Many players struggle to improve their consistency because they aren't putting their effort in the right areas. I've found this is due to an incorrect assessment of which skills they need to develop as well as a misunderstanding of how to become more consistent.
Suppose there is a player who competes around a 550 fargo rate. This hypothetical player has a particular 9 ball rotation run they like to shoot as a drill. During their run they don't know how to get from the 3 to the 4 and so time and again they settle for shooting in the 3 and hooking themselves, then shooting a full ball jump to try to pocket the 4 ball. They've done this so often they are getting pretty good at this jump, but they still are about 25% on their make percentage which in turn holds their run out percentage to 10% overall (as they make other mistakes from time to time).
Now, when this person is asked what they need to do to improve, they respond "Well, I know I can run this table, I've done it many times, I just need to work on my consistency. My biggest problem is I need to get better at this jump shot."
My two points to take away from this fictional player are:
1) This player doesn't need to work on their jump shots. Maybe initially work on their jump shots paid off and they went from a 2% run out to a 10% run out by getting much better at that particular jump shot. But there is a diminishing return. The best jumpers in the world may only make that shot 30% of the time, so spending years beating their head against the wall trying to duplicate an elite jump performance isn't useful. They likely won't improve further and even if they did their overall run out percentage would barely move. Instead they need to develop other pattern and positional skills needed that allow position for a shot that could be 80-90%+. But they won't know that if they aren't shown another way.
2) The only way to improve consistency is to improve your entire skill set. If someone is a 550 fargo rate this doesn't mean they play at that level every time. There is a bell curve range of performance levels. They can occasionally play at the 650 level for one set, but they can also play at a 450 level one set. If they want to play at 550 consistently, they need to develop their skills to the point they on average play at the 650 level so the bottom of their range is 550. There isn't a way for them to deliver consistent 650 sets without developing their skills. We are human, we can't simply play at the top of our range all of the time.
In summary, just because you can run out some of the time doesn't mean you have all the tools you need to run out consistently. If you want to improve your consistency it is critical to correctly identify and work on the deficits in your game that are truly holding you back. You might know what they are and have a good plan to improve them, but if you haven't seen steady improvement then it is a sign you might have wandered off the path.
Suppose there is a player who competes around a 550 fargo rate. This hypothetical player has a particular 9 ball rotation run they like to shoot as a drill. During their run they don't know how to get from the 3 to the 4 and so time and again they settle for shooting in the 3 and hooking themselves, then shooting a full ball jump to try to pocket the 4 ball. They've done this so often they are getting pretty good at this jump, but they still are about 25% on their make percentage which in turn holds their run out percentage to 10% overall (as they make other mistakes from time to time).
Now, when this person is asked what they need to do to improve, they respond "Well, I know I can run this table, I've done it many times, I just need to work on my consistency. My biggest problem is I need to get better at this jump shot."
My two points to take away from this fictional player are:
1) This player doesn't need to work on their jump shots. Maybe initially work on their jump shots paid off and they went from a 2% run out to a 10% run out by getting much better at that particular jump shot. But there is a diminishing return. The best jumpers in the world may only make that shot 30% of the time, so spending years beating their head against the wall trying to duplicate an elite jump performance isn't useful. They likely won't improve further and even if they did their overall run out percentage would barely move. Instead they need to develop other pattern and positional skills needed that allow position for a shot that could be 80-90%+. But they won't know that if they aren't shown another way.
2) The only way to improve consistency is to improve your entire skill set. If someone is a 550 fargo rate this doesn't mean they play at that level every time. There is a bell curve range of performance levels. They can occasionally play at the 650 level for one set, but they can also play at a 450 level one set. If they want to play at 550 consistently, they need to develop their skills to the point they on average play at the 650 level so the bottom of their range is 550. There isn't a way for them to deliver consistent 650 sets without developing their skills. We are human, we can't simply play at the top of our range all of the time.
In summary, just because you can run out some of the time doesn't mean you have all the tools you need to run out consistently. If you want to improve your consistency it is critical to correctly identify and work on the deficits in your game that are truly holding you back. You might know what they are and have a good plan to improve them, but if you haven't seen steady improvement then it is a sign you might have wandered off the path.
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