For most people it becomes frustrating when the way they practice isn't comparable to the way they compete.
I have been doing some serious contemplation regarding this and have had some epiphanies regarding this.
It is easy to say, it is mental. We all get nerves when the pressure is on and can't play as well as when there is no pressure. That begs the question, what causes nerves? What can we do to overcome nerves and change our competitive mindset?
The inconsistency can become frustrating enough to want to quit the game.
I had placed eighth or twelfth in the Hard Times first Sunday of the month tournament back in November, (didn't play it in December), and had to forfeit out without losing in the loser's bracket, then last Sunday I played horribly and doubled out.
However, I came to a realization after playing in it this last Sunday. There was a physical difference between how I was practicing and playing in non-pressure situations and how I had played that tournament. I was pulling up, I know better than to pull up right after the shot and I rarely do it in non-pressure situations, but I finally realized exactly what I was doing wrong when I was missing.
This at first glance has little to do with mindset, but it is all about mindset.
the other thing you hear about the people who "compete well" is that they have confidence in their ability.
How do you get confidence?
My thought was always that to be confident you had to have success. So while I could play confidently in practice, I couldn't play confidently in competition because of that inability to have consistent success in competition.
That isn't true. I proved that to myself yesterday. Even with the limited success that I have had, the success has always come after getting lucky enough to win the first couple of matches where I have the "Tourney Jitters".
Yesterday I played in the first Saturday Ten Ball tourney that recently was started at OnCue billiards in San Diego. There was a tough field, I placed third. I really only lost to Louis Ulrich and I again didn't play my game when I played him. That helped me with the realizations that I'm about to relate here.
My first match I got lucky, I drew a B player and was able to play like relative crap and still win. My second match I got down 3 to nothing against an A- player and then I made the realization that I wasn't playing confidently.
I knew not to pull up on the shots anymore, but I was tentative on all of the shots I was taking. I wasn't trusting that I was making the right decisions or that I was aiming correctly, etc.
I consciously "decided" to play confidently, it was a TRULY conscious choice, everything changed. I played perfectly the next three racks and tied it up, then I ran out to the seven and should've gotten out but I had to use a bridge on the seven ball and accidentally hit the CB early and then hit it again making the seven and giving my opponent BIH on the eight, nine, ten.
The next rack I ran out to the six and knew I should've used outside to get on the seven, but thought I could use just follow to avoid scratching in the side. I had again gotten a little tentative and ended up hitting the seven and missing the cross bank.
this began my foray into the loser's bracket. Two of these matches cemented what I had discovered about the conscious choice to maintain the correct mindset. The first was my very next match against a VERY tough player named Fach, who's also a very good cuemaker.
He didn't like playing with the red circle CB and preferred to use the measle ball. He came into the match stating that I had gotten lucky because he couldn't play well with the red circle cueball. He had "chosen" to put himself into a negative mindset and lost the match before it even began.
The second one was when I was playing for third place against another really good player named Scott White. On a couple of occasions he ended up leaving himself directly on the rail and he visibly became upset saying @#$Damn on one of the occasions, as soon as he reacted that way, I knew he had already missed the shot before he even got down on it.
This cost him two games and we had gone hill-hill. His choice of reaction instead of treating every shot on the table the same cost him third place.
I still only played to about 80% of my potential but I placed third in a tough field. The second place match was against Louis Ulrich and while even playing at my top speed, I wouldn't necessarily be the favorite, I didn't play close to that.
I even missed a BIH, although I still don't know how that ball rattled out.
It wasn't solely these last few tournaments that helped me come to the conclusion that playing confidently is a conscious choice, it has been a life long conglomeration of experiences.
When I was really young and first started playing seriously, I was finishing third or better in practically every tournament that I played in and I could compete for money and play well, even though I didn't have as high of an ability to "play well" as I do now. Then I had some relationship issues that I blamed for the problems with my game.
I've traveled for work and in some places I have played well and others not, and I realized that I was basing my confidence level on how the people who were watching or who I was playing against expected me to play. In the places they expected me to not play as well, I wasn't and in the places that they thought I was a road player, I competed better.
Even in the same town but in different pool halls I competed differently.
For instance, when I competed with Joey A, I lost a set and had to pay for dinner, but then over at corner pocket, I broke even on sets in nineball and tenball playing against Jamie Ferrell.
The thing I've now realized is that you can't base your confidence level on external factors, even internal factors, you have to make a conscious choice to play with confidence or you might as well give up the game, because you'll never "Compete" at the ability you "Play" if you don't make that conscious choice.
Jaden
