How do YOU stay calm when,.....

Dunnn51

Dunnn51

Drones? What Drones??
Silver Member
The day has finally arrived,..... it's that time. You & your team have made it to playoffs. You practiced through-out the season, had some ups, and a few downs and your effort has you here.

The players are all talking, the energy in the place is high. It's easy to get "caught-up" in the excitement. You find a few team-mates at a practice table, and start warming up. You find stroke, your aim is good; in short you are ready to go. YOUR NAME GETS CALLED:

Suddeny, you realize just how important today really is. Your team-mates wish you well& good luck. YOU ENTER "THE PIT" now it all feels different. You aren't playing for yourself or for money, but for the season,..... for everyone else,what they want ......and lastly it seems for yourself.

How do YOU stay cool while playing,/// IN THE PIT \\\ ??
 
stop creating more pressure than really exists..

why set the scene for such a huge failure? in the end it's just a pool match

re-read your post and look at all the self applied pressure you are forcing yourself to deal with..

just hit the balls into the holes.. anything you add to that is just going to get in the way..

just have fun
 
Softshot, I have said that exact same thing a bazzillion times. No matter how well or how bad you shoot, you will still get up in the morning and go to work, your spouse will still love you and the sun will rise. It's a game, shoot, have fun and enjoy yourself. Brian.
 
Routines make Calm

Dunnn51 said:
The day has finally arrived,..... it's that time. You & your team have made it to playoffs. You practiced through-out the season, had some ups, and a few downs and your effort has you here.

The players are all talking, the energy in the place is high. It's easy to get "caught-up" in the excitement. You find a few team-mates at a practice table, and start warming up. You find stroke, your aim is good; in short you are ready to go. YOUR NAME GETS CALLED:

Suddeny, you realize just how important today really is. Your team-mates wish you well& good luck. YOU ENTER "THE PIT" now it all feels different. You aren't playing for yourself or for money, but for the season,..... for everyone else,what they want ......and lastly it seems for yourself.

How do YOU stay cool while playing,/// IN THE PIT \\\ ??
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Dunn51,
Routines make for calm. You get in there and perform your routines, planning routine,shot routine, aiming routine, if you know how you do each of those you may start out nervous but you wont end up that way.

Just another lovely day in paradise.....

336Robin :thumbup:

aimisthegameinpool.com
aimisthegameinpool@yahoo.com
 
You have to accept and to KNOW that all those negative thoughts, those thoughts you re gettig- are ALL CREATED BY YOURSELF!
Nothing else!
So you have to learn to handle it. Kind of learning to *push the negative thoughts beside!*


At least buddy: These *pressure* is what you are working for in practice, don t you? You want to practice, so that you re prepared to perform well. You have not just to *accept* this special pressure in competition. You need also to get excited about it, you need to *love* this pressure. Once you get over *this hurdle*, to get you into a position, where you have *the fun during competition*, you re ready :)

lg from overseas,

Ingo

P.S.: i could have written now long texts about rituals, routines etc. which should have been build in practice, because they are the key to make many things much easier. But that would have been a bit too much :) Once you understand the overall-sense, you can start to work on such things.
 
My approach to your problem is this, I know I can beat most league players if I play my normal game, not go playing stupid low precentage shots and playing good safeties when a runout is not there. Just play the game within your talent level and you will be fine. Its when you try to do something your not able to do that pressure creeps in your mind.---Smitty
 
Dunnn51 said:
The day has finally arrived,..... it's that time. You & your team have made it to playoffs. You practiced through-out the season, had some ups, and a few downs and your effort has you here.

The players are all talking, the energy in the place is high. It's easy to get "caught-up" in the excitement. You find a few team-mates at a practice table, and start warming up. You find stroke, your aim is good; in short you are ready to go. YOUR NAME GETS CALLED:

Suddeny, you realize just how important today really is. Your team-mates wish you well& good luck. YOU ENTER "THE PIT" now it all feels different. You aren't playing for yourself or for money, but for the season,..... for everyone else,what they want ......and lastly it seems for yourself.

How do YOU stay cool while playing,/// IN THE PIT \\\ ??
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There are quite a number of threads on this; one currently active under "Ask the Instructor".

You can often find answers to questions by using the Search button, as there are few topics that haven't been addressed repeatedly on AZ.
 
................................/// in the pit \\\...............................

Thank you for your responses. I could say "it's just another day," but it is not. The last time I went to playoffs, I went through this almost exactly as I wrote. The reason I posted this is because this came to me watching the final match of the MC and I seen how nervous Mike Dechaine appeared.

Actually, I watched a few matches of the MC, and MD was in 3 of them. In each match,he made a mistake. That missed 8- ball (I forget which match it was), reminded me of how "tight" I was and how it affected my stroke.

The pressure must have been unbearable. The very name of the tournament has meaning, "the best of the best,.... and don't miss,... this is the Mosconi Cup." You want to do well,for country, for your team, for your coach, and lastly for your own reputation. The lights & cameras are there, the crowd has 9 of 10 cheering for your opponent, and YOU sit there in the pit, all by yourself. In 1 match, I seen Dennis Hatch come down between games and try to calm Mike Down,(I think he was sooooo tight that may have made it worse actually.)
If it is your first time, (I believe for MD it was,) thatsa big hurdle to overcome.

I have my own view on this, but I do want to hear more of yours,.....


PS.
Donny , thank you. I will look there after I post as i'd like to see the responses.
 
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Once you're, "in the pit", and nervous it's already very late. Emotions don't just turn on and off. Obviously you don't want to get into the position in the first place, but once you're there, take a player comfort break if you can. Walk outside, go to the bathroom, etc. Take that time and use breathing techniques to slow your heart rate and decrease blood pressure.




.
 
Focus on your own game and play your best. Do not let things that are out of your control stress your game out. You need to be the guy the raises his game higher under pressure and be an inspiration for your bro’s.
 
This is going to sound strange but it has worked for me when I have come up against really tough competition. Assume that you are going to lose because it is inevitable & then play like hell to keep it from actually happening. I play harder because I do not want to let my team mates done. They need the win. We need the win. I have to get us the win. There is nothing better than snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. By placing yourself in the under dog position you'll play better with a different kind of 'pressure'. It's a 'feel good' kind of pressure.

Just my odd $0.03 piece,
 
Robin has the right idea. Routine and a repeatable stroke are the answer every time. Pressure situations are when stroke flaws rear their ugly head.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9650 using Tapatalk
 
I just focus on my fundamentals. Even when I'm down on the ball. I know if I stay down, aim, follow through, etc., I will get out.
 
Robin is correct in his answer. Preshot Routines help the best in overcoming outside interference and keep you in the task at hand. Of course it doesn't totally eliminate overwhelming emotion.

Think of emotion as a driving force in your motivation to play. Without motivation your are just going through the motions...you don't really care. So we need emotion. Even Corey Deuel has been quoted as saying, "When I feel that nervous anxiousness before the match I know it's a sign I'm ready to play." We are motivated. Yet too much emotion can become overpowering.

The analogy of a carburetor best serves in this example. In the ratio of gas to air we want equal parts of both to hum along at optimum speed. If you don't add enough gas in the ratio it sputters and runs rough. Likewise it runs rough with too much gas in that ratio. You have to find that even keel of emotion.

As you try and control your emotions before the match be warned that the preparations you make have a delayed effect. That is what you do 10 to 15 minutes before hand takes effect in the current moment.

Controlling our emotions range from detaching ourselves from the situation to Rah Rah speeches. Knowing when to add to and take away from our emotion is a fine art. Trying to copy how others cope just doesn't work as we are all different.

Next time you shoot great after a match replay in your mind what you did to prepare for this match emotionally then try and emulate that as much as you can in the future...
 
♦♦♦♦

renard said:
Robin is correct in his answer. Preshot Routines help the best in overcoming outside interference and keep you in the task at hand. Of course it doesn't totally eliminate overwhelming emotion.

Think of emotion as a driving force in your motivation to play. Without motivation your are just going through the motions...you don't really care. So we need emotion. Even Corey Deuel has been quoted as saying, "When I feel that nervous anxiousness before the match I know it's a sign I'm ready to play." We are motivated. Yet too much emotion can become overpowering.

The analogy of a carburetor best serves in this example. In the ratio of gas to air we want equal parts of both to hum along at optimum speed. If you don't add enough gas in the ratio it sputters and runs rough. Likewise it runs rough with too much gas in that ratio. You have to find that even keel of emotion.
As you try and control your emotions before the match be warned that the preparations you make have a delayed effect. That is what you do 10 to 15 minutes before hand takes effect in the current moment.

Controlling our emotions range from detaching ourselves from the situation to Rah Rah speeches. Knowing when to add to and take away from our emotion is a fine art. Trying to copy how others cope just doesn't work as we are all different.

Next time you shoot great after a match replay in your mind what you did to prepare for this match emotionally then try and emulate that as much as you can in the future...
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This is really good ! Excellent. You acknowledge there is a stress issue to deal with, then offer a plausible way to overcome same. I like the Deuel quote as well. :thumbup:

I'll post my view a little later. i'd like to see what a few more on AZ feel is a good solution.
 
Dunnn51 said:
The day has finally arrived,..... it's that time. You & your team have made it to playoffs. You practiced through-out the season, had some ups, and a few downs and your effort has you here.

The players are all talking, the energy in the place is high. It's easy to get "caught-up" in the excitement. You find a few team-mates at a practice table, and start warming up. You find stroke, your aim is good; in short you are ready to go. YOUR NAME GETS CALLED:

Suddeny, you realize just how important today really is. Your team-mates wish you well& good luck. YOU ENTER "THE PIT" now it all feels different. You aren't playing for yourself or for money, but for the season,..... for everyone else,what they want ......and lastly it seems for yourself.

How do YOU stay cool while playing,/// IN THE PIT \\\ ??



Click to expand...


Your post makes me think of what happened to Mike D in the last match of the Mosconi cup.Pressure maybe one of the biggest monsters to overcome.Felt bad for MD, if he where given a few more chances he probably still wouldnt of got there.You could see it comeing like a bad storm.Dont change anything on how you think and play let it all hang out ,besides thats what got you there.;) One more thing maybe order a couple of beers.:grin:
 
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Staying calm can be difficult.
One time, long ago, I got in to it at the pool hall with this fellow who was a foot taller than me, and a hundred pounds heavier. We were toe to toe. Him looking down, me looking up. My hands were shaking like a dog shitting peach seeds.
He looked at my hands and said, "What, are you scared?"
I said, "No. Why?"
He said, "Your hands are shaking."
I said, "That's not fear, it's controlled rage."
He promptly cleaned my clock, and that was that. :smile:
 
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