Improving Mental Focus
- Thread starter Okie
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Try shooting with earplugs in, And music, Or whatever blaring in your ears.. If you can block that out, You can block anything out!
In Pool School you will learn your personal Mantra. This will keep your Focus for quite a long time.
randyg
focus
Get enough sleep. Eat a good meal, Hydrate. Stay away from the booze. Eliminate variables make a stable pre-shot routine that starts the second you complete the previous shot. If you expect yourself to preform at a high level. Make sure to give yourself every advantage you can.
Get enough sleep. Eat a good meal, Hydrate. Stay away from the booze. Eliminate variables make a stable pre-shot routine that starts the second you complete the previous shot. If you expect yourself to preform at a high level. Make sure to give yourself every advantage you can.
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Maybe we can help more if you're a little more specific. When do you lose focus? What happens? How often does it happen?
These are tendencies I have seen in competition...
1. after making a great shot
2. at the end of a run...usually at the point I think..ahh got there!
3. after my fear of losing subsides (same as 2 maybe?)
4. when my fear of winning kicks in (say vs a player I am not "supposed" to beat)
Below is my main reason for posting this question...
I know a good PSR helps and I try to execute on every shot but I do not. The latest failure to focus is while working on grip pressure but find myself falling back into old habits way too often. Grip pressure is something which a child can do, and it should be done successfully a high percentage of the time. I don't feel I am getting it done even 50% of the time right now. And this is while practicing...no pressure other than my desire to succeed.
Thanks for the reply Fran!
Read The Inner Game of Tennis. It's a sports phycology book (the first one I believe). Your specific examples are all addressed in the book.
Back...hit ring a bell?
Great book! Have thought highly of it for a number of years. I am just struggling right now with staying focused on the simplest of thoughts. Saying think back hit while stroking doesn't work when my mind is wondering all over the place.
I am thinking Roadhustler might have me pegged. One of the reasons for restarting my pursuit in pool is to get my butt off my chair. So...out of shape, poor hydration,being a general idiot...etc etc might be my problem
Videos of me...
These videos show examples of me playing under tournament conditions. Every match was important to me. Races to 3 nine ball on bar boxes.
http://www.justin.tv/0kie/videos
First match is against the eventual winner of the tournament. It starts at the 14 minute mark. I did a poor job of editing this stream. I should have cut off the first 14 minutes.
Side note...my opponent (Sean) is the one who told me it looked like I was manipulating the stroke. He works very hard at the game both on the table and off.
The match following mine on part 1 shows Joey Gray.
After playing my way through the loser's bracket I play Joey at the 35 minute mark of part 2. Loser places 4th. I win but Joey left me the world. I played the next match against Sean and he got me again.
These videos show examples of me playing under tournament conditions. Every match was important to me. Races to 3 nine ball on bar boxes.
http://www.justin.tv/0kie/videos
First match is against the eventual winner of the tournament. It starts at the 14 minute mark. I did a poor job of editing this stream. I should have cut off the first 14 minutes.
Side note...my opponent (Sean) is the one who told me it looked like I was manipulating the stroke. He works very hard at the game both on the table and off.
The match following mine on part 1 shows Joey Gray.
After playing my way through the loser's bracket I play Joey at the 35 minute mark of part 2. Loser places 4th. I win but Joey left me the world. I played the next match against Sean and he got me again.
Here's an analogy:
When I go to the gym and work out on my own, I feel refreshed afterwards and like I accomplished something. But it's not until I've spent an hour with my personal trainer that I realize what a real workout is and how much more effort I really need to put into my workouts.
It's the same with practice. Going into competition, you should be well practiced. My guess is that most pool players don't practice enough to ease some of the mental issues they encounter when they compete. Just like my experience with the gym, they have no idea how much practice is really necessary.
For example: When you get to a point where you expect to make those difficult shots on a more regular basis, you won't be so surprised in compeition when you do make one. You won't have time to think of losing and winning when you are into the game, which comes from the repetition that lots of practice and familiarity at the table brings--- And when you encounter the big gun --- the player you're not supposed to beat, well that gets diminshed when you feel good about your game and what you know what you're capable of doing at the table.
PRACTICE!! It won't solve every single mental issue but it will make most of them go away.
Agreed! 100%
Any tips on maintaining the discipline during practice? Sheer will power?
I just finished a little practice session and left it up at http://www.justin.tv/0kie/videos. I haven't watched it but felt I started well and fell off towards the end.
My apologies for my poor communication skills...
Looking good, Okie. I liked your rhythm in the middle of your session. I think that's a nice rhythm for you.
How to maintain discipline during practice? You can try taking a short 5 minute break if you feel like you're losing focus. Keep some fresh fruit around. An apple is a great pick-me-up.
Sheer will power absolutely helps!
Just discussing it openly has helped me a lot. I just have to grind it out long enough to commit it to habit!
Thanks everyone who has commented! I do appreciate it! Maybe one day soon we will see just how good a 48 year old C player can become!
So you're suggesting to put something blaring in his ears so he can learn to block it out? That's your advice?
I found this one interesting as I have used earphones but I used them to drown out distractions. I love listening to my music while playing. It's almost like dancing around the table. My friends have had many a good laugh at me when a good tune comes on the jukebox and I am playing pool.
I found this one interesting as I have used earphones but I used them to drown out distractions. I love listening to my music while playing. It's almost like dancing around the table. My friends have had many a good laugh at me when a good tune comes on the jukebox and I am playing pool.
Yup, I use them too, but mainly when a pool room plays loud music and forces me to listen to their taste in music. However, using them to train yourself to ignore them is a new one for me.
i read all those articles and I played some of my best pool the other night. thnx for the link