'slump' --what do you do to get yourself outta a??

CueJunkiee

CueJunkiee

Shoot with the Best TOOLS
Silver Member
everyone goes through it... can't deny it... it happens... in every sport... so what do you do?
practice more?
take a 'break' for a week or so?
stop playing others and work on your game by yourself?
give up and keep losing until you 'come around' ??

i bring this topic up as i'm in a 'slump' for 2 weeks or so now... i relate it to job stress and lack of sleep....BUT i've been struggling bad...Been thinking on every step of my stroke to try and figure out what it is... overthinking actually..

I went to only my 2 league nites and a sunday 'play around' match i do every sunday nite.... i usually play 5-6 nites a week... Played a tourney yesterday and did shoot better than i have the past 2 weeks SO i know i'm coming out of the 'slump'

Hell it was so bad for me a ball 12" from the pocket and i'd miss! What the He#$

But what are your experiences? Ideas? love to hear them....
 
CueJunkiee said:
everyone goes through it... can't deny it... it happens... in every sport... so what do you do?
practice more?
take a 'break' for a week or so?
stop playing others and work on your game by yourself?
give up and keep losing until you 'come around' ??

i bring this topic up as i'm in a 'slump' for 2 weeks or so now... i relate it to job stress and lack of sleep....BUT i've been struggling bad...Been thinking on every step of my stroke to try and figure out what it is... overthinking actually..

I went to only my 2 league nites and a sunday 'play around' match i do every sunday nite.... i usually play 5-6 nites a week... Played a tourney yesterday and did shoot better than i have the past 2 weeks SO i know i'm coming out of the 'slump'

Hell it was so bad for me a ball 12" from the pocket and i'd miss! What the He#$

But what are your experiences? Ideas? love to hear them....
Click to expand...

Ones life and ones game are somewhat parallel. I have found it easy over the years to tell if someone is having trouble at home, work or with a significant other by their table manners. We all go through it, if your mind is somewhere else pool just points it out quickly, because everthing is so precise.
 
CueJunkiee said:
everyone goes through it... can't deny it... it happens... in every sport... so what do you do?
practice more?
take a 'break' for a week or so?
stop playing others and work on your game by yourself?
give up and keep losing until you 'come around' ??

i bring this topic up as i'm in a 'slump' for 2 weeks or so now... i relate it to job stress and lack of sleep....BUT i've been struggling bad...Been thinking on every step of my stroke to try and figure out what it is... overthinking actually..

I went to only my 2 league nites and a sunday 'play around' match i do every sunday nite.... i usually play 5-6 nites a week... Played a tourney yesterday and did shoot better than i have the past 2 weeks SO i know i'm coming out of the 'slump'

Hell it was so bad for me a ball 12" from the pocket and i'd miss! What the He#$

But what are your experiences? Ideas? love to hear them....
Click to expand...

Murf, get rid of that stinking job that's causing the stress. No reason for a mere job to get in the way of a pool career. Just kidding, although your sleep deprivation and stress are probably the main things contributing to your poor play. Exercise more and get proper amounts of sleep, consistently. When you are playing poorly try hitting the cue ball closer to center, even when using English, Draw or Follow. A lot of times I find that I am playing poorly and if I move the cue tip a little closer to the center, some of my poor play goes away. A little cue tip movement goes a long way to increasing precision shooting.
JoeyA
 
Tip

Each playing session doesn't seem as important because you are playing too much. Variety is the Spice of Life. Moderation in all things.

You are getting burnt out some. Playing too much 'league' can do that for you. You're having to play - even if you don't really feel like it.

It's like eating steak everyday, after awhile you start thinking about a good ole hamburger for a change.

I played on 6 teams once on 4 different nights. (shot 2 teams on 2 different nights each week). It burnt me out for playing league. I refused to play any more than twice a week, 2 teams, after that, then gradually went back to 1, and quit playing league at all - 2 1/2 years ago.

I now play when I want to, usually tournaments, and some money matches.
 
Sometimes after a slump you come out playing better than ever slumps are the "growing pains" of your pool career.
 
What helps me might work for you:

1)Take a few days off from playing or being around pool,the pool crowd,forums etc
.
2)Then when you go back to play do some drills and work on basics for a few days but avoid matching up. This is all about getting your confidence back and feeling good about your basic fundamentals.

3)Then start worrying about playing folks again in tourney's,for $,leagues etc. If possible some social type playing with friends who aren't total pool geeks at this time is good too.

4)For most this game is about fun only. Remember that:)

5) You'll be back to playing well sooner than ya think.
 
Overthinking would be one reason. As someone said feeling stressed etc wont help your mind, so your not 100% into your game.

Hopefully your coming out of it now, and may get onto a high.
 
In the words of the late and great Steve Mizerak "Practice, Practice, Practice"

In all seriousness this is true for me, I practice more and try to stick to practice regimins as much as possible. I work on shots that I have the most trouble with and shoot drills to help me with those shots. Its always fun aslo to take a week and go through all the shots in 99 Critical Shots 10 times each as well. That really drills them into you head and helps you reconignize them.
 
Go out and shoot for an hour don't think just shoot balls as if you don't care if you make them or not you may have to force yourself to do this. The whole point of this is the not thinking part that way you can allow your natural stroke to come back. After you do this for an hour then you can bear down and see if it helped but only do this for a half hour this way when you leave the poolroom you leave on a good note and you'll be ready for nextime out. That 1st hr practice shots you would'nt normally try and some silly shots this will take your mind of the slump.
 
Slumps are most times due to complacency. We get comfortable and lazy in our game when we reach a certain level. Practice and "back to the basics" will usually help you out of it. When I learn something(s) new I will usually slump for a bit and come out stronger. I just came out of a 2 month slump. My problem was the slump then trying to "fix" everything everytime I came to the table. After a talk with my boss we came to the conclusion that I was not "playing" pool, I was worrying and fixing all the time. The next time I played I went up to the table and just trusted my natural abilities and "poof" problem solved. I have been strong ever since, it's been a little over a month now. What I'm trying to say is that Practice when you practice and play when you play.

We as americans get lazy because we have a disease called "social pool." We learn bad habits when we are not "competing" and those habits come in to play when we don't want them too.
 
(Not this slump.....that's about gone now:))

But the last time was a few years ago and I couldn't figure that one out either. I thought I tried everthing and nothing worked until I realized my wife was 36 yrs old....so I traded her for two 18's and the slump was gone :)
 
Ruthless said:
(Not this slump.....that's about gone now:))

But the last time was a few years ago and I couldn't figure that one out either. I thought I tried everthing and nothing worked until I realized my wife was 36 yrs old....so I traded her for two 18's and the slump was gone :)
Click to expand...
FOFL
thanks
 
SnakePool said:
Slumps are most times due to complacency. We get comfortable and lazy in our game when we reach a certain level. Practice and "back to the basics" will usually help you out of it. When I learn something(s) new I will usually slump for a bit and come out stronger. I just came out of a 2 month slump. My problem was the slump then trying to "fix" everything everytime I came to the table. After a talk with my boss we came to the conclusion that I was not "playing" pool, I was worrying and fixing all the time. The next time I played I went up to the table and just trusted my natural abilities and "poof" problem solved. I have been strong ever since, it's been a little over a month now. What I'm trying to say is that Practice when you practice and play when you play.

We as americans get lazy because we have a disease called "social pool." We learn bad habits when we are not "competing" and those habits come in to play when we don't want them too.
Click to expand...
i have to agree with the complacency..... especially playing the same people over and over where you know EVERYONE's speed....also casual pool too... you become freinds with everyone in the poolhalls you frequent...Heck- i started playing as an outing and a 'just hangin' around nite' but my league start many years ago has turned into determination to play the best around. So it started as casual..
i do find i play better in strange places with strange people!! and definitely play better under pressure. Like league nites i know what i can do but never give it my all, playoffs i've lost once <by showing off and SO8 mind you> and that's where it really counts if you're a league dude so the pressure is on...

This slump though i have been reliving the basics in my brain and in an hour or so i'm heading out to see if i broke through it...i hope i learned something and come out stronger. BUT will be happy picking up where i left off :-)

<by the way- i do the 'go out and bang balls not caring if i pocket them' thing and although can be fun, i never really bust through a slump that way...
 
I heard a so-so player ask a champion what advice he might give him about what to do when he gets in a slump. The champion said, " go get more money."
 
Slumps are mostly related to no ability to trust in your stroke, which leads to inconsistent play. A lesson from a qualified instructor can increase the confidance and consistency in any player.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
My favorite way is, when practicing, to eliminate all side spin and hit softer---much softer, no matter what the shot calls for.

I set up a rack of 8-ball (my game) and force myself to hit every shot center or just a bit of follow and softly! Very softly. If you need draw shape, forget it!...hit softly, center ball. Repeat.

Run a few racks this way and you'll calm down your shot, so to speak. The next time I go compete, I'm in great stroke after a week or so of this type of practice. I like to do this before league season starts and during the year when my game slips.

Softly and center ball...ALWAYS. Then when the slump is gone, you'll be left with a shot that works better and side spin will seem to work better than before.

That's how it works for me anyway,

Jeff Livingston
 
Hope this helps

chefjeff said:
My favorite way is, when practicing, to eliminate all side spin and hit softer---much softer, no matter what the shot calls for.

I set up a rack of 8-ball (my game) and force myself to hit every shot center or just a bit of follow and softly! Very softly. If you need draw shape, forget it!...hit softly, center ball. Repeat.

Run a few racks this way and you'll calm down your shot, so to speak. The next time I go compete, I'm in great stroke after a week or so of this type of practice. I like to do this before league season starts and during the year when my game slips.

Softly and center ball...ALWAYS. Then when the slump is gone, you'll be left with a shot that works better and side spin will seem to work better than before.

That's how it works for me anyway,

Jeff Livingston
Click to expand...


I work my way out of a slump similar to this method....except....I do not eliminate draw from my stroke. I do shoot softer (except where absolutely necessary). I only use follow and draw to get shape on my next shot. I also found that it helps to shorten my bridge, and use an open bridge when possible. I will also shorten my practice strokes when shooting a shot that requires a soft hit. Good luck!!! I'm betting you'll be back in dead stroke in no time :) .

Maniac
 
Finally hopefully outta my slump....
got some good sleep fri and sat... played tourney and did not so good but not terrible saturday. During the Tourney when i was awaiting matches i just jumped on a table and did some basic center ball it drills. Sun nite on my regular practice match started slow, was 'rack *****' for about 10-12 racks then it started coming around... i didn;'t let myself get aggrevated as i knew i was 'slumpin'. Then made a few shots, started to run 5-6 balls and getting in rythm, then started a couple break and runs and couple tough outs, then he started making mistakes and then i got in a groove. Mon nite showed up for league with a good mindset and rested, then ran 5 zip. no break runs but 1- 7 ball run with bad position on the 8... 15 innings APA..... not my best but not bad. <hey- it was a bar box :-)>

So i just have to say that getting rest, venting here on AZ with some advice from the guys, and just realizing that i'm shooting bad and NOT FIGHTING IT was what mentally took me back into my game...Then i stopped overthinking and saying "what if i miss" <as i do when i'm shootin bad> then my stroke came about and boom. We'll see what the rest of the week is like..
thanks to everyone that chimed in as i know we all go through it and it SUCKS :-)
 
Give up.

Seriously. Give up the game and walk away. I know that makes me sound like a bastard but this is my rationale. Most of us on here love the game so much that we'll never really give it up at all. We can't. We're drawn to it. But you can convince yourself for a brief period of time that you are, in fact, serious and that you will walk away once and for all. I've done it and it really does work.

Here's why. Just taking a break isn't enough because all you do is stop playing the game. You still think about it all the time. You read threads on AZ and check out the magazines. You watch matches on tv when they're on. You never leave the game behind. You just put things on hold with the expectation that when you go back, maybe it'll be better. And it isn't.

But when you truly give up, you manage to convince yourself for a week or so that you don't have the interest anymore as it is too dis-heartening to play poorly. You stop thinking about it. You focus on other aspects of your life. And then, one day, you are inately drawn back to the table. So, you pick up a cue and it feels weird at first. But a good weird. Then, after a little while, you find yourself playing better than ever! Success!!! You're cured!
 
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