Apa nationals and pressure

trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Reading the comments from people on you tube or fb during these finals matches cracks me up and shows you how clueless people are to the mental side of the game. Listening to people say how are these guys 7s! These guys are amateurs who now have been dropped into a situation they’ve most likely never been in before .
1) an Arena on 3 sides with bleachers packed with people. Standing room only around them . I’ve been there.

2) brights lights and guys walking around with cameras streaming to facebook, you tube and they have it live on the billiards channel on amazon

3) a tv booth on one side sitting high up with Eva Mataya Jeremy jones etc commentating on your match.

4) a table only used for final matches that plays fast and slick and not like anything you’ve been playing on during the tournament. Edit to add they don’t let you hit a single ball on it before your match.

5) a huge trophy and about 15k for singles which to Some of you may seem like nothing but to an average amateur league player is most likely more then they’ve ever played for on the line

6) if it’s a team event the entire team counting on you to bring a win home

If you think all that isn’t going to effect how your going to play and it’s going to be just like another league match at home at your bar your fooling yourself. It’s a situation that mentally you’ve never dealt with before your game is most likely not going to be at its best. Your going be on the struggle bus with nerves especially early on. These basement champions are clueless lol mental skills are every bit as important as physical and you don’t know until your dropped into it.
 
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I imagine most of the people posting those kinds of comments don't/rarely compete. If I haven't competed in a while, I'm always surprised by how much it affects me, at least while I'm adjusting to it. It's an entirely different world compared to practicing or even playing friendly matches with a buddy.
 
Reading the comments from people on you tube or fb during these finals matches cracks me up and shows you how clueless people are to the mental side of the game. Listening to people say how are these guys 7s! These guys are amateurs who now have been dropped into a situation they’ve most likely never been in before .
1) an Arena on 3 sides with bleachers packed with people. Standing room only around them . I’ve been there.

2) brights lights and guys walking around with cameras streaming to facebook, you tube and they have it live on the billiards channel on amazon

3) a tv booth on one side sitting high up with Eva Mataya Jeremy jones etc commentating on your match.

4) a table only used for final matches that plays fast and slick and not like anything you’ve been playing on during the tournament. Edit to add they don’t let you hit a single ball on it before your match.

5) a huge trophy and about 15k for singles which to Some of you may seem like nothing but to an average amateur league player is most likely more then they’ve ever played for on the line

6) if it’s a team event the entire team counting on you to bring a win home

If you think all that isn’t going to effect how your going to play and it’s going to be just like another league match at home at your bar your fooling yourself. It’s a situation that mentally you’ve never dealt with before your game is most likely not going to be at its best. Your going be on the struggle bus with nerves especially early on. These basement champions are clueless lol mental skills are every bit as important as physical and you don’t know until your dropped into it.
well said.
 
Have to agree. I played in the finals in Vegas with a team representing Broooklyn, NY back in the 90s. Though I was only a 6, I was the top player on the team, and they relied on me.
Pressure had me missing shots I never missed back then, and I consider myself pretty cool-headed. It's a tough place for an amateur to play their best.
 
I imagine most of the people posting those kinds of comments don't/rarely compete. If I haven't competed in a while, I'm always surprised by how much it affects me, at least while I'm adjusting to it. It's an entirely different world compared to practicing or even playing friendly matches with a buddy.

Agreed. And that is a whole other level of competition pressure in that situation.

I've played league pool for many years but when I started playing tournaments too the pressure was definitely different. League is fun and competitive, but it's the same people week after week, same tables, and we've all been playing together for years at this point. Tournament pressure with different players, different tables/locations, etc. definitely took some adjustment and it really got to me early on.

I've gotten use to it now but I know I wouldn't handle the kind of pressure being discussed here well because I've never faced it before and likely neither have the people playing it there, and if they have it's only been very rarely.
 
The fact that they made it that far in a tournament 7s shows that they're actually 7s.

They're finalists in the tournament while their critics are not!
Most of those critics are probobly barely and apa 5 lol
Have to agree. I played in the finals in Vegas with a team representing Broooklyn, NY back in the 90s. Though I was only a 6, I was the top player on the team, and they relied on me.
Pressure had me missing shots I never missed back then, and I consider myself pretty cool-headed. It's a tough place for an amateur to play their best.
and I don’t think then they have the whole finals arena like they do now with commentators and tv cameras lol
 
Your choice on how you think and react.
Whenever I get into a tournament situation, my first thought is “that guy is going to be really nervous. Run up as many balls as you can before he settles down. By then he’ll be worried about being down so far.”
I started doing that the first time I got to a playoff game.
Just having that thought in your head makes all the distractions assets, and completely settles your nerves.
 
Not only all of that, their bracket finished the day before. So they are waiting around all day to play. Start time delayed because a match went long. Plenty of time to think about what is coming. Seemed like the table wasn't breaking very well. A lot of table layouts were ugly.
 
Hearing the commentators talk about your match while you're playing it is brutal!

New balls and new cloth are tough conditions to adjust to as well.
 
Not only all of that, their bracket finished the day before. So they are waiting around all day to play. Start time delayed because a match went long. Plenty of time to think about what is coming. Seemed like the table wasn't breaking very well. A lot of table layouts were ugly.

I assumed the ugly layouts were mostly he result of the 2nd ball break (in attempt of making an 8 on the break)
 
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