in my own way

fasted71465

fasted71465

Fast Ed
Silver Member
I have been playing for a long time and I have a problem letting my subconscious take over when I am down stroking the ball. I have tried hard over a 20 year period trying to find the reason why I miss. Like thinking to stay down , follow through, keep eye on ball, etc. When I am in dead stroke, that comes once in a blue moon, I am not thinking and seems like autopilot. How do I overcome this. It is a lack of confidence I think.
 
You must place yourself in a state of complete physical and mental relaxation, by voiding your mind of any, and all thoughts. Since you are a pool player this should be relatively easy.
Next, lie beside the pool table in a prone position with your arms crossed over your chest, avoiding the spilled beer and nacho cheese sauce.
When comfortable, say these words as fast as you can, over and over. "I'm a smart fellow. I'm a fellow smart."
Practice this regimen twice daily, or until you're banned from the pool room. :smile:
 
It sounds like you need a lesson with a good instructor; someone who can watch your fundamentals and identify where the problem occurs. Too many factors come into play (and I violate nearly every one of them :grin:) that anything we say would just be guessing.
 
Chalking and walking around the table is the time for thinking. You have to commit to what you want to do 100%. I don't know if it's lack of conficence, or lack of commitment (2nd guessing yourself). Once down on the shot, all the thought process should be done, you have decided how hard to hit it, what english to use, where you want the cue ball to end up and so forth (you are 100% commited so there is no reason to continue thinking anymore). If you are thinking while down on the shot, your in big trouble.

It's like walking, you are not thinking about moving your legs, you want to walk to the car, and your legs take you there. It's the same with pool, only you are using your arm and a stick instead of your legs. Don't OVER ANALYZE!!

It's easy to get what a good friend of mine calls "mind f$cked". Quite simply, this is second guessing every thing on every shot.

I would suggest setting up some easy shots and practicing putting the cue ball in a certain spot. You chalk, think, commit 100% then execute the shot. Set up a simple draw shot and determine how far you want to draw it. You chalk, you think, commit 100%, then you execute. The object here is to train your mind to not think while you are down on the shot. If you start thinking while down, get up and start all over. Start simple, and as you have more success, go to more difficult drills. When you are down on the shot, your only "thought" is "you eyes are focused on where hit the object ball so it goes in the pocket" as everything else has already been decided.
 
Great post, with plenty of accurate information...especially what I highlighted! The 'unconscious' process is attained by first defining the behavior you want to become unconscious. Then you must CONSCIOUSLY practice this behavioral routine, with discipline...and the most important part...LONG ENOUGH for it to take the place of current behavior (inconsistent...good sometimes, poor sometimes). How long does that take? It takes as long as it takes. We teach a process that can be learned and applied by lots of players, in about a month's time, with daily disciplined practice (quality over quantity). :grin:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

onepocketron said:
Chalking and walking around the table is the time for thinking. You have to commit to what you want to do 100%. I don't know if it's lack of conficence, or lack of commitment (2nd guessing yourself). Once down on the shot, all the thought process should be done, you have decided how hard to hit it, what english to use, where you want the cue ball to end up and so forth (you are 100% commited so there is no reason to continue thinking anymore). If you are thinking while down on the shot, your in big trouble.
It's like walking, you are not thinking about moving your legs, you want to walk to the car, and your legs take you there. It's the same with pool, only you are using your arm and a stick instead of your legs. Don't OVER ANALYZE!!

It's easy to get what a good friend of mine calls "mind f$cked". Quite simply, this is second guessing every thing on every shot.

I would suggest setting up some easy shots and practicing putting the cue ball in a certain spot. You chalk, think, commit 100% then execute the shot. Set up a simple draw shot and determine how far you want to draw it. You chalk, you think, commit 100%, then you execute. The object here is to train your mind to not think while you are down on the shot. If you start thinking while down, get up and start all over. Start simple, and as you have more success, go to more difficult drills. When you are down on the shot, your only "thought" is "you eyes are focused on where hit the object ball so it goes in the pocket" as everything else has already been decided.
Click to expand...
 
I am not thinking of the shot per say. I am thinking stay down , keep head still, look at object ball don't twist wrist ect.
 
fasted71465 said:
I am not thinking of the shot per say. I am thinking stay down , keep head still, look at object ball don't twist wrist ect.
Click to expand...

I think that's part of what onepocketron is recommending when he suggests setting up an easy shot and practicing your pre- and post- shot routine. Stay down and don't move your head (and all the other good fundamentals) on 200 easy practice shots every day; then it becomes an ingrained habit that you don't have to think about. You start out thinking about it, but the more you practice the less and less you'll "think"; you'll just do.

IMHO, there's virtually no difference between thinking about fundamentals while you're down on the shot vs. thinking about speed/spin/etc. Both of them distract you from delivering the stroke.
 
fasted71465 said:
I am not thinking of the shot per say. I am thinking stay down , keep head still, look at object ball don't twist wrist ect.
Click to expand...

One of these thoughts is counter productive. Before reading on, do you know which one?

Here's a hint: don't think about pink elephants.

If that didn't clarify it, it's the last thought you listed. It could actually have been all of them, if you had phrased them differently: "don't jump up, don't move your head, don't look back at the cue ball, don't twist wrist." These are all bad thoughts.

You know how not to picture pink elephants? Picture your girlfriend naked. It worked, didn't it? Or picture a green zebra, although that's less fun. But the last thing in the world that's going to help you not to think about pink elephants is telling yourself "Don't think about pink elephants."

So don't tell yourself, "don't twist your wrist." Put that energy into zeroing in in the tiny tiny contact point, and seeing in vivid detail the ball going in the exact part of the pocket you're playing for. Those positive thoughts based in visualization will cue your subconscious to think the right thoughts. Telling yourself what not to think about is only ensuring that you'll have counter-productive thoughts getting in your own way.

-Andrew
 
Thanks guys, It is more fun to play without worry and negativity. I have even considered getting hypnotized
 
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Don't worry so much about your form when you are in a match. You're mind should be on the task at hand; i.e. make this ball, get the cue ball here, etc.

Keeping your wrist straight, staying down, etc. is all stuff that should be thought about and worked on in practice. Once you get to the real deal, those actions should be ingrained in your thought process so deeply that they are automatic and you don't need to worry about them. This will free up your attention to deal with in game matters like solving a pattern, creating safeties, and keeping your cool.
 
great post as i just went thru this a week ago.....had lessons 2 months ago and my game was actually worse after the lessons! like you say, when getting down on the shot my mind was going thru the same things as you....last week i self analyized my situation and asked myself why the heck is my game worse? i have been shooting off and own for more than 30 years. i decided that too much information was hurting my game and if my muscles could not remember what to do without reviewing on every frigging shot, then i do not need to be playing this game. so, my solution was, i only ask my body for 2 things prior to making the shot.......as i drop down onto the target line, i ask, "focus on the spot on the OB and stay down on the shot"..thats all....just those 2 things relying on my muscle memoery to do the rest. it has worked quite well since then and my game and shot making immediately improved. good luck on your quest and keep this in mind....."K.I.S.S."......
 
Try this little test and you will see the real culprit............

fasted71465 said:
I have been playing for a long time and I have a problem letting my subconscious take over when I am down stroking the ball. I have tried hard over a 20 year period trying to find the reason why I miss. Like thinking to stay down , follow through, keep eye on ball, etc. When I am in dead stroke, that comes once in a blue moon, I am not thinking and seems like autopilot. How do I overcome this. It is a lack of confidence I think.
Click to expand...

Try this little test and it will tell you the reason you can't seem to get there most of the time.

Put the cue ball one foot above the side pockets in the middle of the table. The cue ball should be one foot below the head string in the middle.

Now put the object ball one foot below the side pocket on the first diamond below the right side on the rail.

This will back a 1/4 ball hit cutting the ball to the left.

Shoot 15 shots like this to the left and then put the object ball on the other side of the table and shoot 15 balls cutting to the right.

One way you will make the ball pretty consistently and it will even be pretty easy to envision the shot.

The other way it will look a little tougher, kind of cockeyed. When you cut it this way it will seem that when you miss it will be hitting the shot too thick.

This is your non dominant eye trying to envision the shot correctly but it just doesn't do a very good job naturally. Now you can get there naturally by hitting a million balls, quit your job, sell the house, close the bank account because you won't have any money because your playing pool all the time but you will be making this shot more consistently.






You can simply learn how to get the non dominant eye in the most correct position, not just the correct position, and you will be able to envision the shot that your non dominant eye is trying to shoot.

After over 2,000 Perfect Aim lessons I have uncovered a natural glitch that every human being has. This is what keeps us from getting better. Stuck at that same level seemingly forever with little bursts of improvement here and there.

Just like when you get down on a shot and it doesn't look right. you get back up and get back down and it miraculously looks better. It was the eyes that were off and just accidently getting them in the correct position the second time did the trick.

Wouldn't it just be easier to know where they need to be?

In 4 years I've done over 1,000 personal lessons, over 900 phone lessons and if i count the 15 minute mini lessons the number would be off the charts at over 6,000.

From all these lessons I have been able to learn how and why this problem exists and happens, Also how to fix it for a long time now. just ask anyone that has had a personal lesson or just read or watch some of the testimonials.

A player doesn't have to keep guessing.

I'm at Cue Billiards in Downers Grove, and I was giving mini lessons for about 2 hours. During these mini lessons I show the player which eye is dominant and I show them how bad they shoot this shoot when the non dominant eye is doing the shooting. They almost always miss it too think when they miss. The poorer the player the worse they miss this shot. The better players still miss it but just not as much but still more than they would like.

There was this old guy about 6'9" tall and he watched the whole thing. He saw about 6 players and it was all the same when they cut to the way of their non dominant eye.
I had the player move the head and eyes over and it fixed the shot immediately.

That's pretty quick results.

Try this little test and then call me and I will show you how to fix this trouble. it will clear up allot of your questions about how you can't seem to get there. And it works right away. You can envision the shots immediately better therefor the brain is getting the rioght image and can tell the arm and stroke the correct info to complete the task.

This is not a theory but hard cold facts, just the way it is.

It's a shame that Perfect aim is kind of lost between all the gobbledy goock that is out there.

I stay out of the aiming section on AZ because it is such a mess. Just learn Perfect Aim and the answers are all there and it is so simple.

Give me a call while you are by a table and I will show you and prove to you how well this works and you can see it with your own eyes.

715-563-8712 Talk to you soon. Today or after the weekend. I'm trying to win a tournament here in Downers Grove this weekend.
 
" the mind i the biggest obstical of the physical being" or something close to that-Bruce Lee
 
genomachino said:
Try this little test and it will tell you the reason you can't seem to get there most of the time.

Put the cue ball one foot above the side pockets in the middle of the table. The cue ball should be one foot below the head string in the middle.

Now put the object ball one foot below the side pocket on the first diamond below the right side on the rail.

This will back a 1/4 ball hit cutting the ball to the left.

Shoot 15 shots like this to the left and then put the object ball on the other side of the table and shoot 15 balls cutting to the right.

One way you will make the ball pretty consistently and it will even be pretty easy to envision the shot.

The other way it will look a little tougher, kind of cockeyed. When you cut it this way it will seem that when you miss it will be hitting the shot too thick.

This is your non dominant eye trying to envision the shot correctly but it just doesn't do a very good job naturally. Now you can get there naturally by hitting a million balls, quit your job, sell the house, close the bank account because you won't have any money because your playing pool all the time but you will be making this shot more consistently.






You can simply learn how to get the non dominant eye in the most correct position, not just the correct position, and you will be able to envision the shot that your non dominant eye is trying to shoot.

After over 2,000 Perfect Aim lessons I have uncovered a natural glitch that every human being has. This is what keeps us from getting better. Stuck at that same level seemingly forever with little bursts of improvement here and there.

Just like when you get down on a shot and it doesn't look right. you get back up and get back down and it miraculously looks better. It was the eyes that were off and just accidently getting them in the correct position the second time did the trick.

Wouldn't it just be easier to know where they need to be?

In 4 years I've done over 1,000 personal lessons, over 900 phone lessons and if i count the 15 minute mini lessons the number would be off the charts at over 6,000.

From all these lessons I have been able to learn how and why this problem exists and happens, Also how to fix it for a long time now. just ask anyone that has had a personal lesson or just read or watch some of the testimonials.

A player doesn't have to keep guessing.

I'm at Cue Billiards in Downers Grove, and I was giving mini lessons for about 2 hours. During these mini lessons I show the player which eye is dominant and I show them how bad they shoot this shoot when the non dominant eye is doing the shooting. They almost always miss it too think when they miss. The poorer the player the worse they miss this shot. The better players still miss it but just not as much but still more than they would like.

There was this old guy about 6'9" tall and he watched the whole thing. He saw about 6 players and it was all the same when they cut to the way of their non dominant eye.
I had the player move the head and eyes over and it fixed the shot immediately.

That's pretty quick results.

Try this little test and then call me and I will show you how to fix this trouble. it will clear up allot of your questions about how you can't seem to get there. And it works right away. You can envision the shots immediately better therefor the brain is getting the rioght image and can tell the arm and stroke the correct info to complete the task.

This is not a theory but hard cold facts, just the way it is.

It's a shame that Perfect aim is kind of lost between all the gobbledy goock that is out there.

I stay out of the aiming section on AZ because it is such a mess. Just learn Perfect Aim and the answers are all there and it is so simple.

Give me a call while you are by a table and I will show you and prove to you how well this works and you can see it with your own eyes.

715-563-8712 Talk to you soon. Today or after the weekend. I'm trying to win a tournament here in Downers Grove this weekend.
Click to expand...

I am left eye dominate and play right handed. I have thought that this was a problem.
 
fasted71465 said:
I have been playing for a long time and I have a problem letting my subconscious take over when I am down stroking the ball. I have tried hard over a 20 year period trying to find the reason why I miss. Like thinking to stay down , follow through, keep eye on ball, etc. When I am in dead stroke, that comes once in a blue moon, I am not thinking and seems like autopilot. How do I overcome this. It is a lack of confidence I think.
Click to expand...

First, have a drink, let it be beer, wine, whisky or whatever. Next, try to keep those positive emotions and thoughts in your head, but don't get too relaxed: you need motivation. Now, grab the cue, chalk it up, place the cue in shooting positon and keep all your mucles relaxed. Then shoot. Try not to control the power of the shot too much in the beginning, focus on direction. Instead of controlling your cue, unleash it. Let your body lead you while your mind is empty. No matter if you hit or miss, you need to have that hollow feeling in your head after the shot, with impact of the balls still echoing in your mind. It's not easy. I always try to play that way, but it doesn't happen every time. You really need to leave your mind empty of all other things but the motivation to win. If you can't make it, try closing your eyes before you shoot. You already placed your cue and you remembered where the CB and OB were. Now when you're deprived of sight, your subconsciousness must learn to lead your hand.
 
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