housecue said:
Hi
For the past couple of weeks, I have been shooting my best pool game. I even beat my pool pal who usually gives me great matches 7-0. He felt my game has reach new heights and I really feel strong. But whatever reason I recently develop self doubt. My game drop slightly and I couldn't perform at my highest gear. I can't seem to shake off this mental block. My partner even wonder why I am shooting sloppy lately.
I was wondering how I can overcome this?
Self doubt stems from concentrating more upon the failures of the past than what needs to be accomplished in the present.
You need to indentify the root of the problem, or the triggering event.
When we are playing our best, we are concentrated on the task at hand, remaining in the present. If we get out of line and we are faced with a tough shot (one that we have missed many times before) our thought process goes in reverse - your mind rewinds to the negative outcome - and you concentrate on "not missing the ball" instead of making the ball. Sometimes you'll miss the pocket completely, other times you'll make the shot and have the cue ball fly around the table aimlessly. It happens to everybody.
The same thing happens when we face a tough opponent. Perhaps you've lost to someone 4 times in a row. You can either condition yourself to set a short term goal of winning a match against this player, or you can get nervous, fearful, jittery, and choke every time you play him.
Thinking positively is not the only mental tool that you need in your arsenal.
Positive thoughts without confidence are worthless. Completely worthless. You need to direct your focus on the task at hand, then you need to strengthen your focus. You need to combine that with determination, while at the same time controlling the communication between your brain and your stroke - and also having a defense against negativity. You need to be able to rebound from missed shots, mistakes, etc, and REAPPLY that focus and determintaion.
Practicing mentally is just as important as practicing physically. You can have a pretty stroke, awesome shotmaking, great fundamentals, the whole package, but if you're mental muscles are flabby, you'll have trouble defeating anybody in competition.
I am currently working on a book that is dedicated to the mental game - preparing MENTALLY for competition - preparing our minds and our thought processes before during and after the match. Send me a PM and I will give you some more information about this (Please - don't everybody jam up my PM inbox - I just need to talk with Housecue about the specifics). I will make a post when this material is available.
