so we had our state tournament this weekend and boy what a mess. im probably a low a player not pro or even close for that matter but i play good enough to get the job done. for most of my pool time i have thrived on the hill. ive taken my team to nationals two years in a row with a huge win when tied two two. i used to love pressure thrive on it even but it seems the last few weeks have been full of dissapointments that we all go through. not getting the job done and so on. my game stayed in dsm when i went to waterloo this weekend. i tried everything to get back in stroke but all i did was play like a girlscout. i missed so many easy balls that it just crushed my confidence. i was a pushover a stepping stone for someone else to move on. and i have never been in this place before. then in teams were playing for 9-12 and my team gets me to the hill. gordy peterson breaks and scratches leaving a wide open road map runout. i think a 6 yr old could have got out. but up jumped the devil and i blew it. gordy ran out as he does and were out of it. so my question is. how do we get our killer instinct back and refocus ourselves after the most embarassing weekend ever.????
how do you refocus and get back in the game
- Thread starter SixOwt
- Start date
SixOwt said:
Imagine that your teammates are always pointing a gun at you, that will bring out the killer instinct in you.
I used to be the same way but mine didnt just happen overnight. When I was competing all the time I loved the pressure well I got out of playing seriously for about 2 years. I came back and joined an APA League, needless to say I was shaking like a leaf and dogging easy shots. This was about 7 Months ago and I am just climbing out of it but what really helped me if you have not already read it was The Inner Game of Tennis. Great book! You are probably just in a slump, dont let it get you down. You will prevail!
Alex
Alex
SixOwt said:
First off, you have been there before and done that... so there was no problem before. You say that you once thrived on pressure as in you don't anymore. Everyone has been down this road before.This time around the bottom falls out. Why the change? I mean beside the results themselves what was different this time? What was your mindset before,during, and after the event?
Something changed and not for the best. Do you want this to be a repeatable event? If not you have to be honest with yourself in detailed answers.
This is a reply I had to a similar topic:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=87092
[Start
Many times we recognize we are not on our "A" game and the spiral down begins. Fifteen years ago it happened to me at a State tournament and that was the worst I have ever played. I didn't trust myself at all. I vowed it would never happen again and I would find out the reason why it did.
It all starts with a mistake. A missed shot, safety, or position and the conscious mind goes into correction mode. What did I do wrong? Most of the time we know the answer and the game continues. Then, we miss again and the opponent even gets some rolls. We miss again and the conscious mind instantly start judging our game as inferior. We stop taking chances we normally would because the outcome could really start an avalanche. At this point you are out of your normal game. The bad part is it can get worse, so you must stop it as soon as you recognize it.
When we judge we have a tendency to view the results as positive or negative. Pointing the finger at yourself or patting your back, is a bad habit in that you allow yourself to judge your game 24/7 with a negative/positive emotion.
Judging should be done in a different manner entirely. When you judge results do it as if you were doing it for a friend. You are merely marking down the result for future reference. All ones and zeros so to speak. Letting human emotion into being a judge is an immediate bias against you. In other words you are from the get go playing with a glass half empty already.
How can you get back in stroke? First you cannot condemn your game over irregular occurrences. Don't beat yourself up. (Believe me I am very critical with myself about my game.) Don't believe that your game has turned inferior because the truth is only your mindset is changed. Whatever self talk works for you use it. Ask yourself honest questions why the situation is occurring and give yourself honest answers for the remedy. You'll find in a majority of instances you are making a mountain out of a mole hill to begin with. But you must pinpoint the underlying reasons it all started. (Go wash your face and hands.)
Some people just don't know why and cannot answer their own questions. They have found certain keys to turn that mindset around. John Henderson pointed out increasing the bet works. Motivation works wonders indeed. Find your motivation. Motivation emotionally engages you to the task at hand. Just like finally finding a gear instead of neutral. In short games and races we find out that we start to turn it around just a little to late. Thats because even when we find the key, the results are not immediate. It takes a little bit to get up to speed much like fine tuning a carburetor, emotion must be set right and you must wait for the result.
End]
So to answer your question, "How do we get our killer instinct back and refocus ourselves after the most embarrassing weekend ever.????" It depends on how you are asking this as a team or individual.
As a team I would say I don't know. I would only be guessing but heres my $.02. As hard as it sounds you cannot carry the weight of your teammates misfortunes or gains for that matter. That is, you cannot become emotionally involved. Have you noticed sometimes when a teams is shooting hot it's contagious; as well as when its not it's also contagious? This is a double edged sword to unknowingly pin your hopes and emotions on. Experienced teams that have played longer together and have gone through the rough times soon realize that it's still an individuals game. Each of them rely only on their individual motivations to pull them through it. You notice their demeanor never changes much from match to match. Loose but business like. Loose is the social aspect, the comfort zone, reassuring each other that they know all will give their best. Business like is the individual gearing up mentally for battle.
As an individual; you have to practice the mental game now to prevent a repeat at a later event. Gamble, play tournaments, and do what you have to to get the best out of your mental game. That is practice the mental game in actual crucible events. The bottom line is you must learn from the mental practice by telling yourself before, during, and after what the lesson is and what you got out of it. Don't just play the game.
We learn everyday, and guess what? It pertains to life as well.
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Thanks renard! To the op, sorry, at the time I just couldn't get through it.
You know how you play, this sort of thing happens to everyone at one time or another. You might want to take a week or so off and just try to accept it for what it was, and then move on.
Good luck!
You know how you play, this sort of thing happens to everyone at one time or another. You might want to take a week or so off and just try to accept it for what it was, and then move on.
Good luck!
There are several ways to get your game back. The easiest is to focus on some part of your game, the cue tip, your stoke, positional play to exact spots. Anything that will require all of your concentration and help you play better. The trick here is to select something that you already feel good about and can be pleased with because it is the sort of thing you do well.
As the saying goes, play one shot at a time and concentrate, really concentrate, on what you are good at.
I think that any player should have what I call their "A" stroke. This is the stroke that has worked well during practice. It is the one we use to warm up with. It is used on easy shots and you should verbalize out loud when you make this type of shot -- "A stroke." This should be accompanied by a smile or some emotional satisfaction in which you tell yourself that you are pleased with the stroke. This stroke should begin every warm up.
In my thinking the "B" stroke is the one you are working on because it will improve your playing in the future. Perhaps you are working on a front or rear pause to improve accuracy. Perhaps you are paying more attention to CB roll for position. Whatever it is and we are always working on our game or should be, that is the ?B? stoke. It is not yet ready for prime time. Unfortunately, we often let the "B" stroke kick in at the wrong time and we need a way to return to the "A" stroke as needed. This too can be done at the practice table so that you can pull out your "A" stroke as needed.
Once you have identified your "A" stroke and have practiced pulling it out on command this can be used to pull you out of short term slumps. In a way it is going back to basics but it is more than that, it is going back to what you know works for you. This improves your confidence and all those little stupid things are less likely to creep in, picking up your head, standing up on the shot because you want to see it go in, and all those other stupid things we know we should not do but crop up whenever we get in trouble.
Getting a team back up is really a matter of team building and how the team perceives itself. I doubt that can be addressed easily in a forum because it is too complex a topic.
As the saying goes, play one shot at a time and concentrate, really concentrate, on what you are good at.
I think that any player should have what I call their "A" stroke. This is the stroke that has worked well during practice. It is the one we use to warm up with. It is used on easy shots and you should verbalize out loud when you make this type of shot -- "A stroke." This should be accompanied by a smile or some emotional satisfaction in which you tell yourself that you are pleased with the stroke. This stroke should begin every warm up.
In my thinking the "B" stroke is the one you are working on because it will improve your playing in the future. Perhaps you are working on a front or rear pause to improve accuracy. Perhaps you are paying more attention to CB roll for position. Whatever it is and we are always working on our game or should be, that is the ?B? stoke. It is not yet ready for prime time. Unfortunately, we often let the "B" stroke kick in at the wrong time and we need a way to return to the "A" stroke as needed. This too can be done at the practice table so that you can pull out your "A" stroke as needed.
Once you have identified your "A" stroke and have practiced pulling it out on command this can be used to pull you out of short term slumps. In a way it is going back to basics but it is more than that, it is going back to what you know works for you. This improves your confidence and all those little stupid things are less likely to creep in, picking up your head, standing up on the shot because you want to see it go in, and all those other stupid things we know we should not do but crop up whenever we get in trouble.
Getting a team back up is really a matter of team building and how the team perceives itself. I doubt that can be addressed easily in a forum because it is too complex a topic.
play someone better than you for money and tell yourself in your mind that you WILL win... it has never failed me yet. I was even done 4-0 in a race to 5 once and i ended up winning the set.
