitched in the military leagues just like on MASH the base commanders put money on the games. He pitched at semi pro level with either hand. He had been blown off of 2 ships in the Pacific during ww2. At 8 years old he told me. " If it comes down to the bottom of the 9th, 2 outs bases loaded, score tied, the count is 3 and 2. YOU HAVE TO WANT to be at the plate.
Oh yeah, thank you Ray.
 
Nice post! It might take a slightly different approach to be the best in the world, as opposed to the 10th guy in your local room.
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It does! Start playing snooker at age 7, win your first tournament at age 9, and make your first century break at age 10.
Or start playing golf at age 3, appear in Golf Digest at age 5, and start breaking records from there on.
Make it your career and full time job and devote most of your waking hours to it.
That should set you on the right route. You'll find if do that, you're on your way. Probably won't need the psych coaches until much, much later.
 
Over time I have come to realize that the “mental side” of pool comes down to just being able to perform at one’s current best ability shot after shot regardless of anything else related to a game or match.
The method one adopts to achieve this state of being can vary widely.
Most players confuse mental weakness with actual physical flaws in their stroke delivery to the cue ball.
Confidence on each shot plays a huge role in success in pool - confidence comes from both knowledge of the game, experience, and prior success based upon finding a winning formula for your stroke.
 
mikemosconi said:
Over time I have come to realize that the “mental side” of pool comes down to just being able to perform at one’s current best ability shot after shot regardless of anything else related to a game or match.
The method one adopts to achieve this state of being can vary widely.
Most players confuse mental weakness with actual physical flaws in their stroke delivery to the cue ball.
Confidence on each shot plays a huge role in success in pool - confidence comes from both knowledge of the game, experience, and prior success based upon finding a winning formula for your stroke.
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Years ago someone queried: when it comes to pool, what is heart?

I said: Heart is being able to play your usual game under extraordinary circumstances.

Lou Figueroa
 
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In sports like pool, golf, bowling and baseball where there is down time in between shots or plays, the mental aspect of the game is more pronounced because there is more opportunity for negative thoughts to creep in. It is ignorant to think the most powerful organ in the body shouldn't be trained to execute at the highest level possible during competition. Excellence is achieved when the mental and physical are in perfect harmony, a .k. a. "the zone". Negative thoughts lead to negative outcomes. How many times have we gotten down on a shot and said to ourselves, "Just don't scratch." What happens 9 out of 10 times? A scratch. Most of us think these thoughts because we are more focused on making mistakes vs executing like we know how. It's human nature to fear mistakes. Changing the mindset to have positive thoughts like, "Put a good stroke on the ball and leave the cue ball perfect." is much easier said than done. Professional players are no different and are not immune to negative thoughts. IMO, controlling the mind is what separates the champions from the also rans. If one is not able to train their mind to execute at its peak on their own, I see no shame in hiring a professional to coach you on how to accomplish it. It's no different than taking lessons from a pro on how to stroke a cue. If you watch the WNT and hear JJ do commentary, when someone misses a shot and he says they "sped up" or the "timing was off" or the stroke "broke down", do you think those mistakes are purely physical after hitting millions of balls? The out come is physical, but it's the mind overtaking the physical. "The mind is a powerful thing".
 
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rexus31 said:
In sports like pool, golf, bowling and baseball where there is down time in between shots or plays, the mental aspect of the game is more pronounced because there is more opportunity for negative thoughts to creep in. It is ignorant to think the most powerful organ in the body shouldn't be trained to execute at the highest level possible during competition. Excellence is achieved when the mental and physical are in perfect harmony, a .k. a. "the zone". Negative thoughts lead to negative outcomes. How many times have we gotten down on a shot and said ourselves, "Just don't scratch." What happens 9 out of 10 times? A scratch. Most of us think these thoughts because we are more focused on making mistakes vs executing like we know how. It's human nature to fear mistakes. Changing the mindset to have positive thoughts like, "Put a good stroke on the ball and leave the cue ball perfect." is much easier said than done. Professional players are no different and are not immune to negative thoughts. IMO, controlling the mind is what separates the champions from the also rans. If one is not able to train their mind to execute at its peak on their own, I see no shame in hiring a professional to coach you on how to accomplish it. It's no different than taking lessons from a pro on how to stroke a cue. If you watch the WNT and hear JJ do commentary, when someone misses a shot and he says they "sped up" or the "timing was off" or the stroke "broke down", do you think those mistakes are purely physical after hitting millions of balls? The out come is physical, but it's the mind overtaking the physical. "The mind is a powerful thing".
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The thread prompted me to look at the Rotella books I have sitting on the shelf. Time for some rereading as there is stuff in there that I think you have to go back to and see if it fits where you are now, etc…. Anyway, one point he made is that there is no “muscle memory.” Memory is in your head. Nobody is really sure where the body ends and the mind begins he notes. So your mind is involved in the physical action. I think Hogan noted his muscles didn’t remember anything, he told them what to do. Of course as we know this is often subconscious. And a big part of the sports psychology realm is getting to that subconscious performance. For me much easier said than done.
 
JPB2 said:
The thread prompted me to look at the Rotella books I have sitting on the shelf. Time for some rereading as there is stuff in there that I think you have to go back to and see if it fits where you are now, etc…. Anyway, one point he made is that there is no “muscle memory.” Memory is in your head. Nobody is really sure where the body ends and the mind begins he notes. So your mind is involved in the physical action. I think Hogan noted his muscles didn’t remember anything, he told them what to do. Of course as we know this is often subconscious. And a big part of the sports psychology realm is getting to that subconscious performance. For me much easier said than done.
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For MANY it's much easier said that done.
 
Anyway, one point he made is that there is no “muscle memory.”
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Yes, there is. Of course your muscles don't literally have memory. It's just a term. Muscle memory refers to the body's ability to retain and recall motor skills through repetition and practice, allowing you to perform actions without conscious thought.

Is there somebody out there that thought muscles actually have memories? Maybe...? Is there somebody out there that didn't think your brain is involved in physical activity? I...hope not.

That's what I don't get about these psych coach guys. It seems like they just ladle up the simplest most obvious statements as deep thoughts, like, "We are all human and make mistakes". If it helps somebody, great, I just honestly don't get it. "Your mind is involved in physical action." Yeah, obviously.
 
Moe Szyslak said:
Yes, there is. Of course your muscles don't literally have memory. It's just a term. Muscle memory refers to the body's ability to retain and recall motor skills through repetition and practice, allowing you to perform actions without conscious thought.

Is there somebody out there that thought muscles actually have memories? Maybe...? Is there somebody out there that didn't think your brain is involved in physical activity? I...hope not.

That's what I don't get about these psych coach guys. It seems like they just ladle up the simplest most obvious statements as deep thoughts, like, "We are all human and make mistakes". If it helps somebody, great, I just honestly don't get it. "Your mind is involved in physical action." Yeah, obviously.
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It's about conditioning your mind to think positive thoughts vs negative thoughts. Negative thoughts usually revolve around fear and anxiety. Both thought processes impact physical ability and "muscle memory". Some need help harnessing this, some don't. I don't think people who seek a better understanding of how to accomplish this should be knocked.
 
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