Any Advice...

Breazy

Breazy

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I have been playing in the APA for about 2 years now and I really love playing pool. My biggest problem is not being able to let a bad shot go. I have been very competitive my whole life. Most of the time I can see what shots I need to make and how to make them, but if I miss a shot I know I should have made I get upset with myself. For some reason I can't let it go and it carries over from shot to shot, the snowball effect as my husband calls it. Does anyone have any advice on ways to help me? I know it's just a game and I should be having fun, but I don't know how to let bad shots go. Please help...I'd really like to get back to enjoying the game and not spend so much time being pissed at myself! :eek:
 
Breazy said:
I have been playing in the APA for about 2 years now and I really love playing pool. My biggest problem is not being able to let a bad shot go. I have been very competitive my whole life. Most of the time I can see what shots I need to make and how to make them, but if I miss a shot I know I should have made I get upset with myself. For some reason I can't let it go and it carries over from shot to shot, the snowball effect as my husband calls it. Does anyone have any advice on ways to help me? I know it's just a game and I should be having fun, but I don't know how to let bad shots go. Please help...I'd really like to get back to enjoying the game and not spend so much time being pissed at myself! :eek:
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Watch Efren Reyes.
He doesn't miss often but when he does, he just smiles and sits down. You can just tell it doesn't phase him. Gets right back up and runs em out.

You're NOT perfect....you will miss...accept it and move on.

Best of luck,
Koop
 
Neil said:
You sound like a perfectionist. That can be a good thing channeled properly. As Koop said, everybody misses. Even the easy ones! Accept that you will also. Instead of expecting perfection, which won't happen, when you do miss, look at WHY you missed it. Faulty aim? Just plain careless? Crooked stroke? WHY did you miss. Then, you can use that miss for a tool to get better and better by correcting your mistakes.
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Good words from Neil. And you can take that a step further.... ask yourself.... if your goal is to improve, and you can't objectively evaluate your miss because you are angry about it... how will you improve?? Anger
just blurs the picture... is your picture so clear that you can make balls even with it a bit fuzzier?? JMO With that said... we've all cussed ourselves out at one time or the other.. at least I have to myself!! :eek:

G/L

td
 
I have been quite guilty of the same thing myself, so I empathize. I don't have an answer for you. I'm trying to work through it, too. What I'm trying to do more of now is to say to myself, either audibly or just in my head... "Wow. That sucked. Now let me see what I have to do to dig out of this." And to let it go, and focus on fixing my mess.

Doens't always work, but it has helped some. I have a long way to go with this, too. Try something like it, and if that doesn't help, try something else. Don't let it fester, find what works for you. You're right, this is supposed to be fun, don't let the bad shot get in the way of that.

Good luck.
 
Hey Breezy,

I used to have the same issue. I realized that you can't change a shot after it's been shot and all you can do contructively is learn from it. When I miss now, I replay the shot, and try to determine what happened. If I can't figure it out right then, I put it aside and focus on the game. By doing that, I've been able to throw away all the "what could have beens" and keep myself in the moment. Believe it or not, my game has improved tremendously since then.

Just remember, you can't control the past or future, only the present. Trying to do so results in a lot of headaches and wasted energy.
 
Breazy said:
I have been playing in the APA for about 2 years now and I really love playing pool. My biggest problem is not being able to let a bad shot go. I have been very competitive my whole life. Most of the time I can see what shots I need to make and how to make them, but if I miss a shot I know I should have made I get upset with myself. For some reason I can't let it go and it carries over from shot to shot, the snowball effect as my husband calls it. Does anyone have any advice on ways to help me? I know it's just a game and I should be having fun, but I don't know how to let bad shots go. Please help...I'd really like to get back to enjoying the game and not spend so much time being pissed at myself! :eek:
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There is no easy fix. It's easy to say, just put it behind you, but that isn't going to work. You must really do some self evaluation. It sounds like your attention may be on the wrong things. There is an entire mental process we must go through when we shoot pool. It should be an orderly thought process, but if it becomes disrupted, mental chaos develops. You must develop the habit of focusing on things you can control...which really boils down to what your body does physically. Everything that happens on the table is a result of what you did. When you can learn to focus on yourself, whenever something goes wrong (missed shots), you will be aware of what happened, and can take steps to fix it. If you don't know why you missed, you become frustrated because you don't know hat went wrong, and therefore don't know how to correct it. That breeds fear and uncertainty.

I spend a good portion of the pool school workshops I teach helping students develop an orderly thought process. It's not a quick easy fix, but when you know what you need to do, it's easier to develop the proper habits, both physically and mentally.

Steve
 
I have the same issue, but I've come lightyears since my early days. Two things helped me (notice I said HAVE, not HAD, in the first sentence).

1) I saw poker players lose big pots, yet end up at the final table. It goes to show that one mistake doesn't have to mean the end of the world. If you just try to play the next pot (rack) well, you'll be fine. Afterall, our opponent makes mistakes too, right? He who makes the fewest usually wins.

2) I read the book, "Pleasures of Small Motions". http://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Small-Motions-Mastering-Billiards/dp/1585745391
 
"I Came to Win", written by the Monk.

Good book about having the proper mindset for winning. I am still working on it. But I had a tendency to focus on the good and bad shots. You have to let all of them go.

Now I am more effected by bad streaks. After a while I just get tired of being upset about it. Once I let go of it, my game turns around. Now that I know that it is easier to play through.
 
I really appreciate all of the advice! I will definitely make use of the advice and suggestions that were given. Can anyone suggest any good instructional DVD's or practice drills that may help with my game? I am a SL 2-3. One of the things that really gets me is that I practice with my husband who is a SL 6-7 before our matches start and I do really well most of the time. Then when it's time for my match it's like I'm a totally different player. Couldn't hit a straight in shot if my life depended on it. I have almost gotten to the point where I don't want to shoot anymore.

Anyway, I will look in to both of the books that were suggested. Thanks again.
 
Inner Game of Tennis

This book will also help you with letting your subconscious self alone to play pool and not be judged.
 
As others have said, everybody misses. All it takes is a slight loss of concentration at a critical time and you can turn the easiest run out you can imagine into a nightmare that will last 3 more innings.

What I do when I miss is focus on the table. Stare at it, don't take your eyes off of it until you have figured out exactly what has changed because of the miss. Has it helped you or hurt you? Has it helped or hindered your opponent? Did you tie something up, free something up, is that good or bad? Where are my problem balls, did my missed ball help or make it harder to get to them?

I do a very cold clinical analysis of the table every time I step away from it weighing my strengths and weaknesses as a player against what I see and trying to figure out a plan to either win when it’s my turn again or how I'm going to change the table to extend the game until I’m ready to go out.

Even if the only assumption you can come up with is that your opponent is going to, without a doubt, run out, figure things out anyway because as everyone else has said, everybody misses.
 
Breazy said:
Then when it's time for my match it's like I'm a totally different player. Couldn't hit a straight in shot if my life depended on it. I have almost gotten to the point where I don't want to shoot anymore.
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That's concentration... We've all probably experienced this. I overcome it with steady breathing and staying positive even if you've got a tough shot. When you get up from the table and you realize there are no more balls left and you feel like you were in a bit of a daze and you cannot recall anything that happened around you, you know you were concentrating (thats how I know lol). Concentration is a beautiful thing.
 
Breazy said:
I really appreciate all of the advice! I will definitely make use of the advice and suggestions that were given. Can anyone suggest any good instructional DVD's or practice drills that may help with my game? I am a SL 2-3. One of the things that really gets me is that I practice with my husband who is a SL 6-7 before our matches start and I do really well most of the time. Then when it's time for my match it's like I'm a totally different player. Couldn't hit a straight in shot if my life depended on it. I have almost gotten to the point where I don't want to shoot anymore.

Anyway, I will look in to both of the books that were suggested. Thanks again.
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Sounds like you're loose and focused playing your husband and then tighten/lose focus on your match.
Try pretending you're playing him. Ya never know, stranger things have worked.
 
IMHO, it's good to be upset when you miss a shot you should have made....means you identify your mistake and you want to win.....get upset, for a split second, but don't show it.....keep a concentrated face, or do the Efren smile thing already mentioned....

Keep the disappointment to a minimum.....immediately shift your focus to how and why you missed the shot.....think about that.....then when you realize what caused the issue (this all takes about 3 seconds), relax, watch the other person shoot, and get back in the game - focus on your next opportunity....

You are going to miss....and you are going to miss shots you should have made.....all the best players miss too.....be a champion in your mind - shift your focus quickly, don't show the frustration, and work towards a better outcome the next time around....that, or do a shot of crown....it always helps me :D
 
Breazy said:
I have been playing in the APA for about 2 years now and I really love playing pool. My biggest problem is not being able to let a bad shot go. I have been very competitive my whole life. Most of the time I can see what shots I need to make and how to make them, but if I miss a shot I know I should have made I get upset with myself. For some reason I can't let it go and it carries over from shot to shot, the snowball effect as my husband calls it. Does anyone have any advice on ways to help me? I know it's just a game and I should be having fun, but I don't know how to let bad shots go. Please help...I'd really like to get back to enjoying the game and not spend so much time being pissed at myself! :eek:
Click to expand...

Lots of good advice here, but its tough to be analytical when you are on the verge of smashing your cue into itsy bitsy little pieces. If youre pissed off, how are you gonna figure out what the problem is? You cant.

The best solution(IMHO), is to make self control your new goal at the table. Next time you play, tell yourself that no matter how bad you play, no matter how bad you lose, or think the rolls are killing you....dont get pissed off. Once you can do that, other things will fall into place much easier. It may take awhile, but it should be well worth the effort.

......Pins and needles, needles and pins!
 
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Me, too.

I also had a problem letting a simple missed shot blow my game to bits and pieces. I would just fall apart and not make balls I know I can make. My team captain told me to just say to myself or out loud "Oh, well" and shrug my shoulders. You will get another shot. I also have the book "The Pleasures of Small Motions" (which I have read several times) and The Monk's series. I really like the advice someone gave to analyze why you missed...stroke? aim? distraction? That is a positive response that might really help you let go of your missed shot.
 
A little helpful hint about those pesky straight-in shots. Sneak up on the object ball. By that I mean look at the line to the pocket, pick the spot on the ob and sneak up behind it, concentrating on what's about to happen. It even helps to talk to yourself a little while you're doing it. Good luck.
Oh yeah. It's works for other shots as well. :)
 
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