IN a funk

StormHotRod300

StormHotRod300

BigSexy
Silver Member
Ok, lately i have been playing like CRAP!!!!!!!!!!! i mean i am losing to players i should beat easily. I am missing shots that i should make, and i do mean easy shots. The last three tournaments i have played in, have been very embarrasing.

i mean like friday nite i go 0-2, but this is against the better players in town, who are either a APA 6 or 7. But its not that i lose against them, its the fact that i get down 2 games or 3 games and then win 2 games and find something but, by then its to late.

then Monday, its a free tournament race to 4, loser breaks, i lose my first match against a guy who played slop, and then i win against a young girl, who was maybe 11yrs old. But it was still a struggle. Then i lose on the hill against a lady, after i am up 2games right off the bat. After that, i was pissed, and i go off and practice on a 9footer. And then after the tournament is done, i play the guy who won, who is a APA 5, and lose in a race to 9 on the hill.

Then tuesday nite i play'd in a 8ball APA tournament and go 0-2 and win one game. I mean i couldnt believe how bad i played. It was simply Amazing.

Should i practice more on the 9footers? maybe take a break? When i do go n practice, i normally end up playing one of the better shooters in town who are normally a APA 6 and can normally hold my own against them. Yet when i play lesser players, i find myself struggling. I am in due need of some helpful hints.

Dave
 
Hi Dave,

I know the exact feeling you have right now. You feel like nothing you do is right or even close to right. You may get upset when I tell you it is normal, but it is. Everyone goes through slumps and just about everyone comes out of them.

Keep it in your mind that a slump is usually followed by your game going up a level. You just have to stay strong and work through the slump to get to that next level. I say don't give up for a long period of time but do take a day off. Sometimes you take a day or two off and don't think about how bad you are playing. You clear your mind and relax a little. Then when you are back to the pool hall to play you are thinking about the relaxing time you had and that you are starting new, the losses and bad play are behind you.

If you come back from the break and things are the same you can go over your fundamentals. Maybe you are doing something different in your preshot routine or maybe you have started something new with your stroke. Try to go back to what was working before or what you felt most comfortable with.

Most of all, if you are practicing start with easy shots. Build your confidence and get comfortable with everything then start practicing the tougher shots. Sometimes you rush into playing a tournament or practicing. You have to build some confidence and get comfortable.

Well, I hope I have helped a little. Stay strong and you will do fine. Take your time on every shot and don't play your opponent, play the table.

Please let me know how things are going.

Take care,
Sarah
 
StormHotRod300 said:
Ok, lately i have been playing like CRAP!!!!!!!!!!! i mean i am losing to players i should beat easily. I am missing shots that i should make, and i do mean easy shots. The last three tournaments i have played in, have been very embarrasing.

i mean like friday nite i go 0-2, but this is against the better players in town, who are either a APA 6 or 7. But its not that i lose against them, its the fact that i get down 2 games or 3 games and then win 2 games and find something but, by then its to late.

then Monday, its a free tournament race to 4, loser breaks, i lose my first match against a guy who played slop, and then i win against a young girl, who was maybe 11yrs old. But it was still a struggle. Then i lose on the hill against a lady, after i am up 2games right off the bat. After that, i was pissed, and i go off and practice on a 9footer. And then after the tournament is done, i play the guy who won, who is a APA 5, and lose in a race to 9 on the hill.

Then tuesday nite i play'd in a 8ball APA tournament and go 0-2 and win one game. I mean i couldnt believe how bad i played. It was simply Amazing.

Should i practice more on the 9footers? maybe take a break? When i do go n practice, i normally end up playing one of the better shooters in town who are normally a APA 6 and can normally hold my own against them. Yet when i play lesser players, i find myself struggling. I am in due need of some helpful hints.

Dave
Click to expand...

At least you beat the 11-year-old girl...
 
Lol, good point. But I would just go over your fundamentals ... maybe you could right them down on a piece of paper and take them with you and make sure you are doing all of them. Hope this helps
 
Dave,

I hope no one minds, but I am going to throw my 2 cents in.

First, Sarah makes a very valid point that when you go into a slump, it usually means that your game is ready to jump to a new level. I don't know why this happens, but it was always true for me. I would play badly for 2 weeks, then start playing better than ever. And I would wait for my game to drop back to a normal level, but it would never happen. That new level would become my normal level after awhile.

Second, it is completely normal for you to step up your game against better players and play badly against lesser players. I would say that most people are comfortable in the "underdog" role and struggle in the "favorite" role. Being the underdog means that expectations are lower, so there is no pressure on you to perform. The underdog is expected to lose....so they don't have to worry about it and can just play the game. But the "favorite" is a tough position to be in because everyone expects you to win. So the pressure is always on the favorite in any sport or match. Have you seen a player who you know can beat just about anyone, but they always seem to find a way to lose? I guarantee you it is because they don't know how to fill the role of the "favorite."

In my life, I have only met or seen a handful of people who are truly comfortable being the favorite. They do not allow the added pressure to be an influence....and because of that, they usually win.

It is something that many players struggle with, and the first step to overcoming it is to recognize it in yourself. I know that it is definitely one of my weaker points...and I am constantly working on fixing it.

Best of luck in all you do!

Melissa
 
Hello all,again I think everybody goes through a slump.I went through it about 4 years ago and could not beat people that just started playing.When I got out off the slump I played better than I ever did.While I was playing bad,I whould concentrate on the fundamentals.Think only positive thoughts about your game.I know it is hard to do when everybody is betting you butt you can do it. :D
 
Good advice

Killer thread! Not often you get pros who admit to having slumps every now and again like the rest of us! Although I am guessing that the slumps Sarah and Melissa experience are pretty few and far between! :)

My advice (and I am not a good player by any stretch of the imagination) is to enter a big tournament somewhere with lots of good players. Make sure it is double elimination. That way you can focus yourself on preparing for the challenge in the weeks leading up to it, and also have a severe test of your skills during the tournament.

Has worked for me in the past.

Good luck!
 
Well, Hopefully this is going to be my big break thru, for my move onto the next level.

Well i did forget to mention one thing about monday nite, after the tournament was done, i played the guy who won, and we went hill-hill in a race to 9 before he won, and i came back being down 8 to 4 too. But for like an hour before we played all i did was practice on a 9footer. So i dont know if this is a sign, that i should practice more on the big tables, or what.

And the owner of the place, i goto was trying to teach a girl i know something about staying down on the ball, cuz she tends to pop up on the shot, and he said something about biting the collar of your tshirt, so, i am going to try this tomorrow, when i go back and practice, but it was kinda funny seeing her with her tshirt in her mouth all nite long lol.

But yes, i have been working about keeping everything the same on my shots, and stances. But the main thing i am trying to over come, is my tendancy to Slam the balls to the pocket. And now i am doing the nice n easy shots and letting the balls roll to the pocket, and finding that i can put english on the cue, without having to kill the ball.

So i guess trying all these new things at once, could also be leading to my struggles. But hopefully they end SOON lol.

And i dont mind getting advice, or advise, from others who shoot pool, cuz obviously they can see what your doing wrong and not yourself. Or they can give u helpful hints.

But anyways i am going to Jet,,,, later Sarah and Melissa
 
Melissa, you bring up a very good point. The role of the favorite is a really tough role to play. Besides the threat of being beat by someone who isn't supposed to beat you there is the threat of taking things for granted. Some of the better players get the shock of their life when the underdog is running out on them with no fear. It is hard to regain concentration when you had your expectations of the opponent set too low.

Raistlin and pfduser, we all go through slumps, I don't care what anyone says, it happens. I wish they were few and far between for me but small slumps come often. There are alot of factors that can cause a slump. Some we can pinpoint and others we cannot.

One that I have trouble dealing with is confidence. When your confidence is broke from missing the same shot over and over or losing a series of hill-hill matches that confidence seems to waiver for a period of time. Another reason could be a bad tournament. Sometimes when I have a truly awful tournament I can't play when I get home and have trouble getting back into my routine. Some of the others could be someone saying something about your stroke or the way you shoot a certain shot. A guy once said to me "You know, you have a funny little hitch in your stroke" I thought about that stupid hitch for a long time. And sometimes the slump just happens for no reason. It is just a cruel twist to ensure that this is a love/hate relationship we all have with pool.

Dave...You will be just fine. I'm not sure about the whole putting the collar of your shirt in your mouth theory though. It seems like it would force you to 1) use a different stance or different stroke and 2) do you really want that slobber on your shirt?? You could try having someone hold a cue over your head and obviously if you hit your head on the cue before or right when you have struck the cueball you jumped up.

As for practicing on the 9ft table, it can be a good and bad thing for your 7ft game. I think the 9ft table is great to play on, it is a challenge. Things change though. You use the rails to play position rather than the simplicity of 7ft pool. If you can keep your game simple and similar on both tables you will be fine. If you are getting ready to play in a tournament on a 7ft table...only play on 7ft tables and the same for 9ft tables.

I really like Raistlin's idea of entering a bigger tournament if it is available to you. It takes alot of preperation mentally and physically to play. It could be good to get you back on track as well.

Good luck,

Sarah
 
Well, i was once again at the pool hall today, and felt ALOT BETTER and seemed to play better too. I did have a new tip put on my cue, and the owner of where i played about laughed, cuz he couldnt believe how low the tip was to the ferrule lol. But i guess, its amazing that the little things can make such a big difference in your game.

Well, i did work on posing myself after my shots, so i would make sure i was staying down on the shot.

And i have been entering the weekly 9ball tournaments on friday nites, it costs 13$ and basically only the really good players in the area enter. And then i am going to start entering the 8ball tournaments on tuesday nites too. But what i am really getting ready for is, the 40$ tourny i told you ( sarah ) about a couple weeks ago, And that one has people from all over comming to it. And thats one of the bigger tournaments on this side of the state.

And i do find my shot making is alot better when i go from a 9footer to a 7footer.

But anyways, i do hope i am getting outa this funk, lol

Dave

PS Sarah, i will keep you informed about that tournament the owner is just waiting to get the new felt in. I figure he wants the felt to be as new as possible for the tourny.
 
Dave here is a little tidbit on how to handle tension.
HANDLING TENSION

ASK YOURSELF THIS

When faced with a difficult shot, do you tense up and shorten your back swing during your stroke ?
Do you rush your final swing during your stroke?

If you do, you are throwing away shots. So how do you handle tension when facing a difficult shot?

You can greatly reduce tension and eventually eliminate it with an inside-outside approach. First, you have to realize that tension results from concern about the outcome. If you don't think about the outcome, tension will not exist. By merely shifting your thoughts to the process of executing your normal back swing during your stroke for the shot you are trying to make, you will automatically change your focus from the outcome and reduce your tension.
Just like it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks, it will take time and repetition to train your mind or tape to think this way. It is your choice. You can continue tensing up and shorten your back swing during your stroke, which will cause you to miss. Or, you can start focusing on the process of making your normal back swing during your stroke and increase your chances for success.
If you make the smart choice, you can use the process of deep breathing to calm and relax yourself before you have that tough shot. This will cause a physiological change in your nervous system and reduce your tension. Also, while you are in your pre shot routine, inhale during your back swing during your stroke and exhale through the ball.
 
Hi Dave,

I'm glad to hear you are starting to come out of the funk. It sounds like you did a great job checking on everything that could have possibly been wrong.

It's really a great thing that you have a couple tournaments to play in. It can be just enough to keep you sharp. I hope you will be playing at your new level for the big tournament.

Please keep me updated about the tournament. If time and money permit I can try to make it.

Denny, thank you for your tip. It makes alot of sense. I hope all of the tips and ideas posted on this thread help everyone out.

Take care,
Sarah
 
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