Slump/confidence issues

W

westcoast

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've been playing pool for over 10 years now and like many players, I tend to go through slumps here and there. It starts when my concentration wanes- I begin to get distracted, miss a few balls I normally make and then it starts to get into my head. I begin to press. I start trying too hard and the nerves begin to steadily increase. I've been in this current slump for about two or three weeks now. I opened up 4-0 in the pool league I play in and have gone 2-6 since, including 0-4 last week.

What is disappointing is that I was playing the best pool of my life before this current slump. So, my question is, what do you guys to break out a slump? Any tips? Drills? Mindsets? etc
 
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Slumpin'

I bought an OB1 shaft about a year or so ago and I went through a terrible adjustment period trying to get used to it. One thing that helped me was I started playing a little game where I rack up all 15 balls and gave them a good "whack!" then I started running balls in random order and tried to just remember how to make balls again, doing this really seemed to build up my muscle memory and just get the confidence going again. Sure, your gonna miss some balls now and again but the main thing about winning any game is you've got to make all of the balls. Oh, and by the way DO NOT play with lower skill level players when you are going through these slumps, due to nature you WILL play down to their level. It seems to me whenever I've gone through these slumps I come out of them playing much stronger than ever. Good luck with it and PLAY COCKY!
I tell everybody I play with in our leagues to Play Cocky, because when you miss (especially in 9 ball you at least won't leave the missed ball laying in a pocket. Later...
 
Back away from the table for a week or two. No use forcing yourself to play when you're head isn't into it. Take a cool down break.
 
Koopa said:
Back away from the table for a week or two. No use forcing yourself to play when you're head isn't into it. Take a cool down break.
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Yep, when pool is no longer fun take a week off....come back to the table excited to play and get better.
 
It has often been noted on this forum, and I agree, that players in slumps often stay there because, as thier minds wander elsewhere, they get away from their regular pre-shot routines.
 
???

I don't know if you can call someone a self-abuser on this forum! :grin: :grin: :grin:

Good advice though. If someone just tries to avoid negative thoughts they are almost always doomed to failure. However if they replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts they are much more successful in modifying their mental game.

Something else I find keeps me out of mental slumps to begin with is to take the long view. When I take the long view, past, present, and sometimes future, I know I am a strong competitor and frequent winner so any present poor play is what is out of character.

Hu


Klopek said:
Best advice I can offer is to work hard at changing your thought patterns. Most importantly, to get away from the negative mindset when you miss a shot or give away a game/set. Stay positive and study what you did and think rationally about why you missed and/or lost. If you can get yourself into this train of thought, you'll start to take the positive away from mistakes rather than letting the negative drag you down.

Sounds like a steaming pile of horseS**T I know, but it works. This is the kind of thing sport psychologists work on with athletes. Helping them to forgive their own mistakes and maintain a positive outlook.


First step, stop talking down to yourself at the table. No cursing, sulking or moping. Learn to smile at your goofs like Efren, you'll feel better about your game.:)

I may have you all wrong, (you may be the consummate pro), but people prone to slumps are usually the self-abusers.


EDIT: Don't look to a new cue or shaft to get you out of a slump. Slumps are ALL mental.
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When I slump, I watch a few hours of professional matches (DVD, ESPN, whatever's available).
I find Allison Fisher and Karen Corr to be the most helpful in my game. They have the best mechanics, and I find my game getting back on track after watching them.
 
If you can't be a winner...Don't be a wino! ( or is it whiner?)

Having been a "slump survivor" during my many years of high dollar action, I learned early on that if you are going to beat yourself up when you are off your game, you may never recover from your current "slump".
As a young man I considered myself in a slump if I didn't WIN ! No one likes to lose, but whatever your level of play, you will not play up to it every time you go to the post.
Learn to shake off your bad runs. Learn to laugh at yourself when you miss an easy shot. Its only a game, and always remember.... "Its not whether you win or lose... its the Goddamn MONEY ! :rolleyes:

Dick
 
Don't know how to get out of a slump.I think when you are shooting well,don't let it go to your head,this may keep you from getting in a funk again.
 
Klopek said:
Best advice I can offer is to work hard at changing your thought patterns. Most importantly, to get away from the negative mindset when you miss a shot or give away a game/set. Stay positive and study what you did and think rationally about why you missed and/or lost. If you can get yourself into this train of thought, you'll start to take the positive away from mistakes rather than letting the negative drag you down.

Sounds like a steaming pile of horseS**T I know, but it works. This is the kind of thing sport psychologists work on with athletes. Helping them to forgive their own mistakes and maintain a positive outlook.


First step, stop talking down to yourself at the table. No cursing, sulking or moping. Learn to smile at your goofs like Efren, you'll feel better about your game.:)

I may have you all wrong, (you may be the consummate pro), but people prone to slumps are usually the self-abusers.


EDIT: Don't look to a new cue or shaft to get you out of a slump. Slumps are ALL mental.
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Yep, that describes my thought processes. I've gotten better about it over the years, but kind of slipped into some bad habits recently
 
It's kind of funny to see this topic as I was just in one of the worst slumps I've ever had for the past four months or so. By the way, all the suggestions here are good ones, ones I've used with some verying degrees of success. Probably my time-honored solution to 'the slump' was to just stop playing for a week or two. That one usually did the trick.

This last slump unfortunately lasted longer than I remember one lasting and nothing I tried seemed to make things better, including taking some time off. In a bit of desparation, I decided after four months to take a lesson.

Personally, I learned the game almost entirely through the trial-and-error method with virtually no formal education, no books, no DVDs, etc. I found the first lesson to be incredibly informative for one reason: the instructor filmed me shooting several fundamental shots. I had never in 26 years seen myself shoot before. In a few moments I saw that I was too low over the table and that my body was actually interfering with my stroke. More importantly, I saw that I was actually moving the tip of my cue slightly to the left on nearly every stroke. Just seeing that helped me break out of my slump.

Of course, it wasn't instantaneous, but I worked on the things that I saw in that video and what my instructor taught me and by the next week's lesson I was already playing with more confidence.

So if you're really confused, I'd say try filming yourself and see if you can't find your problem on TV. Or take a lesson. I hear that most instructors film their first-time students. If that's true, then you'll have two sets of eyes on the subject and between the two of you, should be able to diagnose the problem.

Hope that helps.

Richard
 
I love the quote from Bobby Jones, "I never learned anything from a tournament I won."

:D
 
I know it's not very sporting and all, but if I've had a bad run for a little while I'll head down to the corner pub and beat up on all the bar players there.
 
Pre-shot routine. Really work hard to refine your pre-shot routine, especially making a repeatable aiming process a big part of that.

I have found that with a STRONG pre-shot routine, slumps are few are far between and when they occur, they don't last long.

Slumps, in my opinion, aren't mental at all. They're caused by slight variation in your setup and alignment that you're not aware of. When you eliminate variation in setup and procedure, you eliminate the slump.

Juuust my humble opinion.
Dave
 
SpiderWebComm said:
Pre-shot routine. Really work hard to refine your pre-shot routine, especially making a repeatable aiming process a big part of that.

I have found that with a STRONG pre-shot routine, slumps are few are far between and when they occur, they don't last long.

Slumps, in my opinion, aren't mental at all. They're caused by slight variation in your setup and alignment that you're not aware of. When you eliminate variation in setup and procedure, you eliminate the slump.

Juuust my humble opinion.
Dave
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Dave, I agree with you completely. IMO the mental part of this equation is when people give up on themselves. They don't want to go back to the basics but would rather try to analyze their way out of the funk. When they can't figure it out they think of themselves as failures.
 
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