Playing with worse players ~ Need your help!

JimmyWhite

JimmyWhite

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey AZB

Been playing pool seriously for about 2 years and I have reached a B/B+ level. I can beat the 9-ball ghost in a race to 7 quite often and I enjoy practicing for several hours. And of course I go to tournaments etc.

My problem is, that whenever I play a set with another player for practice, (we just play for the table time, 9-ball race to 9 or 11) I lose very often even by players who are significantly worse than me.

If I play a player who is better, I will do my best to play good and I usually do play good, but still, it is very hard to beat my opponent as he is better and I lose very often. Now if I play a player who is worse, I will usually be unfocused, or playing sloppy. And I will lose again. It is like I am not motivated enough to beat a player who is not as good as me when we are just practicing by playing for the table time.

But what am I supposed to do? I am trying to concentrate and play the table, not think who my opponent is etc. but I don't seem to have found out how just yet. Maybe I am still very inexperienced pool-mentality-wise, I don't know... on the other hand, I don't have this problem in tournament play. I got the motivation to win in order to advance and I usually beat a lesser player. But when I am approached by a lesser player who wants to play with me (I never say no to anyone of course) while I am practicing or just hanging around the pool room, I will play him and almost never win for the reasons I explained above. It's like I feel I have nothing to gain by beating a worse player in practice. I would actually prefer to practice straight pool alone and try to make a good run than play with another player. So in general, Lack of motivation ---> lack of concentration ---> almost certain defeat.

How can I treat that? Or I am just asking too much from myself for the brief time I have been playing pool?
 
Your not Playing the Player, your Playing the Table! He can't beat you if he doesn't get out of his seat except to rack the balls.

Black Cat :cool:
 
JimmyWhite said:
Hey AZB

Been playing pool seriously for about 2 years and I have reached a B/B+ level. I can beat the 9-ball ghost in a race to 7 quite often and I enjoy practicing for several hours. And of course I go to tournaments etc.

My problem is, that whenever I play a set with another player for practice, (we just play for the table time, 9-ball race to 9 or 11) I lose very often even by players who are significantly worse than me.

If I play a player who is better, I will do my best to play good and I usually do play good, but still, it is very hard to beat my opponent as he is better and I lose very often. Now if I play a player who is worse, I will usually be unfocused, or playing sloppy. And I will lose again. It is like I am not motivated enough to beat a player who is not as good as me when we are just practicing by playing for the table time.

But what am I supposed to do? I am trying to concentrate and play the table, not think who my opponent is etc. but I don't seem to have found out how just yet. Maybe I am still very inexperienced pool-mentality-wise, I don't know... on the other hand, I don't have this problem in tournament play. I got the motivation to win in order to advance and I usually beat a lesser player. But when I am approached by a lesser player who wants to play with me (I never say no to anyone of course) while I am practicing or just hanging around the pool room, I will play him and almost never win for the reasons I explained above. It's like I feel I have nothing to gain by beating a worse player in practice. I would actually prefer to practice straight pool alone and try to make a good run than play with another player. So in general, Lack of motivation ---> lack of concentration ---> almost certain defeat.

How can I treat that? Or I am just asking too much from myself for the brief time I have been playing pool?
Click to expand...
Sounds like you play yourself a lot... Makes you think you win every game
 
Well, you can start to give some weight to the players that have a lower level than yours. It will keep you focused. For example you can give the break, ball in hand after the break, the last 4 and ball in hand if they can get out of your safeties.








JimmyWhite said:
Hey AZB

Been playing pool seriously for about 2 years and I have reached a B/B+ level. I can beat the 9-ball ghost in a race to 7 quite often and I enjoy practicing for several hours. And of course I go to tournaments etc.

My problem is, that whenever I play a set with another player for practice, (we just play for the table time, 9-ball race to 9 or 11) I lose very often even by players who are significantly worse than me.

If I play a player who is better, I will do my best to play good and I usually do play good, but still, it is very hard to beat my opponent as he is better and I lose very often. Now if I play a player who is worse, I will usually be unfocused, or playing sloppy. And I will lose again. It is like I am not motivated enough to beat a player who is not as good as me when we are just practicing by playing for the table time.

But what am I supposed to do? I am trying to concentrate and play the table, not think who my opponent is etc. but I don't seem to have found out how just yet. Maybe I am still very inexperienced pool-mentality-wise, I don't know... on the other hand, I don't have this problem in tournament play. I got the motivation to win in order to advance and I usually beat a lesser player. But when I am approached by a lesser player who wants to play with me (I never say no to anyone of course) while I am practicing or just hanging around the pool room, I will play him and almost never win for the reasons I explained above. It's like I feel I have nothing to gain by beating a worse player in practice. I would actually prefer to practice straight pool alone and try to make a good run than play with another player. So in general, Lack of motivation ---> lack of concentration ---> almost certain defeat.

How can I treat that? Or I am just asking too much from myself for the brief time I have been playing pool?
Click to expand...
 
I can help you right now !!!...When you are practicing alone, and you start playing your very best, freeze-frame the feeling in your grip hand and take that same exact feeling with you to the table EVERYTIME you play !!!...doesnt matter if you are playing Joe Idiot or Joe Champion, you can win!
 
Jimmy Reid said:
I can help you right now !!!...When you are practicing alone, and you start playing your very best, freeze-frame the feeling in your grip hand and take that same exact feeling with you to the table EVERYTIME you play !!!...doesnt matter if you are playing Joe Idiot or Joe Champion, you can win!
Click to expand...

Very good. You might have said something similar in one of your videos, but I've forgotten.

I'll be writing this down for sure. It might be the most valuable thing I have learned in many months.
 
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Jimmy Reid said:
I can help you right now !!!...When you are practicing alone, and you start playing your very best, freeze-frame the feeling in your grip hand and take that same exact feeling with you to the table EVERYTIME you play !!!...doesnt matter if you are playing Joe Idiot or Joe Champion, you can win!
Click to expand...

Awesome, a trigger. I love it. Welcome jimmy hope you are feeling good


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
Black Cat 5791 said:
Your not Playing the Player, your Playing the Table! He can't beat you if he doesn't get out of his seat except to rack the balls.

Black Cat :cool:
Click to expand...

I completely agree with this, you need to ALWAYS play the table. The table is what will put you in your seat, not the player (at least not until the table does first) so never have a lazy attitude. Once the table wins, the opponent wins so BEAT THE TABLE.
 
IMO, you should never be playing unfocused and sloppy pool. Even when your "banging balls" practicing. I know everyone says "don't play the player, play the table", but it was hard for me to overcome that. I started putting 100% effort into EVERY shot, practice/tourney/gambling/etc. Soon all you can think about is playing perfectly, and the player will fade away. Stay positive and keep your confidence up. I say to myself, there's no way I can miss this shot. Last, PLAY LIKE YOU PRACTICE. Hope this helps.
 
I think you have great insight into your issues already.

Heres some truths about the game
-Staying focused is work, until you really understand your motivations, your mind wil find the path of least resistance...sometimes its a subpar game. At this point losing is the easiest thing in the world...anybody can do it.
-Playing weaker players becomes tedious, with the monster spots and how they can roll. The better you get the more apparent it becomes. Its easy to bear down versus better opponents if you are challenging yourself, and it sounds like you are.
-As your game improves, it changes you and you really can never go back to the way it was.

First do what you enjoy. Take ownership of your development in the game, read some, find a mentor or a fellow player at you level or better to spar with. You have to work to achieve and maintain improvement.
 
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Jimmy Reid said:
I can help you right now !!!...When you are practicing alone, and you start playing your very best, freeze-frame the feeling in your grip hand and take that same exact feeling with you to the table EVERYTIME you play !!!...doesnt matter if you are playing Joe Idiot or Joe Champion, you can win!
Click to expand...

Mr Reid, thanks for posting.

Pool like all sports comes down to repeatable unconscious execution of learned muscle memory. Dead stroke cannot be achieved with conscious effort. After awhile it just flows, the best play is never forced.
 
I see a lot of advice on play the table, not the player, but I think you have the same problem I did, which goal-setting for your match. You seem to be the kind of player who loves a challenge, which is a great attitude to have, but it can sometimes work against you.

Having a goal of winning a match means different things depending on your opponent. This goal works for you when your opponent is better because it's challenging and rewarding to achieve. Against a weaker player, the same goal doesn't provide as much motivation and leads to sloppy play.

Setting more challenging goals might help you with this. For example, having a goal of running at least 1 rack (or however many is challenging for you) in the match might help you focus more. For me personally, In preparation for matches against weaker players, I like use the goal of shutting out my opponent in the match. If you can come out of the gate focused and determined on not giving up a game in the match, your opponent isn't going to like it and you'll start seeing more matches go 5-1, 5-0 in your favor.

Good luck!
Vic

(**oops, I see you are talking about practice. I think the same applies though, just find a goal that works for you in that situation.)
 
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You need to work on getting the Killer instinct. You may be subconsciously laying off because you feel bad about beating the lessor player. Go into every game looking to blow your opponent away every time whether your in a tounament, practice or gambling.
 
You need some pressure when you are playing a lesser player.
Agree to let him smash your finger with a nine ball if you lose, that should do it.
 
dvds

Jimmy Reid said:
I can help you right now !!!...When you are practicing alone, and you start playing your very best, freeze-frame the feeling in your grip hand and take that same exact feeling with you to the table EVERYTIME you play !!!...doesnt matter if you are playing Joe Idiot or Joe Champion, you can win!
Click to expand...



Hi jimmy
I have one of your training dvds. I like it alot.

Little joke I have is where I live is remote and there is no place to buy billiard products. Every satuday i meet with a group of guys to shoot pool.

This group of guys are all mexican and I let them watch your dvd.

This all came about when this one guy missed a shot and I said I have a dvd that will help you.

The joke is now everytime someone misses everyone says I have DVD .
as in your training DVD. and everyone gets a smile on there face.

I hope you see the humor in this.

MMike
 
In Ninjitsu they used this very same concept...

Jimmy Reid said:
I can help you right now !!!...When you are practicing alone, and you start playing your very best, freeze-frame the feeling in your grip hand and take that same exact feeling with you to the table EVERYTIME you play !!!...doesnt matter if you are playing Joe Idiot or Joe Champion, you can win!
Click to expand...

The kuji kiri or hand movements were actually a mental exercise designed to bring ultimate focus.

When training and practicing a certain mindset, they would imprint that mindset by creating a hand formation with a specific movement in the air. Then when they wanted to bring out that specific mindset, they would duplicate the movement and formation as a mental trigger and link to that mindset.

It is similar to what you seem to be describing here.

Jaden
 
Some amazing piece of advice from all users. Especially from Jimmy Reid and victori.Thank you all!
 
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