Please help. This is driving me crazy.

[ridewiththewind]

I'm going to throw this out there for your consideration. Playing well in general is a result of confidence.

Is it at all possible, that the environment around you is making you a little nervous and playing with your focus and therefore your confidence and you either believe it it the table or subconsciously use this as a reason to miss?

I'm not asking this to be a wise guy, I'm simply pointing out how fragile our game is on more levels than we may even be aware of.

I think this is an extremely valid point!!

If you have a confidence in your game, you can move from table to table easier than those who don't.

A couple of years ago, playing women's league at a location with some really crappy tables....haven't been recovered or perhaps even serviced in years. I play one or two practice games before the match. The whole night the other gals are having 'issues' with the table. Me, I was having a ball!! Won lots of games that night....the others, not so much.

Thing is, I was feeling pretty solid and comfortable with my game that night....so I just played it. I already had a mental picture from practice of where the problem areas of the table were, and just tried to avoid them as best could. As far as I was concerned, I was playing on my home table that night, and played it that way.

Another idea might be in those places where you are feeling like a fish outta water, you might try just focusing on the table and immediate space around it, and just shut out everything outside of that space. Imagine yourself on your home table. Visualize your home environment and see yourself moving from shot to shot...feel yourself moving from shot to shot. What I mean by 'feel' is how you feel when you are shooting at home. Do you feel relaxed? Happy? Enjoyment? Confident?

You may not have any control over a table's condition, but you certainly have control over how you perceive it, and how much of a factor, mentally, you are going to let it be. It's really not that much different than those who can play, and play well, with a slightly wonky shaft and those who's game is completely undermined because their shaft has a little wobble. IMHO, quieting the mind is one of the most key, and often most difficult, aspects of the game to learn.

Lisa

 

[thefonz]

Sounds to me like you are letting your lack of position play affect the rest of your game. You have to separate the two. On a strange table, your position play will be affected until you adjust to it. So, you have to take easier position routes. That is, play position for the large part of the triangle. This usually means a longer shot, but you have a shot.

Your problem, as you stated it, is that you are missing makeable balls. That has nothing to do with the table unless you are hitting soft and the balls roll off. That has to do with your head. You have to get it in your head that the speed of the table doesn't affect whether or not you can make an open shot.

Your mistakes should be lack of position, getting hooked unexpectedly, ect. NOT missing makeable shots. Makeable shots are the same on any table. You just make the ball. Your only problem should be getting on the next ball properly.

what neil said........
and your positional play may be too complicated, and that's what's getting you in trouble. analyze it an try to simplify it, playing position for the middle of the table more usually fixes many problems. check out some videos of dennis hatch playing, he does a great job of this and visualizing natural cueball paths for position. especially evident when he's putting packs together.

 

[Lexicologist71]

Something that may effect your accuracy from one table to another isn't actually the table but the balls. (insert puns at will) Dingy balls have more throw involved than clean balls. With dirty balls, you'll have to slightly overcut shots in comparison to playing with clean shiny balls. It has to do with increased friction as they rub against one another. Using outside English will decrease the throw, but it has a host of other effects that may not fit into your needs for that shot.

 

[Scott Lee]

What a great post! This is exactly what I would say. When you "own" your stroke (which means you can strike the CB exactly where you wanted, at any speed you want, on demand, under pressure, in one try), you can adjust to any table very quickly (in just a few shots...as opposed to the average couple of games). This is exactly what SPF training is all about. Good job Steve! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

You have to have one table that is your "home" table. This is where you establish your personal measurements. You know how far your ball will travel with your standard stroke speed. (3 speed, for those of you who have been through pool school) When you get to a new table, you simply test it to see if this table is faster or slower than your table. Adjust accordingly. Same thing with the rails. Establish a good 3 rail kick shot on your home table. Shoot that shot on the new table a couple of times to determine if it is playing shorter or longer than your home table. Adjust accordingly.

The player who adjusts to the equipment fastest is at a huge advantage.

Steve

 

[Zbotiman]

O.k.

I'm going to throw this out there for your consideration. Playing well in general is a result of confidence.

Is it at all possible, that the environment around you is making you a little nervous and playing with your focus and therefore your confidence and you either believe it it the table or subconsciously use this as a reason to miss?

I'm not asking this to be a wise guy, I'm simply pointing out how fragile our game is on more levels than we may even be aware of.

This is always good advice on ANY pool table, just not too, much or overconfidence.

You can tell how hard it is to maintain consistency in this game, by ALL the good advise that's poured out in answer to your question, here. Everybody that plays pool has problems with conditions changing.
There's another piece of really good advice for learning to adapt with ease, PLAY CONSTANTLY! IN the end, that's what quickens everything in your game up, just DON'T over analyze, trust your own practice work and what that tells you about the new conditions.
Now that's confidence in your self and your game!

 

[Lexicologist71]

Anybody else have problems with responses disappearing?

Anyway, if accuracy is your problem, it may be due to differing cleanliness levels of the equipment. On any given cut shot without using side spin, there is a certain amount of 'throw' given to the object ball (OB). The amount of throw varies with the amount of cut and friction between the CB and OB. Grimy balls will throw more due to more friction. Using outside English will alter your angle off the cushion but it will also reduce the throw (or you can just over cut the ball).

 

[CreeDo]

Conditions are a valid reason for missing shape, but missing the shot wouldn't have much to do with the table unless the pockets are super tight and/or gaffy. Like you switch from 5.5" to 4". A lot of players overestimate their ability to make balls. They see a 70% shot and think it's a 90% shot. They're mad when they miss it nearly 1 in 3 times, even though they're supposed to.

I will say that in pool, the situation comes up a lot where you must choose long+straight (but it's an easy leave), or closer+nice angle (but it's a tougher leave, with the risk of overrunning shape).

I won't say settle on your shape, but you might try not getting cute, especially on the bar box. When I miss a shot I'm supposed to make, it's usually due to more angle than I'm comfortable with... not due to being 20" further away than I'd like. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Mr. Wiggles]

Speed control

Extremly good advice-
To really practice on your ability to control the speed (cb) is much too underrated (not just by *lower skilled* players. It s about the greatest advice you can give someone right on beginning to play billiards seriously- Speed-control!

lg
Ingo

Correctomundo! Just like snowsking or a runaway truck, killing speed is paramount. Rails on a pool table is much like skiing across the mountain instead of straight down. The stun shot IMO is the third most important shot behind the stop shot and the draw shot.

 

[Scott Lee]

Mr. Wiggles...A stun shot is a stop shot...just one with an angle! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

The stun shot IMO is the third most important shot behind the stop shot and the draw shot.

 

[Ron F]

Same Problem

This problem is not unique. I've suffered from it for years. My main game is on a perfectly level 4.5 x 9 with fast cloth and cushions. Over the past 2 years or so I've been playing straight pool exclusively and I'm primarily a roller rather than a shooter.

I also play in a weekly non-handicapped traveling bar league. In league play the table being played on changes each week as we travel, but most are 3.5 x 7's with traditional cloth (felt), table rolls, dead rails, etc. I've learned that transporting my 4.5 x 9 Simonis slow-rolling straight pool game to a bar table makes me a loser just about every time because the table conditions aren't conducive to that style of play. So, I typically shoot a warm up game in which I hit everything twice as hard as normal and avoid delicate position play. It's worked. Out of over 200 shooters in the league I have always received a trophy for being in the top 10. This year, however, I'll receive the top shooter trophy.