mental problem!

The8reader

The8reader

does this help! haha
Silver Member
I play pool all the time. and i play on leauge nights...

Why is it that i can shoot the lights out when i practice and play people that are at my level and we can shoot all day with only a handfull of bad games. But as soon as i play someone in leauge that couldent tell the side pocket from a hole in the groud, i cant hardly beat them..

So my question is, does this happen to everyone?? How does a sucky player bring you down sooo much?? I know that i start to get annoyed with them, I know that dosent help but its like once i play one crappy person on a team its all down hill from there.. I dont lose alot but some games sure get dragged out...

is it just the way of the world. And i have tried to think in my head "hey they are a really good player take them out" then i see them play and ya all out the window. any advise on this would help.

oh and i dont play on a very high level of leauge, hard to move up in ours. its not like the apa, also my team just a bunch of drunks. so im the only one that practices and such. so i wont be moveing up anytime soon so i have to play people not so good at pool.
 
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don't worry about who your playing just play the table

if that doesn't work try cannabis j/k ;)
 
Most people have that problem.
In your mind you have already won, you can pretend they are good but your subconscious knows better.
When you tell yourself something, your left half of the brain is using words, but your right half of the brain doesn’t care as it likes pictures and feelings.
Since, you are getting bored and upset your right half of the brain short circuits and cannot execute.
Just a small part of a theory. :)
 
scrappy said:
don't worry about who your playing just play the table

if that doesn't work try cannabis j/k ;)
Click to expand...



haha i try that.. i just trying to understand how they can make me so bad. and its hard to play table when they move everything around every shot haha.. also how do they get so lucky. that is the other thing. everytime they seem to miss i am just stuck haha.. so they eather really suck or are so good they make it look like they suck and leave me traped every time haha idk.
 
Wolven said:
Most people have that problem.
In your mind you have already won, you can pretend they are good but your subconscious knows better.
When you tell yourself something, your left half of the brain is using words, but your right half of the brain doesn’t care as it likes pictures and feelings.
Since, you are getting bored and upset your right half of the brain short circuits and cannot execute.
Just a small part of a theory. :)
Click to expand...

that is good information. and when you said the right side like pics and stuff.. i think that my be what is getting me. cuz pool is a beautiful game. and these people ruin that pic for me haha.
 
The8reader said:
I play pool all the time. and i play on leauge nights...

Why is it that i can shoot the lights out when i practice and play people that are at my level and we can shoot all day with only a handfull of bad games. But as soon as i play someone in leauge that couldent tell the side pocket from a hole in the groud, i cant hardly beat them..

So my question is, does this happen to everyone?? How does a sucky player bring you down sooo much?? I know that i start to get annoyed with them, I know that dosent help but its like once i play one crappy person on a team its all down hill from there.. I dont lose alot but some games sure get dragged out...

is it just the way of the world. And i have tried to think in my head "hey they are a really good player take them out" then i see them play and ya all out the window. any advise on this would help.

oh and i dont play on a very high level of leauge, hard to move up in ours. its not like the apa, also my team just a bunch of drunks. so im the only one that practices and such. so i wont be moveing up anytime soon so i have to play people not so good at pool.
Click to expand...

I think at this point it is becoming a "self fulfilling prophecy". Instead of just playing like you do in practice, you are waiting for disaster to happen and not being disappointed. Another thing that may effect you as it does me even after all these years. You are playing with others depending on you and not just for yourself. Man, that can be more pressure then betting your last dollar for some people.

If anyone had the real formula of how not to dog it they could write a book and get rich. I guess at some point you have to just not give a sh!t and play. You may be surprised how well you can play when you just don't care, let it happen and stop see in every way things can go wrong.
 
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macguy said:
If anyone had the real formula of how not to dog it they could write a book and get rich. I guess at some point you have to just not give a sh!t and play. You may be surprised how well you can play when you just don't care, let it happen and stop see in every way things can go wrong.
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that sounds good.. im glad its just not me..
 
What I do... I just imagine I'm playing the ghost...as I do in my practice.
 
Never be happy!

manav said:
What I do... I just imagine I'm playing the ghost...as I do in my practice.
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It is hard to play people who are not well skilled. When we play great players we say to ourselves, I need to play well against this guy and usually do. Against lesser players we may say this guy can't beat me, I just need to hang around for my win! There lies the problem. Forget your opp and play, no matter what their skill level. Never be happy to play someone because they don't have great skills. They will sneak up on you. As someone said, play the table. If you really are focused you should forget that you have an opp.
 
There are several components to the mental game and the competitive player needs to master all of them to play at the highest level.

You have to know and understand your own unconscious to some extent. You have to know why you play and what you expect from the game. Your conscious mind and your unconscious mind need to get along when you pursue a win. If you truly berate yourself your unconscious will get even and you will lose the game, money or prestige, whatever you were trying to achieve. If you do not know why you play you are prone to the stress and anxiety a match induces.

You need to understand your own subconscious and how it works. It is the real pool player in you and you have to learn to guide this process while allowing it free expression.

You have to learn the ability to fully concentrate on a shot and then withdraw this concentration as you move in and out of the playing position. Unless you have resolved the “issues” with your unconscious and subconscious your ability to concentrate will be reduced.

Any of these three areas could be hurting your game.


Here are a few links to articles I have written on these topics with my sincere thanks to Dr Dave for hosting the articles from my old web site.

http://billiards.colostate.edu/PBReview/index.html

For information about the unconscious and concentration see “Competitive Anxiety” and “Hypnosis and Pool” and “Learning Mental Control”

For information about subconscious control see, “Fake it till you make it,” “Seeing is Believing”, “Self Talk works”, “Changing bad Habits” and “Imagery.”

Concentration is also discussed under “Learning mental control.”
 
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Q

I play a guy occasionally that plays the game like crap. He takes all kinds of crazy shots that are completely nuts. He tries to impress everyone with spin and lots of english. In my mind, I tell myself, "ok you wanna play like that, I'm not going to let you win one single game". I bear down as hard as I can so as to not let him win a single game. Usually within an hour he is crying about not being able to win a game. The sad thing is this guy is actually a pretty good ball maker, he just likes to try crazy stuff, then gets upset (which tickles the hell out of me) when he doesn't win.
As stated before, forget who you are playing. Mentally bear down as hard as possible so as not to let them win a single game. When you get to the table there should be only one thing on your mind....... PUNISH them for missing or taking the wrong shot!!
The other part of the game is relax and have fun. Don't put undue pressure on yourself. Relax and play to your ability. When it stops being fun, usually things go sour.
 
Make a bet with yourself. If you can't win in 3 innings at the table, concede the win to them.
 
Ghosst said:
Make a bet with yourself. If you can't win in 3 innings at the table, concede the win to them.
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i like this.. ALOT cuz i hate to lose. REALLY hate to lose.. and to also answer another question. Why do I play pool.. I Play pool cuz it feels like home.. When i was younger and my mom was workin at a bar, that is all i would do is play. i would play with all the bar flies. idk the game just reminds me of home and back in the good old days... also its the only game my friends dont stand a chance to win against me. so i do strive to get better..

Brings up a new question. Why do you play pool? and does it affect how you play?

i have never given it much thought and now i have a good idea and i think this will help my game greatly thank you much everyone..
 
JoeW said:
There are several components to the mental game and the competitive player needs to master all of them to play at the highest level.

You have to know and understand your own unconscious to some extent. You have to know why you play and what you expect from the game. Your conscious mind and your unconscious mind need to get along when you pursue a win. If you truly berate yourself your unconscious will get even and you will lose the game, money or prestige, whatever you were trying to achieve. If you do not know why you play you are prone to the stress and anxiety a match induces.

You need to understand your own subconscious and how it works. It is the real pool player in you and you have to learn to guide this process while allowing it free expression.

You have to learn the ability to fully concentrate on a shot and then withdraw this concentration as you move in and out of the playing position. Unless you have resolved the “issues” with your unconscious and subconscious your ability to concentrate will be reduced.

Any of these three areas could be hurting your game.


Here are a few links to articles I have written on these topics with my sincere thanks to Dr Dave for hosting the articles from my old web site.

http://billiards.colostate.edu/PBReview/index.html

For information about the unconscious and concentration see “Competitive Anxiety” and “Hypnosis and Pool” and “Learning Mental Control”

For information about subconscious control see, “Fake it till you make it,” “Seeing is Believing”, “Self Talk works”, “Changing bad Habits” and “Imagery.”

Concentration is also discussed under “Learning mental control.”
Click to expand...


Great link thank you.
 
Playing games with no real consequences leaves you free to take iffy or low-percentage shots or run patterns you normally wouldn't run under competitive pressure. Pucker factor goes up when the game counts against your rating or team standing or some wager is at stake. A tense, less fluid stroke, and zero tolerance of low-percentage shots are usual side effects. You may also see someone miss a couple of really easy shots and start to think this is going to be easy so you relax. Always a bad idea because you might not notice that those easy shots your opponent missed have the unintended consequence of moving the balls around (usually a lot!), and usually into unforeseen patterns that can be difficult to shoot out of quickly or they produce hard to break clusters or blocking balls on key pockets. Now things are starting to look pretty messy just when you thought you had things in the bag and your fluid practice stroke has deserted you. And then, darn it all, to add insult to injury, this dude who can't shot ducks in a pond, gets lucky a couple of times and they are suddenly a hair away from winning and you're about to get a big, fat donut on your side of the win-loss ledger.

This sort of thing happens all the time. Best advice I'd give is to 1) practice like you play in competition. If you shoot tight and careful in competition or when there's something at stake, practice that way too. Make your practice time as serious as your competitive time. 2) Play the table, not your opponent. The only thought I really want in my head about my opponent is that I'm going to try like heck not to let them come to the table. When and if my opponent is shooting, I'm thinking about what I'm going to do next if I get up to the table. I'm not thinking about how I just handed a putzer a golden opportunity to beat me or the run-out artist the keys to the magic kingdom.

I'll also note here that a common human failure is that we tend to think more of our abilities than perhaps is warranted by results. The corollary to that is we also tend to think less of our opponents' abilities than usually is wise.

And if you play because you want to "win," you're probably doomed to lose more often than not no matter the skill level of your opponent. For me, the game really is about deriving pleasure from shooting through a rack with precision, stroke and creativity that makes the damnable balls move into the pockets in the way I envisioned. That's really hard to do, but doing it makes me want to come back and again and again. When it happens, it's a rush and a singular experience. My opponent is just there to make the task as hard as possible because if it was easy I wouldn't see much point in doing it. This feeling is all the more sweet when accomplished against a tougher opponent, but a well executed shot is always a well executed shot no matter whether your opponent is strong or weak.
 
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