Mental Excercise

[BeiberLvr]

Hi Everyone,

Question for the instructors, but obviously a topic anyone can chime in on, because I don't think there is necessarily a right or wrong answer. This is something I was pondering, and had never seen it suggested anywhere. Possibly for good reason if it ends up being a horrible idea

Has anyone ever tried running patterns without actually shooting any shots? What I mean is breaking the balls (we'll use 9 ball), and taking ball in hand. Putting the CB where you would normally place it for a shot on the 1 with an angle to get on the 2. But instead of shooting the shot, picking up the CB and then placing it where you imagined it going if you had taken the shot successfully. Repeat until the rack is done.

Essentially you're still walking around from shot to shot to see the angles, and to imagine how it would go if you ran out perfectly. Without the risk of missing balls or playing bad shape which can sometimes allow negative thoughts to creep into your mind. Obviously I wouldn't recommend this to a C player, but to someone who has a good understanding of CB control. I would also recommend that if doing this exercise, you take realistic routes and don't imagine the CB doing things that aren't within your ability.

My thought would be to do this 5 or so times at the end of a session. If anything, just to end it on a positive note. It shouldn't be a replacement for actually hitting balls.

So what do you all think? Good mental workout, or just a big time waster?

 

[BilliardsAbout]

Hi Everyone,

Question for the instructors, but obviously a topic anyone can chime in on, because I don't think there is necessarily a right or wrong answer. This is something I was pondering, and had never seen it suggested anywhere. Possibly for good reason if it ends up being a horrible idea

Has anyone ever tried running patterns without actually shooting any shots? What I mean is breaking the balls (we'll use 9 ball), and taking ball in hand. Putting the CB where you would normally place it for a shot on the 1 with an angle to get on the 2. But instead of shooting the shot, picking up the CB and then placing it where you imagined it going if you had taken the shot successfully. Repeat until the rack is done.

Essentially you're still walking around from shot to shot to see the angles, and to imagine how it would go if you ran out perfectly. Without the risk of missing balls or playing bad shape which can sometimes allow negative thoughts to creep into your mind. Obviously I wouldn't recommend this to a C player, but to someone who has a good understanding of CB control. I would also recommend that if doing this exercise, you take realistic routes and don't imagine the CB doing things that aren't within your ability.

My thought would be to do this 5 or so times at the end of a session. If anything, just to end it on a positive note. It shouldn't be a replacement for actually hitting balls.

So what do you all think? Good mental workout, or just a big time waster?

No, I like it. I will always remember watching Mike Segal running flawlessly, and stroking the cue ball to get it to go where I saw it going next, shot after shot! It was unreal.

 

[FranCrimi]

The difference between your suggestion and studying someone who's playing a match is the ability to actually walk around the table and survey the situation. In that case, it can be helpful to players who need to discipline themselves to walk around and look at their options.

Gene Nagy did that exercise with me when he was helping me with my game. But the reason he did it was different from yours. He did it to show me that planning was the easy part and when players reach a certain level, any problems they have with their games have nothing to do with planning.

In Gene's words: "Anybody can run out a rack in their head." After he showed me that there was nothing wrong with my planning, I began to focus more on my execution process, and my game improved.

 

[KissedOut]

The difference between your suggestion and studying someone who's playing a match is the ability to actually walk around the table and survey the situation. In that case, it can be helpful to players who need to discipline themselves to walk around and look at their options.

Gene Nagy did that exercise with me when he was helping me with my game. But the reason he did it was different from yours. He did it to show me that planning was the easy part and when players reach a certain level, any problems they have with their games have nothing to do with planning.

In Gene's words: "Anybody can run out a rack in their head." After he showed me that there was nothing wrong with my planning, I began to focus more on my execution process, and my game improved.

I do mental exercise watching high level 3C billiards videos on youtube and elsewhere, but it is much easier there because with only three balls the walking around the factor is lessened quite a bit. I just try to figure out what shots are available and predict which they will shoot. It helps me see alternate ways of playing shots, particularly when the "obvious" shot has a kiss in in it.

OTOH, with the 3C big boys, sometimes they will shoot a shot that I never would (could) because their strokes are so much better and I just could not get the cueball action necessary to make the shot that way.

 

[One Pocket John]

Mental Exercise.

Nice post.

What I do is what I call exercising the sub-conscious mind. It's fun and educational.

I have a table at home and practice every day for a few hours.

As with a game of 9 ball, spread (or break) the balls out around the table. From a standing position, determine a pocket each ball is to go in. This is what I call the analytical phase or conscious thought process. Once done, the conscious mind is turned off and the sub-conscious takes over to play the game.

Its not easy to keep conscious thoughts out of your head. So what I do is to focus my vision intently on the contact point of the OB and that's it. I make no conscious effort to control the stick or my muscles, just shoot.

Spin and speed of the shot is done by the sub-conscious and I become an observer of the game. It's a very rewarding and fun process.

I just like to see what happens when no conscious thought gets in my way. Just bend down and shoot the shot and see what happens with the QB.

Probably one of the best videos to develop sub-conscious play is Bert Kinister's Tight Pocket 60- minute work out for 9 ball. It is very well organized. This video came out in 1989. I didn't purchase my copy until 1993.

The key here is to keep the conscious mind out of your play and just shoot the shots and observe where the QB ends up. If it didn't end up on the paper do not consciously try to correct anything (your sub-conscious will make the changes), instead set up the shot again and again and again until the QB starts rolling onto the piece of paper.

What I do to keep my conscious mind out of the shot, is on the OB I imagine a black or white dot as a contact point for me to stare at from the standing position down to the shooting position, still staring at the dot, take some warm up strokes and then shooting the shot.

Having TRUST in your sub-conscious mind is how the game is played. Once you learn how to do this and begin to trust your sub-conscious you will start to really have some fun playing the game.

Nice thread. Thanks

John