To Be a Better Player

jay helfert said:
I have yet to start back playing pool. Still just too weak, with more treatments left to come.
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Well your not getting worse which is all that one can ask for at times.
I was told to not do my normal run/workout routine for eight weeks.
Well I found out after six weeks/Aug 1st I felt better, I'm ok with my physical routine, the other issues will still be playing out, but I'm startin' the uphill climb again.
Heal like Hell Helfert, you'll be walkn' that dog soon again.

bm
 
middleofnowhere said:
That kind of play was often knocked as "Free wheeling". It works good gambling but you do often make mistakes or miss balls. Playing like that in tournaments that are essentially sudden death is risky.

Earl had a free wheel that was off the charts but even he was a bit more controlled in tournament play. Mosconi, forget about it. I saw him play many times. When he got going he could hardly wait for the balls to stop rolling.

The wing shot in an example of how you can make balls without even aiming. You just do it by instinct. One of the hardest parts of pool is it is not at all reactive. Unlike hitting a baseball or tennis in pool nothing happens till you make it happen, like a golf putt.

Once your mind starts with the negative self talk, it gets hard no matter who you are.
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That negative self talk comes from thinking while down on the shot, once you get in your stance your ONLY thought should be moving your cue straight in the direction of the shot, don't even think about speed of stroke, your body already knows what to do, you have to allow it to, one of the things that clicked with me from the book was this....
You do thousands of things everyday you don't think of that require great skill and accuracy, you probably woke up this morning, got out of bed, walked to the bathroom, opened the door, turned on the light without a single thought, you didn't calculate how much pressure it would take to open the door or turn on the light, let alone the balance required to walk, how did you do it? You've done it thousands of times, you've done it so many times the subconscious part of your brain already knows how to do that, much like walking and talking, the problem comes when the conscious part of the brain tries to take over what the subconscious part of the brain already knows what to do, like thinking when I was down on the shot, for most people including me it takes a lot to learn to "let go" we are taught to think things through, when it comes to performing precise physical tasks, first calculate with your conscious brain and then free your subconscious brain to do what it does best.
 
All of it comes down to preparation - freewheeling included. Which, besides flipping through the pages of your mind real fast, includes an element of inertia that has to be addressed or it's back to the PSR pedantics.

People are always like, well I've been playing for 30 years and blah blah... Begs the questions; how many years have you been playing real good? Have you ever attained - real good?

hint: Your scalp list is not an indicator.
 
djg576 said:
I too, like seafood.
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Must be short changed between ears, Muscle, Mussels about the same both are strong.

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Nit picking is bush league.
 
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SSP said:
when it comes to performing precise physical tasks
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Juggling baseballs was a favorite way to pass the time while seated on the bench. Tossing and catching while watching the field. Gotta think it helped my hand and well hand (not eye🤷‍♂️) coordination.
 
LibraryFool77 said:
Hope you both get well!
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Island Drive said:
Well your not getting worse which is all that one can ask for at times.
I was told to not do my normal run/workout routine for eight weeks.
Well I found out after six weeks/Aug 1st I felt better, I'm ok with my physical routine, the other issues will still be playing out, but I'm startin' the uphill climb again.
Heal like Hell Helfert, you'll be walkn' that dog soon again.

bm
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My experience with recovering for procedure after procedure is it’s a monumental challenge especially as a person ages.

I’ve found it makes you dig deep into your psyche to get up and get moving. Once I do I appreciate it a bit more…
Time to do that soon today!!!
 
When the balls won't fall I start one stroking, sometimes at warp speed. Five or ten minutes of that often unlocks whatever is putting a gimp in my stroke. Makes the rest of the hall wonder what the hell I am up to also!

The main thing to shut up the voice in my head when shooting is to plan the inning before the first shot then make the entire inning one continuous motion, no thought between shots required unless I made an error in position. It was just a plus that it looked like I was free wheeling without thought. No reason for opponents to know there was plenty of thought, it just didn't take place where they expected it to.

Hu
 
gregcantrall said:
Juggling baseballs was a favorite way to pass the time while seated on the bench. Tossing and catching while watching the field. Gotta think it helped my hand and well hand (not eye🤷‍♂️) coordination.
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Juggling was one of the things I never mastered. A pistol shooter with a few world championships was testing a theory about learning and had always wanted to learn to juggle. He tried to juggle for a timed twenty minutes a day, thought about it a lot more. In three days he could juggle!

Hu
 
jay helfert said:
I am going to tell you something you may not ever hear from an instructor or learn from a book. You play your best pool in a semi conscious state. When your analytical mind is on standby. We used to calll that "in stroke," when you no longer had to ponder over the next shot. You were playing on automatic pilot. None of that walking around and pointing your cue. Just letting yourself play pool, free and easy. All that thinking does is slow you down. See the shot and shoot! Your first instinct is always the best. Think long, think wrong! The only time you slow down is when you must stop and think about a kick shot, jump or safety.

Watch the Filipinos sometime. I love AJ Manas. They don't waste any time clearing the table. They don't worry about the perfect angle or pefect anything. They just do their job, which is getting the balls off the table.

Get out of your head and into your game, and you'll do better!
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Wow Jay, Someone has finally put words to this phenomenal state of mind that ( for me ) never shows up when you want it or need it to but when it does show up & it's just you & those balls & the roof falling in next to you would not bother you one bit, How Sweeeet it is !!! The few times that this has happened to me I would take off my shoes & dig my toes into the carpet or whatever was one the floor & play my heart out & when that did happen you could take to the bank that you were going to get my very best game !! Thanks Jay !!Oh for the Good ol' days !!
 
straightline said:
All of it comes down to preparation - freewheeling included. Which, besides flipping through the pages of your mind real fast, includes an element of inertia that has to be addressed or it's back to the PSR pedantics.

People are always like, well I've been playing for 30 years and blah blah... Begs the questions; how many years have you been playing real good? Have you ever attained - real good?

hint: Your scalp list is not an indicator.
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Some people do something for thirty years and are masters. Some people do something thirty years and have one year of experience repeated twenty-nine times!

Hu
 
SSP said:
That negative self talk comes from thinking while down on the shot, once you get in your stance your ONLY thought should be moving your cue straight in the direction of the shot, don't even think about speed of stroke, your body already knows what to do, you have to allow it to, one of the things that clicked with me from the book was this....
You do thousands of things everyday you don't think of that require great skill and accuracy, you probably woke up this morning, got out of bed, walked to the bathroom, opened the door, turned on the light without a single thought, you didn't calculate how much pressure it would take to open the door or turn on the light, let alone the balance required to walk, how did you do it? You've done it thousands of times, you've done it so many times the subconscious part of your brain already knows how to do that, much like walking and talking, the problem comes when the conscious part of the brain tries to take over what the subconscious part of the brain already knows what to do, like thinking when I was down on the shot, for most people including me it takes a lot to learn to "let go" we are taught to think things through, when it comes to performing precise physical tasks, first calculate with your conscious brain and then free your subconscious brain to do what it does best.
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The inner game of tennis.. a player and b player. A player tells you what to do. B player is the one that gets down and does. Getting them to work together and not against each other is the trick and what that book talks about.
ShootingArts said:
Some people do something for thirty years and are masters. Some people do something thirty years and have one year of experience repeated twenty-nine times!

Hu
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Lol true.. I became a good player in the area rather quickly. But there are people in leagues I’ve seen playing for 30 years .. play a lot.. and they can’t put 4 balls together but they love the game. They play and support it so I appreciate them. All games are like that though. I know plenty of golfers who play their whole life and can’t break 90. I know people that hardly play and you would think they play their whole life.
Quick story I got hooked up on the course with a father and son on Father’s Day. His son is playing with an old set of clubs with running shoes on. Not a big guy. He’s blasting drives straight down the fairway with a 3 wood. Beautiful approach shots. Chips great . Putts great. I say to his dad did his son golf a lot. Nope .. once or twice a year. Confused I said did he ever thinking he had to have a time he was obsessed with the game to play this well. Nope.. he was a runner in high school and college he only plays occasionally to hang out with me .. he’s just a natural athlete . dude shot a 78 and he never golfs 😳 I thought man..f$#% that guy 🤣
 
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mick hodapp said:
& the roof falling in next to you would not bother you one bit,
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That brings a memory. Jim Ward was playing a match in The White Spot 2 day 9 ball event. It was somebody's birthday and an exotic dancer (stripper) was hired. She was performing adjacent the center table and the participants on the other 4 tables stopped for the show. Well all except for Jim on the table next to the show. He completed the run out and then noticed the dancer as he was surprised when his opponent didn't immediately rack the balls. He had to gaze around to finally realize there was a show other than him running racks. 🤷‍♂️
He was indeed a Rock. I am proud of my second place finish behind him in that event.
 
One of my earliest lessons came courtesy of Jim Ward and his son Rodney. It was at the White Spot, my home table and I was 7 or 8 games ahead of Rodney playing 9 ball for $5. Jim acting as coach pulled Rodney for a conference. When he returned, Rodney offered to continue with 8 ball for 10 or he was done. I was feeling confident and accepted the offer.
By the end of the night Rodney had recovered his money and my Allowance as well. That was a valuable lesson. A smart pills kinda lesson that made me a better player. Now 8 ball is my preferred game. 🤷‍♂️
 
The BETTER PLAYER are not on the INTERNET talking nonsense, ore what Tip is better. The are at a Pool Room, or Working on home Game working on their game. Practicing, build Muscle memory.
 
Quesports said:
Thank you for the info. Been down that road many times in my life. I was running over 100 balls in straight pool before I was 20 in 1972. Ran six packs in nine ball and five in eight ball. Had lots of days were it was hard to miss.

I’m 74 now and still play strong but don’t have time for pool much now.
Had CABG surgery in March of 25 and my wife has Lewy Body Dementia, the disease that drove Robin Williams to suicide.

Most of my time is spent helping her, taking care of our home and working out to stay healthy enough for her and me.

So my days of serious pool are behind me, but I sure made some people suffer in my time.

Played today for two hours, first time in three months and shot far better than I expected..

Thnx for the note though, I appreciate it!!
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Best of luck to you and the missus!!
Take comfort in those past accomplishments.
Sounds like you're in for a few more. 👍🏻
 
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