Bad Habits

Pidge

Pidge

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
We all have them, but what are yours?

I recently went through a bit of reconstruction with my fundamentals, mainly grip and stance. For years my stance has been fine, but I've made a real effort lately to play quicker so setting up on my stance has been rushed. It was just one aspect of my stance - my lead leg. It pointed slightly too straight on the line of a shot, which caused all kinds of issues. Who knew your lead leg was that important! My body was weighted more towards my locked leg as a result and I would shift over slightly, which meant less room for my back hand to flow, and it caused a slight 'anti-chicken wing' (wrist and forearm further out than shoulder) by around an inch or two. I made a slight adjustment in my lead leg by pointing it further outward, which is how it used to be, and everything else fell into place.

Second was my grip. I would grip extremely tight, and I never had an issue with it or so I thought until I realised how beneficial a loose grip was. Because I gripped so tight my wrist would move out. By this I mean the back of my hand would not be straight with my forearm, as much as a 30 degree difference. I've always done this so it wasn't so much a bad habit as much as it was a bad grip. Loosening the grip made it feel like I was 'curling' my hand but once I got around the weird feeling its worked wonders.

So, what bad habits have you got! It doesn't have to be mechanical, it could be something like gazing at a bar maid as she walks past...we've all done it! Or thinking you can play like Efren, when infact your just Derrick Smith from Luxembourg.
 
I am not sure if this counts or not. I think it is a bad habit, but I am not so sure. When I am really in stroke I can feel a hitch in my swing. I am not sure what causes it or why I only feel it when I am in stroke, but when I feel it I smile because I know what it means.

Actually I just pulled my cue out and took a few swings trying to figure it out. I think it is my grip. When I have a real loose grip I can feel that hitch and if I tighten up it is gone. Going to need to test this out when I hit some balls tomorrow.
 
trying to over stretch instead of using the rake.

Always regretted the outcome.
 
I have a bad habit that i have fought for years now. I interact with my opponent to much while playing. This is very self destructive on so many levels. .. the worst thing I do is give advice to my opponent when he is losing. I get caught up on listening to all the barking in the pool hall. I give out way too much information About myself free of charge. Just don't have nobody to talk to about pool. . I wish I was like the old timers When I was just a beginner player. They didn't say s***....lol
 
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Rhythm is a big thing for me lately. I love to get going real fast in my practice sessions but then when I'm competing if I get a bit nervous or anxious I slow everything down and I seldom ever get back to that practice session pace. So it's probably counter productive to practice so fast...or is it? I'm really not sure. Maybe it's good to have several different paces that you are comfortable playing at....or maybe you should strive for keeping a consistent pace. Which is it? I’m leaning toward the latter. With pool there are so many different games and they all force you to play at different speeds so being comfortable playing slow and fast is probably a good thing. That’s my theory for today. Tomorrow it may be different.

One thing I know I do wrong when I get going too fast is I start analyzing the table quicker and I move toward my actual cue ball address a bit swifter, which is probably fine but I think this then merges into me going through my actual shot process faster. My warm up strokes get going too fast and my final backstroke speeds up. I think once I’m actually beginning my approach to the cue ball it should probably remain fairly consistent at all times regardless of whether or not I’m actually moving around the table a bit quicker or slower based on how comfortable I’m feeling at that time.

I’ll always be a work in progress I suppose.
 
not me,but i've noticed that quite a few people have a bad habit of losing.

my friend once read a book on improving his pool game and by the time he had finished the book he couldn't make a ball. i read the same book and picked up a couple of tips on practicing and strategy and i went on my merry way and i do think it helped my overall game but it didn't turn me into a world beater.

i think many of us are in search of some holy grail that will transform our game but as far as i know there isn't one. talent and hard work are the keys to any good pool game and the rest is just stuff ; stuff that is just stuff.

snake oil salesman used alcohol and other remedies to try and convince their customers they had the stuff to make everything better. in the end all the stuff did was let him rest better and that was it. any other perceived benefit was just smoke and mirrors. they still had the same maladies as they did before any magic potion was applied or ingested.

good luck to the salesmen and their customers.
 
Pidge said:
We all have them, but what are yours?

I recently went through a bit of reconstruction with my fundamentals, mainly grip and stance. For years my stance has been fine, but I've made a real effort lately to play quicker so setting up on my stance has been rushed. It was just one aspect of my stance - my lead leg. It pointed slightly too straight on the line of a shot, which caused all kinds of issues. Who knew your lead leg was that important! My body was weighted more towards my locked leg as a result and I would shift over slightly, which meant less room for my back hand to flow, and it caused a slight 'anti-chicken wing' (wrist and forearm further out than shoulder) by around an inch or two. I made a slight adjustment in my lead leg by pointing it further outward, which is how it used to be, and everything else fell into place.

Second was my grip. I would grip extremely tight, and I never had an issue with it or so I thought until I realised how beneficial a loose grip was. Because I gripped so tight my wrist would move out. By this I mean the back of my hand would not be straight with my forearm, as much as a 30 degree difference. I've always done this so it wasn't so much a bad habit as much as it was a bad grip. Loosening the grip made it feel like I was 'curling' my hand but once I got around the weird feeling its worked wonders.

So, what bad habits have you got! It doesn't have to be mechanical, it could be something like gazing at a bar maid as she walks past...we've all done it! Or thinking you can play like Efren, when infact your just Derrick Smith from Luxembourg.
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Drinking jager bombs while I play pool
 
There aren't enough electrons in the internet universe for me to list all my bad habits, but here's a start:

Taking "easy" shots for granted -- both pocketing and safety play. a/k/a losing focus.

One-stroking. I'm in too much of a hurry and don't take the necessary practice strokes. I need them to make sure I'm stroking straight, but too often I get down and shoot.

REM Rapid Eye Movement. I learned that I'm much more accurate when I use "quiet" eyes and don't try to see so much. When getting down on the shot, just focus on what's important and change my focus (OB to CB back to OB) slowly. But it's so easy to fall back into the bad habit of moving eyes rapidly and looking at more than is necesary.

Not starting over even when I'm not confident about the result of my pre-shot routine (aim line, stance, etc).
 
Easier to list is what is right.

What I do right is keep my head still.

Everything else sucks.
 
bdorman said:
There aren't enough electrons in the internet universe for me to list all my bad habits, but here's a start:

Taking "easy" shots for granted -- both pocketing and safety play. a/k/a losing focus.

One-stroking. I'm in too much of a hurry and don't take the necessary practice strokes. I need them to make sure I'm stroking straight, but too often I get down and shoot.

REM Rapid Eye Movement. I learned that I'm much more accurate when I use "quiet" eyes and don't try to see so much. When getting down on the shot, just focus on what's important and change my focus (OB to CB back to OB) slowly. But it's so easy to fall back into the bad habit of moving eyes rapidly and looking at more than is necesary.

Not starting over even when I'm not confident about the result of my pre-shot routine (aim line, stance, etc).
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REM, one stroking and not getting up regardless sounds like your a guy who plays like he's got somewhere else to be! I got into the habit of playing too quick and it sucked for me.

The eye movement is interesting though. Have you always swapped between looking at OB and CB? I've always look at the CB to make sure I'm centre, then switched to the OB and started my practice strokes. I've never been on to keep swappinbg what I'm looking at.
 
One stroking when I shouldn't be.
Shooting too quickly.
Start on a run without looking for a pattern.
 
I used to have a bunch of bad habits that fell into the mental side more than the physical.

I'd spin every ball with low outside whether it needed it or not.
If I was too straight on a shot, I'd try to force it instead of finding a smart alternative.
If I'm too thin on the ball, I'd try to hold it instead of just taking my medicine and going across the table.
I'd convince myself balls passed blockers when really they didn't.

If I didn't know what to do on a difficult situation, like a difficult position route filled with obstacles,
I'd just lazily send the cue ball in a general direction and hoped it would work out.

Physically, a huge issue has been that I've developed a slight hook when I swing the cue,
the tip swings inward across my body a bit. This flaw was hidden because I still hit
accurately enough to make most shots. But it shows up on long tough ones.
Lessons helped me spot it and Mark Wilson's new book has some ideas on how to fix it,
but it's been very tough to change my stance, feels so unnatural.
 
Pidge said:
REM, one stroking and not getting up regardless sounds like your a guy who plays like he's got somewhere else to be! I got into the habit of playing too quick and it sucked for me.
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To clarify, I'm not considered a fast player (by myself or others) except when it's most deadly: the easy shot. Aim doesn't look right? That's okay, it's an easy enough shot that I don't need to get up and start over...Oops. Bridge feels a little awkward? That's okay, it's such an easy shot....

Of course, the problem is that I do make the easy shot 95% of the time, even when I take the shortcuts. It's the other 5% that kill.

On my tombstone, they'll probably engrave "but it was such any easy shot."


Pidge said:
The eye movement is interesting though. Have you always swapped between looking at OB and CB? I've always look at the CB to make sure I'm centre, then switched to the OB and started my practice strokes. I've never been on to keep swappinbg what I'm looking at.
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I don't do what I've seen many pros do when they change eye focus on the practice-backswing (OB) and then practice-forward swing (CB) and back and forth for 4-5 practice swings. Geez, that would give me cross-eyes!

Mine pattern is: eyes on OB while getting down on the shot. First practice swing my eyes are still on the OB. 2nd, 3rd, 4th practice swing my eyes are actually on my shaft to make sure I'm stroking straight and contacting the CB where I intend to. Pause. Re-focus on the OB and take final backswing.

But why go through all that when it's such an easy shot, right?
 
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I've developed a stupid habit of tapping my bridge hand fingers while I'm taking practice strokes and shooting. The really stupid thing is that I never used to do it, but I think I've seen other players do it and I just started unnecessarily mimicking it. ???
 
bdorman said:
To clarify, I'm not considered a fast player (by myself or others) except when it's most deadly: the easy shot. Aim doesn't look right? That's okay, it's an easy enough shot that I don't need to get up and start over...Oops. Bridge feels a little awkward? That's okay, it's such an easy shot....

Of course, the problem is that I do make the easy shot 95% of the time, even when I take the shortcuts. It's the other 5% that kill.

On my tombstone, they'll probably engrave "but it was such any easy shot."




I don't do what I've seen many pros do when they change eye focus on the practice-backswing (OB) and then practice-forward swing (CB) and back and forth for 4-5 practice swings. Geez, that would give me cross-eyes!

Mine pattern is: eyes on OB while getting down on the shot. First practice swing my eyes are still on the OB. 2nd, 3rd, 4th practice swing my eyes are actually on my shaft to make sure I'm stroking straight and contacting the CB where I intend to. Pause. Re-focus on the OB and take final backswing.

But why go through all that when it's such an easy shot, right?
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If only all shots were easy, you'd have a 95% potting average! I do suprise myself at time on how I can miss a shot I consider bread and butter. I guess I too can add taking shots for granted as a bad habit.

Eye patterns intrigue me. Stephen Hendry had one of the oddest I've ever seen. His eyes would flutter between OB and pocket. So on a thin long cut it looked like he was watching tennis in fast forward mode!

Also, a lot of very good players do something a lot don't. They concentrate on the CB after it contacts the OB. I guess if your that good your going to be certain of the pot so why bother watching it go in the hole?
 
I am trying to stay on point here, but, what bad habit I DO NOT HAVE, is tapping the chalk on the rail 3 or 4 times after every frigging shot (and sometimes upside down leaving blue chalk along the rail. whilst I had the opportunity here, if anyone here has that habit, please stop! sorry, just had to "vent" a little. :sorry:
 
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