If any pro's or top players are reading this..

[fan-tum]

..I'd be curious to know..when their game is slightly off, what makes it so. Is the consensus that " they aren't seeing the angle quite right", or maybe their stroke doesn't feel right, or what? When I have a "good" day at the pool room, I've learned that the very next day I won't be able to run 2 balls. It goes without saying I and probably the majority of AZBers haven't a clue what makes us so inconsistent. Just curious about the good players.

 

[Blackjack]

..I'd be curious to know..when their game is slightly off, what makes it so. Is the consensus that " they aren't seeing the angle quite right", or maybe their stroke doesn't feel right, or what? When I have a "good" day at the pool room, I've learned that the very next day I won't be able to run 2 balls. It goes without saying I and probably the majority of AZBers haven't a clue what makes us so inconsistent. Just curious about the good players.

Usually for me it comes down to two major things:

a) Laziness in some area of the basic fundamentals (stance,stroke, etc)
b) Burn out

The game of pool relies on the basic fundamentals in the same way a chain relies upon its links. If you weaken one of those links in the chain, that chain becomes useless. This is true no matter what level you are at, and nobody is immune to that.

Burn out is mostly a mental thing - although it could also be physical. Myself, I usually don't get lazy with my fundamentals until I have already gotten lazy in the mind. This is how one affects the other, and it is also why I believe that you should strengthen your mental muscles just as much (or even moreso) than your physical game.

 

[Ste]

Lely

..I'd be curious to know..when their game is slightly off, what makes it so. Is the consensus that " they aren't seeing the angle quite right", or maybe their stroke doesn't feel right, or what? When I have a "good" day at the pool room, I've learned that the very next day I won't be able to run 2 balls. It goes without saying I and probably the majority of AZBers haven't a clue what makes us so inconsistent. Just curious about the good players.

Alex Lely wrote a lot about this to Ted Lerner a while ago.

For those who haven't read this - I really suggest you do.

Alex is one of the European guys I don't really know, but reading this article made me feel like I do know him. All of the points he mentions here are things that have passed through my mind over the past few years (and all of yours too I would guess), the trick is we just haven't heard anybody else say/explain how it effects them. Instructional books and videos TELL you what you should do, but few actually relay what it feels like.

I have to say, after reading this I will give props to Alex at every opportunity. He is just a REALLY nice guy, honest, almost un-naturally open for a pro player and the kind of guy you imagine you would listen to in a conversation and not be so hasty to put your own 2 cents worth in until after you've digested whatever his views are.

I'd be interested to see how many of you guys think the same.

http://www.worldpoolchampionship.com/input-does-not-equal-output.htm

Comments ?
.

 

[Get_A_Grip]

I'd be interested to see how many of you guys think the same.

http://www.worldpoolchampionship.com/input-does-not-equal-output.htm

Comments ?
.

I think that my suggestion would be to: Do all of your thinking about mechanics and making adjustments during practice -- but when you are playing against an opponent -- just free your mind and concentrate on running out the balls in a relaxed fashion, without necessarily thinking about how you are doing it.

 

[BPG24]

Blackjack hit the nail on the head

a) Laziness in some area of the basic fundamentals (stance,stroke, etc)

For me, when i was playing alot. I would seem to get lazy in some form if the game didn't matter. Meaning if I was not gambling or playing in a tournament. It's unbelievable how much this can effect your play.
Not taking the time to walk around each shot, not going through my preshot routine on every shot, making lazy strokes, etc etc.

You have to find what works for you and do it on every shot no matter the importance. That will improve your consistency tremendously

 

[WesleyW]

Alex Lely wrote a lot about this to Ted Lerner a while ago.

For those who haven't read this - I really suggest you do.

Alex is one of the European guys I don't really know, but reading this article made me feel like I do know him. All of the points he mentions here are things that have passed through my mind over the past few years (and all of yours too I would guess), the trick is we just haven't heard anybody else say/explain how it effects them. Instructional books and videos TELL you what you should do, but few actually relay what it feels like.

I have to say, after reading this I will give props to Alex at every opportunity. He is just a REALLY nice guy, honest, almost un-naturally open for a pro player and the kind of guy you imagine you would listen to in a conversation and not be so hasty to put your own 2 cents worth in until after you've digested whatever his views are.

I'd be interested to see how many of you guys think the same.

http://www.worldpoolchampionship.com/input-does-not-equal-output.htm

Comments ?
.

Alex is one of the best players in Holland. I don't know him either, but he is like living 5 miles next to me . I've heard good things from him, from other players. He looks like a nice guy to me

 

[Ste]

Alex is one of the best players in Holland. I don't know him either, but he is like living 5 miles next to me . I've heard good things from him, from other players. He looks like a nice guy to me

Hey Wesley !

Didn't realise you were a Euro too !
Yeah, like I said he is one of the few Euro guys I don't know real well. So you live in the Hague too ?

.

 

[WesleyW]

Hey Wesley !

Didn't realise you were a Euro too !
Yeah, like I said he is one of the few Euro guys I don't know real well. So you live in the Hague too ?

.

No, I'm not, neither is he. He just moved. But he's still playing in the team of the Hague. If I'd played more tournaments, I might seen him in real. Would been a real honour to see him in live action. It's always nice to see some good players playing the game.

Where in Europe are you from?

 

[Ste]

Ahh ok - Where do you live ?
Do you know where has he moved to ?

Me... I have a couple of homes in UK and Germany. I spend most of my time outside the UK, globally.

Where do you play ?

.

 

[WesleyW]

Ahh ok - Where do you live ?
Do you know where has he moved to ?

Me... I have a couple of homes in UK and Germany. I spend most of my time outside the UK, globally.

Where do you play ?

.

I don't know exactly where he lives. Neither do I have interest on knowing where he lives, I've no stalking purposes . But I play on different poolhalls. I just travels a lot in Holland. It's like taking you 4 hours to travel from the north to south.

 

[JoeyA]

Alex Lely wrote a lot about this to Ted Lerner a while ago.

For those who haven't read this - I really suggest you do.

Alex is one of the European guys I don't really know, but reading this article made me feel like I do know him. All of the points he mentions here are things that have passed through my mind over the past few years (and all of yours too I would guess), the trick is we just haven't heard anybody else say/explain how it effects them. Instructional books and videos TELL you what you should do, but few actually relay what it feels like.

I have to say, after reading this I will give props to Alex at every opportunity. He is just a REALLY nice guy, honest, almost un-naturally open for a pro player and the kind of guy you imagine you would listen to in a conversation and not be so hasty to put your own 2 cents worth in until after you've digested whatever his views are.

I'd be interested to see how many of you guys think the same.

http://www.worldpoolchampionship.com/input-does-not-equal-output.htm

Comments ?
.

Comments: First off, thank you. Secondly REP to you for these golden thoughts by Alex.

Most of us will be unable to give more valuable insight into what Alex said. Our input will be limited by our ability and experience. It is like the old saying goes, "Just because the shot can't go, it doesn't mean I can't shoot it."

I think Alex is right on the money with several things he mentioned, especially about getting the mental batteries re-charged, taking breaks etc. He is right about so many things at least from my perspective.

One thing that I think I disagree with is about steady play. You cannot hold up under pressure unless you are steadily under pressure. At least that's my opinion. Sure, it's fine to play loose, play well and have fun just putting those balls in the hole one after the other. When you miss, you had better be used to the pressure that misses cause or you will not be able to go back to your old loose and accurate play.

Alex's thoughts ROCK!
Thanks,
JoeyA

 

[WesleyW]

Comments: First off, thank you. Secondly REP to you for these golden thoughts by Alex.

Most of us will be unable to give more valuable insight into what Alex said. Our input will be limited by our ability and experience. It is like the old saying goes, "Just because the shot can't go, it doesn't mean I can't shoot it."

I think Alex is right on the money with several things he mentioned, especially about getting the mental batteries re-charged, taking breaks etc. He is right about so many things at least from my perspective.

One thing that I think I disagree with is about steady play. You cannot hold up under pressure unless you are steadily under pressure. At least that's my opinion. Sure, it's fine to play loose, play well and have fun just putting those balls in the hole one after the other. When you miss, you had better be used to the pressure that misses cause or you will not be able to go back to your old loose and accurate play.

Alex's thoughts ROCK!
Thanks,
JoeyA

Yup, that's totally right. I beat some good players, when I play for fun. I even won a tournament. I already said to myself that I will not win it. Just play it for fun, and here it goes, I won it. When I serious want to win, like playing competition, I can't even win from the weakest player. It's jsut too much pressure. Handeling pressure is the key for victory.

 

[Ste]

Comments: First off, thank you. Secondly REP to you for these golden thoughts by Alex.

Most of us will be unable to give more valuable insight into what Alex said. Our input will be limited by our ability and experience. It is like the old saying goes, "Just because the shot can't go, it doesn't mean I can't shoot it."

I think Alex is right on the money with several things he mentioned, especially about getting the mental batteries re-charged, taking breaks etc. He is right about so many things at least from my perspective.

One thing that I think I disagree with is about steady play. You cannot hold up under pressure unless you are steadily under pressure. At least that's my opinion. Sure, it's fine to play loose, play well and have fun just putting those balls in the hole one after the other. When you miss, you had better be used to the pressure that misses cause or you will not be able to go back to your old loose and accurate play.

Alex's thoughts ROCK!
Thanks,
JoeyA

Thanks Joey & Thanks for the REP.

There's a really key thing in what you just stated Joey.... "You cannot hold up under pressure unless you are steadily under pressure" - you gotta remember that although we are all pretty similar, we are all different, we all think differently (lord knows, this forum shows that LOL!) and we all interpret and handle situations differently. I'll stop short of digressing into Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP); but you at least KNOW how your game is effected in certain scenarios and how to address them (I assume). But, a lot of players will look to an instructional video/book/report etc and follow what others say - without first understanding how they themselves tick.

If you don't know - or appreciate that that's what you need to know first and then apply a course of "corrective action" in a way that works for you; then players will forever keep going round in circles and getting nowhere with developing their game. More than likely blaming everything and everyone else apart from themselves at the same time !


Just another $0.02

Ste.
.

 

[renard]

Usually for me it comes down to two major things:

a) Laziness in some area of the basic fundamentals (stance,stroke, etc)
b) Burn out

The game of pool relies on the basic fundamentals in the same way a chain relies upon its links. If you weaken one of those links in the chain, that chain becomes useless. This is true no matter what level you are at, and nobody is immune to that.

Burn out is mostly a mental thing - although it could also be physical. Myself, I usually don't get lazy with my fundamentals until I have already gotten lazy in the mind. This is how one affects the other, and it is also why I believe that you should strengthen your mental muscles just as much (or even moreso) than your physical game.

Blackjack nails this one. But I believe that (A) the laziness is caused by (B) burn out. You can in play point to either cause as the reason for missing or coming up short in a shot. But that laziness is because of lack of discipline in the mental game.

So he's right it can be either/or...yet, mental preparation is at the root of it all.

Alex Lely wrote a lot about this to Ted Lerner a while ago.

For those who haven't read this - I really suggest you do.

Alex is one of the European guys I don't really know, but reading this article made me feel like I do know him. All of the points he mentions here are things that have passed through my mind over the past few years (and all of yours too I would guess), the trick is we just haven't heard anybody else say/explain how it effects them. Instructional books and videos TELL you what you should do, but few actually relay what it feels like.

I have to say, after reading this I will give props to Alex at every opportunity. He is just a REALLY nice guy, honest, almost un-naturally open for a pro player and the kind of guy you imagine you would listen to in a conversation and not be so hasty to put your own 2 cents worth in until after you've digested whatever his views are.

I'd be interested to see how many of you guys think the same.

http://www.worldpoolchampionship.com/input-does-not-equal-output.htm

Comments ?
.

ST e that is a great find from Alex Lely. He covers many of the core aspects of mental play. Alex is dispensing good sound advice that many people can use.

 

[mattman]

I am not at all a top notch player, probably in the B range. I started off league this year not shooting well at all. Just a couple weeks ago I started to pay more attention to the fundamentals that were taught to me by Randy G. I noticed one big flaw that was causing most of the errors. It happens to be what Black Jack said, just got a little lazy. I was was not lining up my shots before going down in my stroke stance. I might have looked at the shot, but not truely focusing on the angles. This made a huge difference in my game in league the last couple weeks and practicing/playing at home. Hopes this helps.