Keeping Your Composure

TheConArtist

TheConArtist

Daddy's A Butcher
Silver Member
After league night last night i shot a 37, lost one game with an easy eightball shot Oh My God, i couldn't believe it myself after all the practice and telling myself there aren't any gimme's i think this shot was a piece of cake, but anyways i played great but after this miss it took me a game to get rid of my mistake and start playing my game again. I know the pros can just let go of their mistakes and i can most of the time but last night i couldn't let go of it right after i made the mistake, maybe cause i had to win that game for us to take the round maybe. Can you guys let go of your mistakes right away and keep your composure at the table, if so, how do you do that and if not how long until you do cause most players it takes them about or least three games.
 
It takes me until I grab my next win, witch is a lot harder after giving up a game.
 
TheConArtist said:
After league night last night i shot a 37, lost one game with an easy eightball shot Oh My God, i couldn't believe it myself after all the practice and telling myself there aren't any gimme's i think this shot was a piece of cake, but anyways i played great but after this miss it took me a game to get rid of my mistake and start playing my game again. I know the pros can just let go of their mistakes and i can most of the time but last night i couldn't let go of it right after i made the mistake, maybe cause i had to win that game for us to take the round maybe. Can you guys let go of your mistakes right away and keep your composure at the table, if so, how do you do that and if not how long until you do cause most players it takes them about or least three games.
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The first thing to do is not to beat yourself up! Just tell yourself you blew it. It's over. Like spilled milk. And if you don't know what you did wrong that produced the miss, check yourself and see if you went through your pre-shot routine correctly. If you can't figure out what happened, just forget about it, but make a mental note of the shot to practice it over later on. If it's a shot you should make 100% of the time, and know how to make it, practicing it over and over won't help you. At that point, just forget the shot and move on. It's also possible that you've lost the sense of exactly where the center ball on the cueball is. Or that when you stroke you're twitching or doing something else that, predictably, will cause you to likely miss the shot. What to do then? Whenever you have a shot that is a 100% shot that you can shoot hard without missing, take that shot, stroke the ball, take a full stroke, and see where the cue ball goes and if the object ball goes in exactly the right place. If you are even a hair off, you may need to readjust your perception of where the center ball is. After a few shots like this, you'll probably get your game back. Where'd I get this from? Bob Henning, in "The Advanced Pro Book"... highly recommended!!

Cheers!

Flex
 
There are times I can shake he mistakes and other times that it is a lot harder. Like poker players, I find myself playing on tilt sometimes, when I miss the easy the stuff. Most of the time people say just make the ball, but to me what good is making the ball if i can't make the next one. therefore when I start thinking about position and the run out, I find myself missing the easy stuff, and get livid over it. I have gotten calmer about it just recently, as I know the limit of my abilities. But i want to get better as so many of us do. the thing i like about making the mistakes, is that it gives me tons of things to practice the next day.
 
TheConArtist said:
Can you guys let go of your mistakes right away and keep your composure at the table, if so, how do you do that
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I let it go before I sit down after the shot. I strongly feel that there are only three things you can control at the table. Angle, Speed and Spin. If I miss a shot, then I immediately say, OK, you didn't cover your ASS (angle, speed, spin), so which one did you blow. Of course, on a missed shot, it's almost always ANGLE, so I tell myself to be more aware of my angles and that's the end of it. I can miss an easy shot (it's usually the easy ones, not the 80° table length cuts), and come back the next inning, if I get one, and play as well as ever. ONE MISSED SHOT DOESN'T NECESSARILY COST YOU THE GAME (although it could) and it also most likely won't cost you the SET. Don't put any more value on missing an easy shot than you do on making a hanger. It's over, you can't change it, consider why you missed it before you move away from the table, get it out of your mind and play pool.

Bob
 
Remove all conscious thought

Like myself, you've probably heard people give advice like "just forget about that miss" , or "don't let it get to you". While most people are well aware of this correctable problem, few are able to do anything about it. I honestly think I got past most of that nonsense by playing in tougher matches. For example, I played this guy 9-5 sets for $10 this past weekend. He's a very good player that has been playing for 25 years or so, and I'm a player that is just reaching one year of serious playing. As expected, even with the advantage in my favor, I was really getting my ass kicked. Normally, this would trigger a detrimental cycle of anger, missing, anger, missing, ..., but on this particular occasion I was unfazed by the ass-beating I was getting. After a few games, I just started to play "my game" -- realizing that I needed to start putting complete trust in my shotmaking abilities. (not complacency) I shot some incredible runs, but just couldn't clutch the games. At the end of the day, I was a little upset that I got beat so badly, but I was glad that I put up a damn good fight. It also gave me an unprecedented amount of confidence in my shotmaking. I've heard the advice with just about any sport that you'll get better by playing better players, but that's only half of the story. You have to play your game against better players to get any better.
 
I get over my mistakes by making dang sure my next shot is a good one, If I don't get back on the horse right away that missed shot haunts me. Most of the time this works and the mistake is soon forgotten. We are all our own worst enemies, get mad at the next shot just to show yourself it was a fluke.

BK
 
I stare at the ball for a few seconds (easy shot which did not go in) like a dog turning its head sideways looking at something in wonderment. Did that really happen?

If it was the first ball of an easy runout, I'll get *really* ticked with myself. If table is tied up with clusters, then no big deal.

If my opponent runs out, I say to myself I did not deserve to win.

If my opponent misses, and I get another chance and win, I remind myself that I would not have won if I was playing a better player. I think about being more careful with the next game.
 
What to do ...

Opportunity is what is before you, Mistakes are what is already done.

If you look too much to the past, you will fail to sieze the opportunity ahead of you.

Learn from your mistakes, but do it later, after you are done playing a match, or think about it after you quit or are home.

This is what the pros know, and what they practice.

And they know a good Pre-shot routine is money in the bank.

One thought pattern that might help to relate it to, is to think of
chess, and getting your queen taken. You can not dwell of losing the
queen, you have to get thinking how to use your bishops and rooks to
win the game.
 
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I have the most composure out of anyone at the table. I never lose my cool or break concentration. I never get distracted. I always remain concentrated and focused on the task at hand. I'm like a robot when I play.

I'm also a liar. :D

Sadly enough, a person wakling through the room is enough to shark me. Its not the actual action that gets to me. Its still an easy shot and I know it. But just to think "Man! I may miss now" is enough to make me miss, no matter how short the shot, no matter how straight. When I do this, I lose me patience and my temper. If it happens too much, I do stupid things like place my hand on the table and slam a cueball into the back of my hand really hard. (My left hand still has a lump in the middle of it.)

My right hand has a knuckle that still makes me want to cry if I touch it the wrong way.

I've given someone the entire rack on the hill just because I missed an easy four ball.

I have the worst mental game in the world. And when you are easily distracted and have a bad temper to boot, well, maybe now those of you that have ventured into the "Wanted/For Sale" forum and seen some of my cues for sale, can understand why I am selling everything I have. :o
 
Thanks guys for the replies, i can let go of my mistakes right away but sometimes i just can't and i carry them with me on my next game or next shots. But the replies will help me out so thanks again a bunch. Cole 'TheConArtist'
 
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