Sports pyschology.
- Thread starter JXMIKE
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If you can find a copy of "The Inner Game of Tennis", I suggest you get it. It can translate to pool or any sport.
pleasure of small motions; forget who wrote it.
Pleasures of Small Motions by Bob Fancher, PhD
And an old standard, Sports Psyching by Tutko and Tosi
And an old standard, Sports Psyching by Tutko and Tosi
I actually tried to approach pool the same way I used to approach powerlifting. You may think that there is no way I could make a connection, but I did find one which I attributed my success in powerlifting and I am now applying it to pool.
Every day on the way to the gym I would spend the drive thinking about what I was going to do and accomplish. Once I got to the gym I found a quiet place (typically the shitter) and sat there for about 5 minutes in semi-meditation picturing what I was going to do. After I was ready I set about doing it. After I was done working out I reviewed what I did and whether or not it was a productive workout. Anytime I felt that I wasn't being productive or getting better I saw it as a waste of my time. By the time I was 27 I weighed 230lbs w/ a 30in waist and benched 500lbs.
So far as pool is concerned if I wasn't being productive (missing, taking bad shots or making bad shape) I could spend the time figuring out where I was going wrong.
Dunno if this would help you at all, but it has certainly helped me
Every day on the way to the gym I would spend the drive thinking about what I was going to do and accomplish. Once I got to the gym I found a quiet place (typically the shitter) and sat there for about 5 minutes in semi-meditation picturing what I was going to do. After I was ready I set about doing it. After I was done working out I reviewed what I did and whether or not it was a productive workout. Anytime I felt that I wasn't being productive or getting better I saw it as a waste of my time. By the time I was 27 I weighed 230lbs w/ a 30in waist and benched 500lbs.
So far as pool is concerned if I wasn't being productive (missing, taking bad shots or making bad shape) I could spend the time figuring out where I was going wrong.
Dunno if this would help you at all, but it has certainly helped me
gunzby said:
you are right on the money...
when I am playing my best pool... my brain uses no words... its simply a movie of what I want to happen... I will dry run a shot with follow stun and draw each once in my head.... the movie shows me where the cueball goes.. and 95% of the time one of those three movies will show me favorable position.. and / or the position I need to get..
visualization is powerful... if you can shut up the chattering left brain.. and let things happen... see it happen... more often than not it WILL happen..
softshot said:
It may not work for everyone, but it has made a difference in my game. I came up with the idea this week because I was slumping hardcore. I took a 10 year layoff and just came back recently when I kept thinking of what I could do to improve when I came up with that idea.
I like the cinema comparison because the best pool I ever played I actually remember nothing about it other than the guy I played told me I ran 10 racks of 9ball in row. Until he said that I had no idea what I did....it was all just balls going into the pocket to me.
*edit*
I can honestly say that game is the closest I have ever come to full meditation I can imagine in billiards. I don't remember music, noise, voices, racks or anything.
The book TX Poolnut suggested is an excellent read. The author (Tim Gallway) also wrote "The Inner Game Of Golf". I found the golf book better because it pertained to hitting a stationary ball.
Mike
Mike
the physical skills of whatever game are essential to build on, u must have some good foundations in place first, then the visualization aspect to the mental game becomes key. there was an experiment done several years ago ( I don't remember all the particulars) with college basketball teams. one group of teams was instructed to do foul shots in their minds when not on the court. after a few days their foul shot shooting percentage increased compared to the other groups that did not do the mental visualization. results of course will vary but any edge on the positive side will have a positve effect on ur game and it should inprove ur level of play.
read the books by champions
The mental game is one place the head shrinkers fall short. They can give excellent advice to overcome the negatives in your mental game but I would rather read a book by a champion in any event than a PhD when it comes time to understand what it takes to be a champion. If I find a champion with a PhD so much the better.
I am trying to wade through The Pleasure of Small Motions one more time before I write it off but it seems to focus far too much on overcoming the negative and lower levels of play. It doesn't get around to what it takes to be a champion. J Michael Plaxco's book on pistol competition has a large section on the mental game and helped me tremendously. Pistol shooters get into the zone for a twenty or thirty second run much like pool shooters need to be able to move in and out of the zone.
Don't concern yourself with what event the champion competed in. Read books by champions that let you inside their heads. Soon you will recognize the things that they have in common. One thing that many didn't have was natural talent or physical gifts and many had to overcome injury or disease.
Hu
The mental game is one place the head shrinkers fall short. They can give excellent advice to overcome the negatives in your mental game but I would rather read a book by a champion in any event than a PhD when it comes time to understand what it takes to be a champion. If I find a champion with a PhD so much the better.
I am trying to wade through The Pleasure of Small Motions one more time before I write it off but it seems to focus far too much on overcoming the negative and lower levels of play. It doesn't get around to what it takes to be a champion. J Michael Plaxco's book on pistol competition has a large section on the mental game and helped me tremendously. Pistol shooters get into the zone for a twenty or thirty second run much like pool shooters need to be able to move in and out of the zone.
Don't concern yourself with what event the champion competed in. Read books by champions that let you inside their heads. Soon you will recognize the things that they have in common. One thing that many didn't have was natural talent or physical gifts and many had to overcome injury or disease.
Hu
ShootingArts said:
I agree about The Pleasures of Small Motions 100%!!! Much too cerebral. The Inner Game of Tennis has good points, IMHO. I also agree with whoever said there are no words in their head when in good stroke. When I'm in dead stroke, I'm not thinking, just executing. I basically just know what to do.
Over the past several years, I've written a lot of stuff on the mental game in this forum - it would take a while to dig up all of it -
I have some videos that deal with the mental game available for free on youtube and at Veoh -
Here are the links -
Self Sabotage: The Hidden Enemy
Mental Training Techniques
Mental Game Mastery: Course Introduction
These are excerpts from my clinic entitled Mental Game Mastery. I currently offer this as a 2 day course - minimum of 12 students per class.
I have some videos that deal with the mental game available for free on youtube and at Veoh -
Here are the links -
Self Sabotage: The Hidden Enemy
Mental Training Techniques
Mental Game Mastery: Course Introduction
These are excerpts from my clinic entitled Mental Game Mastery. I currently offer this as a 2 day course - minimum of 12 students per class.
This will get you started. I am re-writing with several new things I have learned over the last year or so. None-the-less the material presented in the article listed below has been found to be useful by several players who have emailed me after reading.
http://www.sunburstselect.com/PBReview/Competitive_Anxiety.htm
There are several topics covered and the best stuff to help you get in the zone is at the end.
As someone commented in a prior post, learning to visualize the OB move before the last stroke is also a key concept. This too takes training and will be discussed in my next revision.
I agree with Shooting Arts to some extent. Many educated people consider only a few aspects of the game in depth and therefore do not write from a comprehensive perspective. However, they are usually able to organize and synthesize the material available to them and this often (not always) leads to a better presentation.
I am not a sports psychologist. My specialty was in another area but I was a scientist, university professor, and had a clinical practice for many years. Now I am retired and have taken up pool playing as a major avocation. I bring my prior work to studies on pocket billiards and suggestions for players.
Comments on the Competitive Anxiety text are always appreciated.
http://www.sunburstselect.com/PBReview/Competitive_Anxiety.htm
There are several topics covered and the best stuff to help you get in the zone is at the end.
As someone commented in a prior post, learning to visualize the OB move before the last stroke is also a key concept. This too takes training and will be discussed in my next revision.
I agree with Shooting Arts to some extent. Many educated people consider only a few aspects of the game in depth and therefore do not write from a comprehensive perspective. However, they are usually able to organize and synthesize the material available to them and this often (not always) leads to a better presentation.
I am not a sports psychologist. My specialty was in another area but I was a scientist, university professor, and had a clinical practice for many years. Now I am retired and have taken up pool playing as a major avocation. I bring my prior work to studies on pocket billiards and suggestions for players.
Comments on the Competitive Anxiety text are always appreciated.
I think the best book out there is Loehr's first book, as pictured above, "Mental Toughness..." Loehr has you think through your game, set specific goals, and then shows you how to train. It is for the serious player. I should mention that I have only read five or six sports psych books that could be of use to players. I have not read his "New Toughness Training" and it too may be as good or better than his first book.
BTW NBll1, make your photos 600 - 800 pixels wide and they will display without requiring the user to scroll sideways.
BTW NBll1, make your photos 600 - 800 pixels wide and they will display without requiring the user to scroll sideways.
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presentation can be lacking
Joe,
I agree with you that presentation can be lacking when talking to or reading the words of some champions. One problem is sometimes they are saying what they think people want to hear. Sometimes they don't know how they got there themselves. Finding an articulate and honest champion can be tough.
If I had to say the main quality needed to be a champion it is will to win. Most competitors would say they have a will to win but many are lacking in this area. They want to win, but they want to be liked by all and seen as a nice guy. All of these things that dilute will to win can hold a person back. First thing needed is the will to win with all other objectives being distant secondary goals.
After that a person can focus on the things both mental and physical that are needed to be a winner. A fairly large ego is a must even if you keep it hidden. I also think that a deep understanding of yourself is needed. Your physical and mental pluses and negatives.
After the things above are in place then you need a systematic approach to winning. Identify the primary thing keeping you from winning and take care of that issue. Repeat over and over until you are where you want to be.
Hu
Joe,
I agree with you that presentation can be lacking when talking to or reading the words of some champions. One problem is sometimes they are saying what they think people want to hear. Sometimes they don't know how they got there themselves. Finding an articulate and honest champion can be tough.
If I had to say the main quality needed to be a champion it is will to win. Most competitors would say they have a will to win but many are lacking in this area. They want to win, but they want to be liked by all and seen as a nice guy. All of these things that dilute will to win can hold a person back. First thing needed is the will to win with all other objectives being distant secondary goals.
After that a person can focus on the things both mental and physical that are needed to be a winner. A fairly large ego is a must even if you keep it hidden. I also think that a deep understanding of yourself is needed. Your physical and mental pluses and negatives.
After the things above are in place then you need a systematic approach to winning. Identify the primary thing keeping you from winning and take care of that issue. Repeat over and over until you are where you want to be.
Hu
JoeW said:
WOW, this thread has been more helpfull than i hoped, thanks everyone.
My biggest problem is when i miss a shot that i usually make with my eyes closed it gets inside my head and i beat myself up inside and i eventually get into a negative space and then i cant make nothing to save my life.
Hopefully these books will help with that.
My biggest problem is when i miss a shot that i usually make with my eyes closed it gets inside my head and i beat myself up inside and i eventually get into a negative space and then i cant make nothing to save my life.
Hopefully these books will help with that.