There are many formulae to this. We all know guys who have "never" practiced and have only played for money; ever. They know the territory by heart. I consider them "observe only" lol.
Anyway, I found this article that might shed a little light on the big mystery.
https://www.thecut.com/2016/08/why-having-big-goals-can-backfire.html
This seems like a good time to introduce the ideas of certainty, confidence and cognitive dissonance. Starting with a cognitive dissonance definition we find it is when two cognitions are psychologically inconsistent and apparent conflicts. Our natural instinct is to want to reduce the perceived differences. A pool example occurs when a player, especially instinctual talents, move quickly from shot to shot. As the player gets down they often sense that their cue line is off slightly. The dissonance, wrong alignment versus correct line, is logged by not acted on. However, by a twist of the wrist or sliding the bridge mid stroke, the shot can often be made. That is the natural inborn tendency to reduce the dissonant gap between the shot needs and misalignment.
Next we look at confidence. While it may seem the same as certainty, they are different. Confidence is about self assurance in our abilities. Certainty is about the situation and decisions. There can be dissonance between the two. If the mind decides that a particular shot is the right one, the gap between what the body is being asked to do and an assessment of skill level, can trigger dissonance. Without confidence the player finds it hard to commit. Doubt creeps in making it difficult to make a confident stroke. Hesitation is often the result. So how can this help at the table?
One of the problems with dissonance is that it is a red flag indicator. However, many people have a high dissonance tolerance. Their way of reducing dissonance is to lower its importance. ‘Hell ya, I can make that ball, no problem.” In a sense, they simply ignore it. Problem is they are right, making the ball isn’t the issue. While the dissonance detector needs to get past that checkpoint first, it often doesn’t deal with the real issue.
It can however, be an excellent trigger to start over. In my game, once I’ve picked a shot, I view it from behind and above the shot. When I get down, I simply bring the cue to the chosen shot line after sensing a neutral stroke. My body moves to its cueing position and my bridge slides into position. At this point I harness cognitive dissonance. Moving the cue I sense whether I can maintain neutral cueing. If I sense that a subconscious adjustment is lurking inside the stroke, I reset by getting up. If I feel with certainty that the shot will succeed with neutral cueing, then dissonance has been resolved. Getting up and restarting had been one of the hardest skills I had to learn. Moving from a full size snooker table to smaller pool tables, I found pocketing ridiculously easy. The shape is where things can break down, when you just bang most shot in. That is why my definitive dissonance flag is set on, where the cue ball will settle. The neutral grip needs to produce the intended position not just the shot. Unless I can resolve the dissonance I don’t shoot.
I think this is a process mindset. It keeps me focused on what I’m trying to accomplish on each shot. When players are often fixated on technique, part of that focus needs to be on avoiding mistakes. Part of our team culture is to remember the “there are no easy shots”. Treat each shot with respect.