More important: Head or heart?

[Bob Callahan]

I mentioned in a thread a couple of months ago that a friend raised up from a shot and said something like: "My head says this won't go, but my heart says it will". He made the shot. How often have you had a shot lined up, thought it was wrong, then made an adjustment and missed?

 

[Baxter]

Too many times to count.

 

[C.Milian]

*Follow Your Heart*

 

[PoolGrapevine]

really think u need both.

 

[Kimmo]

I think you absolutely need both. One can not become a top player without having both. While heart will not make technically impossible shot happen, it will help you out of a tight spot.

I guess you could even say that someone of lesser experience will be in many cases relying on the intuition much more than someone that has a wealth of experience. Obviously the intuition did not make the ball drop but the fact that your "information" your head was relying on was simply wrong or incomplete. Intuition is just there to help you point this out.

Having just participated in a bootcamp with Alex Lely and Johan Ruijsink in Holland, I saw some shots that I would have previously considered just "wrong" or "impossible". However when Alex demonstrated it in detail and taught us to do the shot, my "shot database" in my head got an update and suddenly this shot was no longer impossible but very much a viable option.

So to cut a long story short, it is not so much about whether it is the head or the intuition, but actually it is the fact that your head does not know everything.

As a matter of fact, I do not even consider heart = intuition. To me heart is about being able to dig deep when the going gets tough.

cheers,
Kimmo