The Benefit of Playing in Front of an Audience

B

BasementDweller

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Around here we always talk about the things a player must do to improve their game and when this conversation starts up we always talk about the same things. Someone will quickly chime in with, “You have to practice more.” To which someone else will respond, “Yeah you need to practice, but what you really need to do is play better players.” Eventually someone will come along and say, “Playing tournaments is what helped my game the most.” Then the conversation is turned to gambling, “You have to have something on the line – you have to gamble to get better.”

If you have watched any of the money matches that were played in the Philippines recently you’ve probably noticed the crazy atmosphere these guys are playing in. It’s awesome really. If you haven’t watched any of the matches check out the “Alex P Moneymatch…” thread here: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=371306

Anyway, while watching one of these matches it dawned on me that in all these “improvement” threads, maybe we are overlooking the obvious. Maybe the ultimate thrill doesn’t come from winning someone else’s money, or cashing a check from a big tournament, but instead we all really just want to gain the respect of our peers. This is why playing in front of a crowd is the best. When you are in the arena and everybody is inspecting your every move and you manage to come out victorious – that’s the best feeling in the world.

So maybe it’s not so much the cut throat gambling atmosphere that drives so many Filipino players to reach the top of the pool playing world, but instead it’s much simpler. It’s the desire to win the respect of their peers. I can only imagine how much I would improve if I was constantly playing in front of an audience. If that doesn’t force you to reach a whole new level of focus and determination nothing will. Then this thrill of being in the arena carries over to your practice sessions and really instills in you a passion for improvement.

So maybe the next time we have a thread where someone asks – “What’s something I can do to improve my game?” maybe we should simply say you need to figure out a way to get your game out there and play in front of a crowd. Now finding a crowd to play in front of – you’re on your own there.

Has playing in front of an audience taught you anything about your game?
 
There is much truth in your pontification.
If you want to get all Freudian about it, man vs man competition ( in the form of both games and battles) dates back to primitive times when respect and honor was earned thru physical prowess, and of course the claiming of ones mate via straight up physical dominance over other males.

In the u.s., sadly, 'honor' has lost much of its shine, but the core desire to gain the respect (or perceived dominance) of your peers is hardwired in the male species.

Cavemen with clubs is what we are lol.
 
It feels good

BasementDweller said:
Around here we always talk about the things a player must do to improve their game and when this conversation starts up we always talk about the same things. Someone will quickly chime in with, “You have to practice more.” To which someone else will respond, “Yeah you need to practice, but what you really need to do is play better players.” Eventually someone will come along and say, “Playing tournaments is what helped my game the most.” Then the conversation is turned to gambling, “You have to have something on the line – you have to gamble to get better.”

If you have watched any of the money matches that were played in the Philippines recently you’ve probably noticed the crazy atmosphere these guys are playing in. It’s awesome really. If you haven’t watched any of the matches check out the “Alex P Moneymatch…” thread here: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=371306

Anyway, while watching one of these matches it dawned on me that in all these “improvement” threads, maybe we are overlooking the obvious. Maybe the ultimate thrill doesn’t come from winning someone else’s money, or cashing a check from a big tournament, but instead we all really just want to gain the respect of our peers. This is why playing in front of a crowd is the best. When you are in the arena and everybody is inspecting your every move and you manage to come out victorious – that’s the best feeling in the world.

So maybe it’s not so much the cut throat gambling atmosphere that drives so many Filipino players to reach the top of the pool playing world, but instead it’s much simpler. It’s the desire to win the respect of their peers. I can only imagine how much I would improve if I was constantly playing in front of an audience. If that doesn’t force you to reach a whole new level of focus and determination nothing will. Then this thrill of being in the arena carries over to your practice sessions and really instills in you a passion for improvement.

So maybe the next time we have a thread where someone asks – “What’s something I can do to improve my game?” maybe we should simply say you need to figure out a way to get your game out there and play in front of a crowd. Now finding a crowd to play in front of – you’re on your own there.

Has playing in front of an audience taught you anything about your game?
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It feels good to have a crowd root for you and cheer your success...
 
But then we'd have to wear decent pants, a collared shirt and real tight, uncomfortable shoes ("hey, those shoes aren't uncomfortable enough. You're disqualified!) :grin-square:
 
Gambling, playing tournaments, and playing in front of an audience are just three different (but not mutually exclusive) ways of playing under pressure. Playing under pressure reveals your weaknesses, and teaches you to dig deep to find your best game.

All 3 ways work for me, although if my "audience" is watching me just messing around, it doesn't really help much. Gambling or tournament play with an audience, however, definitely helps me learn to play my best while feeling a little pressure to perform.

-Andrew
 
Andrew Manning said:
Gambling, playing tournaments, and playing in front of an audience are just three different (but not mutually exclusive) ways of playing under pressure. Playing under pressure reveals your weaknesses, and teaches you to dig deep to find your best game.

All 3 ways work for me, although if my "audience" is watching me just messing around, it doesn't really help much. Gambling or tournament play with an audience, however, definitely helps me learn to play my best while feeling a little pressure to perform.

-Andrew
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Playing under pressure can turn you into a chump. However, it teaches you a TON of lessons that you will NEVER learn just practicing and hitting balls. You have to experience it and then learn from it to become a better player the next time around. There's nothing better than winning a tight match with even just 50+ people spectating.
 
I've been thinking about this a little the past few weeks. Last year, I played APA masters and by the end of the session I was finally beating players that usually beat me in the past and I felt like my game had gotten a lot better. Now, I feel it slipping. I feel like it's more a lack of focus than anything else. I don't practice any less but the competition isn't as good, so I feel that I subconsciously just lost some motivation. That's what I'm trying to get back. For me, it seems that playing against better players regularly helps my game and not doing so hurts it.
 
There is a lot of merit in what you have written - the dynamics of playing in front of an audience do a couple things. The Audience Effect (first introduced by Norman Triplett in the 1800s) explains how people can perform a task better or worse in a given audience.

Research shows that when you feel you are competent at a particular skill then your execution in front of a crowd increases. A good example would be a trick shot artist like Florian Kohler - if he knows a particular shot backwards and forwards then his ability to perform the shot will increase in front of a crowd.

However, if you are not particularly competent (or don't feel yourself to be) in a skill then you must execute that skill in front of a crowd then your performance decreases. So, if Florian Kohler had to answer 3 calculus questions in front of a crowd then his performance would flop.

Basically, when you're good at something you're better in front of crowds, when you're bad at something it gets worse in front of crowds.
 
The gallery are better people than me, the urge to smash to the "lint pickers" in the face would overwhelm me.:angry:
 
Zphix said:
There is a lot of merit in what you have written - the dynamics of playing in front of an audience do a couple things. The Audience Effect (first introduced by Norman Triplett in the 1800s) explains how people can perform a task better or worse in a given audience.

Research shows that when you feel you are competent at a particular skill then your execution in front of a crowd increases. A good example would be a trick shot artist like Florian Kohler - if he knows a particular shot backwards and forwards then his ability to perform the shot will increase in front of a crowd.

However, if you are not particularly competent (or don't feel yourself to be) in a skill then you must execute that skill in front of a crowd then your performance decreases. So, if Florian Kohler had to answer 3 calculus questions in front of a crowd then his performance would flop.

Basically, when you're good at something you're better in front of crowds, when you're bad at something it gets worse in front of crowds.
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What research demonstrates that? Sounds complete rubbish to me.
 
TheThaiger said:
What research demonstrates that? Sounds complete rubbish to me.
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If I were you - I would Google something called "social facilitation." There are quite a lot of research articles on the manner and I had to read quite a few of them for Social Psych.

As it turns out - almost all animals are affected by this because John M. Levine and Thomas R. Zentall conducted an experiment with rats who had to run through a familiar maze. In the presence of other rats the one running the mazes had consistently better times - social facilitation experiments have further been applied to humans and found the same results.

If you're interested, check out "Effect of a conspecific’s presence on deprived rats’
performance- Social facilitation vs distraction/imitation*" by Levine and Zentall. A quick Google search should bring up a .PDF you could read through.
 
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Zphix said:
If I were you - I would Google something called "social facilitation." There are quite a lot of research articles on the manner and I had to read quite a few of them for Social Psych.

As it turns out - almost all animals are affected by this because John M. Levine and Thomas R. Zentall conducted an experiment with rats who had to run through a familiar maze. In the presence of other rats the one running the mazes had consistently better times - social facilitation experiments have further been applied to humans and found the same results.

If you're interested, check out "Effect of a conspecific’s presence on deprived rats’
performance- Social facilitation vs distraction/imitation*" by Levine and Zentall. A quick Google search should bring up a .PDF you could read through.
Click to expand...

I don't buy it, especially not in the arena of playing pool. How many times do you hear pros saying they're hitting the ball well in practice, but not in competition?

Audiences add pressure to most. Only the rare few are inspired by them.
 
TheThaiger said:
I don't buy it, especially not in the arena of playing pool. How many times do you hear pros saying they're hitting the ball well in practice, but not in competition?

Audiences add pressure to most. Only the rare few are inspired by them.
Click to expand...

Whether you buy it or not it's been proven to be true. Besides - nobody consciously makes a shift like "I'm playing in front of a crowd so I guess my game should be better than in practice" No. So, pros likely wouldn't notice this themselves because it's more subconscious.

But, since you're still skeptical. In 1982, a psychologist named Micheal observed these effects on pro and average/amateur pool players. When playing alone, the average pot for the pros was 71%, and in a crowd the average pot went up to 80%. For the average player, they made 36% of their balls, and in a crowd dropped to 25% pocketing.

If this doesn't convince you then you're just ignorant.

Sent from my X501_USA_Cricket using Tapatalk 2
 
Zphix said:
Whether you buy it or not it's been proven to be true. Besides - nobody consciously makes a shift like "I'm playing in front of a crowd so I guess my game should be better than in practice" No. So, pros likely wouldn't notice this themselves because it's more subconscious.

But, since you're still skeptical. In 1982, a psychologist named Micheal observed these effects on pro and average/amateur pool players. When playing alone, the average pot for the pros was 71%, and in a crowd the average pot went up to 80%. For the average player, they made 36% of their balls, and in a crowd dropped to 25% pocketing.

If this doesn't convince you then you're just ignorant.

Sent from my X501_USA_Cricket using Tapatalk 2
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Lol.

Oh OK, if a psychologist called Michael says so, then it must be true.

:rolleyes:
 
Zphix said:
Whether you buy it or not it's been proven to be true. Besides - nobody consciously makes a shift like "I'm playing in front of a crowd so I guess my game should be better than in practice" No. So, pros likely wouldn't notice this themselves because it's more subconscious.

But, since you're still skeptical. In 1982, a psychologist named Micheal observed these effects on pro and average/amateur pool players. When playing alone, the average pot for the pros was 71%, and in a crowd the average pot went up to 80%. For the average player, they made 36% of their balls, and in a crowd dropped to 25% pocketing.

If this doesn't convince you then you're just ignorant.

Sent from my X501_USA_Cricket using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Yeah it's a well-established finding. Good to see you know your classic Social Psychology.
 
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