A Temporary Setback

NewStroke

NewStroke

Screamin Monkey
Silver Member
The last couple times I've played, I found myself getting frustrated with myself and not shooting how I know I can shoot. Usually I can calm down and play away but not recently. I know what it is, I want so badly to improve from the plateau I am already on but it's actually having an adverse affect on my thought process. I am still shooting better than before but I can actually visualize jawing a ball in the pocket and shooting it that way (talk about the power of the mind). I am also trying to force position that I should be be worried about. Overall, I feel like I am working too hard.

I guess the best advise is to slow down and let the improvement take it's course. If you have any better advice let me know.

Thanks

Dan
 
You're preaching to the choir man...A bad night of pool is, well it's a bad night of pool...play someplace you don't normally go or a tourney away...It'll change your setting and you'll go to basics and enjoy it. That thinking stuff isn't for you...
 
keep records

NewStroke said:
The last couple times I've played, I found myself getting frustrated with myself and not shooting how I know I can shoot. Usually I can calm down and play away but not recently. I know what it is, I want so badly to improve from the plateau I am already on but it's actually having an adverse affect on my thought process. I am still shooting better than before but I can actually visualize jawing a ball in the pocket and shooting it that way (talk about the power of the mind). I am also trying to force position that I should be be worried about. Overall, I feel like I am working too hard.

I guess the best advise is to slow down and let the improvement take it's course. If you have any better advice let me know.

Thanks

Dan
Click to expand...


Dan,

Don't make it into a major chore but if you keep records the results might surprise you. I was doing something and subjectively thought I made jumps and hit plateaus where I wasn't making any headway or even losing ground. When I started keeping records I found that there were periods of faster and slower progress but that I made progress all of the time when I looked at things on at least a weekly basis so one bad day didn't look like a mountain.

Hu
 
"I can actually visualize jawing a ball in the pocket and shooting it that way"...Hey Dan just my 2cents,but when I start to see thing before they happen it's usually my mind telling me I'm outta whack somewhere,alignment,footing,aiming..etc.,take that vision as a good thing,it means your mental game is improving.Now I can actually see the balls hitting the back of the pockets and my next shape and it works out about 98% of the time,and when I do miss it's real obvious that I wasn't paying attention,so that means I getting bored,and for me that's the kiss of death..lol.That's when I get back to running drills,helps to re-focus my attention.:)
 
Sounds like a bit of a slump to me. We all go through them from time to time. Baseball players do, golfers do, rodeo clowns do.
Stay out of the poolroom for a day or two and take your wife and girlfriend out to dinner (not at the same time, of course) and relax. Before you know it you'll be running racks again with the best of them.
And remember. Don't pay any mind to these self proclaimed B.F. Skinners, here at AZ. They'll have you so over analyzed you'll never come out of your slump and you'll blame everything on your Mom. :wink:
 
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Someone told me that anger in pool is from people thinking they play better than they actually do. Ouch, right?

I agree with the positive- thinking and objective- thinking posts above.

Positive: good for dispelling fear and for repeatedly getting up to the table in bad circumstances.

Objective thinking: best for playing. Take your ego out of the equation, and look at what you wanted to do and what you did do. Compare and slightly adjust.

Of course, it still could be all your mother's fault. (My mama told me to just close my eyes and hit 'em hard.)
 
This is good advice to a point. Here's my take on it. I call it "performance expectations". We all have them, in everything we do (even our relationships). What the OP should really do is offset the negative energy with positive energy. We are all hard-wired to get down on ourselves whenever we fail to perform at the level we know we are capable of ((i.e.: make an error). What we fail to do is give ourselves an "attaboy" when we do something even close to well (mostly because we EXPECT to do something we "know" we can do). If you give yourself a mental 'pat on the back' whenever you hit a really nice stroke, or get some perfect position, it helps immensely to offset the times when you're going to get down on yourself, because of an error (forced or unforced).

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

DoubleD said:
My biggest advice is to stop using negative terms. You already mentioned the power of the mind, negativity has a way of becoming a disease.

dld
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Just be realistic on your percentages on any given shot, and don't allow yourself to get mad about missing a missable ball. A straight in cut along the long rail is not missable if you're just cinching it at slow speed for a drill, but if you are ramming it home with high right and trying to pop the cue ball off two rails... it's very missable. In fact you're supposed to miss it, meaning it's less than 50% odds to go in.

You CAN'T get mad for doing what you're supposed to do, namely missing a tough shot. now if you are shooting a shot that you consider 98% and you miss, go ahead and beat yourself up a little. But let it go 5 minutes later and don't let it come back. And be real sure about that 98% stuff before you start flipping out. Maybe it's more like 80% and you're going to miss shots like this at least 5 times a night.
 
Try using some meth. Your game will jump up, and eventually you wont need your toothbrush!


Joe


This is a joke, please dont use meth. Try heroin instead. Again, a joke, lol! More beer......
 
Get and read the book "Pleasures of Small Motions".

Take a break from pool for a week or so and then go back to the basics and keep pool simple.
 
NewStroke said:
The last couple times I've played, I found myself getting frustrated with myself and not shooting how I know I can shoot. Usually I can calm down and play away but not recently. I know what it is, I want so badly to improve from the plateau I am already on but it's actually having an adverse affect on my thought process. I am still shooting better than before but I can actually visualize jawing a ball in the pocket and shooting it that way (talk about the power of the mind). I am also trying to force position that I should be be worried about. Overall, I feel like I am working too hard.

I guess the best advise is to slow down and let the improvement take it's course. If you have any better advice let me know.

Thanks

Dan
Click to expand...

Dan, get in your car, drive about 25 miles southwest to Mansfield. Come on over to my house and play me some pool. After playing me and watching MY game, you're probably gonna leave feelin' pretty good about yours :thumbup:!!! PM me for directions.

Maniac
 
Thank you everybody, your insight helped me look back on my super good matches and I feel better about my game. I just despise playing below that. I just need to get to practice and remember how good my stroke and the shot looks when I am "on". I also realized that there are some times not pool related that I am allowing to lurk around when I shoot too. I honestly believe that if I can get rid of my daughter in law, my runouts would increase 30% (hehe).

I'll just keep plugging away and work on raising my average :).

Thanks again and have a great day!
 
I almost forgot, I've also decided to leave the regular APA for good. If I can't find a good night to play BCA, I have another county to play APA Masters. I think that is really dumbing down my game.
 
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