I got this from David Sapolis's Facebook page.
"One of the first things that you will have to do is to try and stop your brain’s preoccupation with high run numbers. Those numbers are representative of a magical place in time where you played at an extraordinary level. DO NOT expect the EXTRAORDINARY to be your ORDINARY. If you do, you will eventually become frustrated, and frustration will limit your capacity to learn anything.
In competition, nobody runs hundreds all of the time. It would be nice if that were the case, but high runs are dependent upon many more factors than just your ball-pocketing ability and cue ball control. Those elements are essential, vital parts of the machine - or vehicle - but it takes much more than that to get you where you want to go.
Visualize your game as a vehicle. In your mind, some of you will picture a Porsche, or perhaps a Maserati - some will visualize a Volkswagen or a Ford Festiva. Hey… whatever works for you. After you have chosen your vehicle, I want you to visualize your stroke as the transmission. The stroke is what moves the balls, your game, etc. Your stroke controls the cue and the cue ball, which in turn will move the balls into position -and- into the pockets.
A vehicle needs fuel. The fuel for your vehicle is your knowledge. You need to keep your fuel tank full. Just because you have accumulated vast amounts of knowledge, that does not mean that the ability to apply that knowledge will always be there. You have to fuel your game with knowledge as often as you fuel your car, or as often as you fuel your own body.
You are the driver of the vehicle. You start it up. You put it in gear. You hit the gas pedal, control the speed, the starting, the stopping, etc. That vehicle does not have a mind of its own, and much like the cue ball, it will not do anything that you don’t tell it to do.
Along those same lines, you should not have to consciously "will" the transmission to do anything. It is up to you to engage the transmission in the correct gear and move in the proper direction. Just because the vehicle is moving, that doesn't mean that you are going anywhere. You have to have a destination - a goal - a target. Most players don't know where they're going, but they're getting there fast. They practice and practice and get nowhere. They don't have proper guidance, or an effective strategy to get themselves to the next level.
The big numbers are great - its awesome when they happen - but if you take care of the little stuff and strengthen the little stuff - then the little stuff becomes the big stuff." ~ Blackjack's Random Thought, July 11, 2010.
"One of the first things that you will have to do is to try and stop your brain’s preoccupation with high run numbers. Those numbers are representative of a magical place in time where you played at an extraordinary level. DO NOT expect the EXTRAORDINARY to be your ORDINARY. If you do, you will eventually become frustrated, and frustration will limit your capacity to learn anything.
In competition, nobody runs hundreds all of the time. It would be nice if that were the case, but high runs are dependent upon many more factors than just your ball-pocketing ability and cue ball control. Those elements are essential, vital parts of the machine - or vehicle - but it takes much more than that to get you where you want to go.
Visualize your game as a vehicle. In your mind, some of you will picture a Porsche, or perhaps a Maserati - some will visualize a Volkswagen or a Ford Festiva. Hey… whatever works for you. After you have chosen your vehicle, I want you to visualize your stroke as the transmission. The stroke is what moves the balls, your game, etc. Your stroke controls the cue and the cue ball, which in turn will move the balls into position -and- into the pockets.
A vehicle needs fuel. The fuel for your vehicle is your knowledge. You need to keep your fuel tank full. Just because you have accumulated vast amounts of knowledge, that does not mean that the ability to apply that knowledge will always be there. You have to fuel your game with knowledge as often as you fuel your car, or as often as you fuel your own body.
You are the driver of the vehicle. You start it up. You put it in gear. You hit the gas pedal, control the speed, the starting, the stopping, etc. That vehicle does not have a mind of its own, and much like the cue ball, it will not do anything that you don’t tell it to do.
Along those same lines, you should not have to consciously "will" the transmission to do anything. It is up to you to engage the transmission in the correct gear and move in the proper direction. Just because the vehicle is moving, that doesn't mean that you are going anywhere. You have to have a destination - a goal - a target. Most players don't know where they're going, but they're getting there fast. They practice and practice and get nowhere. They don't have proper guidance, or an effective strategy to get themselves to the next level.
The big numbers are great - its awesome when they happen - but if you take care of the little stuff and strengthen the little stuff - then the little stuff becomes the big stuff." ~ Blackjack's Random Thought, July 11, 2010.
