I am playing in a regional league in Norway, which consist of 7 yearly tournaments. (3 8-ball, 3 9-ball and 1 14-1).
In these tournaments we play for rankingpoints, and only 20 % of the entryfee goes back into pricemoney. This way the Norwegian Federation and the local organizer can make some money, which can be used to sponsor the players (local organizer) and to send players on international tournaments like European Championships (federation).
I have been ranked as nr 2 in our region for almost the whole year (was ranked nr 1 in the beginning), and before each tournament most of the players have always had me as the favourite of winning the tournaments. And truth to be told, I am expecting to win every single one of these tournaments, because I feel I am better than the rest of the field, and I am beating all of them in moneygames giving good handicaps.
Still, I have only finished 2nd once and 3 times 3rd this year. This weekend we played a 9-ball tournament, and I finally won.
The funny thing is that I haven't hit a ball for more than 3 weeks, since our last tournament.
So, before this tournament I didn't expect to win, even though the other players still thought of me as the favourite. I said to them that I just wanted to play good, that was the only thing I cared about, and hoped for. And boy did I play good. It was the best pool I have played since before the summer. (I played bad in the Quarterfinal though, but still managed to win 9-7).
It made me think about my other results this year, and I think it comes down to pressure. The pressure I put on myself.
When looking at the Open tournaments this year in Norway (not regions, open for all players) I have only played in 2, and that is the Norwegian 9-ball Championship and the Norwegian Team Championship.
No one expected me to do good in these tournaments, and my thoughts before the tournaments was to play good, not perform good.
I finished 5th in the Norwegian 9-ball Championship, lost to the winner, and our team finished 3rd in the Team Championship, with me as the player with most won matches, and we lost to the team that won the event.
Summary: Does anyone have a good advice how to be able to think and focusing about playing good instead of performing good, no matter what tournament or match you are in?
In these tournaments we play for rankingpoints, and only 20 % of the entryfee goes back into pricemoney. This way the Norwegian Federation and the local organizer can make some money, which can be used to sponsor the players (local organizer) and to send players on international tournaments like European Championships (federation).
I have been ranked as nr 2 in our region for almost the whole year (was ranked nr 1 in the beginning), and before each tournament most of the players have always had me as the favourite of winning the tournaments. And truth to be told, I am expecting to win every single one of these tournaments, because I feel I am better than the rest of the field, and I am beating all of them in moneygames giving good handicaps.
Still, I have only finished 2nd once and 3 times 3rd this year. This weekend we played a 9-ball tournament, and I finally won.
The funny thing is that I haven't hit a ball for more than 3 weeks, since our last tournament.
So, before this tournament I didn't expect to win, even though the other players still thought of me as the favourite. I said to them that I just wanted to play good, that was the only thing I cared about, and hoped for. And boy did I play good. It was the best pool I have played since before the summer. (I played bad in the Quarterfinal though, but still managed to win 9-7).
It made me think about my other results this year, and I think it comes down to pressure. The pressure I put on myself.
When looking at the Open tournaments this year in Norway (not regions, open for all players) I have only played in 2, and that is the Norwegian 9-ball Championship and the Norwegian Team Championship.
No one expected me to do good in these tournaments, and my thoughts before the tournaments was to play good, not perform good.
I finished 5th in the Norwegian 9-ball Championship, lost to the winner, and our team finished 3rd in the Team Championship, with me as the player with most won matches, and we lost to the team that won the event.
Summary: Does anyone have a good advice how to be able to think and focusing about playing good instead of performing good, no matter what tournament or match you are in?
