Did you know that you can improve your mental game with practice? Actually you train your ability to concentrate and ignore distractions.
In your practice time set aside part of it for “practicing” concentration. In whatever way you set up and concentrate on the shot turn this into a multi-step process. For instance:
1. Sight the cue ball contact while standing.
2. Always step into the shot.
3. Stare at the contact point on the cue ball while bending over.
4. etc.
Make yourself intensely concentrate on your particular elements of play through the shot execution. Do this for about 15 – 20 minutes or until you find yourself losing concentration. In this type of practice it is about concentrating not about anything else.
When you stand up from a shot, intentionally stop concentrating. Hum, whistle, sing, whatever it takes to break your concentration. Now figure out if you got the position to get to that next third ball in your strategy and go back into your concentration routine.
When you feel that you have begun to master the ability to tune out everything but the shot begin to introduce some noise such as background music and music that you don’t care for, not music you hate, just the stuff you don’t like.
Later maybe you can put on a football game on TV or some sport that you like and learn to ignore it during the shot.
When you can do this it is time to ask a friend (or similar person) over to practice with you. Make sure it is one of those guys who runs his mouth and then learn to ignore him while you are shooting.
In this way you can work up to and through the ability to compete in highly distracting environments.
One of the bars where I used to play had a signature behavior where they would periodically break a beer bottle in a metal trash can to liven the place up. After awhile I found that it did not bother me if a bottle broke in the middle of a shot.
Oh, your wife would probably enjoy a routine where she walked in the room and said you name at random points in time just to distract you.
Over time you will find that you can intensify your concentration during the shot and that you can indefinitely increase the length of time you are able to use his skill, such as in a tournament.
Many people do not realize that the ability to sustain concentration is a skill and one that can be trained. So if you are having trouble, you need to address the issue in your practice routine. Even a little intentional practice will improve your game as your mind learns what it is that you want to do.
