My head hurts

ball-banger

ball-banger

I hate this damn game!
Silver Member
Hello everyone.. I recently started playing straight pool. It's a great game and I am totally hooked. I realize that it takes a while to learn and get good at it, but after every session I leave with headache from thinking too hard. Did this happen to you all when first learning the game? No pain, no gain I guess. Sorry for posting another newbie question. I don't remember reading about this in any other threads. Haven't been here that long, though:grin:
 
And believe me the headaches dont go away...........

it is real hard to stay that focussed for that long and have it not take a beating on your head, thats why i like to take my little water breaks in between racks !

have a drink, wipe off your cue and then return to the table with a clear head. dismissing every shot from the previous rack, and treating the upcomming rack as a fresh rack....

hope this helps.
Steve
 
LOTS of headaches learning this game...

In fact, I was practicing last night and it was just one of those times where you can't seem to get anything going. I actually wanted to leave because I felt I was just wasting my time - but I'm one of those who believes in shooting your way out of a slump. And what frustrates me most is the guys who run hundreds make it look SO EASY.
 
I am the same, and I can't agree with you more about fighting your way through a slump !

Good luck
steve
 
Push through the headaches!!!!! Take a water break like Steve said. Number one don't get frustrated, keep your emotions in check. It is not a fast paced game like 9-ball. it isn't a fast pace practice either.

ignore the short runs of 1 or 5....................just rerack or start from the point you missed with a clear head. Walk away if you need to.

My highest runs have come after a handful of missed break shots or just plain old "puke" on myself misses. But, if I didn't fight though it I would have never seen my highs!!!!

GOOD LUCK!

Mike
 
Thanks for the encouraging words fellas:thumbup: It's kind of funny, I concentrate like crazy and get mad when I miss, but I never keep track of how many balls I run. There haven't been any huge runs, i'm sure, but i'll start keeping track from now on. Thanks again and hit 'em straight!
 
keeping track

Be careful not to try and keep track of how many balls you ran in your head. Use the score counter at the end of each run, just like in a game.
If you try to keep track in your head it will just mess with your game and and shorten your runs. You end up thinking about how many have been run instead of the next shot. It also adds alot of pressure as you get close to your previous high run and adds random thoughts (if I make this shot....) you do not want or need.
Good Luck and have FUN.

Andy
 
How do you get the count out of your head? If I'm playing and someone asks how many balls I'm on I always know. I would like any hints, tips or suggestions on keeping the mind clear. (Yeah, it's a tall order!)

The other Andy
 
What I do is count racks. So every time I run a rack I put a 1 on the counter. That helps for me...................until I get to 4 cause my high run is 69 and I know one more rack and I am there................

The "self pressure" is a killer. But counting balls makes it even harder. So I just try and get through a rack, so I can click the counter again!!

Either way you know where you are and it starts to weigh on your mind!!!

Mike
 
I find if I switch to 9 ball after some 14.1, I am counting balls in 9 ball!
 
Concentration

There is no doubt that 14.1 requires a lot of concentration (not to say other games do not). I was on 39 a couple of weeks ago (my high is 54) and I had an easy 36 inch straight in shot to the lower left corner to bring me down to a behind the pack break ball and I missed it. It is very exhausting to keep up the high level of concentration in 14.1.

In one of his straight pool commentaries, Jeremy Jones said he had to play Mike Zuglan in a straight pool match and he said when he was finished he felt like he had played 4 or 5 nine-ball matches!
 
The Count

It is very hard to keep the count out of your head. I know it took me a long time not to do it.
What I did was in practice to not even count after I had missed, no score counter, no counting the balls on the table, nothing. This allowed me to increase my runs because they did not matter anymore and I was able to concentrate on the shot at hand. I still have an idea of where I am by the balls left on the table but my focus is not on an exact count.
My high run is only 23 but I am running more 15s to 18s now instead of 10s and 12s (or less).
Try just throwing the balls on half of the table and trying to run out, if you miss start over this helped me focus on running the table and not think about what my count was.
I hope this helps, its hard to explain how not to think about something.

Andy
 
Good work

Android said:
It is very hard to keep the count out of your head. I know it took me a long time not to do it.
What I did was in practice to not even count after I had missed, no score counter, no counting the balls on the table, nothing. This allowed me to increase my runs because they did not matter anymore and I was able to concentrate on the shot at hand. I still have an idea of where I am by the balls left on the table but my focus is not on an exact count.
My high run is only 23 but I am running more 15s to 18s now instead of 10s and 12s (or less).
Try just throwing the balls on half of the table and trying to run out, if you miss start over this helped me focus on running the table and not think about what my count was.
I hope this helps, its hard to explain how not to think about something.

Andy
Click to expand...


You are doing good. Keep that up but do rack & set up break shots to start out. You need to get a feel of breaking the rack and working on it.
Keep us posted.
 
Hi Ball-Banger :)

Your question is ABSOLUTLY no newbie-question- ( hate the word newbie anyway- this word is used too often for negative thoughts :p)

As you wrote, you started recently to play pool-billiards. Welcome to the family. It is a great sport- i think i ve choosen this beautiful sport, because it s absolutley your own faul-no matter what s going wrong on the wide green table.

The point you shown up about concentration is very good and asked not only by new players- also many (really many :p) players getting crazy about this-especially if they begun to spend time with playing straight-pool (also my greatest love)- and it s all about training like in any other discipline of pool (or any other sport if u want).
I will try now to show you what i usualy try to transport to everyone who s training with me, asking me or getting lessons...here we go :p

First i wanna start with just a few (really a bit, lol) psychological/mental aspects, which are god-given by nature. Our brain is workin with visul inputs, with nothing else!
So if you re starting your inning- the first thing you do is to go to the table (wow!). Then you try to analyze what you see. Decided for a ball to shoot it into a pocket- and usualy you looking for the next position. Here is the first very big point i try to recommend and give ppl with em on their long way while playing pool-

-you checked how to pocket the ball – Yes
-you checked where you wanna have the position with your best friend (cueball^^)- Yes
-now a good player usualy starting his job- means to go down , gettin into stance, doing your test strokes- deciding if it feels good while aiming at the object-ball- brain says :OKAY buddy- so you shoot it, gettin position and ready!

Ok, that would be the case everyone loves- but the difficult things in this game happens to everyone- what about bad ideas?- while you are lookin for example to get your wanted position- if you re thinkin about what could happen in worst case? THATS a very bad thing! How i shortly wrote before- your brain is workin just with visual pictures- and if you have now this negative visual picture in your head, you have a problem- IT IS THERE!. So go away from the table- and start your whole pre-shot-routine again If you pocket the object ball how you want, and hit the cueball how you want- you ll GET THE POSITION-Basta!. Let there be no room for negative things.

Now the heaviest thing and easiest at the same time: Like the other guys told: You can t keep your concentration at a top level for a whole billiard-game! You can talk tales , the story of your life, you can have a look at the beautiful girls passing your table- all while you re getting your impressions, positions and ideas during your pre-shot routine. There is only one important time- and this is when you get down to shoot it! There are just these important 15-25 seconds whend you re down in your stroke where your concentration have to be in work. Try this in training while playin Equal Offense or also while training with guys, or special drills. Talk with yourself or with your friends- think about washing at home.....until you get down to your stroke! When you started to stroke, and begun your test-strokes, this is the Point of No-Return- you re doin test-strokes, brain says:“ok buddy, that s it“ - shoot it, ready.


Ok Ball-Banger- this article could have been a bit longer- because it s a complexe theme to talk about. And of course i talked about a person, who knows what to do for getting position (technical things, knowledgement etc). I just tried to show you- that noone is able to keep his concentration on a top lvl for hours- and there is no need in billiard ( or sport anyway). Just if you re going down to your stroke AFTER you got all your informations you need to do your shot successfully- then you need to concentrate for these 15-25 seconds. It s a long way to learn it- but it s worth:)
And further it will keep you away from those people who are searching for excuses all the time- i bet you know those guys who have ALWAYS an excuse for everything. But why? All nonsense- It s your table! Noone could disturb you! In the case somethin s wrong, get off the table and start your routine new! As long noone steals your cue or balls all is good!
Just 15-25 seconds of concentration you will need to the top:) (next to your daily drills-patterns of course my friend :p).

And my biggest advice for your whole pool-life: if somethin happens(scratching, don t pocketing etc) get your chalk, KEEP SMILING and sit down and enjoy watching your opponent :-)

I hope i was able to transport what i wanted to explain you,

have fun all the time while playin pool my friend,

lg from germany,

Ingo
 
14-1StraightMan,
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
I also set up a break shot and rerack when I miss, but when I start to feel like I'm putting to much pressure on myself to keep the run going instead of making the shot before me I will back off and relax by just throwing some balls out and just running balls for a little while.
The harder I try to keep a run going the less likely it is to happen. When I concentrate on just running "One In A Row" I am able to think about the shot before me and get past any mistakes I made prior to it and what will happen if I make or miss the shot.
For me self-induced pressure has ended alot of runs and sometimes I just need to reset. If I don't stop and clear my head my runs turn into 2s and 3s and I start to miss shots I should make 99% of the time.
I guess my point is that this game is hard enough that any extra pressure you put on yourself is going to be detrimental to your game. Counting balls while you are at the table can put alot of pressure on you. Throwing the balls out and just shooting has helped me not to count. It is also a nice suprise when your run ends and you do count to realize you just ran 18 or more.

Andy
 
I just start with a break shot I like and count racks, not balls. Say I get the first rack, make the break shot and miss. I just count what is left on the table, if there is 8 I count 14+7=21. No need to keep track ball to ball.
 
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