Does this happen to your game?

I'm use to playing in bars with a lot of noise and people walking in front of my shot and bumping my cue. If someone gets close enough to hit him hard in the nuts with butt of the cue on my backswing...he was too close. Johnnyt

i think he's talking about his friends/opponents sweating his match is making him nervous
 
I joined an 8-ball league a few weeks back. Of course, the games are watched closely by all members of both teams at close quarters. I find this somewhat unnerving, and suffer from performance anxiety. While playing my league games, my heart speeds up, I sweat, I feel slightly weak, I get a slight tremor, and my muscles/joints tighten up. Even after my match is over I can still feel quite stressed and shaky.

I've no doubt this affects my game, as in the league my rating is a 3, while when playing non-observed/no-pressure off-hand games, I'm regularly beating, or at least holding my own against, level 4 and 5 players. The other week I beat a local 8-ball trophy winner quite comfortably.

I've considered beta-blockers, and I know some snooker players used to take them, but I notice that some posters on here think they represent an unfair advantage for the user. My doctor refuses to prescribe Valium as he says it's too habit-forming.

Does anyone else have this performance anxiety, where you play significantly better in games which are not observed, or which have no importance riding on them?

Has anyone here been able to overcome the kinds of symptoms and the kind of mindset that I have outlined above?

Feedback very welcome :)


There's no shortcut, there's nothing you can take, you just have to keep putting yourself in the same situation over and over again. IOW, you have to develop your confidence. And confidence is something you develop based upon your past performance. If you've walked into the center of the ring and given as good as you've taken, you will carry that confidence out of the ring with you and it will be part of you in any future endeavor. But obviously, this doesn't happen right off.

Confidence starts to develop with the spark that propels you to compete in the first place. Truth be told, some don't have the spark at all and just spend endless hours practicing by themselves, playing for fun, never entering a tournament, or staying on their home table. But if you have the spark, as you seem to have, your first few times in the ring you're likely to go out on a stretcher (figuratively speaking :-) having taken the worst of it. This happens to all of us the first few times and it's during this period that one of two things can happen: the spark dies out and you convince yourself that you have no talent for the game -- basically, the experience is not worth the damage it does to your ego --- or you say to yourself, "I can do better."

You go over the experience in your mind's eye and examine not only what you did or didn't do, but also your opponent's performance. You work on your skills and you enter the ring again. I think this is the essence of developing confidence and a winning attitude: the willingness to take your lumps, do the work, and try again and again until you succeed. But, unfortunately, too many people want a magic bullet, a secret technique, and are not willing to do the road work that leads to winner's circle. Just keep at it. If you do you'll *earn* the confidence that comes from having the will to fight and lose, until you have fought and won.

Lou Figueroa
 
just force yourself to relax. what i do when i feel myself tensing up, i start whistling while im shooting. it lets your muscle memory take over, and you just do your thing.
 
Thanks

There's no shortcut, there's nothing you can take, you just have to keep putting yourself in the same situation over and over again. IOW, you have to develop your confidence. And confidence is something you develop based upon your past performance. If you've walked into the center of the ring and given as good as you've taken, you will carry that confidence out of the ring with you and it will be part of you in any future endeavor. But obviously, this doesn't happen right off.

Confidence starts to develop with the spark that propels you to compete in the first place. Truth be told, some don't have the spark at all and just spend endless hours practicing by themselves, playing for fun, never entering a tournament, or staying on their home table. But if you have the spark, as you seem to have, your first few times in the ring you're likely to go out on a stretcher (figuratively speaking :-) having taken the worst of it. This happens to all of us the first few times and it's during this period that one of two things can happen: the spark dies out and you convince yourself that you have no talent for the game -- basically, the experience is not worth the damage it does to your ego --- or you say to yourself, "I can do better."

You go over the experience in your mind's eye and examine not only what you did or didn't do, but also your opponent's performance. You work on your skills and you enter the ring again. I think this is the essence of developing confidence and a winning attitude: the willingness to take your lumps, do the work, and try again and again until you succeed. But, unfortunately, too many people want a magic bullet, a secret technique, and are not willing to do the road work that leads to winner's circle. Just keep at it. If you do you'll *earn* the confidence that comes from having the will to fight and lose, until you have fought and won.

Lou Figueroa


Excellent advice. This will not only help "Blackball75" but everyone who wants to improve their game.
 
Blackball, there has been some great advice in this thread and also some very bad. The first thing I'd say is read Lou's post and memorize it. The only way to get over those nerves is to keep playing and keep trying to get better. Experience will dull those nerves in time.
I'm a sl7 and I still get nervous sometimes. To tell you the truth, I kinda like it. I use it to help me focus believe it or not.

The only other thing I can add is, never, under ANY circumstances, smoke, drink or ingest ANYTHING to try and enhance your performance. Using a crutch is no way to get better. Put in the time, if you do you will be rewarded.
 
There is a lot of good advice on this thread for anyone. Yes, the pressure of playing for a team is quite different from playing individually.
I always make it a point to tell new players on my team before they even start, to look around the room and count the players. Then I remind them that exactly 1/2 of them are going to win tonight, and 1/2 are not. Then I just tell them to do their best, and to have fun. I call a lot of time outs on new players, just to help them relax in the middle of their game.
I have two teams right now, one is experienced players and we are in first place. The other is almost all new players (we have five sl-2s on the team!) but they are having fun every week. And while this team started off a little slow, we are only 5 points behind first place. My players are all relaxed, having fun, and are starting to learn that they can win.
It takes time, but it can happen, if you let it.

Steve
 
Joe W- What an incredible article. That website is top notch. I plan on spending alot of time reading there. I also own Pleasures of Small Motions and it is a great book.
 
Hi Guys,

Played a league match last night. Anxiety was somewhat down on previous weeks. Thanks for your excellent advice :)
 
There's no shortcut, there's nothing you can take, you just have to keep putting yourself in the same situation over and over again. IOW, you have to develop your confidence. And confidence is something you develop based upon your past performance. If you've walked into the center of the ring and given as good as you've taken, you will carry that confidence out of the ring with you and it will be part of you in any future endeavor. But obviously, this doesn't happen right off.

Confidence starts to develop with the spark that propels you to compete in the first place. Truth be told, some don't have the spark at all and just spend endless hours practicing by themselves, playing for fun, never entering a tournament, or staying on their home table. But if you have the spark, as you seem to have, your first few times in the ring you're likely to go out on a stretcher (figuratively speaking :-) having taken the worst of it. This happens to all of us the first few times and it's during this period that one of two things can happen: the spark dies out and you convince yourself that you have no talent for the game -- basically, the experience is not worth the damage it does to your ego --- or you say to yourself, "I can do better."

You go over the experience in your mind's eye and examine not only what you did or didn't do, but also your opponent's performance. You work on your skills and you enter the ring again. I think this is the essence of developing confidence and a winning attitude: the willingness to take your lumps, do the work, and try again and again until you succeed. But, unfortunately, too many people want a magic bullet, a secret technique, and are not willing to do the road work that leads to winner's circle. Just keep at it. If you do you'll *earn* the confidence that comes from having the will to fight and lose, until you have fought and won.

Lou Figueroa

Well said Lou.

Another things to add to the OP. This is just a game. Have fun with it. Play. Enjoy everything about it. Getting nervous means you're alive.

Like Lou said.. maybe in the beginning you don't do so well.. but learn from those experiences. Enjoy them. And above all else.. have fun with them. Anyone who plays a sport regularly, got into that sport because they had fun with it at some point. Don't forget or loose that. You can play at a very high level and still have fun. Look at Efren, Alex P, Lou. All of them have fun when they play.

The more fun you have, the less nervous you'll be.
 
Hi Guys,

Played a league match last night. Anxiety was somewhat down on previous weeks. Thanks for your excellent advice :)

Excellent! It will get better each week you continue to play. And then, at some point, you'll probably encounter a bad night, and it might start again, but at least you'll be able to recognize it, and take steps to minimize the effects. Good luck, and have fun!
 
Good topic. I have been playing for a very long time and been in some tense situations for $$$ and in tournaments. I have come to thrive on that kind of stress and it makes me excited to see the other guy sweating it. I know that I have the pressure on him.

Having said all of that, I have never been in a league until 3 weeks ago. Leagues simply didn't interest me. Lately though, there seems to not be much going on except leagues so I joined up. Like others have said, the pressure of a team environment is MUCH different for me. I really sweated it my first session but ended up doing OK. As the weeks have passed I am only nervous in my first match but after that, I am good to go. It is obvious in my scores too. I have just squeaked out the first one or lost, then gone on to win all my others by a good margin.

I am hoping that this new form of pressure will be just like the other form that I managed to overcome. If so, it will just take time. As uncomfortable as it may be put yourself in that situation as often as you can. It will become a lot easier.

I do a fair amount of public speaking for my job. The pressure I feel in that scenario is a lot like what I feel in the team setting. I say that so that you can think about other parts of your life where you feel pressure and think about how you overcame them. Good luck and your not alone.
 
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