Do you “think” in “spoken language”?

iusedtoberich

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
When you are looking over the table, and planning your run, are you “speaking” in your head (phrases, sentences, etc,)?

Or, can you remove all language from your thoughts. If so, can you describe what is in your head?

I tried removing language yesterday and was unable to when planning a run.

Same question for broader life. Is all your thought in “spoken language” inside your head?
 
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I ask multilingual people this question all the time. Is the voice in their head in language A or B. Does it differ when you dream?
 
The majority of my thinking takes place in English, but one of my best traits for my engineering career is that I also think in patterns -- much like a flow chart or an engineering drawing {shapes, lines with arrows, boxes and other shapes} when I run into a match the process of matching did not take place in a speakable language.
 
If I have something visual to work on, such as the layout of the table after the break, I don’t hear any spoken words in my head when I plan my out. I just see what balls will go where and do whatever to the CB to get me on the next angle to put the balls where they’re supposed to go. If I’m just sitting around thinking about stuff I hear my thoughts as spoken words a lot
 
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Tennesseejoe said:
Someone once asked me if I inhale or exhale when stroking. I finally broke that bad thought habit...and now you ask me what language I use in my routine? All those years down the drain.....
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Heh, heh, heh, the old inhale or exhale when stroking shark move. In my younger days I've used that move by asking the question to a friend so my opponent could overhear. Hoping it would get my opponent thinking.

As for the OP's question, I found whenever I'm thinking in words while I'm shooting it's better to stand up and start over again.

First analyze what you want to do.

Then for me, I chalk my cue as a trigger to me to turn off the left side of my brain (math and word center). Then I get down on the shot and try to use the right side of my brain to do what I wanted to do.

If I start thinking about things and words come into my brain during the shot, I'll probably stand up. Wash, rinse, repeat. Analyze and think (in words) with left brain and then do (wordlessly) with right brain.

I find it best for me to treat all shots the same whether or not it's in competition or for fun or how hard or easy the shots are. Same pre-shot routine and tempo. Wash, rinse, repeat. Reduces the stress during competition for me if I can keep the same tempo regardless of how hard or easy the shots are.

I don't have any tips for the OP on how to do this. Just that if I'm thinking in words while I'm shooting it's bad for me.
 
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measureman said:
When I think it's always the three of us,me.myself and I.
Sometimes the arguments are brutal and someone has to go in time out.
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I count count how many I said to myself (referring to myself) AZSHOLE
In pool I think relax and make the shot.
 
...some deep spooky karma here,
it was slightly earlier than this post, this morning, I was in phase of knowledge acquisition for the possible relationship with keyboard notes and the English alphabet for a song to tune in a table setting...
 
Blomdahl, the great 3-cushion player, paints pictures in his mind while planning a shot.
….which made me realize that I do to, some of the time….I got an art background.
….but I think it is important not to legislate you thought processes….get it any way you can..same as chess for me.
 
What prompted me to ask was working on improving thinking speed at the table. Then I got to thinking in general if everyone has that voice in their head, in life in general.

If one has to "speak in their mind", then the rate of their speech is the limit to their thinking speed (I suppose). Some players are simply so fast, I wonder if they have an inner voice. Maybe the best example of this is speed chess. Do those guys verbalize in their heads the possible chess moves?
 
bbb said:
i lived in a foreign country for a few years and learned to get by quite well in the native language
I was shocked when i had my first dream where i was speaking the native language
i also tried to talk to myself in the native language as a way to assimilate it better.
funny i still had an accent in my head and in my dreams.....😂
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Shortly after I moved to California, and the first time I was around many Mexicans, I had a dream in Spanish. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand what anyone was saying.

measureman said:
When I think it's always the three of us,me.myself and I.
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You have to have an odd number of voices in case you need a tie breaking vote for a tough decision.
 
iusedtoberich said:
What prompted me to ask was working on improving thinking speed at the table. Then I got to thinking in general if everyone has that voice in their head, in life in general.

If one has to "speak in their mind", then the rate of their speech is the limit to their thinking speed (I suppose). Some players are simply so fast, I wonder if they have an inner voice. Maybe the best example of this is speed chess. Do those guys verbalize in their heads the possible chess moves?
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I definitely think in words to myself. The better I'm playing, the quieter my inner voice. So if I'm playing poorly I might be loudly thinking about how I need to clear a certain ball to avoid being hooked. This isn't great as my analytical mind is in danger of taking over the shot and really getting things out of whack. But if I'm playing well then that voice is just a murmur that I can barely hear or notice, just a quiet guide to help my intuitive brain develop an image of what I'm trying to accomplish.

I play a bit of speed chess. Definitely words, but really broken sentences. You don't have time to think "Hm, if I make a passive move here black has a threat to double rooks on the e file and put my knight in an uncomfortable pin as I have back rank issues and no flight square." Instead it's more like "Back rank, pin, flight square!"
 
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