Very interesting article that applies to pool just as much as golf: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/putting-guy-yocom-brain
Great read......................
- Thread starter garczar
- Start date
Look I've played golf for over 45 years at a level better than 98% of all amateurs. In the past 5 years I've immersed myself in playing pool. The one thing I've discovered in both games is you must rely on proper fundamentals over any form of pattern thinking. The golf or object ball is not going to go where you want it to just because you have certain thought conditions in your brain at the time of execution. Especially in pool if you are playing on a consistent, level surface (sorry bar tables). Execute your fundamentals properly, and the object ball has to go in the pocket. Whereas on a golf green, there are an unlimited number of variables that can make a good putt miss or a bad putt somehow find the hole. But you cannot "think" the ball into the hole in either game. Positive thinking is nothing but a fancy label. You're positive because you've proven to yourself that you can execute proper fundamentals - regardless of the current conditions.
Are you saying that proper thought process has no influence on your mechanics? Of course you can't think it in the hole but how clearly you think has a lot to do with the quality of your mechanics. BTW, i've played a tad bit of golf myself. Had a hd'cap of around 5 for about 10yrs.
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Dr. Crews also wrote an article about the "new putter" (or cue in pool's case) psychology. They gave brand-new putters to a handful of top level players and yes, to a person they putted better. For a while. Turns out that the new wand increased overall brain activity leading to better putting. I think we all have seen this with "new cue syndrome". You play great for a few days, weeks, maybe a month and then the clock strikes midnite and we turn back into our old selves. Tell me the mind/brain is not a huge factor in how we play.
This is so true. It also often applies to new techniques / lessons.
I watched a great player start to move on practice strokes then stop and execute the shot. He was giddy over how it had improved his accuracy. I told him you know damn well you want to be rocksolid not dancing when you shoot. His routine lasted about 2 days.
I asked about it he mumbled something. I told him you give yourself a wedgie everytime you havr a tough shot and you may believe you have a new secret. We both laughed.
What's really brutal in both golf and pool are the " one-day wonders". You find some little thing that just unlocks the door and you play like Houdini. Next day, "poof" that ODW is his-toh-reee and you can't get out with a road map. Gotta love it.
Great information!
I am a big believer in confidence and where it comes from and how it effects outcomes. Thanks for sharing.
As for fundamentals.., well you might be able to find a work around, but there is no work around for a weak mind.
I am a big believer in confidence and where it comes from and how it effects outcomes. Thanks for sharing.
As for fundamentals.., well you might be able to find a work around, but there is no work around for a weak mind.
Golfer here also.
Still admire Ben Hogan all to hell....”Hit it from the toenails.”
In my opinion, you have to play golf and pool the same way....use everything you got.
You have to SEE before you act....but you have to shoot from your strength....
...your center is your balance also....and like golf, many stances are needed.
I can see players that rely too much on fundamentals, they hold themselves down,
You need feel also.
Martial arts....if you have a style, you become prisoner to your style.
Still admire Ben Hogan all to hell....”Hit it from the toenails.”
In my opinion, you have to play golf and pool the same way....use everything you got.
You have to SEE before you act....but you have to shoot from your strength....
...your center is your balance also....and like golf, many stances are needed.
I can see players that rely too much on fundamentals, they hold themselves down,
You need feel also.
Martial arts....if you have a style, you become prisoner to your style.
Naw...you have a logic error up in therr-er.
Because one cant think it in the hole does not mean thinking has no impact.
I love these kind of discussions. I believe that once you have good equipment, and have developed the knowledge, skills, and attitude to perform an activity at a high level at least occasionally, then it's your mind that is the decider.
I have been a competitive shooter for a lot of years and there are a lot of parallels with that world and golf, and pool too.
Here's another good read if you enjoy the mental approach:
http://www.bullseyeforum.net/download.forum?id=1471
I have been a competitive shooter for a lot of years and there are a lot of parallels with that world and golf, and pool too.
Here's another good read if you enjoy the mental approach:
http://www.bullseyeforum.net/download.forum?id=1471
Yes that in a nutshell is what I'm saying. Your mechanics become an involuntary act - similar to you breathing or your heart beating. Do you walk around thinking about taking you next breath? Of course not. My point is those who play golf, pool, darts, at the highest level can execute without having to ensure they are thinking about what they face. Thinking does not make you execute your fundamentals correctly. You either have the gift (which is another fallacy), or you've trained your body to execute a consistent pool stroke through devoting your entire life to achieving that capability. No f'king mind training is going to make you play like someone who has put in the time to achieve involuntary fundamentals. And those fundamentals still go sideways at the highest level. But it is not because they are thinking incorrectly - it just happens.
Who would you bet on in a match - 20 600 range Fargo players, or 30 PHD's from the finest universities in the land with 4 months of fundamental pool training, knowing that these folks have firmly established their mind power?
Unfair comparison altogether. Of course low level capability won't win with just better thinking but if fairly equally matched the better thinker wins every time. Just this last summer F. Molinari gave his sports psych. most of the credit for winning British Open. His technique changed little if any but his outlook and thought process took him to a new/higher level. We're not robots. I've been around pool for 40yrs and have seen hundreds of match-ups that were close on paper but in the end the better thinker wins almost every single time. The best mechanics on earth won't overcome weak thinking/confidence/visualization whatever you want to call it. You think Tiger Woods kicked the world's ass for 15 straight yrs. just 'cause his technique was better? Not a chance.
Thanks for sharing. Very interesting article.
My favorite line in the article is "Learn to like the butterflies." It brings to mind something Jack Nicklaus said in an interview when asked how he managed to block out the pressure. His reply, to paraphrase, was [If you don't feel the pressure,you're already dead. Greatness is about learning how to embrace the pressure.] One's practice, one's experience and one's mental framework are all critical inputs in success in both golf and pool.
My favorite line in the article is "Learn to like the butterflies." It brings to mind something Jack Nicklaus said in an interview when asked how he managed to block out the pressure. His reply, to paraphrase, was [If you don't feel the pressure,you're already dead. Greatness is about learning how to embrace the pressure.] One's practice, one's experience and one's mental framework are all critical inputs in success in both golf and pool.
Great comppetors welcome the pressure...eventually you need it...like a drug.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8HvW_BJgus