Dead punch

Jodacus

Jodacus

Shoot...don't talk
Silver Member
When you are in dead stroke do you practice or not?

Some guys seem to feel that practicing will somehow
waste their dead stroke time, as if they have a fixed number
of strokes and don't want to waste them on practice. Others
feel that practicing helps extend the time they are in dead
stroke and that it helps fix the "dead stroke" condition in
their mind.

What do you do and why?

Originally I accidentally posted this on another thread. Sorry.

Joe
 
Dead Stroke has to be the most ridiculous pool term I have ever heard.
Dead Punch is even worse; my ears bleed when someone says it.

Any player who is a player: Has a stroke, works hard, practices, pro, shorty, opens, A and B speeds, even some C level players. If they are working and practicing they are in stroke.

If they are practicing and playing poorly, IT'S IN THE HEAD
If they are practicing and playing well….ITS IN THE HEAD

It's all the head....Your brain is in Dead Stroke or Dead Punch

Sincerely : SS
 
I also think that the term is cheesy.
And of course its in your head. Everything is in your head.
Your knowledge, your perception, your pattern recognition, decision making skills and logic, your emotions and your fears, everything you do- except for involuntary bodily functions-comes from your head.

However, the trance-like state that people commonly refer to as deadstroke is real.
Because your head is very similar to your muscles in the context of being able to be trained. You can train yourself to think in "left brain" mode or " right brain" mode. You can train yourself to overcome fear and emotion. You can train yourself to concentrate in distracting circumstances and environments.

The trick, or goal, as the case may be is being able to recognize and understand your current state of mind, and adjust accordingly at any given point in time. Which by the way, is MUCH easier said than done. If it were easy, everyone could and would do it.

There is a physical mode of being "in stroke" and a psychological mode of being in stroke. And while its true that if you have no skill to speak of, your state of mind will make no difference, but at the same time you can be the most skilled player on earth and if your mind is in the wrong place, you won't shoot worth a damn.

For most folks the dead stroke condition is a total mystery simply because they don't know what they did to get into that particular frame of mind and can't seem to conjure it up at will, because, like I said, it is much easier said than done. Artists, musicians, writers , and creative types in many realms can all relate to this conundrum of 'inspiration-on-demand' and generally speaking, will all agree that it takes work and practice to achieve.
 
If practicing somehow "wastes" your good pool hours, then ask those guys
why SVB keeps winning championships, when is famous for practicing for hours and hours on end?

This is just an excuse people use to avoid doing actual work
to improve their game. A really lame one too.

Saying practice might drain all your 'dead stroke time',
is like saying you better avoid going to work every day,
because if you ever need money someday you might be all tuckered out
and unable to earn it because you're so tired from working.
 
Absolutely

In my opinion Mr. Bond and Creedo are correct.

Hard work and discipline pay the greatest dividends
on the mental side as well as the physical side of
sports.
 
before any play, be it with a friend or a match, I practice about 30min to 1 hour. then I last about 4-5 hours before I start shutting down. about 1/2 of that 4-5 hours I am "in stroke". I think because of my age I am not able to concentrate as I should, thereby, losing the stroke. I do believe it is all in your head because if I am not in the mood that particular day then I do not reach that "in stroke". I do not hear music, I o not see any people around the table etc.....it is just me and the table, as it should be.....;)
 
I see both sides of the argument here. you're playing well and you want to continue playing well. If you're thinking, "Wow, maybe I've improved. Maybe I'm about to break into the next class!" You'll want to get to the table as much as humanly possible to see if you can isolate what changed. On the other hand, if you're about to compete, you might not want to go through the swings of tinkering. Just do what you're doing and see how things go!
 
practice improves your number at least. in the last year Ive gone from 93 good strokes a day to 171 currently. those can go quickly in a long race so I only use them on tougher shots. I seem to have an unlimited supply of wrist twists though, so on easy shots I stick with those as much as possible. Im banking all my ram shots for when I want to amaze people. they are very difficult and take a lot of practice to save one up, Ive got 3 in reserve now
 
poolguppy said:
practice improves your number at least. in the last year Ive gone from 93 good strokes a day to 171 currently. those can go quickly in a long race so I only use them on tougher shots. I seem to have an unlimited supply of wrist twists though, so on easy shots I stick with those as much as possible. Im banking all my ram shots for when I want to amaze people. they are very difficult and take a lot of practice to save one up, Ive got 3 in reserve now
Click to expand...
:rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1:
I started reading it and at first I thought WTF does he mean? If you bank your good strokes you would be loaded for bear, 171 x 7=1197 good strokes for 1 day.
I would not know about the dead stroke thing because I have not been there yet. I play with people on 2 different leagues who dont like to play before league because they dont want to use up their dead stroke time, thats what I gather anyway. Well 1 did say as much, the other said he cant practice more than 1 game, but no practice is better. Im thinking he just doesnt want his opponents to see how bad he is.:eek:
 
Last edited:
I like Dead Punch A hell of a lot better than plays "Sporty". Dead Punch sounds old school and cool to me. Sporty grinds my gears.

Shoots the Lights out is another term I love. As it is actaully is derived from pool
 
SmoothStroke said:
Dead Stroke has to be the most ridiculous pool term I have ever heard.
Dead Punch is even worse; my ears bleed when someone says it.

Any player who is a player: Has a stroke, works hard, practices, pro, shorty, opens, A and B speeds, even some C level players. If they are working and practicing they are in stroke.

If they are practicing and playing poorly, IT'S IN THE HEAD
If they are practicing and playing well….ITS IN THE HEAD

It's all the head....Your brain is in Dead Stroke or Dead Punch

Sincerely : SS
Click to expand...
You are wrong about that. If you are a good player, yes, you are usually hitting the balls well and you play your game. When you are playing very good it is something else. You hardly have to think. When you come down on the ball everything is just right and you can feel it. Having you feet fall perfectly in the right place, your head over the cue just right, the number of strokes you take without even thinking just right and pulling the trigger.

All that coming together without seeming any extra effort on your part is a great feeling. You can't make it happen all the time, it just happens. You begin playing faster and could care less what you are left when you come to the table. It is not in your head because it is physical, but you can feel it, it is an exhilarating feeling. I am not talking about "free wheeling", you are in complete control. It happens from the average player to a pro and you can see it and they can feel it. When the night is over they know how good they were playing. It is not just in your head and you can not just make it happen.
 
Last edited:
Jodacus said:
When you are in dead stroke do you practice or not?

Some guys seem to feel that practicing will somehow
waste their dead stroke time, as if they have a fixed number
of strokes and don't want to waste them on practice. Others
feel that practicing helps extend the time they are in dead
stroke and that it helps fix the "dead stroke" condition in
their mind.

What do you do and why?

Originally I accidentally posted this on another thread. Sorry.

Joe
Click to expand...

If you are in dead punch and you quit playing for 5 years are you still in dead punch ? LOL


Seriously the only thing I would be concerned about is to make sure that whether it's practice
or playing someone, is to make sure it's done with intent not just banging balls around as that I
think is the best way to lose what ever you had.
 
Last edited:
IMO it is the combination of knowledge of the game, confidence in your ability, the desire to play at any given time, enjoying the play, feeling good physically at the time, (that is a fleeting feeling for me at my age) and a clear mind to allow your mind to concentrate and focus.

When all the stars are aligned it just happens. You can't will it, you can't call upon it, and you sure as hell can't bank it. :)

If the concept interests you, I suggest very strongly to read The Inner Game of Tennis. Just substitute pool for the word tennis.
 
I won't use any "offensive" names.
Back 30 years or so ago when I played my best.
When I was playing my normal level Concentration was 75% pocket the ball 25% get position
When I played above my normal level it was 25 % pocket the ball 75% get position.
In other words making the shot felt easy so I paid more attention to the cue ball.
These periods of playing better then normal would come and go.
Some would call it dead punch or dead stroke but I don't want to use those terms.
 
I was in dead punch the other night playing races to 9, my bank roll was nice and pumped. We went hill hill, so of course I decided to back it and jack it. Ill finish the story later, gotta go find a motel...Shake and Bake!
 
I found dead punch last weekend and it really seemed as though it was directly related to the significance of the match: the farther I went in the event, the better I played.

For me, it is directly related to motivation. If I have a goal that I can achieve, I seem to be able to play at a far higher level of proficiency that if I am just knocking balls onto the floor at home.

I think I see a lot of the same thing when I see the better players play tournaments...their level of play increases markedly when they get to the latter stages of an event.
 
Black-Balled said:
I found dead punch last weekend and it really seemed as though it was directly related to the significance of the match: the farther I went in the event, the better I played.

For me, it is directly related to motivation. If I have a goal that I can achieve, I seem to be able to play at a far higher level of proficiency that if I am just knocking balls onto the floor at home.

I think I see a lot of the same thing when I see the better players play tournaments...their level of play increases markedly when they get to the latter stages of an event.
Click to expand...

Motivation seems to have a large influence on getting in that zone. So does ones view of risk vs reward. I have seen a lot of guys get there when playing someone their not supposed to beat. As long as they don't totally collapse it seems like the pressure is off because they are not supposed to win anyway. Then they get in the zone and bam, they win!

Charlie Hustle
Is that a Sheba I saw in a pic you posted a while ago?
Joe
 
That feeling for me usually comes at about 3-4 beers. Just enough to loosen up, but not enough to lose control. I felt that way last night in a bar tournament even after getting iced for 2 hours. Tables all had matches so I couldn't practice any, but I would have if I could have. Had to have discipline so I wouldn't suck down beers too fast because getting drunk is the best way for me to make my game fall completely apart.

In the hotseat waiting on 3rd to be decided I was hitting balls the whole time on one of the empty tables. I don't like just sitting. I just hit long straight shots, thin cuts down the rails, and back cuts over and over to stay loose and keep the eyes aiming.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top