I'm always looking to improve. Aside from the obvious physical aspects of the game that can be drilled, practiced, and worked on, sometimes we forget to explore or even worse ignore the mental aspects of sports and games.
At the recommendation of people here, I picked up "The Inner Game of Tennis".
As many have come to find, the title can be woefully misleading, as this book can be applied to just about any game or sport under the Sun. The author merely uses what he knows best, tennis, as a means to convey his message.
I began reading the book, and boy did it hit home. Very quickly...I used to wrestle all through high school and college, and know a little bit about coaches and coaching.
The fact is, my "inner coach", so to speak, was beating the brains out of my physical self, the doer. I'm extremely hard on myself, even when I have no basis for high expectations. It would, at times, get to the point that a short set would be physically taxing to the point of exhaustion.
Anyway, after reading, and learning (I'm still at the start of my journey), I went out to the pool hall, excited about the possibilities of played at my personal best, effortlessly. Without any side show antics or blow ups. These have become somewhat commonplace. Even in practice.
I can't say enough about how much enjoyment it was for me to be able to play for about four and half hours. With, for me, great consistency, good shots, and I was able to analyze my mistakes and better learn from them. I was able to put file them in my mind of bad shots and what not to do at the table. As well as with the good things I did to build upon. I was able to feel the game better, if that makes sense. Sure I made some bad mistakes, blew some shots, but I didn't let it effect my next play at the table.
Anyway, I hope some can learn from this experience, and thanks for those here who recommended to book. It not only will improve my pool game, but other aspects of life where I am acting like a bad coach to myself. I only wish I could have read this book sooner!
At the recommendation of people here, I picked up "The Inner Game of Tennis".
As many have come to find, the title can be woefully misleading, as this book can be applied to just about any game or sport under the Sun. The author merely uses what he knows best, tennis, as a means to convey his message.
I began reading the book, and boy did it hit home. Very quickly...I used to wrestle all through high school and college, and know a little bit about coaches and coaching.
The fact is, my "inner coach", so to speak, was beating the brains out of my physical self, the doer. I'm extremely hard on myself, even when I have no basis for high expectations. It would, at times, get to the point that a short set would be physically taxing to the point of exhaustion.
Anyway, after reading, and learning (I'm still at the start of my journey), I went out to the pool hall, excited about the possibilities of played at my personal best, effortlessly. Without any side show antics or blow ups. These have become somewhat commonplace. Even in practice.
I can't say enough about how much enjoyment it was for me to be able to play for about four and half hours. With, for me, great consistency, good shots, and I was able to analyze my mistakes and better learn from them. I was able to put file them in my mind of bad shots and what not to do at the table. As well as with the good things I did to build upon. I was able to feel the game better, if that makes sense. Sure I made some bad mistakes, blew some shots, but I didn't let it effect my next play at the table.
Anyway, I hope some can learn from this experience, and thanks for those here who recommended to book. It not only will improve my pool game, but other aspects of life where I am acting like a bad coach to myself. I only wish I could have read this book sooner!
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A road player put me onto this book maybe ten years ago. These days, I'd recommend Pleasures of Small Motions, but Inner Game's still quite good, and has stood the test of time (1972!).
