Nervous break down

8

8up

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That is what pool is giving me. I can't figure out if I love to hate it or hate to love it 50% of the time.

I wake up and spend most of each day thinking about it. I watch matches I read books on it. I buy videos about it. I go to sleep thinking about it. I shoot every day. I may not be using my shooting time as effectively as I should but I rarely just bang balls. I have spent numerous hours in the basement practicing without ever having a full rack of balls on the table. I watched the first 10 chapters of the CTE/Pro time after time drawing diagrams and putting it pause. My light bulb must be burnt out as it never came on.

I sometimes go for a week shooting really well and then for days its like part of my brain went dormant. I can't see the shot or I start missing every cut the same way. I feel like an idiot. Its like the more I learn or know the more ways I find to screw it up.

1 thing thats screws me up is anxiety. I hate losing to someone when I know I am better than them. which makes it harder to win the next game or match. In the past I would have a couple drinks to try to chill out. It worked sometimes.

I rarely drink at all now because I made an ass out of myself after playoffs. I played the games without drinking with anxiety making my face burn and my arms tremble. I had a few too many afterwards and did not like the descriptions of me that night.

Tonight I lost to a person who I know hasn't got more talent. She was the better shot tonight as I dogged many shots and found every way to mess up the outs she left me.

I am starting to question my sanity

no real question here, I just needed to vent
 
8up said:
That is what pool is giving me. I can't figure out if I love to hate it or hate to love it 50% of the time.

I wake up and spend most of each day thinking about it. I watch matches I read books on it. I buy videos about it. I go to sleep thinking about it. I shoot every day. I may not be using my shooting time as effectively as I should but I rarely just bang balls. I have spent numerous hours in the basement practicing without ever having a full rack of balls on the table. I watched the first 10 chapters of the CTE/Pro time after time drawing diagrams and putting it pause. My light bulb must be burnt out as it never came on.

I sometimes go for a week shooting really well and then for days its like part of my brain went dormant. I can't see the shot or I start missing every cut the same way. I feel like an idiot. Its like the more I learn or know the more ways I find to screw it up.

1 thing thats screws me up is anxiety. I hate losing to someone when I know I am better than them. which makes it harder to win the next game or match. In the past I would have a couple drinks to try to chill out. It worked sometimes.

I rarely drink at all now because I made an ass out of myself after playoffs. I played the games without drinking with anxiety making my face burn and my arms tremble. I had a few too many afterwards and did not like the descriptions of me that night.

Tonight I lost to a person who I know hasn't got more talent. She was the better shot tonight as I dogged many shots and found every way to mess up the outs she left me.

I am starting to question my sanity

no real question here, I just needed to vent
Click to expand...

Hang in there,as you know pool is a very diffullcult sport,not just you but every body that plays pool goes through times like this,just because you didnt do as good of you know u can do,does not mean u made a ass of your self,hang in there my friend the next time you play just mite b the best you ever played in your life,thats pool ,good luck to you!
 
No problem

Why, I think you are perfectly normal, my dear. Everyone here at AZB thinks you're perfectly normal.

Let's talk again later..... after the psych nurse finishes her rounds. :wink:

RL
 
8up said:
That is what pool is giving me. I can't figure out if I love to hate it or hate to love it 50% of the time.

I wake up and spend most of each day thinking about it. I watch matches I read books on it. I buy videos about it. I go to sleep thinking about it. I shoot every day. I may not be using my shooting time as effectively as I should but I rarely just bang balls. I have spent numerous hours in the basement practicing without ever having a full rack of balls on the table. I watched the first 10 chapters of the CTE/Pro time after time drawing diagrams and putting it pause. My light bulb must be burnt out as it never came on.

I sometimes go for a week shooting really well and then for days its like part of my brain went dormant. I can't see the shot or I start missing every cut the same way. I feel like an idiot. Its like the more I learn or know the more ways I find to screw it up.

1 thing thats screws me up is anxiety. I hate losing to someone when I know I am better than them. which makes it harder to win the next game or match. In the past I would have a couple drinks to try to chill out. It worked sometimes.

I rarely drink at all now because I made an ass out of myself after playoffs. I played the games without drinking with anxiety making my face burn and my arms tremble. I had a few too many afterwards and did not like the descriptions of me that night.

Tonight I lost to a person who I know hasn't got more talent. She was the better shot tonight as I dogged many shots and found every way to mess up the outs she left me.

I am starting to question my sanity

no real question here, I just needed to vent
Click to expand...

Sometimes it's best to stop trying to learn so much and let your body incorporate what you already know.

The worst thing you can do while shooting a pool ball is THINK.

Becoming a proficient player is not something that happens overnight, or in some cases, 5-10 years. Learn to enjoy the chase as much as the prize...because you're probably never going to play as well as you think you should.
 
Don't worry.

I've demolished by cue. I've quit double elimination tournaments after my first loss a bunch of times. I've thrown my cue and case in the road several times.

Nothing wrong with that.
 
have fun

have fun and try not to think to much sometimes that will throw you off your game doudle guessing your shots and stuff.But I think everyone goes through slumps and I always try to have fun even though it is somtimes hard.
 
PocketPoint said:
Don't worry.

I've demolished by cue. I've quit double elimination tournaments after my first loss a bunch of times. I've thrown my cue and case in the road several times.

Nothing wrong with that.
Click to expand...

Please refer to my signature for an explanation.


-Trooper <<<< has never done any of that stuff
 
Get a gym membership. It won't help your pool game but it will provide a release for pent up frustration.

Aside from that, focus on your successes instead of your failures. Efren Reyes has only won the U S Open once in many attempts but I doubt he sees himself as a failure.
 
And maybe consider taking a break from organized pool. It can be tuff to play on a dictated schedule.
 
8up said:
That is what pool is giving me. I can't figure out if I love to hate it or hate to love it 50% of the time.

I wake up and spend most of each day thinking about it. I watch matches I read books on it. I buy videos about it. I go to sleep thinking about it. I shoot every day. I may not be using my shooting time as effectively as I should but I rarely just bang balls. I have spent numerous hours in the basement practicing without ever having a full rack of balls on the table. I watched the first 10 chapters of the CTE/Pro time after time drawing diagrams and putting it pause. My light bulb must be burnt out as it never came on.

I sometimes go for a week shooting really well and then for days its like part of my brain went dormant. I can't see the shot or I start missing every cut the same way. I feel like an idiot. Its like the more I learn or know the more ways I find to screw it up.

1 thing thats screws me up is anxiety. I hate losing to someone when I know I am better than them. which makes it harder to win the next game or match. In the past I would have a couple drinks to try to chill out. It worked sometimes.

I rarely drink at all now because I made an ass out of myself after playoffs. I played the games without drinking with anxiety making my face burn and my arms tremble. I had a few too many afterwards and did not like the descriptions of me that night.

Tonight I lost to a person who I know hasn't got more talent. She was the better shot tonight as I dogged many shots and found every way to mess up the outs she left me.

I am starting to question my sanity

no real question here, I just needed to vent
Click to expand...

8up:

I hear ya, man. Believe it or not, "we" (i.e. serious students of the game, which includes you) have gone through these woes more times than we care to remember. "If life is like a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?"

I think the problem could be any combination of the following:

  1. You need a break. Sometimes in our busy lives, we "find" pool, and we find it to be a welcome distraction from life's hectic schedules and chores. Instead of "going through life's motions," we find pool gives us "purpose" in life. We "now" have something we *like* to do, instead of attending to every emergency that pops up and competes for our time. Sometimes we shut-out the rest of our life when playing pool, because it's the only time we can focus on ourselves. Unfortunately, that "rest of our life" is always right there at the forefront of our mind -- whether we like it or not -- and it affects our play. You're thinking about finances, your job/work, perhaps personal issues, etc. It drags our play down. This is exacerbated by the fact that the more you play and the more you shutout the rest of your life, the more that the rest of your life comes "roaring back to the forefront" in your mind and affecting your play. You become more serious about your play, and the more sensitive you are about any dips or valleys in your play. One feeds the other, and it escalates out of control. It's a raging battle that I personally have waged on numerous occasions, and believe me, sir, if any of the above ring a bell with you, I feel your pain. The best thing I ever did, and continue to do in these circumstances, is TAKE A BREAK. Tend to those other things in life. Relieve that "other parts of life" pressure. Establish some balance. Then, come back to the game when you can't stand it anymore, but establish limits for yourself. One hour a day or every two days, or something like that. And while playing, constantly remind yourself, "this is my break time, I'm here to enjoy myself." Use pool as a way of rewarding yourself for doing / completing those other things in life. As you get more things done, reward yourself with more hours of pool. This way, "pool" and "the rest of your life" goes hand-in-hand and works with / feeds into each other, not against each other, nor is one "exclusive" of the other.

  2. It could be that, when you're playing, you're spending entirely too much time trying to make pool a 100% conscious activity. While playing, you spend all of your lucid moments "thinking" about your fundamentals, the shot, every facet of execution of the shot, the way you finish the shot, etc. In other words, your conscious mind is 100% engaged into the activity. You're trying to "be the best student of the game you can be." Unfortunately, 1.) pool is a game we're supposed to enjoy, and you're making a serious endeavor of it; 2.) the mind can't stay 100% focused for the long periods of time that we use to play pool; 3.) you're using the wrong part of your brain -- for long-term periods, anyway -- to play pool to begin with.

    While focused drills and what-not with the conscious mind are GREAT and highly recommended for learning and working on one's deficiencies, you should only be doing these for short periods. When you get into the general pool playing (e.g. breaking a rack and running it out -- what I like to call "show time!"), you should use less and less of your conscious mind. Thinking about patterns for the run out? Use your conscious mind (although, with practice, you can also begin to recognize patterns with your subconscious mind as well). Shooting each individual shot itself? No question -- subconscious mind, absolutely. After you've selected the shot and what you need to do to the cue ball to get onto the next shot, you get down on the shot and your conscious mind should SHUT OFF. You should be shooting from muscle memory and the subconscious at this point. No conscious thought. Then, after you execute the shot, get up, engage the conscious mind again, and look over the table to verify what you did / what's next. With practice, you'll be able to "context switch" between your conscious and subconscious mind like this without effort. And you'll be able to play longer, with more CONSISTENT results, than if you were to try making pool playing a 100% lucid / conscious-mind activity. You can only stay focused in your conscious mind for short periods of time. That's the way it's built, because the conscious mind is also that part that deals with "the other aspects of life". You bring the conscious mind too much into your pool playing, and you'll be dragging all those other aspects of life into your play as well. And they will affect you! Let the execution phase of pool (i.e. shooting the individual shots) be "automatic." You have a powerful supercomputer with incredible amounts of storage to do so -- the subconscious mind.

  3. Fundamentals. Usually, when I hear of a player complaining that he/she encounters "valleys" of playing performance like this too often, I begin to think there's something amiss with the fundamentals. Have you thought of some formal instruction with a certified instructor, like, say, Scott Lee, Steve Jennings ("pooltchr" here on AZB), Randy Goettlicher ("randyg" here on AZB), or Stan Shuffett? As an outsider watching the results of these guys' effects on players that've experienced the issues you're experiencing, I can personally testify to the results -- the players have identified their problems (and it's most likely not something the player him/herself is aware of) and are now more consistent. Fundamentals are just that -- the foundation for your game. A cracked foundation in the house will, on unstable ground (e.g. in serious / competitive situations), bring the house down. However, even if you're experiencing those days where you're just not shooting your best, strong fundamentals will almost always help save the day.
There are other things, but I hope this is a helpful starter list!
-Sean
 
Well to start off I've been only playing for over 3 years now and I must say I've had times where I was ready to throw everything I own out on pool .

It's doesn't matter the game weather it's 14.1 or 9 ball or even one pocket it can get on your nerves believe me I know , I'm mostly a 9 ball player but I also enjoy one pocket alot lately than anything else but like I've said I've had my ups and downs , one thing I have learned with everything is I don't think too much when I'm at the table , If I start over thinking things then I know I'm in trouble and I shoot horrible .

One thing I can give you is to relax enjoy yourself while your playing , I can tell you I'm the same person if I win or lose I don't change , Yes losing is no fun but as long as I play the game I'm happy . So my friend go out there and shoot some pool .
 
You belong to a club with many, many members...

I'm guilty of many of your bullet points. It gets to me, too.

But I still can't wait to get back to the pool room... :grin::eek::):o
 
Preaching to the choir. I've quit pool for years for all kinds of reasons. It's good to have another hobby on the side rather than just one obsession too. I agree with skipping a couple weeks of the league pool. If you can't quit playing all together for a couple weeks, play something totally different. Play horse with a buddy or cribbage or golf. Those games can be fun and even though it's still pool it can be a welcomed distraction from your usual game/drills. Perhaps a change of venue for a couple weeks as well. These are thing I would try.
 
....here's something to think about
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=218779

8up said:
That is what pool is giving me. I can't figure out if I love to hate it or hate to love it 50% of the time.

I wake up and spend most of each day thinking about it. I watch matches I read books on it. I buy videos about it. I go to sleep thinking about it. I shoot every day. I may not be using my shooting time as effectively as I should but I rarely just bang balls. I have spent numerous hours in the basement practicing without ever having a full rack of balls on the table. I watched the first 10 chapters of the CTE/Pro time after time drawing diagrams and putting it pause. My light bulb must be burnt out as it never came on.

I sometimes go for a week shooting really well and then for days its like part of my brain went dormant. I can't see the shot or I start missing every cut the same way. I feel like an idiot. Its like the more I learn or know the more ways I find to screw it up.

1 thing thats screws me up is anxiety. I hate losing to someone when I know I am better than them. which makes it harder to win the next game or match. In the past I would have a couple drinks to try to chill out. It worked sometimes.

I rarely drink at all now because I made an ass out of myself after playoffs. I played the games without drinking with anxiety making my face burn and my arms tremble. I had a few too many afterwards and did not like the descriptions of me that night.

Tonight I lost to a person who I know hasn't got more talent. She was the better shot tonight as I dogged many shots and found every way to mess up the outs she left me.

I am starting to question my sanity

no real question here, I just needed to vent
Click to expand...
 
8up said:
That is what pool is giving me. I can't figure out if I love to hate it or hate to love it 50% of the time.

I wake up and spend most of each day thinking about it. I watch matches I read books on it. I buy videos about it. I go to sleep thinking about it. I shoot every day. I may not be using my shooting time as effectively as I should but I rarely just bang balls. I have spent numerous hours in the basement practicing without ever having a full rack of balls on the table. I watched the first 10 chapters of the CTE/Pro time after time drawing diagrams and putting it pause. My light bulb must be burnt out as it never came on.

I sometimes go for a week shooting really well and then for days its like part of my brain went dormant. I can't see the shot or I start missing every cut the same way. I feel like an idiot. Its like the more I learn or know the more ways I find to screw it up.

1 thing thats screws me up is anxiety. I hate losing to someone when I know I am better than them. which makes it harder to win the next game or match. In the past I would have a couple drinks to try to chill out. It worked sometimes.

I rarely drink at all now because I made an ass out of myself after playoffs. I played the games without drinking with anxiety making my face burn and my arms tremble. I had a few too many afterwards and did not like the descriptions of me that night.

Tonight I lost to a person who I know hasn't got more talent. She was the better shot tonight as I dogged many shots and found every way to mess up the outs she left me.

I am starting to question my sanity

no real question here, I just needed to vent
Click to expand...

I recommend having long practice sessions with someone. In practice everything goes your pace, there is no pressure, and you can usually make shots you just missed because you can adjust immediately and set them up again which you can't do when playing someone. In a long practice session (8 hours and up) you will definitely get over any feelings of nervousness when shooting against someone and will be fatigued toward the end so you won't care enough to keep checking you fundamentals, you'll just shoot the shot hopefully still thinking about position.

When you practice it's perfectly fine to check your fundamentals, make sure you're thinking about pin point position, and work on perfecting your stroke but once you're in a match I wouldn't worry too much about anything but playing position. Stroke the shot in whatever way you can to make the cueball go where you want it to go. Hopefully all the hours you put in practicing your stroke show up as muscle memory.
 
8up,

Man, even your username is a telltale sign that you need a break. A lo-o-o-o-ong one! In fact, you should just quit playing altogether. And....just to resist the urge to go back to it, send me your cues, cases, and all other pool equipment that will remind you of the "dark" period in your life :grin:!!!

Maniac
 
sfleinen said:
8up:

I hear ya, man. Believe it or not, "we" (i.e. Serious students of the game, which includes you) have gone through these woes more times than we care to remember. "if life is like a bowl of cherries, what am i doing in the pits?"

i think the problem could be any combination of the following:

  1. you need a break. Sometimes in our busy lives, we "find" pool, and we find it to be a welcome distraction from life's hectic schedules and chores. Instead of "going through life's motions," we find pool gives us "purpose" in life. We "now" have something we *like* to do, instead of attending to every emergency that pops up and competes for our time. Sometimes we shut-out the rest of our life when playing pool, because it's the only time we can focus on ourselves. Unfortunately, that "rest of our life" is always right there at the forefront of our mind -- whether we like it or not -- and it affects our play. You're thinking about finances, your job/work, perhaps personal issues, etc. It drags our play down. This is exacerbated by the fact that the more you play and the more you shutout the rest of your life, the more that the rest of your life comes "roaring back to the forefront" in your mind and affecting your play. You become more serious about your play, and the more sensitive you are about any dips or valleys in your play. One feeds the other, and it escalates out of control. It's a raging battle that i personally have waged on numerous occasions, and believe me, sir, if any of the above ring a bell with you, i feel your pain. The best thing i ever did, and continue to do in these circumstances, is take a break. Tend to those other things in life. Relieve that "other parts of life" pressure. Establish some balance. Then, come back to the game when you can't stand it anymore, but establish limits for yourself. One hour a day or every two days, or something like that. And while playing, constantly remind yourself, "this is my break time, i'm here to enjoy myself." use pool as a way of rewarding yourself for doing / completing those other things in life. As you get more things done, reward yourself with more hours of pool. This way, "pool" and "the rest of your life" goes hand-in-hand and works with / feeds into each other, not against each other, nor is one "exclusive" of the other.

  2. it could be that, when you're playing, you're spending entirely too much time trying to make pool a 100% conscious activity. While playing, you spend all of your lucid moments "thinking" about your fundamentals, the shot, every facet of execution of the shot, the way you finish the shot, etc. In other words, your conscious mind is 100% engaged into the activity. You're trying to "be the best student of the game you can be." unfortunately, 1.) pool is a game we're supposed to enjoy, and you're making a serious endeavor of it; 2.) the mind can't stay 100% focused for the long periods of time that we use to play pool; 3.) you're using the wrong part of your brain -- for long-term periods, anyway -- to play pool to begin with.

    While focused drills and what-not with the conscious mind are great and highly recommended for learning and working on one's deficiencies, you should only be doing these for short periods. When you get into the general pool playing (e.g. Breaking a rack and running it out -- what i like to call "show time!"), you should use less and less of your conscious mind. Thinking about patterns for the run out? Use your conscious mind (although, with practice, you can also begin to recognize patterns with your subconscious mind as well). Shooting each individual shot itself? No question -- subconscious mind, absolutely. After you've selected the shot and what you need to do to the cue ball to get onto the next shot, you get down on the shot and your conscious mind should shut off. You should be shooting from muscle memory and the subconscious at this point. No conscious thought. Then, after you execute the shot, get up, engage the conscious mind again, and look over the table to verify what you did / what's next. With practice, you'll be able to "context switch" between your conscious and subconscious mind like this without effort. And you'll be able to play longer, with more consistent results, than if you were to try making pool playing a 100% lucid / conscious-mind activity. You can only stay focused in your conscious mind for short periods of time. That's the way it's built, because the conscious mind is also that part that deals with "the other aspects of life". You bring the conscious mind too much into your pool playing, and you'll be dragging all those other aspects of life into your play as well. And they will affect you! Let the execution phase of pool (i.e. Shooting the individual shots) be "automatic." you have a powerful supercomputer with incredible amounts of storage to do so -- the subconscious mind.

  3. fundamentals. Usually, when i hear of a player complaining that he/she encounters "valleys" of playing performance like this too often, i begin to think there's something amiss with the fundamentals. Have you thought of some formal instruction with a certified instructor, like, say, scott lee, steve jennings ("pooltchr" here on azb), randy goettlicher ("randyg" here on azb), or stan shuffett? As an outsider watching the results of these guys' effects on players that've experienced the issues you're experiencing, i can personally testify to the results -- the players have identified their problems (and it's most likely not something the player him/herself is aware of) and are now more consistent. Fundamentals are just that -- the foundation for your game. A cracked foundation in the house will, on unstable ground (e.g. In serious / competitive situations), bring the house down. However, even if you're experiencing those days where you're just not shooting your best, strong fundamentals will almost always help save the day.
there are other things, but i hope this is a helpful starter list!
-sean
Click to expand...

tap, tap, tap....
 
I don't think anyone is capable or reading a book, watching a video, or studying an aiming system then experiencing a quantum leap in playing ability. Pool talent comes with time and practice. Let the thoughts flow naturally while you are approaching a shot, then just get in position and do it without questioning yourself.

Concentrate on the beauty and fun of the game instead of whether you win or lose. Don't try to force your talent - it won't work. I love pool but, in the greater scheme of things, it really isn't all that important.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top