Look for a book titled The Pleasure of Small Motions. It might help some.
I have one ordered
Look for a book titled The Pleasure of Small Motions. It might help some.
In that case, you have the biggest hurdle accomplished. The whole purpose of practicing the fundamentals, is to make them automatic. So you don't HAVE to think about them. You have simply thought about them so much, that you have made thinking about them a part of your process.
You must know by know that thinking about them while trying to do them, will make you mess them up. Which is exactly why you are having the problems you do. Now, all you have to do is to learn to trust yourself. You KNOW how to do it right, so quit TRYING to do it right. Trust your mind to know what to do, and just focus on the spot you want to hit the ball. LET your mind control your body, just like you do when you walk. Let your subconscious mind shoot the shot, you just tell it what you want done, and then trust it.
Try practicing without thinking at all and see what happens. Just look at the ball, tell yourself to make it, and shoot. Don't allow ANY thoughts in your head.
At times, I will start playing less than I feel I should. At those points, I look at my fundamentals AFTER the shot to see what I am doing wrong. Invariably, it is dropping my elbow due to years of bad habits. When that creeps in, I don't consciously think about not dropping my elbow. I just tell my self to keep my elbow still, and then go about shooting. Pretty soon, I am back on track. However, if I consciously am aware to not drop my elbow, then my focus is on the wrong thing, and I will probably screw up something else.
You have to play like a well oiled machine, and the conscious can not do that, not for long anyways. You have to learn to trust your subconscious mind.
Hahaha, I think everyone gets a bit of the inner chatter. Don't feel like the Lone Ranger buddy. Theres lots of us out there in the same boat.
Whenever I start missing shots, I start thinking and can attribute it to, popping up, my stroke, jacking up the cue etc. Its difficult to step up to the table and remember everything.
I try to have a mental checklist. One thing that I was told as of late and try to do is breathing. As I go thru my pre shot strokes I get my breathing in control. As I go back for my final stroke before I pull the trigger, I exhale and keep my body still and pull the trigger. Give it a try, it can't hurt.
Not practicing the right way is what is wrong. I worry too much about staying down and things like that. I am not letting my subconscious learn anything when I am forcing myself to do certain things like staying down and stroking straight etc. I know as much about pool as any instructor in the world. I have been playing since I was 13 and now almost 40. I have read countless books and videos on all aspects of pool. I don't know how an instructor do but add fuel to the fire trying to teach me to do it his way. I have taped myself and everything is pretty sound in the fundamentals dept. It is the mental part I am talking about. I let the fundamentals fog my subconscious
I know as much about pool as any instructor in the world.
"Learn to focus."
"I CAN'T learn to focus."
"Learn to focus."
"I CAN'T learn to focus."
"Learn to focus."
"I CAN'T learn to focus." >>>>infinity...
You have been told several times in several different ways
what the problem is.
What answer is it you are looking for?
IMHO no one can tell you how to change your situation.
What is the probability you are ADD? Do you experience symptoms
in other aspects of your life - esp competition?
Dale<registered arm chair Psychologist>
Then you already have all the answers.
Just fix it!
Steve
I think there becomes a point at a certain skill level that the mental part of the game is a bigger part of your game than anything else. That point/skill level is different for everybody. I think we all can remember times when we were just breaking that first rack of balls for the day to get in stroke. How many times have you ran them out w/o a miss not even thinking of doing it. That stae of mind is what we all are looking for all the time. I've be playing for almost 60 years and I've never been able to have that mindset when I want/need it. Put a few hundred on a set and very rarely was I able to keep the demons at bay for the whole set.
The only times I played like I want to are when I had money to burn that I didn't really earn. Like winnings from the dogtrack, horse track, or some ilegal gains. Then I would look for Buddy or Steve Cook and get the best spot I could and let the chips fly. When I didn't care about the money and knew I was the dog I played some of the best pool of my life. Of course I didn't win from them often, but most of the time I played as good as I could play. Mental is huge. Johnnyt
Matter of fact I do have a few problems that I don't want to go into on here. I take my medication daily.
tap tap tap^^Then you already have all the answers.
Just fix it!
Steve
No need to go into specifics. I thought I reconized something in your
replies. Turns out I have a friend who has a very similar situation.
I tried for years to explain to him you can't think about anything
while you are executing - all to no avail.
Unlike you, he just refuses to practice, so you may have a better chance.
A word about practice - I have no idea what your approach is, but many
players seem to think that banging balls around with no goal nor plan,
constitutes practice. Technically, I suppose it does - but is of limitted value.
My advise for you would be to develop a highly structured routine
that emphasises fundamentals, pocketing, cue ball control, all as
separate components. You might even want to work on fundamentals
without any balls on the table.
The goal is to be able to shoot without thinking about anything...EVER.
IMHO - you must learn how to block out thoughts about
stroke, stance, etc... Untill you can do that, I don't think you can improve.
Dale
My practice goes like this. I will shoot some drills then I will just throw out some balls and shoot then I rack 9 ball and break them play safe on myself or run out etc. I rotate when I get bored. I love to play no matter with or without someone so I like to practice and work on things by myself. I am looking for better ways to practice to improve faster.The whole time I play I try not to think, soon as I miss the demon comes back.
Is that you in your avatar? If yes then you might need to get qualified instructor assistance in modifying your fundamentals. Weak fundamentals break down more easily under pressure and cause lots of misses.