Getting Acclimitized to pressure?

R

recoveryjones

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
For the past two years I've dedicated countless hours learning the game on the practice table studying books and videos.I've been nothing less than a practice Junkie.

Knowledge is power they say and there are almost no secrets anymore as almost everything to aiming systems,kicking sytems, racking secrets,stroke, specialty shots etc etc can now be found if you are active in your search.I've learned a ton of info over the past two years, however,the most important thing I've learned is that this game is 90% mental.All the knowledge in the world won't help you if you are sqeezing your stick.

In practice I can do drills and run them out with reasonable success.I can throw nine balls out (well spread) and run them off fairly succesfully,time and time again.In a game sometimes, running 3 or 4 balls can be a chore. Why's that?

Recentley I've stepped out and entered 2 or 3 tournaments weekly against stiff competition.I've placed in the money two out of the last four tourneys.Gambling wise it's usually only $5 or $10 and table.Last night I played for a measly $20 and my game went down the toilet.

I work and $20 is affordable, so why the pressure?Is it ego, is it status, is it fear of losing.What is pressure? What is it's source? Why is more money a fertilizer that induces pressure?I can see gambling your rent/food money as a pressure situation, but 20 affordable dollars???There seems to be a difference between tournament pressure and gambling pressure, why's that?

Last night a good A+ player told me the only way to overcome pressure is to play in pressure situations against better players over and over and over and over until you become acclimitized.There are no shortcuts.

If your a good gambler, how much losing did you go through before you got things turned around?Did you take a beating, to get better?Did it take you sometime to get acclimitized.Besides playing in these situations, what can you reccomend.How did you overcome playing under pressure?Are there any shortcuts?

Although I've taken a better attitude to losing and have chosen to learn something positive, (even from my loses)I sure hated handing that guy the 20 spot.I don't know if it's something I could ever get acclimitized to :D
All comments appreciated.
RJ
 
ive gone thru that, in fact i still have it happen if the stakes are high for me but not like i used to. One of the main things thats helped me other than just time and experience is remembering to breath under the pressure. If i find myself feeling pressure while im waiting to shoot, or especially as im getting up out of my chair to shoot, ill take a few big deep breaths. I read somewhere that you tend to hold ur breath under pressure and stress and then everything else goes bad from there. Last time i choked under pressure i was playing $50 a game in 9ball which is a little high for me and i was feeling the pressure, blew shapes on what should have been a fairly easy out. Like u said, its not the money, i work too, im not sure why bigger money gets in your game but it sure can.
good luck
 
I often ask this same question, I'm currently in a slump or more presicely I'm in between levels. I'm playing really well but, for some reason I'm at a point where I'm not finishing well, I'm running the table to the last two balls and can't get out. I'm in a race on the case game and can't finish. I'm feeling your pain, maybe we'll both get an answer on this one. :mad:
 
I think pool is the kind of game that you have to lose a lot of games before you can get better.
 
Ego, that's the issue imho. You practice until you feel pretty good about your game, and then you go out and compete and you have to live up to what you feel you should do based on all that practice. When you play someone that is supposed to beat you, you'll probably play better because the pressure is off you - you're supposed to lose anyway. When you play someone that you're supposed to beat, look out, the big choke factor will raise it's ugly head.

My advice is try and take the ego out of it. Get rid of that attitude that you play pretty good based on how good you are when you practice. Forget all that crap and realize that it is just practice and doesn't mean a thing in a real game. Another thing that really builds the ego is when all these cronies sit around watching you practice or play and tell you how good you shoot - ego inflates again. Realize that these cronies aren't doing you any favors even though they mean well.

Play the table not your opponent. As a matter of fact, the table is your only opponent. The other player isn't playing while you're on the table is he/she? It's just you, the balls, your cue and the table when you're shooting. Forget the schmuck sitting in the chair or standing near the table.

Does it sound like I have all the answers? Hell no! I'm trying to incorporate all this into my game and have been for the last 30 years. No one said it's easy, especially me! One more thing, some people thrive on the pressure and you can spot them from time to time. Try to find out what it is they do and how they do it and try to emulate them if you can. Maybe it will help. I try to emulate the players that look like they're about to fall asleep from boredom no matter whether they're winning or losing. Those are the types of players that make fewer mistakes from what I've seen.
 
My .02-

I"ve thought about this a lot, and my junior psychology degree tells me there are several things going on in our heads subconsciously when we compete. Let me throw these out for discussion and debate:

For men especially, there's a lot of ego wrapped up in all competitive activities. In the case of pool, look at the history of the game in this country. It's a male oriented game played primarily by men in smoky, male only poolrooms. When I was a boy, you rarely saw women in a poolroom. And it's a game that is traditionally passed down from father to son. So losing a game isn't just losing. To many, being good at pool is a way of proving manhood or masculinity. Winning is really about establishing male dominance. So losing takes on a subconscious significance that goes beyond just losing a friendly game. Ever notice how much less it bothers you to lose to a good friend than to some arrogant stranger? IMHO, close male friends can accept losing to one another because they share a mutual respect for one another. But a stranger (especially an unfriendly one) represents a challenge to your masculinity.

And I don't think there has to be a lot money involved for pressure to be there. The point is that- 1. someone is beating you at a competitive, athletic activity and 2. someone is TAKING your hard earned money away from you. The amount isn't necessarily that important. We're evolved from hunter/gatherers, and we don't enjoy someone taking our money (kill) from us, whatever the amount.

What do you guys think? Total BS?
 
JLW said:
For men especially, there's a lot of ego wrapped up in all competitive activities. In the case of pool, look at the history of the game in this country. It's a male oriented game played primarily by men in smoky, male only poolrooms. When I was a boy, you rarely saw women in a poolroom. And it's a game that is traditionally passed down from father to son. So losing a game isn't just losing. To many, being good at pool is a way of proving manhood or masculinity. Winning is really about establishing male dominance. So losing takes on a subconscious significance that goes beyond just losing a friendly game. Ever notice how much less it bothers you to lose to a good friend than to some arrogant stranger? IMHO, close male friends can accept losing to one another because they share a mutual respect for one another. But a stranger (especially an unfriendly one) represents a challenge to your masculinity.

And I don't think there has to be a lot money involved for pressure to be there. The point is that- 1. someone is beating you at a competitive, athletic activity and 2. someone is TAKING your hard earned money away from you. The amount isn't necessarily that important. We're evolved from hunter/gatherers, and we don't enjoy someone taking our money (kill) from us, whatever the amount.

What do you guys think? Total BS?
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While you cant be cocky and have an ego, you must be confident in your abilities. If you're a good shot, and you know you're a good shot, dont try and tell yourself otherwise, or you'll end up being a chump that cant beat anyone.

There is a fine line between cocky and confident and in order to be a successful player, you're gonna have to find that line and play with a lot of confidence without being cocky and OVER-confident.

Along with confidence, you have to be humble. It sounds contradictory, but if you think you have a hard out that you think you might be able to do, you might have to throw that confidence to the side, be humble, and play the safe in order to get in a better position to use your confidence. That's where over-confidence can hurt you. Trying to do shots that your skill level wont allow.

Basically, find a happy medium between being humble and confident without being over-confident or too much of a wuss.
 
recoveryjones said:
I work and $20 is affordable, so why the pressure?Is it ego, is it status, is it fear of losing.What is pressure? What is it's source? Why is more money a fertilizer that induces pressure? I can see gambling your rent/food money as a pressure situation, but 20 affordable dollars???There seems to be a difference between tournament pressure and gambling pressure, why's that?
Click to expand...
Here's what I've learned through years of playing (well) under pressure in golf.

First off, it's important to understand the nature of pressure. Pressure is entirely self-enforced. Even golfers playing in the Ryder Cup - perhaps the most pressure-packed individual event in the world - are putting the pressure on themselves. Sure, the media will write some bad things about them if they don't perform that week, but the media is the media, and the golfer in that situation can take tremendous pride in just making the darn team instead of having to write about those who did. :P So even with all of the external pressure put on the player, it's only truly pressure if they allow it to get to them - if they say "I agree with what's being said."

In other words, who really cares if you miss a shot and lose $20? Your opponent will be happy (for himself), you'll be upset (with yourself), and that's about it. You are the only one that cares? Just you. Why do you care? Seriously, why?

Anyway, that's the root of the problem - that you put the pressure on yourself (desire to avoid being embarrassed or whatever the reason is). But the bigger question is overcoming it. You can do that a few ways...

First, trust. If you've done the work, then trust in your abilities. If you don't trust, stop and start your routine over until you do. Which leads to...

Second, routine and repetition. Golfers have a pre-shot routine that's intended to lock them into a pre-set way of doing things. Pressure builds - and faults creep in - when a routine is ignored and someone does something else. Standing over a 2-foot putt for a long time, for example.

Repetition is a little different than routine. If you've made cross-side banks a hundred times before, then that can feed your trust and your routine. But what I'm really after here is repeating stressful, "pressure-packed" situations. Do this by setting up, in practice, "reward/punishment" situations (bad names, but hear me out). For example, in golf, a good drill is to make 50 (or 100) three-foot putts from all around a hole in a row. If you miss, you go back to 0. "I will not leave until I make 50" induces pressure when you get into the 40s. Another example might be "I have ten balls. I will chip two in or I will do the laundry when I get home." If you get down to your last two balls and you've not chipped any in, well, you're going to feel the pressure (and on the bright side, if you fail, you'll have clean clothes).

Perhaps you can bet against yourself in small amounts. Keep a "bets jar" in your practice room. Set a lofty goal and if you don't meet it, put your $1 or $5 bet in the jar. Every month, use whatever money is in there to get a lesson or something. Ideally, of course, you set high enough goals that you feel pressure to perform (and save enough money for at least a few lessons a year).

I've rambled a bit here, but I wanted to get this out before I head to bed. The executive summary:

1) Pressure is entirely self-imposed. Will the history of the world change if you miss the shot? Will anything really change? Nah.

2) You can learn to deal with pressure by putting yourself in pressure-packed situations. You can also better handle pressure by reducing the pressure - by trusting, by routine (a consistent pre-shot routine), and so forth.
 
recoveryjones said:
Last night a good A+ player told me the only way to overcome pressure is to play in pressure situations against better players over and over and over and over until you become acclimitized.There are no shortcuts.
Click to expand...

In that case, this player give out A+ level advice, too. Pressure is not someone you learn to eliminate, but instead, something you learn to manage., and the lessons are learned through experience.

FYI, when I used to play in Tri-State tour handicap tournaments, I felt plenty of pressure when I had to spot the "B" players three games on the wire. It's all about being in games that force you to play your best to win. Competitive pedigree can be built against opponents at many different levels.
 
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