Knowing I'm going to miss a shot as I pull the Trigger, What does it mean !!!

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XSubmariner

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Ok I have a serious problem & Im hoping that someone has experienced it and know what it means & hopefully how to fix it.

As I pull the trigger on a shot I know immediately ( before the cue ball strikes the object ball ) that I'm going to miss.

It has to be tied to Fundamentals which I strive to work on daily.

Could it be I'm twisting my wrist ???

I know someone has experience it before.

I just need to know what I need to work on so I can get past this.
 
XSubmariner said:
Ok I have a serious problem & Im hoping that someone has experienced it and know what it means & hopefully how to fix it.

As I pull the trigger on a shot I know immediately ( before the cue ball strikes the object ball ) that I'm going to miss.

It has to be tied to Fundamentals which I strive to work on daily.

Could it be I'm twisting my wrist ???

I know someone has experience it before.

I just need to know what I need to work on so I can get past this.
Click to expand...


Could be a lot of things. For me it's usually PSR. You get to a certain point and the game is played between the ears. If I have a negative thought while down on the shot I try to back off and start over. Like a golfer stopping his swing in the backswing. Not easy. It happens to all of us in one form or another.
 
This is just my guess so take it or leave it....

I think this is a good thing because it means you have reached the point in your development where your stroke is getting locked in.

Previously, prior to having more solid fundamentals, when you would get down on a ball and if you were slightly misaligned you would just adjust your cue in order to make the shot. Now, you aren't moving your cue around as much while down over the ball and so if you get down over the ball and you're not perfectly on the shot line you are going to miss more often.

So, try spending more time in the aiming and aligning phase of the shot so that you feel more confident while you are down over the ball.

.....or it could just be me.
 
I can tell you what it means. It means your pending stroke is not properly aligned with the shot. You are looking 'there' but pointed 'here'. By a very small margin. Yet your subconscious knows it and you can feel the miss coming just before or as you hit the cue ball. In fact, you're hesitant to hit the cue ball with any commitment because your mind is telling you you aren't quite set up right.

Compare that to shots that you know you're right on before you hit the ball. Never a doubt. You can hit it with multiple speeds and not miss.

The fix? Not so easy to find. Try to avoid any warm up strokes UNTIL you are feeling real good about your alignment. Aim like you're a statue....no movement whatsoever. Cinch the aim.....THEN....take your warm up strokes.

Got to get mind and body working together.
 
Youre doing something

Not to quote CJ but when you do something over and over again and its wrong the game will tell you.

You simply go back to standing correctly, delivering the stroke correctly without side spin and then add back what you think the shot needs. When you do and it goes wrong that is what you eliminate and do something better or at least different to see if it works for spinning the ball.
XSubmariner said:
Ok I have a serious problem & Im hoping that someone has experienced it and know what it means & hopefully how to fix it.

As I pull the trigger on a shot I know immediately ( before the cue ball strikes the object ball ) that I'm going to miss.

It has to be tied to Fundamentals which I strive to work on daily.

Could it be I'm twisting my wrist ???

I know someone has experience it before.

I just need to know what I need to work on so I can get past this.
Click to expand...
 
XSubmariner said:
Ok I have a serious problem & Im hoping that someone has experienced it and know what it means & hopefully how to fix it.

As I pull the trigger on a shot I know immediately ( before the cue ball strikes the object ball ) that I'm going to miss.

It has to be tied to Fundamentals which I strive to work on daily.

Could it be I'm twisting my wrist ???

I know someone has experience it before.

I just need to know what I need to work on so I can get past this.
Click to expand...
We all do that from time to time. The most common reason why is playing too fast.
But being insecure in your ability, the physics involved in the shot, "loading" up for a power shot also seems quite commen.
It could be other things too, like stance, pre-shot routine and many other things, but I would go with playing too fast/lack of confidence as the most common reasons.
 
May be off base to add this to the OPs question, but I see a lot of players preparing to shoot, and they spin the cue in their hand about a 1/4 turn a few times before taking their shot.

Do people do that to somehow mentally deter turning their wrist? Or is that just a pre-shot habit?
 
Like others have said, it's hard to tell without a video.

I had this problem up until about a month ago when I started to fine-tune my stroke to straightness. For me, I was missing shots because I was adjusting to having my arm in a different position than normal and sometimes it would cause the cue to veer enough off line to give me a bad hit.

What I think happens is we compare the reality of the shot to the projection of the shot in our head and we can see/hear/feel that it's wrong immediately.

Anyway, if you can get a video up then it would help alot.
 
I have this problem too, especially last night in league play (in which I did absolutely horrible, couldn't make a ball to save my life). I have no solution but glad you posted this and am enjoying the discussion.
 
Perhaps you are trusting your stance, pre-aim, aim, and stroke so much (which can be a good thing), that your mind doesn't accept that the shot might be off - until you hit it. As a last step before hitting the ball, try to imagine in your mind the path that the object ball must take to travel to the pocket. If your aim is a little bit off, this might trigger your mind that you need to make a minor correction before taking the shot.
 
the brain is an amazing thing...as others have stated above, it could be a lot of things. I have this same problem from time to time and amazingly, every time my brain says I am going to miss, I miss.i think the brain is telling us that our alignment is wrong. what we should be doing is standing up, redo the psr and then shoot.
 
Could be a lot of things, but the possibility that would concern me the most would be something on the mental side. You need to find out exactly when the doubt comes in.

If it is after the tip contacts the cueball, I wouldn't be terribly concerned. I usually know as soon as I contact the cueball if I have hit one badly - I think that is natural, and probably a good sign at least from the perspective that your eyes weren't fooling you - you just didn't execute for whatever reason. For a fix, you can focus on PSR and other mechanical things to ensure your prep and stroke are consistent and accurate.

If you find doubt creeping in during your backswing or some other time prior to contacting the cueball, that may be a trust/confidence issue, which can be harder to fix than something mechanical. If this is the case, I would recommend getting onto a good aiming system. There are plenty of good ones out there, and I think it makes sense to work with two or three of them to see what works best for you. Even if you have always been primarily a feel player, as I have, the thing that an aiming system can give you is a method you know you can trust to be accurate and reliable. If all decisions and prep are handled effectively in your PSR, and if you have an aim point you know you can trust, that will go a long way toward quieting the mind when you deliver the final stroke.

Best of luck,
Aaron
 
your subconscious* is your brain, your mind is only a small part . Listen to your brain and don't try to over think your shots.
 
Can you post a video?

Are you familiar with the concept of the pre-shot routine? If so, you may be skipping/rushing a step.
 
Wow !!!

Thanks for all the excellent food for thought.

I certainly appreciate it.

I can eliminate some of them because as I said I work on fundamental every day. So I'm thinking it can't be shooting too fast, however it might be the converse, in taking too long.

It might be a confidence thing because it will be on more difficult shots.

Now to get back to the Table & work on the Idea shared here.

Thanks again.
 
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I don't know why...

As others have stated, a reliable, repeatable pre-shot routine is a good thing. It can provide the confidence that conditions are right for a successful shot. Most aiming, aligning will occur while standing. Getting down on the chosen shot line, bridge placement, bridge length, body and feet alignment and spacing...all the repeatable checklist items in preparation for striking the cb.

Ideally, each successive warm up stroke, further confirms/slightly adjusts the perceived proper shot and stroke line as well as the speed and english to be used. And then...

Then there is the dreaded 'final stroke';)...when all that preparation can be derailed. Tension in my stroking shoulder can pull/push the delivery off line on the final stroke.

Something that helps me, when this is going on with me is to practice with some changes...If you have a pause in the final stroke, at the cb, or especially at the end of the backswing...try not stopping. Let one of the last 2 or 3 continuous warm up strokes be the delivery stroke. For me, sometimes the stopping creates tension that results in off line delivery.

Sometimes, in practice, as the final stroke is delivered, I close my eyes at contact and then peek at the results after hitting the cb.

For me, I'm trying to remove tension from the shot...physically and mentally.

I try to lie to myself. I want the shot process, including hitting the cb to be part of an overall equally importance-weighted continuum...not a build up to 'bam'.

'Ready on the left! Ready on the right! The range is clear....FIRE!!!'
..sometimes creates shoulder tension for me, when a clear distinction is made between preparations and execution.

Like I said, I don't know what the source of the problem is that OP is experiencing, or how to overcome it. But, I think most of us can relate to the issue.

But for me, I change things in practice, and Lie to myself. If that doesn't work..beer or Robitusson, but not both.;)
 
XSubmariner said:
Ok I have a serious problem & Im hoping that someone has experienced it and know what it means & hopefully how to fix it.

As I pull the trigger on a shot I know immediately ( before the cue ball strikes the object ball ) that I'm going to miss.

It has to be tied to Fundamentals which I strive to work on daily.

Could it be I'm twisting my wrist ???

I know someone has experience it before.

I just need to know what I need to work on so I can get past this.
Click to expand...

There are a dozen if not more things that cause this, starting with the simple fact that you lined up wrong and either don't realize it or were too lazy to get up and adjust. Accidental masse/swerve/deflection from hitting off center will cause a seemingly well aimed shot to miss.

This happens to EVERYONE. There are world champion players that you can see jump up because they knew they just f'ed up the shot soon as they hit the cueball.

There is also no easy fix aside from playing a lot and playing the right way, best done with a coach/trainer/instructor or at least a good player that can see what you may be doing during a shot that causes a miss.

When I know I will miss is when I am not decided about how to play the shot while I am in the middle of the warm up strokes. Double guessing a shot, taking too much time to overthink how to hit a shot, being afraid of missing or scratching or bad position, all those will change your stoke enough to miss.
 
A lot of good advice as usual but I feel that some of it may of just strayed a tad. Some mention getting back up and other stuff, this can not be done while the cue ball is in motion.
Thing number one: If you feel/felt that you were good right up until you pulled the trigger then your perception could be off and it took the cue ball being in a different spot for your eyes to see this, and that's why you know it was a miss cause you now see the actual path of the CB
Thing number two: Take thing number one and now add anything other than center ball. Once again here you felt that you were good on your aiming line based on how much speed and spin was needed for the shot but found out that speed or spin was off (this is more common with players when trying to throw in a ball with heavy spin you realize that it took too early or too late)
Conclusion: You either have a flaw in your stroke that sends the CB off line, your stroke is fine but your perception is off (that the whole dominant eye thing also) aka reading the shot wrong and with out knowing your i.e. your play it's hard to help.
Tip: You have to do drill that focus 95% on one of those things at a time, stroke, seeing the shot/shot line etc. Take a look and see if that mostly happens to your on certain shots this will also be vital feedback, that's why us "practice" worshipers believe in it so much because of the repetition, if one does not address his weakness in a controlled environment and only waits till the shot comes up again his learning curve will be much higher. One thing is for sure don't adjust while you're down (i know, i know, old news) even if it doesn't feel right still pull the trigger and use the feedback, doubt is your worst enemy, get up and get back down if you must but don't adjust while you're down like an earlier poster mentioned.

That's my take.
 
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