Struggle to practice on my own / "boring"

[WilliamK]

What if you played a competitive match for 3 hours? Do you have trouble focusing or does the competitive juice get you thru the match?

An interesting point. Playing well gets you going but getting through the field takes some endurance and stamina. For example we played a round robin the other day... 2 x 1 hours of billiards, 2 x snooker, 2 x 101 pool. By the end we were all tired, but that applied to everyone.

Other times I played hard matches all day to get to the semis the next day, but was smitten by cramp in both hands and my toes.

 

[Grimper]

What if you played a competitive match for 3 hours? Do you have trouble focusing or does the competitive juice get you thru the match? I understand that focus will ebb and flow at times. Just curious as how it relates to your game.

If I'm playing other people in league, etc. I can usually hold my attention span for the whole night. Unless it's one of those "league nights from hell" where I'll literally have to sit 30-45 minutes between matches. Then it's really a shot in the dark if I'm going to be able to keep my head in the game.

 

[Bob Jewett]

I can play pool for 6-8 hours with someone nonstop and have a blast, I'll try to push myself to "practice/challenge" myself during a game with someone to increase my skill set.....but I cannot practice alone. I know that keeps me from being good to very good. I don't enjoy playing alone at alone. I will practice alone for an hour from time to time but it's tough. I know I need to practice more if I continue to want to improve my game but it's "boring". Anyone else struggle with this

Besides working intently on one issue for 15-20 minutes, set up your other solo time so that what you are doing is scored -- not just knocking balls around the table. Maybe like the progressive ghost. That will also give you a way to check your progress between real competition.

 

[pagaspoling]

When I realized I had to start practice for real in order to improve it was really hard for me at first. 15-20 minutes sometimes 30 minutes was all I could manage. With time I realized that it was not only pool I was practicing, it was patience and mindset. I knew I was able to make the drills I was doing but somedays they where really hard. By learning patience I figured out that if I just stuck with it eventually my game would turn around and the balls start dropping. At first my mindset was about perfection, I got really mad and upset if I missed a ball, but as time went on I realized that perfection was just where I was aiming and growth was my goal.

Practice alone is not so much about pool at first, its really about patience and how you treat the game and yourself. Those things can help your game as much as potting balls will. When you start to be able to practice for an hour or more the you really can start to work on your game. Don't set any real targets at first just find some nice drills and stick with them. And remember patience is key!

 

[z0nt0n3r]

play a race against the ghost,this will give you a challenge and keep you interested because it is hard to beat.