I practice great...but choke when it counts...

choke without money

wild west said:
I will practice for a few hours...get in stroke...find some $20 action and can't make 2 in a row! What the !@*^!!!
! HELP !
Click to expand...

I do not play for money, but when I feel that I might be embarrassed by the real or perceived disparity between me & opponents, I also choke. I can feel the tension build in my body. As I play for awhile, my performance often makes qualitative leaps. Its a good thing I don't play for money, because my erratic performance might be perceived as hustling.
 
I practice the 6-pointed star (Bert Kinister)...As well as the 60 minute workout (Kinister). These drills have helped me alot during League night. But because it is a Team effort, i find myself more relaxed. Thinking that "if i lose, my teammates will pick up the slack). I guess i am my own worse enemy.
...thoughts?
 
This may sound like a...duh...but when your practicing try to mentally pretend that your playing for money, think every shot I miss I could lose 500 dollars. If your constantly in the mental state that this shot matters, then the next shot matters, and so on and so forth, then every shot yoyu take has meaning. Also, (if you dont already) find a couple of buddys to play with maybe one that isnt as good as you, one that is, and one that is better than to practice with. All the while pretending you are playing for money. I would also save up some money, maybe like a change jar, money that you wouldn't miss anyway and gamble with that. You might also want to play a long set, that way you feel like your getting the a lot of bang for your buck, 50 race to 5 can blow by real real fast, but a 30 dollar race to 8, doesnt so much. Try playing on tough equipment, bar boxes are fun, but try not to make them your primary playing equipment.
ps.
who is that guy in the photo, ive seen it a lot and dont know who it is.
 
Chok'n

I would highly recommend reading 'Pleasures of Small Motions'. And in the meantime, check out this article that another AZ'r posted up regarding these same issues...

Competitive Anxiety: How to avoid choke shots

Keep at it and practice, practice, practice. You need to make your shots automatic! Take out your brain overriding your body. It's like driving a car.. you don't think about driving anymore. Sometimes you even get from point A to point B without even remebering the drive itself. It's become automatic. So too should your pool playing.
 
RunoutalloverU said:
ps.
who is that guy in the photo, ive seen it a lot and dont know who it is.
Click to expand...

If you mean wild west's avatar that is Jack Breit (aka "Jersey Red").
 
cyrex said:
I would highly recommend reading 'Pleasures of Small Motions'. And in the meantime, check out this article that another AZ'r posted up regarding these same issues...

QUOTE]

Excellent book, I highly recommend it as well.
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One thing that nobody mentioned, though. The stakes are not the same for anybody. For example, a poolhall owner I know plays regular money games against a guy who is a waiter at his pool hall. They both play about the same speed, but poolhall owner is full of cash and drives a top of the line Porsche. Obviously 100$ means very little to the rich guy. I would like to see them bet proportionally to their monthly income.

This is why I prefer tournaments. Stakes low, rewards high, but still everybody chokes there. Rich, poor, young, old...you name it.
 
wild west said:
I will practice for a few hours...get in stroke...find some $20 action and can't make 2 in a row! What the !@*^!!!
! HELP !
Click to expand...

I'm the opposite - I'm not very impressive when I'm practicing, but, when I match up against somebody for a few bucks, I shoot my best and beat guys who you would think should be beating me. I think it all goes back to my refusal to play matches with nothing at stake. If I'm not playing at least for a little something, I'd rather play by myself for an hour than head home.
 
wild west said:
I practice the 6-pointed star (Bert Kinister)...As well as the 60 minute workout (Kinister). These drills have helped me alot during League night. But because it is a Team effort, i find myself more relaxed. Thinking that "if i lose, my teammates will pick up the slack). I guess i am my own worse enemy.
...thoughts?
Click to expand...
Try to not gamble with money that you need to pay bills or debts. Only money you can afford to lose. Or just back me against Patch Eye if he comes to Maryland again. " Country " Bob
 
Refer to what Klopec posted...

What happens under pressure is your body does what is natural. You can force yourself to stroke the cue a certain way, but when the pressure is on...(and it may only be one or two key shots) your body will revert back to what is natural.

Your the stroke you apply in practice must be your natural stroke...This is one of the main reasons a good instructor will teach you to "improve" your stroke and not "change" it to a cookie cutter stroke.

If you are trying in practice to make your stroke look like Johnny Archers...but you natrual stroke looks more like Keith McCreadys...Guess what it is going to be (under pressure)

The reason why those guys seem to alway come with the key shots under pressure is because they have learned to make there natural stroke work in practice...so when the game is one...they just do what comes
natural...

Sure there are some key elements to the set up and stroke, but those need to be built into what comes natural for you.....A GOOD instructor can do that.
 
choke

wild west said:
I will practice for a few hours...get in stroke...find some $20 action and can't make 2 in a row! What the !@*^!!!
! HELP !
Click to expand...
That like shadow boxing, and the shadow wins. find a way to relax, blid up your confindence level!!!:D :D :D :D
 
wild west said:
I will practice for a few hours...get in stroke...find some $20 action and can't make 2 in a row! What the !@*^!!!
! HELP !
Click to expand...
In Steve Mizerak's book, he suggested that you accept it and don't fight it. I have found that to be very good advice. I think it is also a good idea to get in a lot of those $20 matches.
 
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