Superstitions and your game

[cuetechasaurus]

I think superstitions are terrible for a pool player. It just complicates the mental side of the game, IMO. I used to have this superstition about which side of the table my coin was on. I have no idea why I had to be on a certain side of the table, but I eventually realized how ridiculous that is. If you convince yourself that luck can be controlled by stupid things like that, it's going to do nothing but hurt your game. My advice is to do everything wrong, force yourself to. If your superstition that you have to call tails for every flip, call heads every time. Force your mind to get rid of all that garbage, it will help in the long run.

 

[Jack Madden]

The big problem I have at the Valley Forge Super Billiard Expo is that I find myself always lining up the cues, either bumper to bumper, or end cap to end cap, or name to name. Stuff like that. It's brutal.

Fred <~~~ OCD

Fred
I had no problem with your "big problem". I enjoyed visiting with you while you were lining up the cues. When you weren't, I was! And some of those cues have been put on my webpage if you want to check them out.
Jack
www.johnmaddencues.com

 

[BillYards]

Don't know if it's a superstition, or simply proof that I'm a basket case, but I'll never take a free 9 if it's the end of a break and run. If I get dead on and close to the 9 and my opponent gives me the "ok", I still feel like I have to pocket it because:
1-Just a technicality, but taking a free 9 at the end of a break and run somehow disqualifies that it was a break and run in my mind. And, walking back to the chair knowing that I just got out from the break in the middle of a match can sometimes be that little confidence booster that can make the difference in the outcome.
2-If I've gotten dead on the 9 after a break and run, it usually is because I'm in the zone and playing pretty quickly from shot to shot. Sounds stupid, but I believe that there is actually "footwork" involved when walking around the table when in the zone, and when I'm doin' da funky 9 ball boogie, having somebody interrupt me to give me the "ok" can also break my groove and mess up da funky 9 ball boogie!
I'll take any other 9 as long as it's not the easy 9 at the end of my break and run.
dave

Great post, Dave! Loved your "funky 9-ball boogie" phrase... Can you cut out some of those black paper shoeprints and send them to me so that I can place them around the table to guide my feet while I shoot? Hahah!

 

[Fish]

I have a lucky shirt.. it has Bill Yards Avatar printed on the front a naked Arnold S. (spelling ???) on the back, depending on the opponent your playing, , just stay in front of them as they line their shots, a little dancing helps, makes me win all the time !!!

 

[Snapshot9]

Jeesh ....

I don't know if I should reveal this kind of stuff:

1) I never wear white underwear to a tournament.
2) Some lucky shirts, some not so lucky, and some are 8 ball
and some are for 9 ball.
3) I have certain ways I rack 8 and 9 ball always.
4) In my cue holder, my break cue is on the left, and playing cue on
the right.

 

[DelaWho???]

Chalker must be in the back right hand pocket.......It's very distracting reaching for it when it's not there......

The thing about break cue on the left shooting cue on the right is good common sense.....Nothing more horrifying than looking down and realizing you just broke with your shooting stick......That'll throw your game for the rest of the rack.....

McCue Banger McCue

 

[chefjeff]

I can't get my pool buddy to discuss shots, strategies, cueing, stroke, or any logical, rational, effective methods for improving. He gets mad when we're playing and I try to analyze the situations outloud. He thinks I'm sharking him! But he loves to talk about which coat or shirt or socks he won't wear because "I lost last time I wore this or that, so it's a losing [shirt]." Cripes!

People who REALLY believe that some unrelated thing causes a result are....well...either lazy thinkers or insane. What else would you call it? It is a default on the mind. It's bad thinking and bad thinking eventually results in bad acting...THAT is a REAL cause of trouble, not a pretend version called superstition.

Mysticism is the creation of problems that don't currently exist. Creating unnecessary problems for yourself is ________ (good or bad) for your game/life. Supersititions are included in this category.

Stop the mysticism, get off,

Jeff Livingston

 

[TheBook]

I don't know if it's a superstition, but when I have to rack, I lay my cue on the table in front of the rack until I'm done racking, then pick it up. It started when I played in a 9ball tourney and drew one of those D**KS that likes to smash the rack while your still standing there. So I slow racked him, and left my cue on the table, and kept the cue ball in the tray til I was done racking......He was going nuts!

Gerry

I used to do the same thing until a few balls got dropped on my stick. One player even had the nerve to pick the cue up. I yelled at him and he said it was in the way of him breaking.

I now keep the cue ball until I am finished racking.