Does this only happen to me ?

stevekur1

stevekur1

The "COMMISH"
Silver Member
I was playing a more knowledgable old school 14.1 player last night and i couldnt do a damn thing right!

Is this because me wanting to show him that i know the game and can play the patterns properly?

He has heard stories of some of my runs, but has never seen it to believe it.

I dont think nerves had anything to do with it, i can clearly stroke circles around this guy.

has anyone ever run into this issue?, and what can i do to combat this?

I Would like to keep playing him and thats probably the best idea, if anything i will gain a wealth of knowledge !

Thanks
Steve
 
You are not alone

stevekur1 said:
I was playing a more knowledgable old school 14.1 player last night and i couldnt do a damn thing right!

Is this because me wanting to show him that i know the game and can play the patterns properly?

He has heard stories of some of my runs, but has never seen it to believe it.

I dont think nerves had anything to do with it, i can clearly stroke circles around this guy.

has anyone ever run into this issue?, and what can i do to combat this?

I Would like to keep playing him and thats probably the best idea, if anything i will gain a wealth of knowledge !

Thanks
Steve
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I am glad you wrote this b/c I always thought that I was the only guy that this happens too. I have done this same situation time & time again.
I want to do my very best to show the person that I am playing & people who have taken the time to come watch a match of mine. It has to be lack of playing and putting so much pressure of your self in the back of your mind that you do not even realize that you are doing it. My wife has told me for many, many years that my problem is all mental. I believe the mental part can be conquered only threw building of confidence of playing match after match & learning to relax.
 
i was practicing up at clicks in dallas and dick lane was there watching. i played like crap. lol... the game is all mental.
 
When I first started playing with John Schmidt I never played my normal game. I was too busy trying not to miss, instead of playing the proper way. Now its not a problem.

Last year at the DCC Dennis Walsh was practicing in front of John and he also played below par. I think its normal for most people.
 
I remember my first match of the world straight pool championships I had to play Ralf Eckert who is an absolutely spectacular player to watch. Everything measured and fluid and as we were about to begin i noticed thorsten hohman walk by so i smiled and said good luck today Thorsten, so he came over shook my hand and asked me who i was playing. I responded of course Ralf Eckert and he said oh ok i will have to come by and watch. So of course he did. Not only was i on a grand stage to play in the world's but I had to play one of the best straight pool players in the world (Ralf Eckert) while probably the world's greatest straight pool player (Thorsten) looked on. To say i shot below par was a massive understatement. lol Not that i am saying i should have won the match or anything like that but having someone of that caliber or multiple someones of that caliber watching knowing they will be critiquing your game can be a massive weight on ones shoulders.

P.S. to MAROP lol when i was playing Rob Madenjian same thing happened you told me John was watching on the live stream and I was choking hard core lol.

Just kidding i would have choked hard core with or without him watching but i do have to say it was great to finally meet you and Dennis over at Comet.

Charlie
 
i've beaten players who were much better than i because of this syndrome. there's a lesson to be learned from the original hustler movie with paul newman. the only way he could beat fats was to play fast and loose but only after achieving "character". it's easier to win if you don't care about losing.
 
Marop said:
When I first started playing with John Schmidt I never played my normal game. I was too busy trying not to miss, instead of playing the proper way. Now its not a problem.

Last year at the DCC Dennis Walsh was practicing in front of John and he also played below par. I think its normal for most people.
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That is true. And it happens some times but not all the time. I was able to relax a little bit against Cohen.
 
I think the problem is you are too concerned about what people are thinking, which splits your concentration.

Doesn't matter who is watching, any time you want to show someone how well you play it tends to hurt your game. Tough shots have added pressure and you start over thinking your patterns.

If it helps, when a pro is watching don't worry about impressing them, because unless you run 300-500 balls you won't. They've seen and run so many centuries that a 50 ball run isn't going to peak their interest.

Personally I have this problem when I am practicing, I hate people watching me practice because I start to feel self-concious and my session goes down hill. I'm working on ignoring. I'm fine during a match because I have the game to focus on though, my only concern at that point is winning.
 
@stevkur1

it s all about playing tournaments....tournaments.....tournaments ^^
straight pool is the game, where u definitly live from your expirience and practice-skills. and for the mental problem....play tournaments...tournaments etc :wink:
that s the nicest point of view in this game for me: it doesn t matter you re playing against- if you re at the table: it s YOUR table (as long noone steals your cue *grin*)

have fun playin tournaments^^
Ingo from germany :)
 
stevekur1 said:
I was playing a more knowledgable old school 14.1 player last night and i couldnt do a damn thing right!

Is this because me wanting to show him that i know the game and can play the patterns properly?

He has heard stories of some of my runs, but has never seen it to believe it.

I dont think nerves had anything to do with it, i can clearly stroke circles around this guy.

has anyone ever run into this issue?, and what can i do to combat this?

I Would like to keep playing him and thats probably the best idea, if anything i will gain a wealth of knowledge !

Thanks
Steve
Click to expand...


if you're scared go to church!!!!!!!
 
I had that same situation with a guy until recently (the same guy from the 14.1 pockets thread) when i finally ran a 49 on him. It seems like whenever I WANT to run something decent, I never do. When I'm not paying attention and I could give a sh1t, I seem to end up running a decent number.

It's the difference between shooting "AT" a number and shooting "THROUGH" a number---- it's totally different.

It's like finding a scratch golfer who shoots 72 on his course everyday. Bet him $1000 he can't shoot 72 and he's lucky to make the turn without quitting (oh, by the way... thanks Hop for that little money maker).

I think 14.1 is the same way. Unless you're Schmidt or Lipsky.... it's hard to shoot "at" a number at will. The rest of us just need to let it happen naturally, whenever that is.
 
stevkur1, i saw in another thread how many good high series you shot in a few days- keep on practising. imo there s no reason to think about anything for you. you re doin very right. one day it makes *click* and you ll over the 100- you really seem to become (or be) a very good straight pool player :)
 
Thanks alot ratta , it seems I have been in a rutt ever since then. Especially now that our league has started I can do a damn thing right.

It has been brought to my attention from a veteran player in our room, that he thinks I play a hell of a game . But he thinks I have been trying to hard lately to hit some more good numbers that I am not letting my stroke do what it knows to do already....

Time to give myself some breathing room and just play some good patterns and the numbers will return in time !!

Steve
 
Happens to me often.

When playing my best, or at-least near normal I am a "novice" tournament player, so if I'm not playing normal or good I look like a total fool. One reason why I only bet $ on games at bars against people who are on my level. The pool hall is currently for me to learn, and If I win that's great, but I mostly get my ass kicked while I just learn the ropes, and while I play excellent 9 ball players with massive cue ball control in 8 ball I learn a little while losing.
 
stevekur1 said:
I was playing a more knowledgable old school 14.1 player last night and i couldnt do a damn thing right!

Is this because me wanting to show him that i know the game and can play the patterns properly?

He has heard stories of some of my runs, but has never seen it to believe it.

I dont think nerves had anything to do with it, i can clearly stroke circles around this guy.

has anyone ever run into this issue?, and what can i do to combat this?

I Would like to keep playing him and thats probably the best idea, if anything i will gain a wealth of knowledge !

Thanks
Steve
Click to expand...

Ya, keep playing him. Over time, you'll relax and get into YOUR groove. Enjoy and learn on the way.
 
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