I'm late to the party, but here you go.
1. Accept that you're going to be nervous. You're not the first pool player who was nervous, nor will you be the last.
2. It's okay to be afraid and still do something, like bungee jumping or skydiving. And it's okay to be nervous and still play pool. Nerves are just another form of fear. Everybody is nervous to a certain degree or another. If you didn't feel anything you wouldn't be human.
3. Most important - verbalize your nervousness before the match. To your opponent, your friend or whoever. There is MAGIC in telling the truth about how you feel. It is a huge release mechanism. And if you feel nervous again later, say so.
4. Now just forget everything and let yourself play pool. This is what you practiced for, to be able to handle EXACTLY this challenge. This is the true beauty of pool, that we are always challenged on every shot at every moment, while fighting an internal battle to keep ourself under control. Sounds complicated, doesn't it? Actually it's not.
Pool is all about mental discipline! It is a powerful tool to help us cope with all situations in life. Pool IS like life! If you can handle one, you can handle the other. :wink2:
Is pool at a high level complicated? No! Well, why not?
Because when you develop the necessary discipline to play pool well, you are no longer "in your head", with all your thoughts and feelings bouncing around inside. Your consciousness is outwardly directed, at what is happening outside your body, not inside your head. You are now in tune with the balls, the table, your cue. All your thought processes are external, not internal.
You are actually not thinking at all, just letting yourself play. Your computer is now on automatic pilot, making all the correct calculations instantly, with no need for analysis. In pool, we call this being in "dead stroke." You no longer have to think about what needs to be done on each shot; your body/mind already knows in an instant, with no conscious thought. You are almost an observer of the game at this point, observing yourself playing pool. The cue becomes an extension of your arm, the tip like your fingertip. You feel every shot intimately.
You know, I never really verbalized all this before. But I think that every good pool player can relate to what I said here. They "know" this feeling I'm talking about. It is pure ecstasy when you achieve it and you will always want more. This is the addiction of pool, when for a moment you have mastered the game, and all your internal demons. Then you've found Zen.
All the above goes well beyond the everyday dreariness of worrying about "making a living, supporting your family, doing the right thing, having a real job, and on and on and on." All that stuff is the chatter that fills your head and gets in the way of playing great pool. The best players have traditionally kept that "internal" chatter to a minimum. Lassiter never married or even had a relationship. Mosconi forsook all else to play pool. He had no interest in politics, movies, theater or anything else for that matter. He only cared about the equipment he was going to play on and his cue. Even his wife came second and she knew it.
If you aren't a pool player, it would be hard to understand this single mindedness of purpose. But that's what it takes to excel. A great player cannot concern himself/herself too much about the politics of the game or the monetary rewards they derive from playing. They must remain focused on the biggest prize of all, fulfillment of self. Yes, they may look for sponsors or seek endorsements or show concern for prize money owed. But it is all merely a means to allow them to practice their art, and remain dedicated to the pursuit of perfection.
As Fats once said, "Pool is the toughest game of them all." And I won't argue that opinion.
