Inconsistent play?

Hustler84

Hustler84

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am looking for some tips to help become a more consistent player. I have been playing for about 15 years, and I am now 31 and don't get to play nearly as much as I used to. I did play a couple of sessions of APA in the last year, and I am at the highest skill level of each game. The problem I am having is that with not getting to play as much as I used to, what can I do to play more consistent when I do play? I try to get in about 6-8 hours/week, and I try to only play on 9 foot tables. It seems like some days I can hit any shot in the world, and then other days I miss balls that I make in my sleep. I am not sure if it is a fundamental breakdown or if it is all mental. I do have very high expectations for myself, and I will talk negatively to myself when I miss these easy balls. I am also working on that by reading some sports psychology books. So I am wondering if there are drills I can do or what would be the best use of my time when I get to play? Any feedback is greatly appreciated and all suggestions are welcome! :smile:
 
Consistency comes from doing the same thing shot after shot, so I would analyse your fundamentals to start with. Foot placement is the first thing I would look into. Try to get the feet the same width, angle and bend in the knee(s) every shot. This plays a vital role in your final alignment.
Next I'd look at your PSR and how repeatable you have it. So how long you take per shot, how often you chalk (is it before or directly after a shot) the rhythm in which you approach the shot (so for me I walk in and I have a counting rhythm when doing this... Right foot in is 1,leftfoot in is 2 and bend down is bingo.... So it goes 1-2-bingo in my own counting tempo), how many feathers you do... None, 1,2,3....more?

I notice a lot of players when they play well one day and bad next they change things without knowing that makes them play poor. It could be adding an extra 1 or 2 feathers to the cue ball, approaching the shot quicker or slower... What might seem little changes can have a big effect. When you are playing well just film yourself playing and watch how you go about it. Recognise your tempo, how many feathers, when you chalk, count your own tempo.... Then practise all this. It soon becomes second nature and then it becomes really noticeable when you are out of sync and you can consciously make an effort to get back in rhythm.
 
Sounds to me like you are enjoying playing with zero practice routines or drills. Send me a PM if you want links to same.
 
Consistency

Hustler84 said:
I am looking for some tips to help become a more consistent player. I have been playing for about 15 years, and I am now 31 and don't get to play nearly as much as I used to. I did play a couple of sessions of APA in the last year, and I am at the highest skill level of each game. The problem I am having is that with not getting to play as much as I used to, what can I do to play more consistent when I do play? I try to get in about 6-8 hours/week, and I try to only play on 9 foot tables. It seems like some days I can hit any shot in the world, and then other days I miss balls that I make in my sleep. I am not sure if it is a fundamental breakdown or if it is all mental. I do have very high expectations for myself, and I will talk negatively to myself when I miss these easy balls. I am also working on that by reading some sports psychology books. So I am wondering if there are drills I can do or what would be the best use of my time when I get to play? Any feedback is greatly appreciated and all suggestions are welcome! :smile:
Click to expand...

To be consistent in any sport requires body awareness, attentiveness to what your body does (and tells you), and a dedication to improve.
 
Hustler84, you sound like my twin except I've been playing 10 more years and am 10 years older! I lost 3 of 4 games Thursday night in my BCA match with 8' tables with pockets like Apple baskets and turned around yesterday and beat my buddy on his home 9' table with triple shimmed pockets 2 races to 7 in 8 ball and ran 4 racks and hung an 8 ball for my 5th run! Also beat him 2 games of straight pool. Pretty sure it's totally mental for me at this point. Just struggling with what I need to do to overcome it. Gonna try to start doing some drills. Good luck to you.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 
Stop reacting to your misses and start analyzing what happened. All great players have a mental check list they go through when they miss a shot. The better your check list, the easier it is to diagnose a missed shot. So, create your own checklist based on your tendencies.

As far as better practice sessions, why not do what the pros do? Make notes of your weaknesses, which you can easily find in things you do wrong in competition, and work them out on the practice table, one at a time. That will give you plenty of productive things to do. Usually, you will find that by correcting one mistake, you may fix as many as 10 misses.
 
Pidge said:
Consistency comes from doing the same thing shot after shot, so I would analyse your fundamentals to start with. Foot placement is the first thing I would look into. Try to get the feet the same width, angle and bend in the knee(s) every shot. This plays a vital role in your final alignment.
Next I'd look at your PSR and how repeatable you have it. ...
Click to expand...
I agree with Pidge. Look carefully at this.

But I think we need to call it something other than PSR (pre-shot routine). The shot routine has to go clear through to objective analysis of what happened, as Fran pointed out. All that has to become habit.
 
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