How to stop missing

[cueball1950]

a few words of wisdom

A wise man who i know and that has alot of pool wisdom once told me this...It is not the mind that misses the shot. it is the body that misses the shot. If the mind had it's way no one would ever miss a ball. unfortunately the body does not always want to do what the mind tells it. therefore you have to train the body to listen to the mind as the mind knows better.....

now does that make sense to anybody else. This little ditty made me think about my body alignment and my arm alignment. made me think of how many strokes i really need. It made me put my mind in focus on any particular shot i was shooting........this works...so feel free to try it.......mike

 

[berlowmj]

Could you provide a citation for the Simplified Aiming Method? book? dvd?

 

[Williebetmore]

I' find it easy to believe that if I could follow that program, I'd improve vastly, but sadly I only get to a table one or two nights a week, which is perhaps part of my problem.
-Andrew

Drew,
Careful, careful...you are on that slippery slope that leads to DCP-ville.

While limited practice opportunities are DEFINITELY a hindrance to achieving a high level, they CAN be overcome. Excuses make us feel better (and I'm the proof - I always insist on developing a good "explanation" for my failures ), but it's also easy to let the excuses stop us from achieving our goals.

There is nothing wrong with diligently developing your game with twice a week sessions. It will take you longer than someone who does it every day; but it will still be quicker than someone who just bangs the balls around with no objective in mind. JMO.

Good luck, and keep us informed as you progress.

 

[Purdman]

Who was it that said, " If you aim at absolutely nothing, you will hit it every time!!" ?
Purdman

 

[Gerry]

There is a lot there and of course not missing easy ones is one of the secrets to this game.

So maybe, Andrew, you can give us more information as to HOW you miss the easy shots.

I got the same problem, but I've made three discoveries that I think will greatly increase my consistency with practice.

1) This was a hint I got from Gerry: he said he kept a notebook to chart his misses. WHY did he miss? How did he miss? What was he feeling when it happened? , etc. I noticed after I tracked my missed shots that almost THE ENTIRETY of my misses involving a cut to the left are overcut. And almost THE ENTIRETY of my misses on a cut to the right are undercut... Obviously an eye-dominance problem. Now that I know that, I make a conscious decision depending on whether it's a cut to the left or right until it becomes automatic;

2) I've been struggling mightly with adding a pause at the end of my backstroke (a la snooker players, Pagulayan, Feijen, Hohmann, etc.), because when I do that, my eyes automatically finish at the OB. As obvious as it is to all players with even a little bit of knowledge, the habit of NEVER taking your eyes off the OB during your delivery is a very hard one to acquire. Maybe impossible since I see pros missing balls because they took their eye off all the goddamn time;

3) This one I haven't yet figured out, but I know I miss a lot of my shots not accounting for throw (even on center ball shots) AND curve correctly. I'm in observation mode. I still need to use less spin, even though I've alredy cut it down to less than half my shots. Maybe the most important thing is figuring out each time WHY you missed.

Glad to see it's working for you lewdo!....I also tried to add a pause in the back stroke at one time after hearing about how it will help my game(like Buddy Hall, or Allison). It had me screwed up for the longest time. My tempo was way out of wack. When everything shook out I kept a slight pause at the begining of my stroke. It just feels more fluid that way, and gives me the opportunity to get up off the shot if it isn't feelling right.

Gerry

 

[Black-Balled]

As time wears on and you play and practice, your misses will decrease. Eventually you will realize that you will go for longer stretches of time where every ball you shoot at falls into the pocket. It's all about practice and getting more and more comfortable with being at the table...

WHat he said, you gotta make it routine for it to be routine. Keep shooting 'em in and they will keep going in. Confucious repeat redundantly!

Capelle referrs to setting your mindset to one that is comfortable with being at the table for extended periods of time. As in: not thinking,' I've made 15 shots in a row, therefore I will soon miss'.

 

[Williebetmore]

Andrew,
Just one more point of clarification; you will rarely see a shot that you can't make or haven't made before; maintaining your focus and delivering your best stroke EVERY time is the key. To paraphrase from Mark Wilson's new book (not published yet, I hope he doesn't sue me) "Improved performance in both practice and competition is directly related to peak mental focus over a sustained period of time. This volume of complete effort is exhausting and it takes time to develop the ability to be strong for a long practice or competition session."

It IS something that can be learned and practiced. The exercises I described are just as much for mental development as for establishing improved physical cue delivery skills.

 

[Andrew Manning]

Drew,
Careful, careful...you are on that slippery slope that leads to DCP-ville.

While limited practice opportunities are DEFINITELY a hindrance to achieving a high level, they CAN be overcome. Excuses make us feel better (and I'm the proof - I always insist on developing a good "explanation" for my failures ), but it's also easy to let the excuses stop us from achieving our goals.

There is nothing wrong with diligently developing your game with twice a week sessions. It will take you longer than someone who does it every day; but it will still be quicker than someone who just bangs the balls around with no objective in mind. JMO.

Good luck, and keep us informed as you progress.

Let me paraphrase; I wouldn't want you to think my mindset needs the kind of help DCP's does. Any program as rigorous and methodical as the one you've been recommended seems likely to produce a high level of performance, but I'm looking for how I can learn better focus without playing every day. I've gotten a lot of good advice in this thread, much of which I plan to try, but it would literally take me over a year to follow the course in the other thread. I'll try to see what exercises I can use within the framework of my schedule to maximum utility.

-Andrew

 

[gromulan]

Don't over cut the shot; ever.

Also, don't take advise from a smart ass.

The only way to stop missing is...stop playing - forever.

Downside is you have to stop making shots too but, hey, you asked.

 

[Snapshot9]

Sure ...

So I'm wondering about the best practice methods and competition habits I can work on to cut down on my unforced misses. I'm not referring to really difficult shots, mostly I mean very easy to moderately easy shots; shots that a good player would consider "routine" if encountered during a rack of 9-ball.

I know this may sound like a dumb question at first, because everyone misses, and everyone would play better if they didn't miss as much, but I feel my knowledge, mechanics, cue-ball control, and difficult shot-making abilities have surpassed my routine shot-making consistency. In other words, I believe the biggest obstacle in taking my game to the next level is all the routine shots I miss. More specifically, I believe it's poor focus and imperfect mental routines and habits that cause the misses, rather than any specific mechanical defect.

So does anyone have any specific advice on building ball-pocketing consistency by way of improving focus and mental habits? I'd appreciate drills that emphasize focus, games that will improve my mental discipline, suggested supplements to my pre-shot routine, etc.

Thanks.

-Andrew

It isn't too awfully hard, at first. Jump down and do 50 pushups with the proper positioning and not bending your back. Next day, do 60. Next day, do 70. Next day, do 80. Then when you get to the point where your body can no longer do them, you have to use your mind to 'focus' on nothing else but doing that next 1 pushup until you real the goal. You have to push and push yourself each day. Then after a period of time, you will become stronger, in better shape, and more confident of how you can handle yourself and your body. You will also have increased mental toughness. If you make to 200 or more overall, that is a pretty gjood goal. (Actually using a old High School record for pushups is good to shoot for).

Then, when you feel pretty sporty, get down, put your feet up 2 steps on stairs, and do 50 pushups. Next day, do 60.

You do not just acquire mental toughness or will power by reading some book or some other magical way, you have to EARN IT.

Have you ever heard, 'Strength comes through adversity'.

 

[BRKNRUN]

Let me paraphrase; I wouldn't want you to think my mindset needs the kind of help DCP's does. Any program as rigorous and methodical as the one you've been recommended seems likely to produce a high level of performance, but I'm looking for how I can learn better focus without playing every day. I've gotten a lot of good advice in this thread, much of which I plan to try, but it would literally take me over a year to follow the course in the other thread. I'll try to see what exercises I can use within the framework of my schedule to maximum utility.

-Andrew

For some reason that bolded comment reminded me of the "visualization" theory......(yes I know its kind of corny...but hey...whatever works....right)

Here is a link with a decent explanation...
http://homepage.mac.com/gdemarco1/WA/VisualizationSkills.html

There have been studies that have shown equal imrovement through nothing more than "visualization"

You don't have to be at a table or have a cue or anything, all you have to do is "imagine" perfect mechanics, smooth shots, the sound of the ball going in the pocket, the motionless cue ball as it spins in place for a brief second after impact and then draws out two rails for perfect shape on the next shot. That fluid tempo as you stroll around the table for your next effortless shot...

I believe this is the reason why quite a few people will say that right after you watch high level play either on Tape or live, for some strange reason you go back home and seem to play better than the day before.

(This is also why pro are so consistent...they are "always" around other great players, and they feed off of each others skills.....so to speak...)

 

[Tiddler]

Watch Karen Corr

You might try to stick to a pre-shot routine. For example:

Study the shot.
Decide your course of action.
Take your stance.
Set the cue on the cueball with practice strokes.
Focus on where to hit the object ball.
Fire.

Repeat as necessary. However, that said, I've been known to skip right to fire with mixed results.........

 

[Dhakala]

I believe it's poor focus and imperfect mental routines and habits that cause the misses, rather than any specific mechanical defect.

So does anyone have any specific advice on building ball-pocketing consistency by way of improving focus and mental habits? I'd appreciate drills that emphasize focus, games that will improve my mental discipline, suggested supplements to my pre-shot routine, etc.

Well, then, you probably won't appreciate this advice, but it's what you need. Seriously.

 

[Andrew Manning]

Well, then, you probably won't appreciate this advice, but it's what you need. Seriously.

I've often wondered how applicable "meditative" concentration is to active situations. Do you practice Zazen? If so, do you find you can apply the focus you attain through meditation while simultaneously actually playing pool? It's something I'd be willing to try, because if that particular type of concentration can be applied to the strategical thought and precise execution of pool, it seems it would applicable to almost anything.

-Andrew

 

[Dhakala]

The object of zazen is to cultivate a permanent state of mental simplicity, order, and focus on what one is doing in the present instant.

One does not perform isometric exercise merely for the few minutes of workout it provides, but mainly to build permanent muscle mass and tone that one can apply to whatever one does.

So, yes, focus achieved through zazen is available during games of pool.

Do not neglect the more active forms of meditation described in the article. A comprehensive exercise regimen includes isometrics, weight lifting, running, etc. A comprehensive meditation regimen likewise includes a variety of mental exercises... including pool!

Approach pool as a meditative path to satori instead of as a game, and you will miss far fewer shots. Pool is a meditative discipline, just like zazen, kinhin, and koan introspection.

Pool is even more akin to Zen archery, a. k. a. kyudo. Try this book: One Arrow, One Life: Zen, Archery, Enlightenment.

 

[Zylr Cue]

Missing easy shots?

The first time I met Willie Mosconi was very memorable for me as my question refered to this very subject. Here is what he said and I quote,
"Good players make the tough shots, Great players make the easy ones too"
Chisal it in stone guys because it speaks to more than one question. Of course he removed all doubt with his next comment. " If you're playing your grandmother a race to 50 (straight pool), beat her 50 to nothing" We all make decisions before every shot. My suggestion would be to shoot every shot like your life depended on it and you'll never have to worry about focus again.
Otherwise, just have fun and be a good recreational player. For Willie it was all business. Always serious as a heart attack when he had his cue in his hand. Basically he told me that I needed to develope a "KILLER INSTINCT".
It all speaks to attitude though don't you think? Z.

 

[Dhakala]

Zylr Cue says, "Basically (Mosconi) told me that I needed to develope a 'KILLER INSTINCT'. It all speaks to attitude though don't you think?"

Yes, Willie did speak to attitude, but bloodlust is not the proper attitude for pool.

Willie did not tell you to develop a "killer instinct" in so many words, did he? I believe that you are misinterpreting his advice and his attitude.

Willie said, "Good players make the tough shots, Great players make the easy ones too." I believe he meant that the difference between good and great players is that the latter focus their entire attention upon every shot, not just the tough ones.

The greats have achieved satori, a permanent state of Enlightenment and Correct Thinking, and they remain there effortlessly. The merely "good" rise to that level of consciousness only occasionally, temporarily, and with difficulty.

The good players are like an infant who is still learning to walk: he struggles to stand upright, consciously; toddles a few steps (in Enlightenment); and then falls to all fours again. But eventually, he learns to walk all the time; he becomes a "great" walker who needn't think about how to stand upright and fall forward one foot after another.

Willie then said, "If you're playing your grandmother a race to 50 (straight pool), beat her 50 to nothing." It would be an insult to that great man to infer that he was recommending ruthless cruelty towards the elderly! Willie was, by all accounts, the epitome of a gentleman. He would never set out to humiliate anyone's grandmother.

I believe Willie was advising you to play the same fully focused game no matter who your opponent is. If you are a great player who has achieved satori, then your consciousness is always totally focused upon what you are doing in the present instant. When you are shooting, you are not thinking about your relationship to your opponent, or how she gave you sweets and Christmas presents when you were little. There is no guilt about beating your grandmother to divide your mind and cripple your game. Your opponent is irrelevant while you are shooting. (Whether that's the best "attitude" is a debate raging elsewhere, I know. Zen Cueism inescapably leads one to conclude that it is.)

Zylr says, "For Willie it was all business. Always serious as a heart attack when he had his cue in his hand." Again, I think you misinterpret Willie's solemnity and concentration when he had his cue in his hand.

Satori, which Willie achieved if anyone ever has, is a sacred, rapturous state of consciousness. It is not grim, cold, or ruthless, as the term "all business" implies. The Zen Cueist in satori is serene. He does not display ever-changing petty emotions such as frustration, embarassment, anger, or frivolity. This tranquil state of blissful openness and unification with the Universe should not be confused with the anal-retentive closed-mindedness of being "serious as a heart attack."

No "killer instinct" should ever be sought. In satori, one is conscious of one's connectedness to every other thing. It becomes impossible to desire to "kill" one's opponent, for that would be suicide.

 

[Koop]

Zylr Cue says, "Basically (Mosconi) told me that I needed to develope a 'KILLER INSTINCT'. It all speaks to attitude though don't you think?"

Yes, Willie did speak to attitude, but bloodlust is not the proper attitude for pool.

Willie did not tell you to develop a "killer instinct" in so many words, did he? I believe that you are misinterpreting his advice and his attitude.

Willie said, "Good players make the tough shots, Great players make the easy ones too." I believe he meant that the difference between good and great players is that the latter focus their entire attention upon every shot, not just the tough ones.

The greats have achieved satori, a permanent state of Enlightenment and Correct Thinking, and they remain there effortlessly. The merely "good" rise to that level of consciousness only occasionally, temporarily, and with difficulty.

The good players are like an infant who is still learning to walk: he struggles to stand upright, consciously; toddles a few steps (in Enlightenment); and then falls to all fours again. But eventually, he learns to walk all the time; he becomes a "great" walker who needn't think about how to stand upright and fall forward one foot after another.

Willie then said, "If you're playing your grandmother a race to 50 (straight pool), beat her 50 to nothing." It would be an insult to that great man to infer that he was recommending ruthless cruelty towards the elderly! Willie was, by all accounts, the epitome of a gentleman. He would never set out to humiliate anyone's grandmother.

I believe Willie was advising you to play the same fully focused game no matter who your opponent is. If you are a great player who has achieved satori, then your consciousness is always totally focused upon what you are doing in the present instant. When you are shooting, you are not thinking about your relationship to your opponent, or how she gave you sweets and Christmas presents when you were little. There is no guilt about beating your grandmother to divide your mind and cripple your game. Your opponent is irrelevant while you are shooting. (Whether that's the best "attitude" is a debate raging elsewhere, I know. Zen Cueism inescapably leads one to conclude that it is.)

Zylr says, "For Willie it was all business. Always serious as a heart attack when he had his cue in his hand." Again, I think you misinterpret Willie's solemnity and concentration when he had his cue in his hand.

Satori, which Willie achieved if anyone ever has, is a sacred, rapturous state of consciousness. It is not grim, cold, or ruthless, as the term "all business" implies. The Zen Cueist in satori is serene. He does not display ever-changing petty emotions such as frustration, embarassment, anger, or frivolity. This tranquil state of blissful openness and unification with the Universe should not be confused with the anal-retentive closed-mindedness of being "serious as a heart attack."

No "killer instinct" should ever be sought. In satori, one is conscious of one's connectedness to every other thing. It becomes impossible to desire to "kill" one's opponent, for that would be suicide.

You would have to go great lengths to prove to me that Mosconi, Greenleaf, or any other great had any inclination as to anything you just mentioned.

I would say, more than anything else, they were closer to idiot savante's when it came to pool. They just did.

Also, I assume your last sentence was a joke because I HIGHLY doubt anyone has ever wanted to literally kill their opponent. You really shouldn't post when in a state of meditation

 

[sixpack]

So I'm wondering about the best practice methods and competition habits I can work on to cut down on my unforced misses. I'm not referring to really difficult shots, mostly I mean very easy to moderately easy shots; shots that a good player would consider "routine" if encountered during a rack of 9-ball.

I know this may sound like a dumb question at first, because everyone misses, and everyone would play better if they didn't miss as much, but I feel my knowledge, mechanics, cue-ball control, and difficult shot-making abilities have surpassed my routine shot-making consistency. In other words, I believe the biggest obstacle in taking my game to the next level is all the routine shots I miss. More specifically, I believe it's poor focus and imperfect mental routines and habits that cause the misses, rather than any specific mechanical defect.

So does anyone have any specific advice on building ball-pocketing consistency by way of improving focus and mental habits? I'd appreciate drills that emphasize focus, games that will improve my mental discipline, suggested supplements to my pre-shot routine, etc.

Thanks.

-Andrew

What helps me is the affirmation I repeat while focusing on easy shots, "respect the shot". I realized that most easy shots I miss, I miss because I rush my pre-shot, take it lightly and focus on position or just simply don't bother to aim. Respecting the shot is a good, positive affirmation for me.

Cheers,
RC

 

[Dhakala]

You would have to go great lengths to prove to me that Mosconi, Greenleaf, or any other great had any inclination as to anything you just mentioned.

It is not necessary to be conscious of Zen's principles in order to live them. In fact, all humans are born in satori. Witness any baby or toddler - it is fully focused on what it is doing in the present instant. It knows nothing of past or future.

It is the absorption of Incorrect Thinking that breaks our natural satori, that divides the Universe into "me" and "other", that causes us to stray from the Four-Bank Path to Enlightenment into dissections of pool's harmonious whole: linear momentum, angular momentum, coefficients of friction, elasticity, and all the other quibbles of a mechanical view of the Universe.

I would say, more than anything else, they were closer to idiot savante's when it came to pool.

Idiot savants, for whatever reasons, fail to absorb Incorrect Thinking about one specific part of their relationship to the Universe. Often, the part that remains in satori concerns memory, math, art, or music - activities about which relatively little is said to the young by their parents, meaning that the young are exposed to relatively little Incorrect Thinking.

Look at the great pool players and you will find that they all picked up a cue at young ages, before they absorbed much Incorrect Thinking about the game. They retained that part of the satori with which they were born.

They just did.

Indeed, that is exactly what a Zen Cueist does; he just does.

Also, I assume your last sentence was a joke because I HIGHLY doubt anyone has ever wanted to literally kill their opponent.

Oh, really?

I guess you're unfamiliar with the literary convention of putting quotation marks around a word to indicate that it is not to be taken literally. Zylr Cue and I were discussing "killer instinct," which in pool is the non-lethal drive to dominate one's opponent completely. If one is in satori, one cannot have a desire to so dominate oneself.