Pool is a game of confidence

D

deanoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was browsing through the bookstore when I spied a golf book"Gof Is a Game of confidence"

I glanced at the book and figured there was something to it,especially with pool,
Now i don't shoot good but I seldom make a shot when i am tense,scared or lack confidence

So I went to the pool room and decided to shoot with confidence,line up.bend over,expect to make the ball and follow through

Well it worked pretty good,I played closer to my best,gone were the bad feelings ,doubts etc,for the most part
 
Dean,

My step-dad was my pool mentor and when I first started to learn to play back in 1961,
he shared some pearls of wisdom early on and it was only later on........much later......
that I came to understand and really appreciate the salience this has for everyone.

Edwin "Tooch" Penn Santucci........God Bless You........I hope you & Jay are playing some great matches.

Matt B.


"The game of pool is played between the ears more than on the table."

"A great shot-maker isn't always a great pool player."

"Always practice with a purpose."




 
deanoc said:
I was browsing through the bookstore when I spied a golf book"Gof Is a Game of confidence"

I glanced at the book and figured there was something to it,especially with pool,
Now i don't shoot good but I seldom make a shot when i am tense,scared or lack confidence

So I went to the pool room and decided to shoot with confidence,line up.bend over,expect to make the ball and follow through

Well it worked pretty good,I played closer to my best,gone were the bad feelings ,doubts etc,for the most part
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I think this type of effect on your brain also happens when people get something new to try, like a new cue, new game after lessons, heck even a new case can make you play better. On the other hand, if you keep thoughts like "just don't hit that ball on the shot" or "make sure not to scratch in the side", those things will cause you to do exactly what you are trying to avoid quite a bit of time.
 
deanoc said:
I was browsing through the bookstore when I spied a golf book"Gof Is a Game of confidence"

I glanced at the book and figured there was something to it,especially with pool,
Now i don't shoot good but I seldom make a shot when i am tense,scared or lack confidence

So I went to the pool room and decided to shoot with confidence,line up.bend over,expect to make the ball and follow through

Well it worked pretty good,I played closer to my best,gone were the bad feelings ,doubts etc,for the most part
Click to expand...

Everything in life is a game of confidence. I have never know anyone who was successful that was not confident. Some who from first glance looked like they had little do be confident about.
 
I just had this conversation, with a friend, the other day. He came up to me and told me that I was right. He went on to say that I was right that pool has more to do with confidence than anything else. I can sit at a TV screen, watching the US Open, and call every shot and position needed to run the rack, but that doesn't mean I'll be able to do it. We all know that some nights we're "on" and some nights we're "off," and that has a lot to do with confidence. Sometimes I'm confident hitting a 9ft shot with backhand English and sometimes I'm nervous when trying to play a 1ft stop shot.

This was coming from a guy that I would spot 12-4 playing one pocket. He told me that he was confident that he could beat me, so I played him some even nine ball and he won 1 out of 3 sets. I was very impressed, and even more impressed that he recognized that confidence is key.
 
Bavafongoul said:
Dean,

My step-dad was my pool mentor and when I first started to learn to play back in 1961,
he shared some pearls of wisdom early on and it was only later on........much later......
that I came to understand and really appreciate the salience this has for everyone.

Edwin "Tooch" Penn Santucci........God Bless You........I hope you & Jay are playing some great matches.

Matt B.


"The game of pool is played between the ears more than on the table."

"A great shot-maker isn't always a great pool player."

"Always practice with a purpose."
Click to expand...

I really like this...wise man
 
PhilosopherKing said:
Pool is a game of skill, but God bless the confident guys, especially the gambling ones.
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Theoretically speaking, if we all know how to make the ball and can make the ball, you must have enough confidence to pull it off.

But I do agree, pool is a game of skill. If you don't have the skills needed to win the game, you have already lost the game.
 
I'm very confident that I can make that duck sitting in front of the hole. Then, up steps cocky and a big miss.

I practice to know that I have the confidence to make more of a particular shot then I will miss. That gives me a slight edge.
 
You are not gonna have much confidence at all if you are in the wrong game. You have to know how to match up period.
 
Pool is nothing but a mental game in one regard or another.

Something common I hear all the time is that playing on a 9-footer means that there are no long shots on a 7 footer. But, your mental approach to a "long" shot on a 7 footer will definitely determine how hard the shot is. Telling yourself it's a "table long" shot vs "It's a 7 foot" shot changes the severity of the pressure you feel.

This goes back to confidence as well - because your confidence at the table will determine how you approach shots, and will determine your ability to make those shots.

Don't misunderstand, being ultra confident will not make you a pro but not having confidence at the table will forever stop you from playing like one.
 
Zphix said:
Pool is nothing but a mental game in one regard or another.

Something common I hear all the time is that playing on a 9-footer means that there are no long shots on a 7 footer. But, your mental approach to a "long" shot on a 7 footer will definitely determine how hard the shot is. Telling yourself it's a "table long" shot vs "It's a 7 foot" shot changes the severity of the pressure you feel.

This goes back to confidence as well - because your confidence at the table will determine how you approach shots, and will determine your ability to make those shots.

Don't misunderstand, being ultra confident will not make you a pro but not having confidence at the table will forever stop you from playing like one.
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I would think ability should determine confidence and not vice versa.
 
I spoke to some of the filipino players about this (dennis orcullos, ramon mistica, efren reyes) and they say that they do get nervous during a match. But, the bottom line is:

You can be afraid but you can not lose your FOCUS.
 
PhilosopherKing said:
I would think ability should determine confidence and not vice versa.
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Not necessarily. Confidence allows a person look at themselves objectively and analytically without the self-loathing inner dialogue that an insecure person has. A confident player will progress faster because he can face his short-comings as hurdles to overcome, as opposed to someone with little or no confidence who sees every obstacle as a monumental failure.
 
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But, but... what if you have little to nothing to be confident about?

IOWs, you have to have some sort of game in the first place to have confidence or you're just kidding yourself. So IMO a lot of this confidence "inner game" stuff is baloney IF you don't have the ability to perform. If you have proven you can play then that's one thing. But having confidence, when you're basically a lousy player, is not going to do you any good.

Lou Figueroa
someone had
to say it
 
What you describe is more a figure of speech, than anything else. If a good player cleans your clock at the pool table your confidence can head south pretty quick.
Skill and knowledge is what it takes to win, and confidence comes from winning. :smile:
 
Zphix said:
I was hinting at this haha. I didn't think I needed to explain that real confidence is the product of competence.
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Seriously, guys. It doesn't work that way. Confidence is a state of mind that precedes any endeavor. If you're an insecure person and your game improves, you will still be an insecure person. You'll just have days where you feel cocky but then it will all fall apart when you play poorly. True confidence is consistency in attitude. It doesn't suddenly arrive one day when you become a good player. It's there helping you along as you go through the ups and downs of what it takes to get better. It's a belief in yourself that comes from within.
 
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