starting strong- ?

E

evergruven

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
it often takes me time to play my best game
sometimes it takes an hour, sometimes a few hours
is this typical? a short warm-up period seems reasonable
but of course, I'd prefer to start off playing as well as possible
wondering if y'all could share any perspective, and maybe a few tips?
thanks-
 
evergruven said:
it often takes me time to play my best game
sometimes it takes an hour, sometimes a few hours
is this typical? a short warm-up period seems reasonable
but of course, I'd prefer to start off playing as well as possible
wondering if y'all could share any perspective, and maybe a few tips?
thanks-
Click to expand...
get there earlier??? ;)
 
evergruven said:
it often takes me time to play my best game
sometimes it takes an hour, sometimes a few hours
is this typical? a short warm-up period seems reasonable
but of course, I'd prefer to start off playing as well as possible
wondering if y'all could share any perspective, and maybe a few tips?
thanks-
Click to expand...
Post some videos of your initial play and then your warmed play and I'll review them for you. I'm sure others will help, too.
 
evergruven said:
it often takes me time to play my best game
sometimes it takes an hour, sometimes a few hours
is this typical? a short warm-up period seems reasonable
but of course, I'd prefer to start off playing as well as possible
wondering if y'all could share any perspective, and maybe a few tips?
thanks-
Click to expand...
As boring as it may be to you, work on your fundamentals.
 
evergruven said:
it often takes me time to play my best game
sometimes it takes an hour, sometimes a few hours
is this typical? a short warm-up period seems reasonable
but of course, I'd prefer to start off playing as well as possible
wondering if y'all could share any perspective, and maybe a few tips?
thanks-
Click to expand...
You're not alone. There are lots of us out there, me included. My game really starts to kick in at a high level after about 2 hours, which is not so great for tournaments, so I knew I had to find a solution or I'd never win a match. I found that warming up doesn't have to take place solely on a pool table. You can also warm up by doing a form of physical exercise to get your blood flowing and transporting oxygen to your body parts. Taking a walk, doing a little weight-lifting, something physical helps a lot. When I was out of town, I'd use the hotel workout room or take a walk around the property between 1 and 2 hours before my match. Even a quick walk 15 minutes before helps a lot. Do what you can, depending on where you are.
 
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Bob Jewett said:
As boring as it may be to you, work on your fundamentals.
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thanks bob, probably good advice in any case. serious question: how do you define "fundamentals"?

FranCrimi said:
You can also warm up by doing a form of physical exercise to get your blood flowing and transporting oxygen to your body parts. Taking a walk, doing a little weight-lifting, something physical helps a lot. When I was out of town, I'd use the hotel workout room or take a walk around the property between 1 and 2 hours before my match. Even a quick walk 15 minutes before helps a lot. Do what you can, depending on where you are.
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thanks for the advice, fran. I do stretch out before I play, and in the athletic spirit, I tried some lively air stroking along the rail before I played last night.
not for sure if it helped my game, but it did feel good. I'm going to keep experimenting with it.
 
evergruven said:
thanks for the advice, fran. I do stretch out before I play, and in the athletic spirit, I tried some lively air stroking along the rail before I played last night.
not for sure if it helped my game, but it did feel good. I'm going to keep experimenting with it.
Click to expand...
Increase the amount of exercise each time before you play until you feel warmed up. Physical warmups don't just relax your body. They also help relax your mind.
 
Good thread, I have same issues. It's obviously really a killer for tourney's but also a bummer for $$ matches, invariably I'm digging out of a hole to someone I'm quite confident I can outplay, and it's frustrating/exhausting - especially since most folks these days don't hang around for very long drawn out sessions, where I'm stronger, so sometimes I'm just catching my gear when the place is closing, or opponent just has to leave, etc.

I also have noticed that simply warming up before a match - doesn't seem to do much for me, in fact I feel I put too much pressure on myself this way; the practice session isn't loose & natural like when I'm just hitting balls by myself under no schedule - so I actually prefer to just start matches cold.

I have made some moderate progress lately and feel like both Bob & Fran's advice are good. For myself, I've done tons of work on my fundies, but keeping my internal confidence/focus high & stable on the mental side - is definitely a work in progress. I think Fran's tips especially towards getting some physical exercise & stretching done pre game - is important and will be trying to this better. Personally I carry a lot of stress from work/life in my neck/shoulders, and I find movements to deal with this are helpful. I think I'm going to try getting massages more often, aside from just feeling good, I consider them a form of physical therapy.

Cheers✌️
 
I think this question benefits from looking at the (slightly) bigger picture too.

For example, I tend to start slow (let's say half an hour), hit my best form (say 1.5 hrs), then get worse to a level below my starting standard.

So if I'm playing a 3 hour session, I could have 30 mins 'slow', 1.5 hrs best, 1 hr worst,
Or I could have a 30 mins practice (excluded from the 3 hour session), then 1.5 hrs best, then 1.5 hours worst.

So overall, perhaps I'm better off not spending time warming up before playing. (Although this depends on context; it's no good starting a knock-out tournament slow and going home after the first round.)


HOWEVER, you can also consider warming up a longer time before you play:

In practice, I've found if I play several days in a row, I get in stroke and don't need much warm-up in individual sessions: I'm ready almost from the start. (When I play a couple of days a week, I take time to loosen up, as well as hitting a lower level when I am warm.) So the days before could be counted as warming-up too.

I suspect that for some people, if they warmed up in the morning, then took a few hours doing something else, they might come back to the match feeling fresh (so they've not expended half an hour of their 'playing well' time), and still showing the benefit of warming up.
I don't think that works for me (I've done that kind of thing occasionally, long ago. I seemed to start the second session 'warmed up', but I think I'd still depleted my 'playing well time'. Maybe I need to learn how to rest and recover more effectively. In fact, I think I might post a question about that now...)
 
Pin said:
......In practice, I've found if I play several days in a row, I get in stroke and don't need much warm-up in individual sessions: I'm ready almost from the start. (When I play a couple of days a week, I take time to loosen up, as well as hitting a lower level when I am warm.) So the days before could be counted as warming-up too.

I suspect that for some people, if they warmed up in the morning, then took a few hours doing something else, they might come back to the match feeling fresh (so they've not expended half an hour of their 'playing well' time), and still showing the benefit of warming up.
I don't think that works for me (I've done that kind of thing occasionally, long ago. I seemed to start the second session 'warmed up', but I think I'd still depleted my 'playing well time'. Maybe I need to learn how to rest and recover more effectively. In fact, I think I might post a question about that now...)
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What you have to consider is the stress level of the event. If you're playing in your home room or a local tournament where your comfort zone is pretty high, then yes, playing every day will certainly help in getting to your peak performing level out of the gate.

But if you're flying, dealing with airline delays, renting a car, trying to follow driving directions to a hotel, staying in a strange place --- all of these things will affect your level of stress. Now you have to find a way to let go of that stress before you play your first match. So warming up for many players is an entire mind-body necessity and has very little to do with how much playing you did up to the big event.

Also, some players, regardless of where they are, tend to get more nervous or anxious before a competitive match. It's just their nature to do so. They especially need a long-enough warmup that releases that stress.
 
FranCrimi said:
What you have to consider is the stress level of the event. If you're playing in your home room or a local tournament where your comfort zone is pretty high, then yes, playing every day will certainly help in getting to your peak performing level out of the gate.

But if you're flying, dealing with airline delays, renting a car, trying to follow driving directions to a hotel, staying in a strange place --- all of these things will affect your level of stress. Now you have to find a way to let go of that stress before you play your first match. So warming up for many players is an entire mind-body necessity and has very little to do with how much playing you did up to the big event.

Also, some players, regardless of where they are, tend to get more nervous or anxious before a competitive match. It's just their nature to do so. They especially need a long-enough warmup that releases that stress.
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Well written!

"Being comfortable being uncomfortable" is the key- every human is individual and so he (or maybe with help of another person, who is expirienced and know this human really well) has to find his way to manage the moment. Being a bit nervous imo a good thing. This helps to focus- and without being a bit nervous you re not able to reach your peak performance or to go over the edge.
 
a little follow-up
yesterday I played a few sets with a pal
pleased to report that the first game I played was the worst
I got progressively better, and it didn't take long for me to find a solid game
I've been keeping track of my makes and misses, which is helping me objectively monitor my game
I've also been trying to bear down on everything, and shoot with care regardless of the situation..seems to be good exercise
 
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FranCrimi said:
You're not alone. There are lots of us out there, me included. My game really starts to kick in at a high level after about 2 hours, which is not so great for tournaments, so I knew I had to find a solution or I'd never win a match. I found that warming up doesn't have to take place solely on a pool table. You can also warm up by doing a form of physical exercise to get your blood flowing and transporting oxygen to your body parts. Taking a walk, doing a little weight-lifting, something physical helps a lot. When I was out of town, I'd use the hotel workout room or take a walk around the property between 1 and 2 hours before my match. Even a quick walk 15 minutes before helps a lot. Do what you can, depending on where you are.
Click to expand...
I walk 30 minutes a day after getting up and it makes a huge difference. I also have good fundamentals. I warm up by hitting long straight in shots then progressive long cut shots to the right and to the left and I usually am on from the start. Warmup takes about 10-12 minutes. That is just the stroke warmup though. If im playing in a tournament I want to spend some time warming up kicking, banking, and a little bit of time actually running balls.
 
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