Dog won't stop barking!

[Mr. Wiggles]

Seem to have a lot of dog in me lately. Only seems to occur in one pocket. Love one pocket but all the dinking and putting gets me out of stroke. I play most parts pretty well until I try to make my balls and just dog the damm things. I guess it's just changing gears. If I wasn't dogging balls I would be beating people that are actually better more knowledgeable than myself. Frustrating. I try to use my pre shot routine and focus and be calm and even crank things up a bit speed wise so I'm not putting my balls but still have issues. May be just turning into a mental block, I don't know. My plan now is just hang tough and it will get better, but sure would be nice if someone just told me what to do. I'm starting to itch, probably fleas.

 

[Scott Lee]

Mr. Wiggles...Tell us where you're located, and maybe we can recommend a good "doctor"! :grin:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Seem to have a lot of dog in me lately. Only seems to occur in one pocket. Love one pocket but all the dinking and putting gets me out of stroke. I play most parts pretty well until I try to make my balls and just dog the damm things. I guess it's just changing gears. If I wasn't dogging balls I would be beating people that are actually better more knowledgeable than myself. Frustrating. I try to use my pre shot routine and focus and be calm and even crank things up a bit speed wise so I'm not putting my balls but still have issues. May be just turning into a mental block, I don't know. My plan now is just hang tough and it will get better, but sure would be nice if someone just told me what to do. I'm starting to itch, probably fleas.

 

[FranCrimi]

Seem to have a lot of dog in me lately. Only seems to occur in one pocket. Love one pocket but all the dinking and putting gets me out of stroke. I play most parts pretty well until I try to make my balls and just dog the damm things. I guess it's just changing gears. If I wasn't dogging balls I would be beating people that are actually better more knowledgeable than myself. Frustrating. I try to use my pre shot routine and focus and be calm and even crank things up a bit speed wise so I'm not putting my balls but still have issues. May be just turning into a mental block, I don't know. My plan now is just hang tough and it will get better, but sure would be nice if someone just told me what to do. I'm starting to itch, probably fleas.

One Pocket is a mentally intense game. When you're pocketing, you're often leaving yourself vulnerable to your opponent because you obviously want to play position for your next shot; and if you miss, you may leave him in a winning position. That can be a lot of pressure.

I think you need to develop more confidence in your shot-making skills. You may already know how to pocket balls, but you need to believe it when you're in the thick of the game. I suggest you practice ball-pocketing as much as you can. Set up shots that you recall in your one pocket games and just shoot them in. Set up easy ones and hard ones and practice them.

When you get to your game, you will recognize some of those shots and you will feel more confident. It might just get you over the hurdle where you can relax and just start pocketing balls.

 

[Black-Balled]

I know a barking dog story:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=190684

 

[brokenarrowjbe]

Same thing happened to me. Just learning one pocket and kept getting spanked. Started trying to play safe, then when time to make a ball, all choked up worrying about getting run out on. Some of these guys are wicked good. Great game though. Will keep at it. Will get better one day. John

 

[Cameron Smith]

I had a similar situation when I was learning to play snooker. After long tactical exchanges when I'd finally get an opportunity I'd be so out of stroke, it'd be challenge to run anything. The problem was that on these exchanges my execution and preshot routine was taking a back seat because I wasn't trying to be accurate enough pocket balls. Similarily when I have played one pocket, I fell into the bad habit of one stroking a lot of shots.

Assuming this is you're issue, the key really is to treat the easiest of hangers and safety shots as though they were the toughest of pots. If you've been adhering to your routine the entire time, you shouldn't have a difficult time executing properly once it's time to run 8 and out.