Below is a book excerpt where I examine how to combat slumps by examining what to practice. It has been edited from its original text.
Excerpt from The Growling Point
Hitting The Wall
Many of us find that we can only progress so far until we reach a plateau. I call this Hitting The Wall. Many players find that they are unable to find the drive, or the motivation that once propelled them to play their very best. They lose the positive emotions as they spiral deeper into a pit of negativity. This is what causes slumps.
Slumps are caused by one of two things
1) Overload
2) Laziness
More times than not, with pool players it is caused by overload. We tend to "overwork" ourselves and concentrate on quantity of practice, rather than quality. As a student of the game, your job is to improve, master, and remember what you've accomplished. And, as much as possible, to relax and enjoy the process. Slumps interfere with that.
Most players fail in one of two very basic ways:
1) They practice in a way that fails to produce improvement.
2) Although they practice carefully and produce improvements, but they fail to practice in a way that ensures a lasting memory what they've learned.
Even if you practice in a manner that fosters improvement, if your style of practice fails to create a strong, lasting memory, you'll gain very little progress. Also, each day it will feel like you're starting over. This will lead to frustration, which will combine itself with sensory overload during competition.
This causes some players to avoid practicing altogether. They get frustrated when their practice doesn't bring about instantaneous results, and they abandon practice altogether. They trade in practice for gambling, which can provide instant results with cash, or instant results by handing over your cash. Other players try to attain experience by playing players of greater skill, yet they completely avoid practice. Both of those avoidance techniques will only lead to further disappointments and ultimate frustration.
So what if you play great one day, and then you play like crap the next? It's rare that you pick up right where you left off the day before. This is especially true for beginners. It may take five to twenty minutes to get yourself warmed up and back in touch with yesterday's best.
With other types of tasks, like building a stone path, you continue building Wednesday right where you finished on Tuesday. But not with pool.
There will come days when you're most diligent efforts will fail to elevate you to the level of yesterday's accomplishments. Or perhaps you'll reach yesterday's level, but not until your practice is nearly over. And it's OK. Don't let it get to you. Your achievements won't always follow a straight line. And you're improvements won't always come at a steady rate.
So simply strive to improve from your starting point — from your baseline.
While practicing, remember to Divide & Conquer!!! This means that you should break tasks and obstacles into small manageable pieces. It's much like eating a meal. If you take it one bite at a time, you have no problems. If I told you to shove the entire plate of food into your mouth at one time, you'll have major problems. It's the same thing with pool.
Work on any part of your game that needs improvement (such as you break, bank shots, position pattarns, drills), but make sure that you make some chart-able progress, and that you do so quickly. If you don't see yourself making progress, divide the task or skill in half, and work on the smaller parts of it. Continue dividing the task until you reach a size where you can progress quickly. By breaking the task down into sections, you can also more clearly see where you are making your mistakes. This can be the most intelligent and effective way to organize and chart your progress.
Don't obsess on trying to "force" improvement. If you practice your break for 2 hours straight and see nothing positive coming of it, STOP. If you continue, you will only overload your subconscious with seeing the negative results. Shift away from that part of your practice for about 20-30 minutes, and once you have calmed down, return. You can even stop until the next day. Move on to something that will generate more positive results. Return to practicing the break and once you see a positive result, STOP again. This is very important. You will leave practice on a positive note. This approach helps keep confusion and frustration at bay. And it allows your memory to absorb the positive experience subconsciously. This is how you can learn more without additional work — much like studying and “sleeping on it.”
Also, alternate between learning and reviewing. Start your practice with something familiar, or something you can accomplish easily. Then try something new and more challenging. Continue alternating between learning new skills and reviewing. In other words, rest one part of your brain while a different part works.
Always end your practices with a quick review over everything you have worked on for that day. Remember that every player is different, so it is up to you to find practice secrets of your own, and find out what works best for you. By following the examples set down in this part of the book, you will avoid hitting the wall, getting into a slump, resting on a plateau, or falling into a rut. Good Luck!
