How Common Is This?

maha said:
who knows. but to get your brain back in shape for pool just hit hundreds of easy stop shots over and over so you get wired back in.
no hard or long ones just shorter easy ones that you cannot miss.
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a yah, but it began right at the beginning of a match.

Lou Figueroa
 
mikemosconi said:
When you consider every factor that affects a pool stroke from initial PSR right through the final release of the cue- it is easy to imagine one or more of the components possibly coming off the rails unconsciously.

I like constant video feedback ( simple I phone and tripod )that can be done almost anywhere. This will really help to isolate the problem if it is a physical issue causing your poor play.
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I agree with this.

There are a lot of parts -- from your feet on up -- that all have to be in proper position to execute precision pool. One gremlin and it all goes kablewee.

Lou Figueroa
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
It's call Old Age Lou, you not kid any more. Age gracefully, enjoy that you get to Play Pool, realize as you age you don't heal as fast as you did at 20, body don't woke like when 20, CHILL.
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Nope.

I just turned 72 and other than some occasional knee and hip pain I'm in pretty good shape and see the balls, post cataract surgery, better than I ever have.

Lou Figueroa
 
Straightpool_99 said:
Never happened to me that way, though obviously I've had terrible days/weeks even.

I have had my skill diminish dramatically when I had to take long breaks (months/years). Usually though, the knowledge is all there but some part(s) of the body are misalligned. If you're not seeing angles, head position is the chief suspect. Stroke mechanics are difficult to diagnose, so speed control and stuff like that cannot easily be fixed on the spot. Things like this is why it is vitally important to have a rock solid pre-shot routine, because that will usually fix alignment issues at least. Most players don't have pre-shot routines that are good- or consistent enough, sadly.

If you are completely messing everything up, take a bathroom break, splash some water in your face and try to relax and reset. If time permits, watch a game played by someone great on another table and just try to enjoy it to take your mind off your own game. Sometimes that can snap you out of the spiral of negative thoughts.

Edit to add: If you completely collapse mentally and physically, blood sugar fluctuations could be the cause. If your blood sugar is crashing it wrecks havoc on your vision and mental clarity. Try to eat healthy foods in the days before tournaments and avoid high-sugar or heavy meals before play. Try eating a little bit if you feel confused mentally. I think I perform best when I'm a little bit hungry, so I tend to eat smaller and lighter meals on the day of the tournament also that helps avoid crashing after the meal.
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Oh yes.

On more than one occasion in my pool life I have had to go into the bathroom, wash my hands, pull out my drivers license and look into the mirror to make sure it was me playing out there, lol.

Lou Figueroa
 
hello said:
Everybody has good and bad days on the table but for a level of play to completely disappear can, in my opinion, only be attributed to faulty fundamentals (if there is not a mental disorder at hand)

You might find this helpful

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oh no, lol.

That's not gonna help me.

Lou Figueroa
 
kollegedave said:
The short answer is yes.

When I wander into the dreaded "fugue" state (for me and until this point--it may change in the future) I view the cause of this collapse as some change--intentional or unintentional--in my pre-shot routine. Does this occur because of fatigue or age as some above have suggested. Maybe, I have started wearing readers occasionally.

I find it hard to not tinker with my PSR.

I am suspicious that my tinkering or anyone's tinkering (at some point) is not wise or productive, unless it occurs because for some reason the person unwittingly entered the dreaded "fugue" state you describe. As I am writing this, I wonder if a PSR is so fragile that this can happen--someone goes into the pool hall and everything seems impossible--maybe the PSR should be altered to something more "durable" or simple? Here I go, rationalizing additional tinkering in the same paragraph wherein I assert over tinkering is, as Grady would say, "fraught with peril".

Early in my pool life I was on a search for a PSR that would allow for consistent accurate cue movement and a powerful stroke. I have come to believe this is not enough. What's required, I think, is a PSR that allows for consistent and accurate cue movement and a powerful stroke that the player uses unconsciously or very close to unconsciously such that his mind is free to worry about the game and not his PSR. Of course, if the PSR is unconscious, how do you find your way back if you get lost? I don't know.

When the best players in the world are practicing or playing, they are (for the most part) not tinkering with their PSR. All of that is over. Their PSR and all of its unique benefits and flaws are unconsciously deployed. I feel like I have seen enough of the top players play to know they are all accurate and powerful at the top level using a variety of methods (with some commonalities of course).

Currently, I have as a category of critique in my proposed PSRs for myself a category of perceived "durability". How easy or difficult is this PSR to get right? If I get down on a ball "slightly" different, does it still feel workable or is it alien and impossible? How much does it resemble (or not resemble) PSRs implemented by top players?

A couple years ago Ko Pin Chung ran something like 9 racks against Aloysius Yapp in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open on Matchroom's super microscopic pockets. It highlighted to me how precise the best players are, and it got me thinking that every day I re-make my PSR, I am frustrating a process that requires a march towards as much precision as I can muster.

I am not claiming to have the answer here. I am posing a proposed answer, and choosing to walk the walk myself. Moving forward, I have decided to incorporate what I am calling "durability" in my PSR, and I am going to try really hard to not screw around with it.

Also, it's very happy news that you started the book.

kollegedave
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Of course I agree.

And as I've previously mentioned, there are a lot of moving parts involved with hitting pool balls accurately. AND there is the actual movements involved with getting into your shooting position. FWIW, I think you might want to look for more elements that result from a good PSR, ferinstance speed control. There are more, IMO, and I think one of the best things you can do yourself is -- when you are playing really well -- is to mentally step out of your body and note what it feels like, and what qualities you note present, that you might not experience when playing OK day-to-day.

Many years ago I had a chance to visit the US Olympic Swimming Center in Colorado. One thing they showed us was how they would harness the swimmers and, literally, drag them through the water at a world record pace so they could feel what it was like to swim that fast and hopefully duplicate the stroking techniques needed to do it on their own.

Lou Figueroa
 
tim913 said:
My wife always answered the same way whether I had a bad day at work, couldn’t find my car keys or lost a match.

“it’s the early signs of a brain tumor”
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I have had to recently undergo a CT scan and a skull to knee MRI for a lung issue and Gail told me before the MRI, "Well maybe they will find a brain tumor... it would explain sooooo much."

Lou Figueroa
 
hello said:
Why not..?

And maybe this will..?Tony Robles highly recommends it.


www.youtube.com

With Winning in Mind

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
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I'll take a look at that later on but it's not about high pressure situations -- I do fine playing Efren, Busty, or anyone else in the Accu-Stats arena. Done OK for money and in the late stages of tournaments too.

What happen to me was during a casual game.

Lou Figueroa
 
kollegedave said:
... A couple years ago Ko Pin Chung ran something like 9 racks against Aloysius Yapp in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open on Matchroom's super microscopic pockets. ...
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Ko won 11-0 and made all 99 balls; the number of break-and-run games was 6 (a 3-pack, a 2-pack, and a single). [2023 US Open 9-Ball]
 
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kollegedave said:
, if the PSR is unconscious, how do you find your way back if you get lost?
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My PSR is by the numbers but that's only in practice. In competition it's gotta be a habit. So when I miss I anal eyes to look for the breakdown in the process. Usually it's obvious, you know like I poked it instead of stroked it. If I can't figure it out while seated I just chalk it to old fart syndrome and make sure my mind is right for the next opportunity. 🤷‍♂️ if I get one.
 
lfigueroa said:
As some (many) know, I'm writing a book and something happen to me this past weekend that I would want to address in said book.

It is something that has happened to me in the past but was particularly dramatic/traumatic this past weekend. I've been playing pretty good, consistent, high level for me, and then this past weekend -- for one session -- my game fell completely and totally off the cliff. Could not see the angles, could not judge CB speed accurately, and my banks went into the toilet, (sigh). My game was a wreck.

So my question is, though I know we all have our ups and down: do you occasionally walk into the PR, get into a game, and without prior warning, have your skills evaporate? Yes, I know they eventually come back. But do you occassionally suffer a fugue state in which it appears you've never played pool before?

Lou Figueroa
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Might mean something or nothing. Years ago I was about to quit. My playing dropped off due to what seemed like a mental problem. At times it was like I could not see any angles and the lights were flickering . I owned a pool room at the time and had been playing the best my life. Running hundreds and beating most anyone I played before this happened.

After seeing doctors and being examined there seemed to be nothing wrong. I won't go into how I discovered what it was but it was diet soda. The artificial sweetener has an effect on some people and I was one of them. After quiting all sodas within a few weeks it was gone and never happened again. I even had had a single car accident from what was like a brain fog.
 
lfigueroa said:
I'll take a look at that later on but it's not about high pressure situations -- I do fine playing Efren, Busty, or anyone else in the Accu-Stats arena. Done OK for money and in the late stages of tournaments too.

What happen to me was during a casual game.

Lou Figueroa
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Has it happened before?
 
Mental distraction
Physical distraction
Mental fatigue
Physical fatigue
All are difficult to recover from.

If I’m hot to play, I’ll walk in the pool hall and immediately look to play. I’m 99% to play solid, I do ok.

If I just take a ride to the pool hall I may not have the desire and “want to”, to jump on the table, I’ll sit around, bullcrap, coffee, etc.
If I get on the table after sitting around I might struggle early but I know my head has to be right.
I remind myself to focus on a few things in my normal routine for a few balls and that usually puts me back in place mentally,
My brain went dead but never my stroke.

I may not win but I’m not talking to myself and making matters worse.
 
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