Don't just practice pool, practice taking falls!

[Welder84]

John Ervolino used to refer to the high-pressure situations as "time in the frying pan" for the reason that you'll get fried and burned many times before you grow accustomed to it, and even then, you'll still get scorched from time to time. Failure and the ability to deal with its consequences is part of the learning process in all aspects of life.

Thomas Alva Edison often spoke of how few of his inventions actually worked. The pain that came with failure, however, never demotivated him and he had a halfway decent career as an inventor, LOL.

Tournament play is very similar (in my opinion harder than gambling).

• Find a tournament
• Drive usually across town
• Cram in a little practice
• Pay, then wait and pay again in Calcutta
• Wait, play a match, wait, wait, play and repeat
• If all goes well hours later you have cashed and maybe have a shot at first
• If not you have the whole ride home to think about it

So to remove any extra pressure you really have to want to be there

And playing well in tournaments is an additional skill aside from just running racks. My opinion

 

[RacerX750]

I believe it was Titanic Thompson who said "Put a balance beam one foot off the ground and anyone in this room can run across it. Put that same balance beam fifty feet in the air and no one in this room can walk across it." He was referring, of course, to how competitive pressure can drastically change one's ability to perform.

There are many skills needed to play a competitive game of pool, but one of the most neglected is handling serious pressure. No one likes the feeling of falling apart in a meaningful match in front of a crowd.

Many players conclude the answer is practicing their physical game. And to a point they are right. Of course you have to put in hours working on your game, rehearsing the techniques and skills you will use under the lights.

The problem is that too often they stop there. That isn't enough. Because while you can practice all of your physical skills in your basement, you can't simulate the experience of being out of your comfort zone in the comfort of your own home. You know the feeling when you start feeling short of breath, your arm starts shaking, your stroke feels weak and wobbly, the pocket openings shrink up, and all you can see are ways for balls to jaw up or for the cue ball to be sucked into a pocket.

Many people hate this so much they try to avoid it. So they stay in their comfort zone with the plan to keep running drills with the belief that they will develop their physical game so strong that it will become impervious to this type of pressure. But there is no amount of comfortable practice that will develop your ability to manage through excruciating circumstances. The only way to improve this area of your game is to get out of your comfort zone again and again.

Going back to our analogy of the balance beam. Someone who intends to walk a fifty foot high balance beam is doing themselves a disservice if they are so afraid of falling that they work on their moves one foot off the ground exclusively. The best thing to do would be to keep moving it higher and higher and practice taking falls. Eventually those falls will start looking less and less daunting until, at times, the heights won't disrupt their performance.

I work with many players that are serious about improving their pool game. I often ask my students "When was the last devastating loss you experienced? When was the last time you were so nervous you totally broke down?" Those who have to reach back in their memory bank for matches long ago are on the wrong path. I tell them I can teach them, I can train them, but they have to set themselves up with a steady diet of adversity if they want to truly experience success in their pool career.

So if you want to be a competitor, it's time to stop looking at meltdowns as a negative thing to be dreaded and avoided. It's time to embrace those experiences as the practice you need most to reach your goals. True competitors collect losses. They understand the road to victory is paved with failure, and to become a player that achieve meaningful accomplishments there must be many attempts that end with heartbreaking setbacks.

After finally getting control over my stroke I was able to execute difficult and pressure shots much better. But I still get in modes where I fall apart - sometimes even on simple shots. I figured out that the commonality during those times was emotion - negative and positive emotions. To play at my optimum level I have to keep a lid on emotions, and for me, that's the challenge of the mental game. Last week in league I pulled off a difficult position shot and quietly celebrated. Then I missed the next relatively easy shot because that elation remained causing me to lose focus and get out of my pre-shot routine. I scratched a winning shot in another game on the 8 ball because I put pressure on myself about 'having' to sink the ball. Instead of drawing I followed, and scratched. My thinking was locked up by the nature of the 'ultimate' shot. Emotion is the enemy if you let it dominate your mind.

 

[LC3]

I don't like the 'it's only...' argument. You've chosen to play. Fully experience that. Deal with loss in a healthy way.

I was a part of a pool league team (cash, no handicap) that had a reputation for mounting incredible comebacks. We once rallied from 9-0 in a race to 11 to get into the finals (which we eventually also won). I guarantee that nobody on that team ever thought that it was *only* a pool game. Each of us embraced the pressure and used it to focus.

In most situations we have no control over anything except our reaction.

I was talking about not letting the pressure dissuade me from playing competitively. It's not like I'll be shunned if I lose, so there's no reason to fear getting into competitive play. Once I'm at the table, it isn't "only pool" at that point. I take it seriously, do my best, and learn as much as I can.

 

[9BallKY]

Thanks for the thoughtful replies.

Half of my posts are directed to myself. I've been hitting the balls well in practice but haven't been in enough competition this year. My bootcamps have been very busy (thank you for the support to those who have come and trained with me!) but I overbooked and didn't prioritize competitive opportunities on my calendar. As a result I got a bit ring rusty and had a lackluster performance at Turning Stone last week. So I'm irritated with myself for taking my eye off the ball. The ball being getting more pressure sets logged. It's too easy for it to be like working out, where it takes special effort to make it happen and it is the first thing to slip when you get busy.

I am budgeting more time in 2023 for competitive situations. More tournaments if possible, but also some challenge matches and some live streams. With technology there is no reason to not have enough pressure situations.

I have most of my former students in my private facebook training group where we do video reviews for ongoing training. My students have unanimously told me that the most pressure they have ever felt was recording a set to send to me for review and to post in our group. I am no different. I just recorded a race to 7 against the 9 ball ghost. I made it a little tougher by playing with the matchroom break rules and a 30 second shot clock (trying to get ready for the Open next month) and my table is a little tough. I played really tight, got ahead 5-0, then found a way to lose 7-6. Even most of the racks I won were a bit choppy.

My point is for those looking for more pressure spots (or those who 'don't feel pressure') I suggest you flip on your camera and play a livestream ghost set in front of an audience. No travel costs or gambling losses, and it is tough action.

So while it's not easy to get to big tournaments or line up a big challenge match with a tight schedule, being busy isn't the real answer. It's too easy to use that as an excuse to stay comfortable. I look at it this way: If someone told me they'd pay me $50,000 at the end of 12 months if I was able to get myself in a high pressure situation once a month for the next year, would I find a way to make it happen? If so the question isn't ability, it's motivation and focus.

I'm motivated. I've got to keep my focus and keep putting myself in these spots. I enjoy the intrinsic rewards of playing pool win or lose, but competition is meaningful to me because it holds you accountable. I have had many hard ass managers in my life, but nothing is a harder driver than looking in

Thanks for the thoughtful replies.

Half of my posts are directed to myself. I've been hitting the balls well in practice but haven't been in enough competition this year. My bootcamps have been very busy (thank you for the support to those who have come and trained with me!) but I overbooked and didn't prioritize competitive opportunities on my calendar. As a result I got a bit ring rusty and had a lackluster performance at Turning Stone last week. So I'm irritated with myself for taking my eye off the ball. The ball being getting more pressure sets logged. It's too easy for it to be like working out, where it takes special effort to make it happen and it is the first thing to slip when you get busy.

I am budgeting more time in 2023 for competitive situations. More tournaments if possible, but also some challenge matches and some live streams. With technology there is no reason to not have enough pressure situations.

I have most of my former students in my private facebook training group where we do video reviews for ongoing training. My students have unanimously told me that the most pressure they have ever felt was recording a set to send to me for review and to post in our group. I am no different. I just recorded a race to 7 against the 9 ball ghost. I made it a little tougher by playing with the matchroom break rules and a 30 second shot clock (trying to get ready for the Open next month) and my table is a little tough. I played really tight, got ahead 5-0, then found a way to lose 7-6. Even most of the racks I won were a bit choppy.

My point is for those looking for more pressure spots (or those who 'don't feel pressure') I suggest you flip on your camera and play a livestream ghost set in front of an audience. No travel costs or gambling losses, and it is tough action.

So while it's not easy to get to big tournaments or line up a big challenge match with a tight schedule, being busy isn't the real answer. It's too easy to use that as an excuse to stay comfortable. I look at it this way: If someone told me they'd pay me $50,000 at the end of 12 months if I was able to get myself in a high pressure situation once a month for the next year, would I find a way to make it happen? If so the question isn't ability, it's motivation and focus.

I'm motivated. I've got to keep my focus and keep putting myself in these spots. I enjoy the intrinsic rewards of playing pool win or lose, but competition is meaningful to me because it holds you accountable. I have had many hard ass managers in my life, but nothing is a harder driver than looking in that mirror.

Very good post. I would love to play more tournaments but around here almost every tournament is limited and I can’t play. There’s a race to 2 8 ball tournament every Saturday night but I don’t like to drive an hr just to play a race to 2. Way every once in a while there is a decent tournament a couple hrs away but I never know if I will have to work until the day before so it’s hard to plan on going. A couple other tournaments 3-4 hrs away but I don’t really like to drive that far on the weekends having to travel back and forth then work on Monday. I mainly just bang on balls at home and I can tell when I do go play a tournament that I’m not really sharp. I might have played 3 tournaments since January.

 

[DynoDan]

I wouldn't say that I have a lack of fear and I certainly don't have a death wish. I don't know what it is about having that attitude where something might happen to another guy but it wont happen to me, I have talked to a lot of other racers and for the most part they all feel the same (could be a lack of brains ).

No mistake teenagers (supposedly) make the best soldiers (cannon fodder). They are still influenced by ‘authority‘, and the ‘other guy’ attitude seems inherent then.
They don't have a ‘death wish’ either, but in a game of ‘chicken’ (like my circle grudge race), they typically won’t back off. Bad for ‘the enemy’ (and often, for them). Those that survive longest calculate the odds and proceed accordingly, likely in war, pool, or racing.

 

[Black-Balled]

I wore a hr monitor during a tournament once an saw 148 bpm. During a full effort, I could see 175 bpm.

Easy to practice performing like that during exercise and damn near impossible to do it when practicing pool.

You have to practice like you play and the only place to get that experience in pool is to enter battle.

Or crack...there's that.

 

[couldnthinkof01]

I wore a hr monitor during a tournament once an saw 148 bpm. During a full effort, I could see 175 bpm.

Easy to practice performing like that during exercise and damn near impossible to do it when practicing pool.

You have to practice like you play and the only place to get that experience in pool is to enter battle.

Or crack...there's that.

Smoking a little crack during practice sessions is an excellent way to simulate pressure. I always use this strategy while getting ready a big tournament, while playing AC/DC back in black album at full volume.

 

[fastone371]

Smoking a little crack during practice sessions is an excellent way to simulate pressure. I always use this strategy while getting ready a big tournament, while playing AC/DC back in black album at full volume.

There are more subtle ways of getting your heartrate up, if you have an ex-wife have her over and discuss financial matters while practicing.

 

[ShootingArts]

Smoking a little crack during practice sessions is an excellent way to simulate pressure. I always use this strategy while getting ready a big tournament, while playing AC/DC back in black album at full volume.

Stumbled on a link to Jimi in another thread and had some sixties and seventies cranking for thirty minutes or so. Apartment living is foreign to me. I noticed the little yapper next door doesn't have good taste in music though. Didn't even like Stevie Ray shredding. I would try to educate the mutt but I suspect it is hopeless!

Hu

 

[couldnthinkof01]

Stumbled on a link to Jimi in another thread and had some sixties and seventies cranking for thirty minutes or so. Apartment living is foreign to me. I noticed the little yapper next door doesn't have good taste in music though. Didn't even like Stevie Ray shredding. I would try to educate the mutt but I suspect it is hopeless!

Hu

Kenny Wayne Shepherd may be more to his liking

 

[ShootingArts]

No mistake teenagers (supposedly) make the best soldiers (cannon fodder). They are still influenced by ‘authority‘, and the ‘other guy’ attitude seems inherent then.
They don't have a ‘death wish’ either, but in a game of ‘chicken’ (like my circle grudge race), they typically won’t back off. Bad for ‘the enemy’ (and often, for them). Those that survive longest calculate the odds and proceed accordingly, likely in war, pool, or racing.

We send kids to combat because men are far more knowledgeable about life and less risk tolerant. It really pisses me off. If we raised the draft age to thirty a lot more of our soldiers would come home. How about if we raised it to sixty-five? "I'm cold, it's raining and muddy, I need to piss again, and I ache all over. I wouldn't be out here if it wasn't for those SOB's over there!"

The enemy wouldn't stand a chance!

Hu

 

[couldnthinkof01]

We send kids to combat because men are far more knowledgeable about life and less risk tolerant. It really pisses me off. If we raised the draft age to thirty a lot more of our soldiers would come home. How about if we raised it to sixty-five? "I'm cold, it's raining and muddy, I need to piss again, and I ache all over. I wouldn't be out here if it wasn't for those SOB's over there!"

The enemy wouldn't stand a chance!

Hu

Would make an excellent comedy movie.

 

[ShootingArts]

Kenny Wayne Shepherd may be more to his liking

Jimi playing a twelve string, not shredding. I saw a video not many years back of him working on a six string box too. First time I knew he could really play a guitar, and play one really really well!

A little acoustic Stevie Ray for good measure. Main part starts about two minutes in. Not a guitar man myself, best I can tell he is playing a little lead, a little rhythm, maybe some Ma Maybelle Carter scratch tossed in too!

Hu

 

[libtrucker]

I feel like I am the opposite. I always play better when I'm under pressure, at the end of tournaments, or in Vegas.

But at the beginning of tournaments, or in a league match playing a lower skill level, sometimes i cant get my game together.

I can keep up with 8/9's, beat 6/7's, play a 4 like a 4 and loose 14-6...

 

[Tin Man]

I feel like I am the opposite. I always play better when I'm under pressure, at the end of tournaments, or in Vegas.

But at the beginning of tournaments, or in a league match playing a lower skill level, sometimes i cant get my game together.

I can keep up with 8/9's, beat 6/7's, play a 4 like a 4 and loose 14-6...

There are reasons people tend to play up and down to their opponents, but it’s not the right thread for me to pursue. What I did want to address is that there is some observer bias in our memories. We don’t expect to win against better players so don’t feel as bad playing poorly and losing as when we are given winning chances by an opponent we should beat and can’t take advantage. Not always, it’s not black and white, but it’s not uncommon.

The point is that if you never dogged it against better players under pressure you could just play big events and win them all.

 

[Fatboy]

Getting all hopped up has never helped me play better. I’ve never done drugs to play, or ever for that matter. I’m certain I’d play worse if I was wired up, I can’t concentrate-I know myself well enough to know that.

Betting pressure actually calms me down, the more I bet the better I feel, the more relaxed I am and I like my end. In all forms of gambling(not casino carnival gaff games) heads up games like pool.

Pressure helps me perform in all forms in life. Probably why financial success has landed on my doorstep a few times.

I like pressure, brings out the best in me. Which is also why I’m not a good front runner.

I need to learn how to become a good front runner. That’s the weak link in my game/life. I get comfortable and lazy. The old saying applies “Fat dogs don’t hunt”.

Mike Sigel is arguably one of the best front runners if not the best front runner ever in pool, I’ve discussed this with him for hours. He feels no pressure when he’s in front as “I’m just on a free roll, what’s to worry about” are his exact words. And he closes out match after match. He has a harder time his first matches in a tourney assuming he has a tough draw.

I’d like to be like Mike-a good front runner


Best
Fatboy

PS great thread

 

[Tin Man]

Getting all hopped up has never helped me play better. I’ve never done drugs to play, or ever for that matter. I’m certain I’d play worse if I was wired up, I can’t concentrate-I know myself well enough to know that.

Betting pressure actually calms me down, the more I bet the better I feel, the more relaxed I am and I like my end. In all forms of gambling(not casino carnival gaff games) heads up games like pool.

Pressure helps me perform in all forms in life. Probably why financial success has landed on my doorstep a few times.

I like pressure, brings out the best in me. Which is also why I’m not a good front runner.

I need to learn how to become a good front runner. That’s the weak link in my game/life. I get comfortable and lazy. The old saying applies “Fat dogs don’t hunt”.

Mike Sigel is arguably one of the best front runners if not the best front runner ever in pool, I’ve discussed this with him for hours. He feels no pressure when he’s in front as “I’m just on a free roll, what’s to worry about” are his exact words. And he closes out match after match. He has a harder time his first matches in a tourney assuming he has a tough draw.

I’d like to be like Mike-a good front runner


Best
Fatboy

PS great thread

All true, all true.

Different people feel more pressure in different situations. But we all have times when we are negatively impacted by pressure. Except for Hu. Maybe not as often or for the exact same reasons, but it's a universal thing.

Take Sigel. He was an amazing front runner and almost uniquely dominant tournament player. He did close out a ton of matches. Yet sometimes he would find himself up 9-2 and 10-6 and then get rattled with an opponents comeback and fall apart a bit to lose the US Open. My point is: EVERYONE.

 

[ShootingArts]

All true, all true.

Different people feel more pressure in different situations. But we all have times when we are negatively impacted by pressure. Except for Hu. Maybe not as often or for the exact same reasons, but it's a universal thing.

Take Sigel. He was an amazing front runner and almost uniquely dominant tournament player. He did close out a ton of matches. Yet sometimes he would find himself up 9-2 and 10-6 and then get rattled with an opponents comeback and fall apart a bit to lose the US Open. My point is: EVERYONE.

I really don't understand the continued shots at me. Simple fact, I am rarely negatively impacted by pressure and when I am it is to a small degree. I can't remember the last time I completely folded under pressure, had a melt down. It has happened but so long ago and buried under so many times I did come through under pressure that I really don't remember a melt down under pressure. People that have competed with me a good bit know that they have the win to take, I am very unlikely to give it to them.

I don't consider every mistake a melt down, sometimes I make a mistake that is nothing to do with my mental game. Years ago I went back over several years of pistol competition and had to admit that my "normal" was one mistake, one shot, an event. The wins with no mistakes were as abnormal as the losses with two or more mistakes. It galled me to see that making a mistake every week was normal and that pushed me to do better. Even after I quit shooting I came back once a year to "steal" a match with little or no practice. Good equipment and a tough mental game. I gave away one point one match, pissed me off because it was pure ring rust. I broke the shot when the sights had drifted onto the nine. In tune that wouldn't have happened. Next year I shot a perfect score.

Racing cars I sometimes drove other people's cars when mine wasn't ready to race. Winning with my own car gave me satisfaction, I built, tuned, and drove that car. However I expected to win with my car so it was no big deal. When I climbed into somebody else's tenth place car and pushed it to a top five finish, then I felt like I had really accomplished something! I ran second place to a far better car every race one night. I knew the car I was in didn't break top five with a handful of other drivers so I was very pleased with my performance. At least four or five better cars were behind me. Second place with subpar equipment was more impressive to me than first place with first place equipment. All that first meant is that I didn't foul up and open the door for somebody else.

Hard to measure my pool performance because in my peak years there was rarely a local tournament to play in that was worth the bother. That meant action and trying to minimize my performance while still ending up with the money. I got a lot of lucky rolls when I needed to.

We can all lose to players that played better for that short time or players that really did get the rolls in tournament play. Every loss doesn't mean there was a melt down. I came out the gate a little cold one morning at a pistol match. I dropped three or four points out of sixty possible for the first stage. I wasn't too worried, out of between thirty and forty shooters I was second overall, plus I had put heat on the first place player probably a dozen times in the past and had him flinch. I figured I would get him. Still, I was used to being in a very small pack of front runners in these events and not having to come from behind. Stage after stage I shot perfect scores. So did the other guy. When the smoke cleared I had never got back the point or two needed to win.

It didn't bother me, the guy I lost to was a good guy and clean competitor. I also felt like I had done enough to win nine times out of ten, that just wasn't my morning. I gave the winner a very sincere congratulations. A few weeks later he passed by where I was getting ready for another shoot and told me that I had pushed him to a career best. I thought so but wouldn't have told him that. Nice to hear it and I hope he went on to more wins, just not against me!

I'll have my wins and losses, wouldn't be much fun to win them all. When I do lose odds are strong that I lose to a better player at the moment, not to my game breaking down. With age my biggest issue is being too relaxed and flat footed. I need to be on my toes just a little to give my best performance at anything.

Hu

 

[Hoser]

Yes, it's a balance. Funny thing about balance. It's easy to fall out of balance if we lack awareness. Just like it's easy for me to not have enough vegetables and have too many empty carbs.

What I am trying to do is create that awareness among competitors. Pressure can be so uncomfortable it is easy to get out of balance at times with practice or lower stakes competition. And the rationalization is always "This will help me prepare for the big competition". I am just trying to shine a light on that. Almost everyone is out of balance with not enough fear in their diet.

And yes, I'm talking to competitors here.

Excellent post and thread.

Lets' say we have 2 players with identical skill sets for discussions sake. Historically, a lot of emphasis was placed on having the right amount of arousal to perform optimally. For example as arousal rose so would performance until arousal got elevated to the point that performance would decrease in a classic bell curve. We know now that additionally we need coherence with a positive appraisal or interpretation of what we are doing at the same time. positive vs. negative thinking affects performance enhancing or inhibiting hormones and other performance variables.

What Demetrius is doing with his training is exposure. Avoidance of something we wish not to happen does not work. Exposure is a powerful, irreplaceable aspect of developing a repertoire for the automatic patterns of constructive self-talk necessary for dealing with the inevitable misses, bad rolls, fear of failure and errors that everyone is guaranteed to experience.

 

[Fatboy]

I really don't understand the continued shots at me. Simple fact, I am rarely negatively impacted by pressure and when I am it is to a small degree. I can't remember the last time I completely folded under pressure, had a melt down. It has happened but so long ago and buried under so many times I did come through under pressure that I really don't remember a melt down under pressure. People that have competed with me a good bit know that they have the win to take, I am very unlikely to give it to them.

I don't consider every mistake a melt down, sometimes I make a mistake that is nothing to do with my mental game. Years ago I went back over several years of pistol competition and had to admit that my "normal" was one mistake, one shot, an event. The wins with no mistakes were as abnormal as the losses with two or more mistakes. It galled me to see that making a mistake every week was normal and that pushed me to do better. Even after I quit shooting I came back once a year to "steal" a match with little or no practice. Good equipment and a tough mental game. I gave away one point one match, pissed me off because it was pure ring rust. I broke the shot when the sights had drifted onto the nine. In tune that wouldn't have happened. Next year I shot a perfect score.

Racing cars I sometimes drove other people's cars when mine wasn't ready to race. Winning with my own car gave me satisfaction, I built, tuned, and drove that car. However I expected to win with my car so it was no big deal. When I climbed into somebody else's tenth place car and pushed it to a top five finish, then I felt like I had really accomplished something! I ran second place to a far better car every race one night. I knew the car I was in didn't break top five with a handful of other drivers so I was very pleased with my performance. At least four or five better cars were behind me. Second place with subpar equipment was more impressive to me than first place with first place equipment. All that first meant is that I didn't foul up and open the door for somebody else.

Hard to measure my pool performance because in my peak years there was rarely a local tournament to play in that was worth the bother. That meant action and trying to minimize my performance while still ending up with the money. I got a lot of lucky rolls when I needed to.

We can all lose to players that played better for that short time or players that really did get the rolls in tournament play. Every loss doesn't mean there was a melt down. I came out the gate a little cold one morning at a pistol match. I dropped three or four points out of sixty possible for the first stage. I wasn't too worried, out of between thirty and forty shooters I was second overall, plus I had put heat on the first place player probably a dozen times in the past and had him flinch. I figured I would get him. Still, I was used to being in a very small pack of front runners in these events and not having to come from behind. Stage after stage I shot perfect scores. So did the other guy. When the smoke cleared I had never got back the point or two needed to win.

It didn't bother me, the guy I lost to was a good guy and clean competitor. I also felt like I had done enough to win nine times out of ten, that just wasn't my morning. I gave the winner a very sincere congratulations. A few weeks later he passed by where I was getting ready for another shoot and told me that I had pushed him to a career best. I thought so but wouldn't have told him that. Nice to hear it and I hope he went on to more wins, just not against me!

I'll have my wins and losses, wouldn't be much fun to win them all. When I do lose odds are strong that I lose to a better player at the moment, not to my game breaking down. With age my biggest issue is being too relaxed and flat footed. I need to be on my toes just a little to give my best performance at anything.

Hu

Hu,

I have never taken a shot at you. I’ve always been a gentleman.

I believe you and hopefully someday you’ll stop being mad at me.

My very best
Eric