hesitation with my stroke

W

Wayner

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I am a fairly solid all around player, I have this nasty hesitation at times...it
feels like some body is holding on to my arm and wont let it go. It does not
happen all the time. anybody have any suggestions to get rid of this irritating problem,
I believe it does have an effect on my play.confused:
 
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i believe everyone has had this hesitation at one time or another in their pool career.... the only thing I do to get rid of it is... get up from the shot and walk around the table...

hope this helps...

-whoa
 
Wayner said:
anybody have any suggestions to get rid of this irritating problem, I believe it does have an effect on my play.confused:
Click to expand...

I also have the problem. I get down all ready, and than I hesitate, and adjust and MISS the _ _ _ _ _ _ Shot.

So now when I first know I am read to shoot, I shoot and make more shots. ;)
 
You need to be a little more clear on what is happening. Are you hesitating before you take the cue back? Taking it back but not able to bring it forward?

There are some great people on this board that can give you solid advice (as solid as it can get without actually watching you play) but in order for their advice to be accurate you need to be very discriptive in what you are asking.

The more information you can give about what you are going through the better.

woody
 
I appreciate all the recommendations; To be more specific it happens
randomly, it can be on the easiest shots. My hesitation happens when I am about to shoot the shot. I walk into my shot, do my normal preshot routine...and then I cannot release at times. Sometimes I hesitate right in the middle of my stroke...weird. Once I regroup I then get down and make the shot, it is only if I stutter stroke that I jab the ball and not make the shot.
 
Wayner said:
I appreciate all the recommendations; To be more specific it happens
randomly, it can be on the easiest shots. My hesitation happens when I am about to shoot the shot. I walk into my shot, do my normal preshot routine...and then I cannot release at times. Sometimes I hesitate right in the middle of my stroke...weird. Once I regroup I then get down and make the shot, it is only if I stutter stroke that I jab the ball and not make the shot.
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odd. it sounds like a muscle action rather than a mental one........like you can't control yourself.

what's your practice stroke routine? would you consider it a loose stroke routine or a studied one?
 
It's definitely not a physical thing. If it were, you'd have the same problem all the time. That you can stand up, regroup, and exectute the shot, clearly shows you it is not physiological.

It's a psychological issue, probably founded in fear: fear you will miss the shot; fear you aren't lined up right; or just something in your brain saying things aren't right.

If you are having negative thoughts, work to get rid of them before you settle into your stance. As an old friend told me a long time ago, "Do your thinking standing up. Stop all conscious thought when you bend over the shot."
 
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Without seeing you do it, it would be hard for us to really provide accurate feedback, but...Some really good players have a pause prior to delivery. Neils Feijen would be one.
 
Possible "Yips"

Well folks I believe we may have one of the first documented cases of pocket billiard “Yips”
This is a weird coincidence for me because tomorrow I have a lesson with a friend that has watched his subconscious hesitation at the back of his stroke slowly worsen over the last few years and he is to the point where sometimes he just cannot, no matter what, make his arm come forward and it’s so bad he’s ready to give up the game. And that’s the only reason I’m giving him the lesson because I just have time for lessons right now.

I don’t play golf but I believe they’re way ahead of us in mental training so I read more golf and tennis books than pool books and have read about some golfers that get the “Yips” so bad that rather than take the putter back to stroke it, they have to actually walk thru the putt and bump the ball as they walk by!
Here’s one link that can help start our investigation [URL="http://www.clearkeygolf.com/YipsClinic.htm"]http://www.clearkeygolf.com/YipsClinic.htm[/url][/URL]

I do believe that the brain just starts to associate pain or fear with certain shots or perhaps certain situations and the subconscious is certainly powerful enough to cause this hesitation. My friend says it happens to him most often when he has to draw the ball and I’ll try to comment back on Thursday with anything else that I might learn from this lesson. In the meantime it’s tough to give any advice as this is new ground for me.

But one thing that couldn’t hurt would be for you to visualize (as stated earlier, in the standing position) the shot you are about to perform as clearly and beautifully as possible. Try to associate as much pleasure as possible with the upcoming shot in hopes of getting your subconscious to work with you rather than against you. This advice is easier said than done. Many golfing books offer this advice but in pool I believe it to be a little harder as we have to shoot so many shots one right after the other that it’s hard to maintain the discipline. Do it as much as possible and if you do come across a shot that causes this hesitation, obviously get off the shot but when you do, be as calm about it as possible, recognize the situation and try to visualize and feel yourself executing the shot at hand as smooth and best you can.

Good luck and keep us informed of your progress.
 
Joe:

I have to fight to keep from adding a "windup" at the end of my last backstroke.

I'll make nice smooth practice strokes, but pause at the end of my last backstroke, and to top it off, I add a wrist flick in the middle of the forward stroke. This forces the tip to scoop the cueball. ARG.
 
Joe T wrote- "some golfers that get the “Yips” so bad that rather than take the putter back to stroke it, they have to actually walk thru the putt and bump the ball as they walk by!"

There's one solution, but try to keep one foot touching the floor;-)

I think these Yips must be caused by fear...which can also be a result of doubt...and lead to severe hesitation.

One cure would be to remove the fear by changing the desire and perception.

eg. Fear of losing, fear of failing on shots, fear of messing up position and looking stupid, fear of admitting to oneself a lack of assuredness in making the shot.

Change this to a willingness to learn through errors, a focus on decisiveness, to test oneself and a readiness to analyze areas of weakness. Admit your limits and seek to identify them.

Do you really know how to make the pot?
Do you really know how to make the required position?
Are you really choosing the right shot?
Did you decide what you were trying to do before the shot?
Are you thinking about making the shot or thinking about missing or freezing or what your team mates might say if you freeze up.

Identify what you desire, and what you should desire. Be focused and clear on your intentions. Accept your limits and look forward to mistakes as opportunities to identify and potentially improve weaknesses.

I think the most important thing to remember this by is to 'BE DECISIVE'. That infers pre-planning and focus without hesitation or distraction.

Playing pool is really no different than building a house. It takes planning, skill development, workmanlike excecution. Would you get nervous building a house, or simply admit you lack the required skills to build a great one, or at least in the same time as a professional builder.

Yet get on a pool table and call it competition, and the mindset changes. One imagines themself as if in a movie becoming the hero, the victor. And to maintain that movie imagery, one must block themself from the reality of their mediocrity, or that their good rolls were intended and their bad rolls are the curses of demons.

See pool more as an artful trade, to be studied and practiced and the desire and intentions change. You'd be no more likely to yip shots as would DaVinci mess up a painting or a good tradesman build a rickerty house.
 
What you have described may or may not be a bad thing.

For what ever reason your body (or mind) is telling you that you are not ready to hit the shot. As long as you listen, stand up and start over in a way that then lets you perform the shot the way you need to its not all bad.

Now if you start to ignore this and try to find ways to force yourself to go ahead and hit the shot anyway, then things may get ugly :)

If you experience this during practice or cassual play try to break it down even farther. You know you arent ready to hit the shot, but why? Is your setup wrong? Do you have a CLEAR mental picture of what you need to do on the shot? Did something distract you and make you lose the picture that you had?

This could be just as Joe says, a case of the yips. Try and pay attention to when it happens. If you go through the same mental and physical preperation for a shot and all of a sudden you cant pull the trigger then something needs to be adjusted on your preshot routine and the way you mentally approach shots.

Then again maybe you just have a built in early warning device that you need to listen to, as long as you can make the needed adjustments and then pull the shot off.

Woody
 
My .02 cents ...

This is just my opinion, grant you, but their are 4 reasons to me why the hesitation in the stroke before the hit:

1) Unsure of your aim for the object ball.
2) Unsure of your English on the cue ball, and where it is going.
3) Scared you might scratch.
4) Have a tendency to 'overstroke' the ball without the hesitation, so the hesitation allows you to 'soften' up the hit stroke to 'just right'.

Now, which one of those or more is your reason for hesitating. If it is anyone of the first 3, then THAT is a weakness in your game that your
need to practice on. I understand the 4th reason, and it may actually keep certain players 'in check' for their playing, where otherwise, they would not play as well.

Your game is only as strong as the weakest link.
 
And JoeT, please keep us informed of your lesson with the Yips. We look forward to hearing more from you. Thanks for posting the suggestions.
Warm Regards,
JoeyA
 
woody_968 said:
What you have described may or may not be a bad thing.

For what ever reason your body (or mind) is telling you that you are not ready to hit the shot. As long as you listen, stand up and start over in a way that then lets you perform the shot the way you need to its not all bad.
Woody
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woody,,,that is a very good take. for that, you get a rep point!!!:):):)
 
Thanks Bruin, I wanted to point it out because we have ALL missed shots and then said "I dont know why I hit that, I knew it didnt feel right" :D
 
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