Mental Game Help

Where does reality come into play when discussing one's mental game?

We see all this talk about improving your mental game but maybe the reason someone's mental game isn't very good to begin with is because they aren't honest with themselves when it comes to rating their own skill level.

This knife cuts both ways and it probably hurts me much more than it does those that I play with. Here's what I mean -- when it comes to assessing my own abilities I know where I really stand. I know that I'm not an elite player, although I am getting better and I'm beginning to believe in myself more and more but really my mental game is tied to what I KNOW I can do on the practice table and not some pretend version of myself -- the guy that never misses a ball and constantly runs out.

I play with some other guys that THINK they are much better than they actually are. What often happens is they get so frustrated with their game when they miss balls that I've seen them miss quite often. I always think to myself that I've seen them miss that shot so often why do they expect otherwise? But at the same time, these guys often times perform better in tournament settings than you would think they would. They come through and manage to run out some tables that they really weren't the favorite to complete. So in a sense being overconfident can be an advantage because these players think they should never miss a ball and they step to the table with that thought in their head.

I don't know really. I'm starting to think that having this overconfidence is probably a good thing when it comes to competing but it's a bad thing when it comes to improving. I suppose I care more about improving at this point but I sure could use a bit of their confidence at times.
 
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BasementDweller said:
Where does reality come into play when discussing one's mental game?

We see all this talk about improving your mental game but maybe the reason someone's mental game isn't very good to begin with is because they aren't honest with themselves when it comes to rating their own skill level.

This knife cuts both ways and it probably hurts me much more than it does those that I play with. Here's what I mean -- when it comes to assessing my own abilities I know where I really stand. I know that I'm not an elite player, although I am getting better and I'm beginning to believe in myself more and more but really my mental game is tied to what I KNOW I can do on the practice table and not some pretend version of myself -- the guy that never misses a ball and constantly runs out.

I play with some other guys that THINK they are much better than they actually are. What often happens is they get so frustrated with their game when they miss balls that I've seen them miss quite often. I always think to myself that I've seen them miss that shot so often why do they expect otherwise? But at the same time, these guys often times perform better in tournament settings than you would think they would. They come through and manage to run out some tables that they really weren't the favorite to complete. So in a sense being overconfident can be an advantage because these players think they should never miss a ball and they step to the table with thought in their head.

I don't know really. I'm starting to think that having this overconfidence is probably a good thing when it comes to competing but it's a bad thing when it comes to improving. I suppose I care more about improving at this point but I sure could use a bit of their confidence at times.
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Self image, knowledge, and physical skill... it takes all three to succeed in pool.

Overconfidence does occur though when a player has a high self image and they believe that that they are up to the task but their skill and or knowledge is still lacking. For someone with drive to succeed though the overconfidence does not last long. They say to themselves I know I can do this I just need more practice. A confident person who does not improve stays at their level most likely because they lack the drive to practice or study and get better imo. The confidence they showed is not a bad thing though and if they do develop the skill and knowledge to go with it they will be looking good but again I don't think a good self image is going to cause anyone to turn a blind eye to a lot of mistakes or failures and a good self image alone is not going to put anyone in danger of staying overconfident for a long period of time as long as they have the drive to achieve.
 
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A lot of interesting insights here. I posted on my perceptions earlier in this thread & I'll elaborate on that a bit & maybe it'll turn on the light for some. This game is really about "not thinking" for the most part & true understanding of how the mind works & using that. For an example lets look at the player that has invested the time and effort into the game & learned its physical properties. Alone in practice he runs racks regularly against the ghost so he's developed the physical portion of the game but in tournament play or especially gambling the wheels fall off even playing cheap & his game doesn't resemble what it does in a "non pressure situation". To be truly great at this game once you've developed your physical game is understanding how the mind works. You have to learn to get your conscious mind to work in tandem with your subconscious. Thinking is the realm of the conscious mind & only has one place in the game, when you step to the table & analyze your situation & plan your attack, how you will execute the shot in front of you & proceed to the next & on to finish the rack. This is the only point that the conscious mind & "thinking"have in this game. From there it's learning to disconnect the conscious thinking mind & allow the subconscious to take over. So the $64,000 question is how do you do this? It's in your preshot routine. You step to the table, evaluate, pick a course of action, then comes the secret, the disconnect of the conscious mind & it's done through visualization. You disconnect the conscious mind by now visualizing what your conscious mind just planned. You "see" yourself get down on the ball, your stroke, the shot taking the ball to the hole and the cue ball traveling the path you envisioned for position to the next shot perfectly. Once you've done this visualization your subconscious is activated & you get down & execute it. It's really that simple. Once your visualization starts there is "NO MORE THINKING", ITS ABOUT SEEING IN YOUR MIND. If a thought pervades your mind then you get up off the ball & reengage the visualization to disconnect the conscious mind. Your conscious & thinking have NO place in this game other than the initial portion of your preshot routine where you analyze and decide a course of action. This game and golf also is about understanding that the mind does not execute what you're "Thinking". Your mind will execute the shot you "SEE" in your visualization. To execute something your mind works on "pictures" you see in it, not on "thoughts" you think. This is the key to the kingdom. Example, you see a shot your not confident in, most people instantly start thinking "I don't want to over cut this ball" over & over not realizing that by thinking this obsessively you create a picture in your mind where the ball is overcut, after this agonizing process and creating a picture of that without even realizing it by focusing on what you "DON'T" want to happen you get down, stroke and promptly overcut the ball. Then you're furious about it because you've missed but your subconscious is ecstatic because it just executed the picture you presented it by thinking about what you didn't want to do. Understand? It's really that simple. All the other stuff, fear of what you'll look like to the crowd watching, fear of missing the money ball, pressure at a hill hill game, pressure of the $, etc, that's all self created crap, fear is not a real thing, pressure is not a real thing, the only place they exist is in your mind in your conscious thoughts, your thoughts create fear, they create pressure, no one or nothing can you make you feel fear or pressure, only you can by "thinking"about it giving it life and a foothold. Fear & pressure is a choice YOU make. There are no pressure shots, a tough shot on the case ball in a hill hill match for a large sum of $ has no pressure, only that which you apply to it with conscious thoughts, it's just a shot, no different than any other shot you make effortlessly while practicing alone & to view it any other way via "feeling" pressure to make it or "fearing" missing it is a creation of your mind. Pressure is a choice, fear is a choice that only you make. You can choose to feel it but most importantly you can choose not to feel it, that is known as heart, choosing not to feel it. You will either rule your mind or it will rule you. So to end this I will say some of you are reading this and "thinking", "we'll that's easier said than done". My reply to you, "There you go thinking again". Think about that.



Why am I the Colonel? Because I always get the chicken
 
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Colonel said:
A lot of interesting insights here. I posted on my perceptions earlier in this thread & I'll elaborate on that a bit & maybe it'll turn on the light for some. This game is really about "not thinking" for the most part & true understanding of how the mind works & using that. For an example lets look at the player that has invested the time and effort into the game & learned its physical properties. Alone in practice he runs racks regularly against the ghost so he's developed the physical portion of the game but in tournament play or especially gambling the wheels fall off even playing cheap & his game doesn't resemble what it does in a "non pressure situation". To be truly great at this game once you've developed your physical game is understanding how the mind works. You have to learn to get your conscious mind to work in tandem with your subconscious. Thinking is the realm of the conscious mind & only has one place in the game, when you step to the table & analyze your situation & plan your attack, how you will execute the shot in front of you & proceed to the next & on to finish the rack. This is the only point that the conscious mind & "thinking"have in this game. From there it's learning to disconnect the conscious thinking mind & allow the subconscious to take over. So the $64,000 question is how do you do this? It's in your preshot routine. You step to the table, evaluate, pick a course of action, then comes the secret, the disconnect of the conscious mind & it's done through visualization. You disconnect the conscious mind by now visualizing what your conscious mind just planned. You "see" yourself get down on the ball, your stroke, the shot taking the ball to the hole and the cue ball traveling the path you envisioned for position to the next shot perfectly. Once you've done this visualization your subconscious is activated & you get down & execute it. It's really that simple. Once your visualization starts there is "NO MORE THINKING", ITS ABOUT SEEING IN YOUR MIND. If a thought pervades your mind then you get up off the ball & reengage the visualization to disconnect the conscious mind. Your conscious & thinking have NO place in this game other than the initial portion of your preshot routine where you analyze and decide a course of action. This game and golf also is about understanding that the mind does not execute what you're "Thinking". Your mind will execute the shot you "SEE" in your visualization. To execute something your mind works on "pictures" you see in it, not on "thoughts" you think. This is the key to the kingdom. Example, you see a shot your not confident in, most people instantly start thinking "I don't want to over cut this ball" over & over not realizing that by thinking this obsessively you create a picture in your mind where the ball is overcut, after this agonizing process and creating a picture of that without even realizing it by focusing on what you "DON'T" want to happen you get down, stroke and promptly overcut the ball. Then you're furious about it because you've missed but your subconscious is ecstatic because it just executed the picture you presented it by thinking about what you didn't want to do. Understand? It's really that simple. All the other stuff, fear of what you'll look like to the crowd watching, fear of missing the money ball, pressure at a hill hill game, pressure of the $, etc, that's all self created crap, fear is not a real thing, pressure is not a real thing, the only place they exist is in your mind in your conscious thoughts, your thoughts create fear, they create pressure, no one or nothing can you make you feel fear or pressure, only you can by "thinking"about it giving it life and a foothold. Fear & pressure is a choice YOU make. There are no pressure shots, a tough shot on the case ball in a hill hill match for a large sum of $ has no pressure, only that which you apply to it with conscious thoughts, it's just a shot, no different than any other shot you make effortlessly while practicing alone & to view it any other way via "feeling" pressure to make it or "fearing" missing it is a creation of your mind. Pressure is a choice, fear is a choice that only you make. You can choose to feel it but most importantly you can choose not to feel it, that is known as heart, choosing not to feel it. You will either rule your mind or it will rule you. So to end this I will say some of you are reading this and "thinking", "we'll that's easier said than done". My reply to you, "There you go thinking again". Think about that.



Why am I the Colonel? Because I always get the chicken
Click to expand...


You're all over the place with this, which I guess kind of goes with your location being from 'out there.' From what I can decipher from your extremely long paragraph, I think you make some pretty good points, but not all are relevant to the initial question. For example: A pre shot routine isn't always going to deal with a player's netagive auto-emtional response to his opponent who just got a lucky roll; especially when his opponent is still at the table. By the time he gets to the table, his pre shot routine won't erase the increased heart rate, the increased cortisol production, and negative self-talk that has already taken place in the chair.

Recognizing the trigger and stopping the negative response, or at least, nipping it ASAP will be the most beneficial to the player.
 
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FranCrimi said:
You're all over the place with this, which I guess kind of goes with your location being from 'out there.' From what I can decipher from your extremely long paragraph, I think you make some pretty good points, but not all are relevant to the initial question. For example: A pre shot routine isn't always going to deal with a player's netagive auto-emtional response to his opponent who just got a lucky roll; especially when his opponent is still at the table. By the time he gets to the table, his pre shot routine won't erase the increased heart rate, the increased cortisol production, and negative self-talk that has already taken place in the chair.

Recognizing the trigger and stopping the negative response, or at least, nipping it ASAP will be the most beneficial to the player.
Click to expand...

Well I'm not a writer so I do ramble, I'm not a psychologist so I'm not familiar with terms like trigger & self talk & such. What I am is a pool player & I understand how the mind works. In my first post in this thread I cover his reactions to lucky rolls & such. In this game you can't control rolls by others or really control anything they do & to focus on them is detracting from what you can control. My latest post while rambling is what's worked for me in this game. Understanding that conscious thought is a very small part of it. That it should be confined to the initial portion of your preshot routine where you decide on a course of action. Understanding that successful execution is accomplished by then visualizing the positive result of your plan, "seeing it" in your minds eye thereby having a disconnect where the conscious thinking self talking mind is shut down allowing the subconscious which is what controls muscle memory, to take over and execute the positive visualization you saw in your mind. To understand that the thinking, self talk as you refer to it is the realm of the conscious mind has a very small place in this game. That you need to understand this & that the you need to get the conscious & subconscious to work in concert with one another, each understanding it's place to reach the highest level of this game & this occurs in the pre shot routine through what I described. Most importantly understanding that fear & pressure aren't tangible entities, they are a creation of your mind. That they are a choice & you can choose not to feel them by not creating them with the self talk of the conscious mind as that's the only place they exist. What you speak of as far as increased heart rate & cortisol production goes they are a physiological reaction & both can be controlled through breathing. As I said in my last post perhaps my perceptions would turn the light on for "some" & I hope it does. Understanding the principles I discussed will lead to a quantum leap in your pool game if you can implement them by shutting down the self talk of the conscious mind.


Why am I the Colonel? Because I always get the chicken
 
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I like the Colonels secret recipe

You my friend are dead on in most of what you have written however I personally would alter a bit of what you have written about pressure.

Here is the deal as I see it. Pressure is real and there is no denying it. When a match gets close there is pressure or as an example lets say you are competing in an Olympics games, when you are participating in a once in a lifetime event like this there is going to be pressure. Noone can rationally look at an action performed in the Olympics as the same thing as an action performed in practice. One of them has added pressure to the situation because the truth is an athlete has much more desire to perform good in the Olympics than he does in practice and if anyone tries to deny that they are just trying to fool their self imo.

The thing to realize that is key here though is this. Pressure is not a negative emotion. Pressure itself is not any emotion for that matter. Too many people associate pressure with fear but that does not have to be the case. Pressure can be perceived as something good. It can be the fuel to help you control your emotional state in order to reach what sports psychologist refer to as an optimum arousal level. I heard once that most world records were set in pressure situations and whether it's true or not I am going to believe it.

There are many strategies for using pressure to reach peak performance some of which you have spoke of. The basic philosophy is that pressure can be percieved in a way as something that caused an elevation in excitment and excitement to a performer is like water, too little and you die of dehydration and too much and you drown but you need a certain amount of it to perform optimally or live if you wil.. Therefore the key to using pressure is finding the optimum level of excitement and using strategies to keep you there.

The reason I bring this up is not to argue with your post because it was great and I liked it but I feel there is a danger in believing that pressure is something that is bad and can be eliminated. It is much better and accurate imo to view pressure as something that can be good and can be worked with.
 
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(((Satori))) said:
You my friend are dead on in most of what you have written however I personally would alter a bit of what you have written about pressure.

Here is the deal as I see it. Pressure is real and there is no denying it. When a match gets close there is pressure or as an example lets say you are competing in an Olympics games, when you are participating in a once in a lifetime event like this there is going to be pressure. Noone can rationally look at an action performed in the Olympics as the same thing as an action performed in practice. One of them has added pressure to the situation because the truth is an athlete has much more desire to perform good in the Olympics than he does in practice and if anyone tries to deny that they are just trying to fool their self imo.

The thing to realize that is key here though is this. Pressure is not a negative emotion. Pressure itself is not any emotion for that matter. Too many people associate pressure with fear but that does not have to be the case. Pressure can be perceived as something good. It can be the fuel to help you control your emotional state in order to reach what sports psychologist refer to as an optimum arousal level. I heard once that most world records were set in pressure situations and whether it's true or not I am going to believe it.

There are many strategies for using pressure to reach peak performance some of which you have spoke of. The basic philosophy is that pressure can be percieved in a way as something that caused an elevation in excitment and excitement to a performer is like water, too little and you die of dehydration and too much and you drown but you need a certain amount of it to perform optimally or live if you wil.. Therefore the key to using pressure is finding the optimum level of excitement and using strategies to keep you there.

The reason I bring this up is not to argue with your post because it was great and I liked it but I feel there is a danger in believing that pressure is something that is bad and can be eliminated. It is much better and accurate imo to view pressure as something that can be good and can be worked with.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you enjoyed the post & to a point I understand how you view "pressure" differently but let me give you a different perspective to ponder.

You've been walking since you were a small child. When everyone learns to walk a child's first steps are tentative, there's a concentrated focus because its new and they don't want to fall. But once learned that changes & you don't think about it at all, it's just something you do without thought. Now let me place you on a 2 foot wide ledge on top of a 20 story building and ask you to walk that ledge for 50 yards. 99% of people would be freaked out, feeling fear of falling, feeling pressure that 1 misstep will send them plunging 20 stories to their death. Their heart rate rises, their conscious mind blathering be careful, don't look down, they're hyper focused on each step like a small child taking its first steps, stiff, unsure, shaking. Now let me ask you how is walking across that narrow ledge any different than taking a leisurely stroll down a sidewalk 20 stories below on the ground? It isn't any different at all, the only difference is the importance you've put on it by allowing your conscious mind to create pressure with every step. You don't think when you walk down the sidewalk, you just walk and I think it's safe to say as you walk down that sidewalk you don't stray from a 2 foot wide path. My point is everything you do is how you perceive it, that situations don't create fear or pressure, that these are things you create in your mind by allowing your conscious mind to create importance. This is why I say there is no such thing as a pressure shot, that a shot on a money ball or a ball to win the set in a hill hill match is no different than any other shot you make with ease in practice alone, it's just another shot. Any pressure you feel to make it or fear you feel of missing it is purely situational and only because you've allowed your conscious mind to give it added importance. That if you evaluate it that it truly is no different than when you make that shot with ease in practice without even thinking about it. Just like walking across that ledge at 20 stories up where you're hyper focused on each step is no different than walking down the sidewalk 20 stories down where you stroll relaxed without thinking, it's just a matter of perception and any added pressure or fear that you feel is self created by your conscious mind run amok over thinking it. As I've said in my previous 2 posts, this game, once you've learned it's physical properties through thousands of hours of rote repetition & developed proper technique & the muscle memory is then all mental. It's about learning to understand how your mind works & ruling your mind or allowing your mind to rule you. That you don't control anything your opponent does with the exception of placing him in a situation where he has to deal with a safety you've played and likewise him with you. That you shouldn't waste focus on things you can't control, lucky rolls etc because any energy you expend focusing on what you can't control detracts from the energy you can apply to things you can control. That while in the chair you control auto emotional responses to lucky rolls by your opponent through breathing keeping adrenaline & increased heart rate & cortisol production Ms. Crimi spoke of in her post flatlined, feeling nothing. That you learn to understand the place of the conscious & subconscious mind in this game & get them to work together with each knowing its place & that the preshot routine is where this is done, the conscious evaluating and making a decision on a course of action, then disconnecting it by positively visualizing what you've planned seeing it in your mind which activates the subconscious & allowing it to do what it does which is draw on learned muscle memory to perfectly execute what you have positively visualized in your mind. That you understand there is no such thing as fear or pressure, that they are creations of your conscious mind and are generally situational where you allow your conscious thinking, self talking mind to give added importance to a situation, understanding that you can choose to not allow your mind to do this and thereby not feel fear or pressure. You can rule your mind & if you don't it will surely rule you just as sure as the sun is going to rise in the morning, you can count on this fact. We all have seen players that fall apart in what people call "pressure" situations. We all also have seen players that seemingly have ice water running through their veins in these same "pressure" situations. So what's the difference between the hot mess and the cold calculated killer? One has learned to control his mind, one hasn't and as a result one wins and one loses, the question is which one do you desire to be?


Why am I the Colonel? Because I always get the chicken
 
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Colonel said:
I'm glad you enjoyed the post & to a point I understand how you view "pressure" differently but let me give you a different perspective to ponder.

You've been walking since you were a small child. When everyone learns to walk a child's first steps are tentative, there's a concentrated focus because its new and they don't want to fall. But once learned that changes & you don't think about it at all, it's just something you do without thought. Now let me place you on a 2 foot wide ledge on top of a 20 story building and ask you to walk that ledge for 50 yards. 99% of people would be freaked out, feeling fear of falling, feeling pressure that 1 misstep will send them plunging 20 stories to their death. Their heart rate rises, their conscious mind blathering be careful, don't look down, they're hyper focused on each step like a small child taking its first steps, stiff, unsure, shaking. Now let me ask you how is walking across that narrow ledge any different than taking a leisurely stroll down a sidewalk 20 stories below on the ground? It isn't any different at all, the only difference is the importance you've put on it by allowing your conscious mind to create pressure with every step. You don't think when you walk down the sidewalk, you just walk and I think it's safe to say as you walk down that sidewalk you don't stray from a 2 foot wide path. My point is everything you do is how you perceive it, that situations don't create fear or pressure, that these are things you create in your mind by allowing your conscious mind to create importance. This is why I say there is no such thing as a pressure shot, that a shot on a money ball or a ball to win the set in a hill hill match is no different than any other shot you make with ease in practice alone, it's just another shot. Any pressure you feel to make it or fear you feel of missing it is purely situational and only because you've allowed your conscious mind to give it added importance. That if you evaluate it that it truly is no different than when you make that shot with ease in practice without even thinking about it. Just like walking across that ledge at 20 stories up where you're hyper focused on each step is no different than walking down the sidewalk 20 stories down where you stroll relaxed without thinking, it's just a matter of perception and any added pressure or fear that you feel is self created by your conscious mind run amok over thinking it. As I've said in my previous 2 posts, this game, once you've learned it's physical properties through thousands of hours of rote repetition & developed proper technique & the muscle memory is then all mental. It's about learning to understand how your mind works & ruling your mind or allowing your mind to rule you. That you don't control anything your opponent does with the exception of placing him in a situation where he has to deal with a safety you've played and likewise him with you. That you shouldn't waste focus on things you can't control, lucky rolls etc because any energy you expend focusing on what you can't control detracts from the energy you can apply to things you can control. That while in the chair you control auto emotional responses to lucky rolls by your opponent through breathing keeping adrenaline & increased heart rate & cortisol production Ms. Crimi spoke of in her post flatlined, feeling nothing. That you learn to understand the place of the conscious & subconscious mind in this game & get them to work together with each knowing its place & that the preshot routine is where this is done, the conscious evaluating and making a decision on a course of action, then disconnecting it by positively visualizing what you've planned seeing it in your mind which activates the subconscious & allowing it to do what it does which is draw on learned muscle memory to perfectly execute what you have positively visualized in your mind. That you understand there is no such thing as fear or pressure, that they are creations of your conscious mind and are generally situational where you allow your conscious thinking, self talking mind to give added importance to a situation, understanding that you can choose to not allow your mind to do this and thereby not feel fear or pressure. You can rule your mind & if you don't it will surely rule you just as sure as the sun is going to rise in the morning, you can count on this fact. We all have seen players that fall apart in what people call "pressure" situations. We all also have seen players that seemingly have ice water running through their veins in these same "pressure" situations. So what's the difference between the hot mess and the cold calculated killer? One has learned to control his mind, one hasn't and as a result one wins and one loses, the question is which one do you desire to be?


Why am I the Colonel? Because I always get the chicken
Click to expand...

The techniques you are talking about tells me that you know what you are saying. Breathing to center yourself, not sweating what you can't control, using a pre shot routine and shooting rhythm to quite the left brain activity, visualizing the shot and letting it happen, they are all good things... in fact I have touted most of them as ways to play on here many times before myself... as have some others.

Where we disagree though is with how we percieve pressure. We are not really far off on that either. Just the fact that you have some techniques to control it let's me know that it is real and something that in spite of your claim of being set free from it you do feel it to. The truth is we all feel it at times and there is no reason to deny it. It isnt a bad thing. You and I deal with it a lot of the same ways too. The difference is that I choose to view it as something natural that happens and as something that can bring good consequences as long as it is managed well and you word it as a thing that must be eliminated.
 
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BasementDweller said:
Where does reality come into play when discussing one's mental game?

We see all this talk about improving your mental game but maybe the reason someone's mental game isn't very good to begin with is because they aren't honest with themselves when it comes to rating their own skill level.

This knife cuts both ways and it probably hurts me much more than it does those that I play with. Here's what I mean -- when it comes to assessing my own abilities I know where I really stand. I know that I'm not an elite player, although I am getting better and I'm beginning to believe in myself more and more but really my mental game is tied to what I KNOW I can do on the practice table and not some pretend version of myself -- the guy that never misses a ball and constantly runs out.

I play with some other guys that THINK they are much better than they actually are. What often happens is they get so frustrated with their game when they miss balls that I've seen them miss quite often. I always think to myself that I've seen them miss that shot so often why do they expect otherwise? But at the same time, these guys often times perform better in tournament settings than you would think they would. They come through and manage to run out some tables that they really weren't the favorite to complete. So in a sense being overconfident can be an advantage because these players think they should never miss a ball and they step to the table with thought in their head.

I don't know really. I'm starting to think that having this overconfidence is probably a good thing when it comes to competing but it's a bad thing when it comes to improving. I suppose I care more about improving at this point but I sure could use a bit of their confidence at times.
Click to expand...

There's a saying I came across awhile ago and I can never seem to find it again, but I'm pretty sure it was by either Billie Jean King or Arthur Ashe, and it went something like this: Being a champion sometimes means having to overcome reality.

I agree that overconfidence is better and probably necessary.
 
Pavlov is in the pub enjoying a pint when the phone rings. He jumps up and yells, "Oh crap! I forgot to feed the dog!"
 
colonel'
your posts have alot of good information....:thumbup:
if you make spaces so that its not one loooong paragraph it would make them easier to read...:smile:
 
You might find this article of interest, several others have found the ideas useful.

The link is to three newspaper articles I wrote several years ago and then combined into one paper. At points it is is a bit redundant. I just never had the inclination to revise it.

http://billiards.colostate.edu/PBReview/Competitive_Anxiety.htm

With thanks to Dr Dave for storing my work on his web site. There are actually seven other articles in this series on the mental game. You can find them by clicking on the link at the bottom of the first article.

BTW Here is what psychology (as I distilled it) has to say about improving the concentration used in your mental game.

http://billiards.colostate.edu/PBReview/Learning_Mental_Control.pdf

Both of these articles address issues raised in the first post. None of the things I have written are copyrighted and can be freely used by anyone for any reason.
 
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I would add that the triggers should be challenged. Ask yourself how you know them to be true. They aren't. You also need to believe in your response.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
on the right track

You're on the right track.......


Colonel said:
I think the mental game is the most neglected aspect amongst pool players. First you have to develop a game which is only done through practice, continuous rote repetition creating muscle memory. Once that is achieved how do you get to the next level? That's where I believe your mental state can bring a quantum leap to your game. A solid pre shot routine that does not waver no matter the circumstance where your conscious mind evaluates the situation and makes a conscious decision on your course of action before getting down on the shot. Then for me the last step before getting down is once I've made this conscious decision I visualize the end result, literally seeing it in my mind, at this point there has to be a disconnect where you switch off your conscious mind and allow your subconscious mind to take over and execute what you visualize understanding that all of this is the formulation of a rock solid pre shot routine that must never waver in its consistency. Getting your conscious and unconscious mind to work in concert with each other, each knowing its part and place. Understanding you do not control lucky rolls your opponent gets or really anything that he does with the exception of how he reacts to the situation you leave him in, IE safeties. Focusing on what you can't control only detracts from your ability to focus on what you can control. Lastly and most important to me and what I think is the most critical to anyone is what people call pressure. No one can apply pressure to you except you. Match circumstances, IE, you're behind, hooked, shooting the case ball, the $, the crowd etc do not make whatever shot you have in front of you any different than the first shot in the match or any shot you take while practicing alone, no matter the circumstance it's just a shot, there is no pressure, just a shot to be executed and to look at it any other way only detracts from your ability to execute it. Fear is not a tangible entity, neither is pressure, the only place that fear or pressure exists is in your mind and whether you choose to feel them or not feel them is a choice you make, no one can make you feel it, only you can. You can choose not to feel it. When you realize this it will set you free.


Why am I the Colonel? Because I always get the chicken
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