How to Ignore distractions?

JoeW said:
I think an iPod may be the answer. I find it strange that a part of me does not want to use an iPod. I have all the usual rationalizations, part of which may be that I have not used one in the past and “feel” like I should be able to get along without it.

When I think about it some more, I “know” that an iPod would block out all distractions and some part of me does not want to do that. So in a sense, a part of me wants to be aware (if not vigilant) while playing. I wonder why???

Logically that does not make sense if my intent is to play as well as possible; I should use the tools that help. There is an interesting internal conflict going on here and that is the place to begin separating out the real needs from preferences. So now I will have to experiment and see if I can tolerate ear plugs, iPod, or find some way to be less vigilant.

It is interesting how a part of me wants to believe that “only a wimp” would need these types of tools. I love music and have it on most of the time, so maybe the answer for me is to simply recognize that it is also a way for me to enjoy the music I like (and help reduce the distractions). :eek:

That saying is wrong BTW, Old dogs can learn new tricks. It only requires a willing student.
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Quick story:

Back in the mid-80s I played in a 14.1 tournament in Germany. One particular year, every single player, except moi and maybe one other player, had headsets on. Back in the day they were all listening to their music on Sony Walkmans clipped to their belts and listening to cassettes.

I thought it was all pretty funny, especially when during the finals my opponent missed a straight in no-brainer shot. He just stood straight up, stared at the table for a second and softly said, "Damn, I knew I should have put in fresh batteries" when his music stopped just as he was pulling the trigger :-)

Lou Figueroa
 
Looks like I might have found an interesting study as related to improving one’s performance under stressful conditions. According to Szalma, J and Hancock,, P. (2006) the perception of choice improves performance. This means that when we are in a tough match and find that we have to shoot some shot, the tension increases one’s vigilance producing more stress and a decrement in performance.

The obvious conclusion is that when the player finds they are in a tight spot it is important to find choices. This will reduce tension. I suspect that analyzing a shot for at least two options (the safe and the shot) should be a standard approach. According to Szalma and Hancock the perception of choice leads to better performance. This could be the key to winning a game in a tight situation and merits some real consideration.

If you want to play your best – make sure you have a choice of shots.:cool:

See Performance, workload and stress in vigilance: The power of choice.
http://www.peterhancock.ucf.edu/Downloads/ref_con_pubs/Szalma_Hancock_2006.pdf

So one of my "choices" could be to tell the guy to shut up. :eek:
 
JoeW said:
I noticed an interesting problem the other day that might be expanded on by others. Perhaps others have found a way to deal with this problem.

Usually I practice alone and very much enjoy it. Over time I have included improving my ability to concentrate. I think of this training as something like the Buddhist monks or various martial arts use in their daily routines. It is a form of integrating the complex physical requirements needed for playing pool with the mental discipline required to concentrate, let go, plan, and concentrate again. In my practice routines I have found that I play much better than I did a year ago. Of course I try to use these techniques when in competition.

A week ago I played every night for a week or so with a fellow who talks all the time. He is a nice enough guy but just can’t seem to shut up. His pace is about twice as fast as most others and he is a fairly good player. We were playing a variation of Chicago (one point per ball in a game of 25) and he is able to run a table of 15 once or twice a night.

We had a lot of fun and I thought that this would be a great place to practice my ability to concentrate under the constant talking conditions. I found that constant human chatter has a negative effect on my game. My playing was off by 25 – 30% and this is a significant decrease in a game of 15 ball rotation. It is odd that no matter how much I have practiced the ability to concentrate this type of chatter is probably one of the most aversive conditions for me. Now I can see where I need to practice much more with constant chatter in the room.

How have others dealt with this difficult problem?

It seems to me that I need to re-structure my practice routine so that it will include more than just the ability to have intense concentration at will. It needs to include the ability to tune out distractions. It is probably something like those monks who sit under a freezing water fall while they meditate. Has anyone else found a way to do this type of thing?
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I'm guessing that when the monks are sitting under the freezing water they are not doing anything else except sitting. Shutting out the distractions AND still doing a physical feat is far different than what the monks are doing. They are shutting down and you have to shut out and still perform.

I have seen pro players able to shut out occasional distractions like their opponent talking for BRIEF periods of time but it appears to me that even the pros cannot take the constant banter from their opponents and still perform.

Concentrating on your pre-shot routine, the sound of the tip hitting the cue ball, the sound of the cue ball hitting the object balls and the the sound of the ball hitting the pocket are all good ways to avoid an occcasional chirp.

I doubt that there is anything that you can do except ear plugs to beat back constant chatter AND still be able to perform consistently.
 
Don't shoot until he shuts up.

I sing to myself... in my head, not outloud.

Usually it's the Bobby Timmons song Moanin... "Every day I wake up moanin. You don't know the trouble I've seen. All the worry and sorrow I've seen. Every day I wake up moanin."

Really. When I'm singing I dont hear the other guy(s).
 
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djkx1 said:
I have a 3 year old daughter and I often practice with her in the room. I dont think there are to many distractions that could compare to that. If you have access to any 3 year olds I would highly suggest borrowing one and trying out this strategy. :smile: Also a great way to work on any lack of patience you might have.
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a friend of mine takes his 3yr old daughter golfing with us when his wife is away at work.......my games never been better since:thumbup:took a little getting used to though lol!
 
You can train yourself to ignore most of the potential distractions that you encounter when playing pool.

Looked at from the point of view of evolutionary behaviour, the distraction mechanism is usually misplaced. Exceptions include when someone brings a lion into the pool hall, or you see someone you can't resist mating with. But thankfully these are rare.

The key is to catch yourself being distracted, to acknowledge whatever it is that has caught your attention and to tell yourself that the appropriate response is to ignore it (unless a lion / a mating opportunity). Standard meditation techniques. But some things are difficult to just ignore. A friend (or someone you do not want to offend) talking to you is one of those things

There was someone I used to play with who had a habit of talking to me when I was down on the shot. He was not trying to shark me - he just liked talking more than he liked watching me play pool. Not unreasonable.

When he did this, I would stop, get up and acknowledge what he was saying. Maybe carry on the conversation for a while. And when a suitable pause arose, I would get down to the shot again.

But this time, if he started talking again I would ignore him completely until I had finished shooting. (Then ask him to repeat whatever he had said.)

The point was that once I had allowed him to interrupt my shot once, I did not then feel that I was being rude if I ignored him on my second attempt to play. It then became much easier to blank him out.

The other thing that was quite effective was to talk to him when he was about to shoot a couple of times. I guess that it made him realise what a distraction it was, because he got a bit better at keeping quiet.

And as you say, Joe, perception of choice makes the execution much easier. Try to keep in mind that if you have decided to play through the talk, you are doing so out of choice; you always have the option of getting up and conversing with him, or asking him to hold that thought for a minute; or just feed him to the next passing lion. :)
 
When I am feeling distracted I try not to fight it. I find it makes it worse. If its bad and i get flustered, i have a song that i have in my head that i will hum to. This gives me something to focus on that take no effort and calms me. Usually only have to do this for a minute or two.
 
Im used to distractions, though i did notice that once i get in the "zone" i dont really hear or even acknowledge any thing but the table.
 
I think that I have found the solution to this problem. It is a fairly easy solution but may not be easy to learn. Vigilance is as normal as breathing. You can’t get rid of it because it is part of being a human animal.

When learning to meditate the student is taught to acknowledge the intrusion and simply let it go away. Using this technique the student can pull deeper and deeper into their own mind. A variation of this technique should work when playing pool.

If you are talking with someone and a car passes by, you are aware of the car, note its color as not one you recognize and then you ignore it and go back to your conversation. If some one says did you see that crazy turn he made, you honestly say, no, I was no longer aware of the car.

Paradoxically, by acknowledging the distraction you can then ignore it and are then able to enhance your concentration in the usual ways.

Unfortunately, the human voice is one of those sounds that naturally draws our attention. Therefore, it probably requires some effort to acknowledge and ignore the human voice. Some of us who have been married for a long time have learned to ignore one particular voice. :sorry: It is just a matter of learning to acknowledge and then ignore all human voices as needed.
 
JoeW said:
I think that I have found the solution to this problem. It is a fairly easy solution but may not be easy to learn. Vigilance is as normal as breathing. You can’t get rid of it because it is part of being a human animal.

When learning to meditate the student is taught to acknowledge the intrusion and simply let it go away. Using this technique the student can pull deeper and deeper into their own mind. A variation of this technique should work when playing pool.

If you are talking with someone and a car passes by, you are aware of the car, note its color as not one you recognize and then you ignore it and go back to your conversation. If some one says did you see that crazy turn he made, you honestly say, no, I was no longer aware of the car.

Paradoxically, by acknowledging the distraction you can then ignore it and are then able to enhance your concentration in the usual ways.

Unfortunately, the human voice is one of those sounds that naturally draws our attention. Therefore, it probably requires some effort to acknowledge and ignore the human voice. Some of us who have been married for a long time have learned to ignore one particular voice. :sorry: It is just a matter of learning to acknowledge and then ignore all human voices as needed.
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This is a great way to deal with a single distraction or even a few distractions.

However, if the chatter box continues shot after shot, game after game you are not likely to withstand the cumulative barrage and the detrimental effect that it will most certainly have on your game.
 
Neil said:
I found out what sensory overload is like. For some reason, I couldn't block out anything, and I heard every single sound in the room. And, none of them made sense. I started getting dizzy and had to sit down for a while with my eyes closed and really concentrate on blocking it all out. Weird.
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That almost sounds like a mild to medium anxiety attack Neil.

I've liked some of the suggestions but most end up sounding like, "get used to it" in one form or another, with various regiments of training. My personal favorite so far was humming a tune, which I do most of the time just to keep my mind occupied.

If things get really bad, as Neil mentioned, I stop shooting for a moment, stand up from the shot and just ask myself what it is that I'm so nervous or worried about. Just questioning myself settles me back in. At worst I'll finish the rack, go outside and take a breather for 2 or 3 minutes.

You just have to be careful to keep that self-talk positive. If I stand there and say, "wow, these guys are all staring at me, I have play really well now!" then I'm going to make poor choices on my next inning because my attention isn't on my shot, it's outside of the rails.
 
JoeW said:
I think that I have found the solution to this problem. It is a fairly easy solution but may not be easy to learn. Vigilance is as normal as breathing. You can’t get rid of it because it is part of being a human animal.

When learning to meditate the student is taught to acknowledge the intrusion and simply let it go away. Using this technique the student can pull deeper and deeper into their own mind. A variation of this technique should work when playing pool.

If you are talking with someone and a car passes by, you are aware of the car, note its color as not one you recognize and then you ignore it and go back to your conversation. If some one says did you see that crazy turn he made, you honestly say, no, I was no longer aware of the car.

Paradoxically, by acknowledging the distraction you can then ignore it and are then able to enhance your concentration in the usual ways.

Unfortunately, the human voice is one of those sounds that naturally draws our attention. Therefore, it probably requires some effort to acknowledge and ignore the human voice. Some of us who have been married for a long time have learned to ignore one particular voice. :sorry: It is just a matter of learning to acknowledge and then ignore all human voices as needed.
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... and maybe ignoring a voice in particular is difficult because it's thought of as being rude. We are somewhat programmed to pay attention as it is polite. Based on that programming it then takes a conscious willingness to be rude.
 
I'd be required to have a talk with myself.. like: "Jim.... This guy's running a game! He knows that you don't want to be rude so he runs his mouth knowing that you will automatically stop thinking about your shot(s) and pay attention tohim. You need to just ignore the jerk on the premise that he's either incredibly stupid, blatantly rude or running a game. Just shut him out. Don't look at him. Don't answer questions. Don't respond to anything. Let his voice become part of the noise of the joint and shoot some lights out pool here!"
 
At the highest levels

I like to reference this interview whenever I'm asked about or the topic of competition comes up. Listen to Josh Waitzkin, former 8 time national champion in chess and a world champion in the Martial arts...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTZS3SqpT-o

This whole interview is incredible and has jewels of knowledge that anyone can pull from and apply in their respective disciplines. He talks about, at one point, how at the highest levels you don't attempt to block out or get away from distraction. You acknowledge the distraction and assimilate it. It becomes apart of the energy around you and is at once one with your purpose... Very awesome stuff.

Enjoy.
 
Joe, I grew up playing in poolrooms where there were lots of distractions - loud juke boxes, louder kids, lots of people moving around all the time and stuff like that. It definitely wasn't a library! And the action room (Joe Burn's place) could be even worse. It was full of hustlers and outlaws, and if they thought there was a way to shark you they would. Talking while you were shooting, moving in your line of sight, and wiping their cue down while you're shooting was standard fare. If you couldn't handle it you were dead meat.

Consequently when I hit the road a few years later I was well prepared for almost anything. After some time gambling in strange rooms with strangers I had an interesting revelation. I finally realized that when a guy was trying to shark me it was a sign of weakness. BOOM, it hit me! He didn't think he could win on the up and up, so he would try to distract me somehow. Once I realized that, it only empowered me when a guy tried moving on me.

I actually let guys cheat me on the score (on the wire) and steal balls from me in One Pocket. Yes, I knew it and let them get away with it. I KNEW I was going to get the money if they just kept playing. One other interesting thing that happened was when I let them cheat, they felt like they were getting away with something and it only made them play longer. And lose more!

I once beat a guy out of over $300 playing $5 9-Ball, and he was stealing a game on the wire maybe once every ten games. He thought he was getting over on me! Little did he know that I knew and didn't care.
 
Tonight I worked on blocking out distractions for 1 1/2 hours playing the 8 ball ghost at the Save the TA-TAs Pole Dance competition at one of our local pool rooms. Sadly the ghost won but I did get some compliments on my cue.
 
This guy sounds like someone I played recently. He has a job that takes him off shore, so he was overjoyed at the oportunity to play before getting on a plane and going home the following day. He was a regular chatter box. Not sharking, not doing it distract.....he was just pumped up.
The entire time we played (about 3 hours) he just couldn't contain himself. He was a really nice guy and I would play him again if he ever returns.
I found it difficult to get by all the talk at first, but eventually I was able to tune him out when I was at the table.... but I am the kind of guy if I'm watching TV and really into it, I won't hear a word you said if you say anything (this used to annoy the hell out of my mom when I was a kid).
 
jay helfert said:
I finally realized that when a guy was trying to shark me it was a sign of weakness. BOOM, it hit me! He didn't think he could win on the up and up, so he would try to distract me somehow. Once I realized that, it only empowered me when a guy tried moving on me.
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Jay strikes again. Now that is one powerful solution. Thank you very much. :thumbup:
 
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