mental issues again

[Train1077]

My weak side in pool is my disbelief in myself, recently I spoke with a friends with the same problem, we think we are getting worse even though we practise a lot. Loosing to newcommers of pool etc. etc. Is there such a thing as playing too much, that would make it worse?? how does one come to trust himself and his pool hence the disbelief in myself. Maybe that is just who I am, but will this prevent me from ever being great at pool??

 

[sixpack]

My weak side in pool is my disbelief in myself, recently I spoke with a friends with the same problem, we think we are getting worse even though we practise a lot. Loosing to newcommers of pool etc. etc. Is there such a thing as playing too much, that would make it worse?? how does one come to trust himself and his pool hence the disbelief in myself. Maybe that is just who I am, but will this prevent me from ever being great at pool??

For me this is usually because I am associating too much with the outcome and forgetting the process and joy of making balls.

To get out of it, just go to the pool hall, throw some balls on the table and shoot them in. Just keep shooting. Don't play position, don't think, don't even aim any more than you have to. Just shoot. Throw up balls. Shoot. Repeat.

If balls are tied up, just break them up with your hand. Shoot in whatever order you want. Just keep shooting.

Do this for a 2 or 3 hour session. By the end of it you'll be making balls like crazy. Just enjoy it. Don't practice anything else afterwards. Sleep immediately after you get home.

Generally the next time I get to the table after doing this, I'm firing them in from everywhere.

~rc

 

[okinawa77]

Ego

My weak side in pool is my disbelief in myself, recently I spoke with a friends with the same problem, we think we are getting worse even though we practise a lot. Loosing to newcommers of pool etc. etc. Is there such a thing as playing too much, that would make it worse?? how does one come to trust himself and his pool hence the disbelief in myself. Maybe that is just who I am, but will this prevent me from ever being great at pool??

Let go of your Ego.

Your Ego is getting in the way. You think you should beat newbies, or you think you aren't good enough. That's your Ego talking.

Focus on your love for the game. It's not about you. It's about painting a moving canvas. It's art in motion.

In practice, remember...quantity isn't always the key to success...the quality of your practice is more important.

Seek continual improvement. Become a student of the game.
If you make an error, ask you yourself WHY did it happen.
Then ask yourself WHAT can I do to prevent making that error again.

Being a student of the game is about viewing every pool experience as a lesson. At the end of the day, ask yourself...did I learn anything?


I once had a teammate ask me how I was able to make the game winning shot, even though there is a lot of pressure to win.
I told him, I just think to myself....I've seen this shot in practice a million times, it's easy. And all the pressure melts away.

Practice is a diagnostic tool. You are analyzing your mistakes and making corrections. You are dialing in the conditions of play....calibrating your aim, stroke, CB position, etc...
And you are building up your confidence in your game. If you have a shot that you practice, and you can execute it perfectly 100%.....then why would you not be confident that you can execute it during competition?

You think you are practicing too much....maybe you're not practicing enough.

If you think I'm speaking harshly, consider this....I'm am also saying these things to myself.
Sometimes, my Ego gets in the way....and what I have just said, is my way of getting my head on straight.
If fact, I'm just copied this text and made a document. I'm going to make a print out, and put it in my cue case. I think it would be good for me to read it before my pool playing sessions.

Let the Good Times Roll,
Mathew

 

[Cameron Smith]

My weak side in pool is my disbelief in myself, recently I spoke with a friends with the same problem, we think we are getting worse even though we practise a lot. Loosing to newcommers of pool etc. etc. Is there such a thing as playing too much, that would make it worse?? how does one come to trust himself and his pool hence the disbelief in myself. Maybe that is just who I am, but will this prevent me from ever being great at pool??

Confidence comes from experiance. You will trust your ability to run out after you have done it a million times.

Make sure you are focusing on the shot at hand and not too much on the big picture. I think it is possible to try too hard to run out, that you end up shooting yourself in the foot.

Some important things to remember and I've been guilty of all of them at one point or another.

1. After a bad session, analyze what went wrong, take your lessons and then forget the session. Make sure you remember that is not how you play, or else you might take a poor attitude with you to your next outing.

2. Try to avoid overestimating your ability. If you expect yourself to perform better than you are capable of on a regular basis, it will only lead to frustration and you will ultimately play worse.

3. There are no magic bullets. Improvement is gradual. There are some lessons you may learn that will yield quick and excellent results but nothing happens over night. Everyone I know who insisted they found some sort of 'secret' has ended up in a slump within a week. But the truth is they weren't playing any worse than they ever did, they just thought they were.

4. Have fun. If your not enjoying playing or practicing, stop. It's taken me a looooooong time to learn how to do this.

Keep pluggin away, and you'll improve if you practice the right things.

 

[3kushn]

Confidence comes from experiance. You will trust your ability to run out after you have done it a million times.

Make sure you are focusing on the shot at hand and not too much on the big picture. I think it is possible to try too hard to run out, that you end up shooting yourself in the foot.

Some important things to remember and I've been guilty of all of them at one point or another.

1. After a bad session, analyze what went wrong, take your lessons and then forget the session. Make sure you remember that is not how you play, or else you might take a poor attitude with you to your next outing.

2. Try to avoid overestimating your ability. If you expect yourself to perform better than you are capable of on a regular basis, it will only lead to frustration and you will ultimately play worse.

3. There are no magic bullets. Improvement is gradual. There are some lessons you may learn that will yield quick and excellent results but nothing happens over night. Everyone I know who insisted they found some sort of 'secret' has ended up in a slump within a week. But the truth is they weren't playing any worse than they ever did, they just thought they were.

4. Have fun. If your not enjoying playing or practicing, stop. It's taken me a looooooong time to learn how to do this.

Keep pluggin away, and you'll improve if you practice the right things.

Great post Cameron,

Hope you don't mind me expanding with some of my thoughts.

1. I forget who coined this phrase: "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you will always be right."

2. Overestimating your ability? Enough said.

3. Have a purpose in your practice session. Break down the game into specific areas and practice and practice some more, specific things. If it's a type of shot you have problems with set it up over and over again. What makes this game so wonderful is its complexity. Some things aren't as they seem. You may be attacking a certain type of shot totally wrong. Experiment with totally different strokes, English, speed and hits. Concentrate on observing the results.

4. Sometimes we pick up bad habits we never had before and don't know it. They sometimes go away with a short layoff.

"Practice the right things" Consistency - stance, bridge, stroke, follow through... thin cuts, long straight ins, CB control, speed... And again, pay attention to the results, not only if the ball dropped, but what else happened. Did the CB go exactly where you wanted, did you hit too hard or soft.... over cut, under cut, why?

Playing games is not practice. It's competition. Randomly hitting balls on a table can only be practice if you're working on fundamentals ie stance bridge stroke, rhythm...

Practice has the specific purpose of learning a specific thing for a specific outcome.

 

[Spimp13]

I am curious how when you say you practice a lot, how often is that? On top of that what are you doing to "practice"? Playing games with friends may seem like practice but that is only a fraction of what I consider practice and it may not really be good practice for you. You might need to expand more on this. Not knowing your skill level can be tough to analyze this on our end. I consider practice to also include playing in a tournament even if it is cheap, gambling which some don't like to do but definitely tests you under a pressure situation, as well as doing drills and setting up shots. Ego or overestimating your ability are two things I completely agree with what has been posted on here. I tell players on my APA team be humble including telling myself when going into a match. Cockiness is a recipe for a loss. When you are humble and then win not only do you look like a better person for doing this, it has a spillover affect on your friends that are with you.

What makes you think you may be getting worse? These newcomers you speak of, are you missing more shots then you normally do since they are newcomers and it is more of a mental thing, or has that not changed and you still think you should be beating them?

Depending on your skill level once you get to a certain point pool seems to switch from less of a technique thing, to more of a mental transition. This of course doesn't mean technique isn't important, because bad technique = missed shots or missed shape or etc etc....but hopefully you get my point when saying confidence and your mental toughness play a big factor when playing people which may include newcomers. I am a 7 in APA and if Scott Lee or one of the other BCA instructors saw me shoot they may wonder how the heck I am able to be at the handicap I am at lol!? I have monster confidence that I will outshoot, and out smart with safeties my oponent regardless of their handicap WHILE at the same time being humble about it. Hope this helps a bit, your situation is potentially somewhere between a very simple and possibly complex one!!

 

[Roger Long]

The book, Pleasures of Small Motions by Bob Fancher, Ph.D. ISBN 1-58574-539-1, and usually available through Bebob Publishing, can answer all your questions on this subject.

Roger

 

[Rethunk]

The book, Pleasures of Small Motions by Bob Fancher, Ph.D. ISBN 1-58574-539-1, and usually available through Bebob Publishing, can answer all your questions on this subject.

Roger

I second this recommendation. Great book.