I would assume they have several, a little something like this...I saw the interview after Rory McIlroy's won yesterday and he indicated he repeated key words to stay focus.
Wonder if any pool players do the same thing. And if you do what are your key words?
That was a very good read, cheers for that. The amount of times I've spotted the route I want to take, only to find it comes close to scratching if I over hit it and rather than thinking I'm going to land the white right there, I think don't hit it too hard. What do you know, more often it either goes in the hole, or winds up short whereas if I just picked a spot without noticing it was on line to scratch, I would rarely over hit it.I recommend that any words you use are positive. Avoid thinking about "don't do XYZ."
It's the theory of Target Aquisition Syndrome -- the sniper acquires the target in his sights but waits for the order to shoot. He tells himself "don't shoot, don't shoot, don't shoot" and ends up accidentally pulling the trigger.
Motorcycle riders know TAS well, or least they should. Approacing an intersection, a car driver sees the motorcycle and says "don't hit the motorcycle, don't hit the motorcycle, don't hit the motorcycle" and then turns into the intersection and hits the motorcycle head-on.
Motorcyclists, in the emergency room, often say "he was looking right at me!"
How many times have you told yourself "don't scratch" and focused your mind on the angle/speed/spin that will cause a scratch? You're focusing on it to make sure you don't do it. But since that's what your mind is focused on, it's what you end up doing. Focus exclusively on what you need to do; don't think about what you shouldn't do.
I have a key phrase I use in pressure situations, very simple "still as a statue, solid as a rock" gets me back to the basics see ball, make ball!
I haven't read any of the other posts. What he is doing is avoiding self talk that can be negative. He is using positive affirmations geared to his golf game. It most certainly works.I saw the interview after Rory McIlroy's won yesterday and he indicated he repeated key words to stay focus.
Wonder if any pool players do the same thing. And if you do what are your key words?
Mine is methylchloroisothiazolinone.
It's kinda long, but you'd be surprised how fast you can blurt it out if the pain gets to be too much. Plus, it's one you'll never say by mistake when you actually don't want her to stop.
I saw the interview after Rory McIlroy's won yesterday and he indicated he repeated key words to stay focus.
Wonder if any pool players do the same thing. And if you do what are your key words?