In a rut.

[Andrew Manning]

Thanks Andrew,
You have the right perspective. Do you mind discussing more? If i was to pinpoint an area to work hard on, it would be in my pre-shot routine. I have one, but is not consistant from shot to shot and i do tend, when i feel like i can't miss to disrespect some "easier" shots (one stoke). I understand perfectly how this laziness will affect my game. What i don't have is a good way to build the right pre-shot routine. I tend to do it differently depending on the shot, sometimes it is becuase i change my aiming technique based on the shot in front of me. Is there any reference material to learn all the steps of pre shot routine to your knowledge and how to practice or aply them in the correct order? You talk about how you walk into the shot, which is great for me for zero to moderate angle shots but less so for angled shots or back cuts (that is mostly when i start doing things differently. Ideas thoughts?

I really don't know if I can give you a pre-shot routine over the internet. For one, I'm not an instructor, and for another thing I think you're a slightly better player than I am, if you're actually a 75-ball runner. I can tell you what I do, though.

For my personal preshot routine, I took what I learned from Scott Lee as a starting point, and tinkered with that based on trying different things while practicing, and finding out what works best for me. For those angles that are tough to see when I aim my usual way (back cuts, or CB and OB close together but off angle), I do everything the same way, except I make sure before I line up behind the shot, to walk around where I'm in line with the OB and intended pocket so I can zero in on a contact point. Then as I walk back behind the line of aim, step into the shot, and get down, I keep my head up a little higher, to give myself a slightly better vantage point on the angle. I still do everything else the same, though.

I guess for me the important parts are: First, finish deciding how you're going to shoot the shot before kicking off the preshot routine. Once I know what shot I'm going to execute, I start by visually identifying the contact point and pausing to focus on it and burn it into my brain, identifying the line from the CB contact point to OB contact point, standing on that line and gluing my vision to the OB contact point to give my subconscious a clear and focused "sight picture" (to borrow a term from target shooting), and then hold that focus while moving forward and downward into the stance, to give my subconscious a loud and clear instruction saying "align everything toward this target".

From there I pretty much rely on sound stroke mechanics to ensure the ball goes where I've aligned. I take my practice strokes to make sure I'm directing my tip toward the exact right spot on the CB, glancing back at the OB between sets of 2 practice strokes. Then I pause at the "set" position (tip nearly touching the CB) to fix my eyes for the last time on the OB contact point and hold them there, so that during the final stroke my subconscious will once again have a loud and clear "this is the target" instruction. Once firmly focused there, I pull the trigger. I've trained my cue action fairly well, and that's rarely the part that fails me. I don't really think about that aspect of it at all.

Hope that helps you. If you search this forum for "preshot routine" I'm sure you'll find a lot more information on how others do it. From there, you can pick and choose what you think is important for you, and see if it works for you.

Once you've decided how you want your routine to go, practice by saying the steps, along with numbers ("step 1: identify contact point, step 2: get behind line of aim, step3" etc.) as you do them, right out loud. Practice running balls this way. Saying things out loud ensures you give each step its proper allotment of attention and time. Once you've done it this way for a while, you can stop saying them out loud and just think the step numbers as you go through them. Then eventually, you won't have to think consciously at all, because you will have ingrained the habit of going step-by-step so deeply. Scott Lee taught me to train myself to use my routine this way, and I think it's a smart way to train.

Hope some of this is helpful.

-Andrew

 

[Cameron Smith]

That's sort of the opposite of my point. My point was if you're improperly aligned, then your stroke mechanics make no difference; you'll miss no matter what.

This line was referring to your original question. But it's not opposite at all, I don't think. If nothing else I'm trying to impress the importance of alignement (not on you as I think you already know, but on anyone else). That said, you can certainly still pocket balls with poor alignement, most guys out there are a little off to left or right which leads to their inconsistency. Others compensate by applying side to certain shots to help throw the ball in.

You have to give your subconscious mind some guidance, though. If I just move from shot to shot without thinking at all, eventually I'll miss an extremely easy shot, and I'll realize I was gruesomely misaligned and I didn't realize it until I hit the ball, because I never "told" my subconscious to line the shot up.

The way I tell my subconscious to line the shot up is to step back away from it, stand directly behind it so I can see the line from CB contact point to OB contact point, glue my eyes to the OB contact point, and keep them glued there while stepping forward into the shot, lowering myself into position, and placing my bridge hand on the table. Without following that routine, I'm not properly engaging my subconscious. When I skip part or all of this, I'm precluding it from doing its job.

For a novice driver (perhaps a good analogy for the conscious mind), an automatic transmission may be faster at shifting and better at controlling fuel economy than fumbling with a stick-shift and clutch, but he has to put it in drive before it'll give him any benefit. And I personally believe that putting the subconscious into drive, when it comes to intricate muscle control and coordination, is a good deal more complicated than moving the gear selector in a car. You have to coax it out, using all the right stimuli.

-Andrew

Depends on what you mean by coaxing. Are you actively saying to yourself, "right foot on the line, left foot forward, bridge hand down etc. And then cue slowly back paaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuse aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnd release but straight?" Because going through all of that is what I would refer to as back seat driving.

To draw a parallel, as a guitarist if I consciously thought about each individual note I was playing and what I was going to do next the song would fall apart, especially during improvisation. I would either forget what came next or lose my rythem. Instead, I do have mental triggers. I think, "I'm going to play the intro" (but not in as many words) and then the music ensues, after which I'm cognisant of moving to the verse and so forth. This is especially important in more difficult peices.

As a pool player, I will consicously decide to begin my routine which is usually initiated by going to my starting point (3-4 feet away from the table behind the cueball), but everything that ensues is entirely automatic. If my setup doesn't feel right, I'll just know it and then stand up, but I never ask myself if I feel right.

This concept is discussed in the Inner Game of Tennis, but he refers to the conscious as Self 1 and the subconscious as Self 2. In Golf for Dummies Gary Mccord talks about mental triggers that start your routine after which you execute automatically.