I'm going to miss, I'm going to miss, I'm going to miss,

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fish2

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm going to miss, I'm going to miss, I'm going to miss, then you actually miss, How do I fix this?
 
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fish2 said:
I'm going to miss, I'm going to miss, I'm going to miss, then you actually miss, How do I fix this?
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Stay down and follow through. Stay down and follow through. Stay down and follow through. Stay down and follow through. Repeat over and over in your mind. If you Stay down and follow through you can make any shot on the table. I used it one time to make the biggest score in my life. $200 a game nine ball. After a few racks of repeating it was no longer necessary. Total focus. Any positive thought will bring positive results.
 
Stand back up and reset. You cannot shoot with that thought going through your head. It's admittedly hard to do this because when that thought does enter your head, you are usually feeling extremely vulnerable, exposed, and uncomfortable. You want the moment to be over, so you shoot with no confidence. Standing up and resetting feels like exposing yourself even more. But you have to do it.

Another mantra to repeat/internalize is that once your bridge hand hits the cloth, the shot is 99% made or missed already. You can't reliably "fix" anything from that point on most shots. So the pressure should actually be off at that point. You've already committed to a line. Any intrusive thought at that point can only harm your stroke and push the cue ball off your chosen line.
 
fish2 said:
I'm going to miss, I'm going to miss, I'm going to miss, then you actually miss, How do I fix this?
Click to expand...
Your stroke responds more to visualization than to the words in your head.

For now, try this: don't focus on the object ball. Pick your aiming point and get down on the shot line. Then, before you shoot, visualize the cue ball rolling into its final position at the end of the shot. Once you can clearly see that outcome, pull the trigger and let the stroke go.
 
Try telling yourself and meaning it, that you WON'T miss this shot. See it go in -in your mind- then execute.

I will make this shot
I will make this shot
I will make this shot
I will make this shot
I will make this shot
I will make this shot

Very similar to fishing too...

what's on your mind goes down your line
 
fish2 said:
I'm going to miss, I'm going to miss, I'm going to miss, then you actually miss, How do I fix this?
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Usual disclaimer, I am not a certified instructor....

My question is: Why would thinking about missing be your first instinct?

If you've played a reasonable amount of time, you probably have a catalogue of shots in your head that you consider "easy". In a way, these are "confidence builders", where you may take them for granted but still complete them. Over time, this catalogue can grow, so that what you consider easy/makeable puts more shots well into your confidence zone, so that you think less of missing and more about the results of your execution being what you expect--to make, as opposed to miss.

You can also change your negative mantra to a positive one, but I would instead suggest adding some mental steps to your PSR. For example, when sighting up a shot, ask yourself, "Is this shot makeable?", and if/when the answer is "YES", then the follow-up is, "How do I make it?" The second question should lead to the usual, aiming/alignment process for shooting, and then that should be where your focus goes--executing the plan (of how to make the shot successful).

Also important--REMEMBER TO BREATHE.
 
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