Another thing I learned from the ghost is I had a lot of room to improve in my conversion rates with difficult lays. Things like the 6-7 laying on the same rail close together requiring a tough cut combination, or a couple of balls frozen that would need to be broken without a good avenue to do so.
I found that these trouble spots were stopping me far, far too often. Not because I was getting to those situations and then failing to deal with them (because of course no one can get through them all). But because I wasn't even getting to them! I would stumble early in the rack and then either not get to the problem balls or I'd be in recovery mode and would be out of line and not even giving myself a fighting chance.
It's like I'd get psyched out. It would start with a bad spread off the break (see Lessons from the ghost 1), then I'd watch in dismay as the balls landed funny. I would get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Dormant thoughts about how stupid the rules are that make it so the break can overcome 25 years of practice with one fell swoop. Feelings of defeat, of being victimized by my inability to master this trick shot, of having all of my effort be for nothing as I stand helplessly facing this mess.
Then I'd look at the problem areas. All I could see were ways it could go wrong. The combo looked impossible. Even if I made it somehow the first ball would be going into traffic and very difficult to predict or play shape for. Breaking them out would be no good, the lead ball is on the other end of the table on the side rail by the upper pocket where I have very limited options (frustration building).
In this state of mind I'd decide to freewheel through the rack, almost as if I felt the first few balls didn't matter because it was pointless anyway. I'd use my give up stroke figuring "If I get there then I'll give it a whack" (as if by not trying on the early balls I'd somehow conserve energy which I'd need later, when the opposite is true, you're taking yourself right out of stroke and allowing yourself to spiral). Then I'd make a positional error on the first shot, get a bad angle, allow my frustration to manifest, and make a routine few shots into a mess. In my state of mind I'd be perfectly prepared to dog it off and rake the balls. If, by some chance, I made it to the problem balls, I would be on the wrong end of the table and a 50/50 proposition just became a lottery ticket.
OK, so I exaggerated a bit. I'm not that much of a head case. But those feelings and thoughts are real, and while I handle it better than that, it was clear I had room to improve.
I made a vow to myself then and there that next bad spread I got I was going to die trying to make it to the crux of the rack. If I lose, I lose, but I'm not going to resign. I would play that ball as if that off angled combo was a dead 9 ball combo for the win. I decided I wasn't going to mentally grade myself on running the rack. I would grade myself on the smaller goal of making it to the problem area and getting the position that would give me the best chance. From there if I lost it's true I'd have to score the ghost, but I'd mentally congratulate myself for giving it the ol' college try.
I started getting to the problem ball, and an amazing thing happened! I got through a lot of them! Combos that had me feeling defeated went in and I shot my way out of the resulting position! Banks split the wicket! Break outs worked out and I found myself shooting the 9 in for the win! And guess what? Each time this happened I not only scored a game, I came out ready for the next rack with confidence, determination, and focus! Of course I didn't get through all, or even most of them. But I got through a surprising number. Far more than before.
The heck of it is that I knew all of this for 20 years. A top player I grew up with warned me of that and taught me this lesson verbally. I thought I knew it. But this game is sneaky tough, and if you don't give it the respect it deserves it will chew you up and spit you out. So next time the balls split funny, recognize that the first few shots are now twice as hard and take the vow I did. Meet the adversity head on. Short term results may vary, but by making that choice you'll be heading the right direction.
I found that these trouble spots were stopping me far, far too often. Not because I was getting to those situations and then failing to deal with them (because of course no one can get through them all). But because I wasn't even getting to them! I would stumble early in the rack and then either not get to the problem balls or I'd be in recovery mode and would be out of line and not even giving myself a fighting chance.
It's like I'd get psyched out. It would start with a bad spread off the break (see Lessons from the ghost 1), then I'd watch in dismay as the balls landed funny. I would get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Dormant thoughts about how stupid the rules are that make it so the break can overcome 25 years of practice with one fell swoop. Feelings of defeat, of being victimized by my inability to master this trick shot, of having all of my effort be for nothing as I stand helplessly facing this mess.
Then I'd look at the problem areas. All I could see were ways it could go wrong. The combo looked impossible. Even if I made it somehow the first ball would be going into traffic and very difficult to predict or play shape for. Breaking them out would be no good, the lead ball is on the other end of the table on the side rail by the upper pocket where I have very limited options (frustration building).
In this state of mind I'd decide to freewheel through the rack, almost as if I felt the first few balls didn't matter because it was pointless anyway. I'd use my give up stroke figuring "If I get there then I'll give it a whack" (as if by not trying on the early balls I'd somehow conserve energy which I'd need later, when the opposite is true, you're taking yourself right out of stroke and allowing yourself to spiral). Then I'd make a positional error on the first shot, get a bad angle, allow my frustration to manifest, and make a routine few shots into a mess. In my state of mind I'd be perfectly prepared to dog it off and rake the balls. If, by some chance, I made it to the problem balls, I would be on the wrong end of the table and a 50/50 proposition just became a lottery ticket.
OK, so I exaggerated a bit. I'm not that much of a head case. But those feelings and thoughts are real, and while I handle it better than that, it was clear I had room to improve.
I made a vow to myself then and there that next bad spread I got I was going to die trying to make it to the crux of the rack. If I lose, I lose, but I'm not going to resign. I would play that ball as if that off angled combo was a dead 9 ball combo for the win. I decided I wasn't going to mentally grade myself on running the rack. I would grade myself on the smaller goal of making it to the problem area and getting the position that would give me the best chance. From there if I lost it's true I'd have to score the ghost, but I'd mentally congratulate myself for giving it the ol' college try.
I started getting to the problem ball, and an amazing thing happened! I got through a lot of them! Combos that had me feeling defeated went in and I shot my way out of the resulting position! Banks split the wicket! Break outs worked out and I found myself shooting the 9 in for the win! And guess what? Each time this happened I not only scored a game, I came out ready for the next rack with confidence, determination, and focus! Of course I didn't get through all, or even most of them. But I got through a surprising number. Far more than before.
The heck of it is that I knew all of this for 20 years. A top player I grew up with warned me of that and taught me this lesson verbally. I thought I knew it. But this game is sneaky tough, and if you don't give it the respect it deserves it will chew you up and spit you out. So next time the balls split funny, recognize that the first few shots are now twice as hard and take the vow I did. Meet the adversity head on. Short term results may vary, but by making that choice you'll be heading the right direction.
