Sorry if this topic has been discussed to death already, but I think it's pretty eternally relevant. I dealt with a bad case of the jitters in league last night, and thought I'd share the story.
I'm rated C+ in my 9-ball league, though I've been improving lately and may be creeping into B territory. Up until last night, I'd only really played against players at or beneath my skill level in league matches. I've shot against stronger players who could keep you in your chair for a while, but not many times and never in league. I usually hold my composure pretty well when I'm playing, and though I do get nervous sometimes, it's usually the sort of mild nervousness that I can control and focus.
Last night, my league match was against a very strong player. He's rated A or A+; can't remember which, but either way he's one of the better players in a pretty strong league. Stepping up to the table, I didn't consciously feel nervous, but when I got down to shoot my back hand was shaking so bad I could barely deliver the cue in anything resembling a straight line! I was missing shots that should have been hangers by like half a diamond. Now, I had been practicing earlier that night and I had been in pretty good stroke. I could tell that my alignment and aim were "on," and I stepped into the match with decent confidence, but once the shaking started, that confidence just melted away. I started expecting to miss, and of course I did. I tried taking deep breaths and a few other relaxation techniques, but I just couldn't calm my gripping hand. I was shaking like I was trying to drink a glass of water on the subway.
Somehow, I hung in there and clawed my way to a victory. I was being spotted 4 games in a race to 10, and though my opponent was clearly a very skilled player, he was probably a little "off" last night and he pretty much handed me several games (scratched on the 7, scratched on the 9, etc.). In the final game, I made a decent 5-ball run to close it out, but that was easily my biggest run of the night. So basically, I got lucky - my opponent did most of the work for me.
However, I did manage to regain my composure and steadiness towards the end. The one thing that helped was, as I was down on a shot, to simply remind myself that shooting pool is fun! Funny how you can forget that in a tense match. I forced myself to look at each shot as a fun challenge, and not as a measure of my worth or something. I tried to recapture that curious fascination that comes so much more easily when you're just practicing and banging balls around. It took a strong, conscious effort, though, and I hardly started playing miraculously - it just calmed me enough to keep from shaking and start getting out where I was supposed to. Oh, something else that helped was when I actually noticed my opponent shaking on a difficult, jacked-up shot!
Anyway, it remains to be seen if I'll get another unexpected attack of the nerves next time, and how helpful my "pool is fun" attitude will be. It reminded me of something I read a while ago in Bob Fancher's "The Pleasures of Small Motions" about really understanding your motivation for playing. Anyone have any other strategies for dealing with the jitters? Obviously alcohol is a big one, and I'll sometimes have a beer to take the edge off my nerves, but I'd like to find other ways to overcome nervousness that don't involve alcohol.
Andrew
I'm rated C+ in my 9-ball league, though I've been improving lately and may be creeping into B territory. Up until last night, I'd only really played against players at or beneath my skill level in league matches. I've shot against stronger players who could keep you in your chair for a while, but not many times and never in league. I usually hold my composure pretty well when I'm playing, and though I do get nervous sometimes, it's usually the sort of mild nervousness that I can control and focus.
Last night, my league match was against a very strong player. He's rated A or A+; can't remember which, but either way he's one of the better players in a pretty strong league. Stepping up to the table, I didn't consciously feel nervous, but when I got down to shoot my back hand was shaking so bad I could barely deliver the cue in anything resembling a straight line! I was missing shots that should have been hangers by like half a diamond. Now, I had been practicing earlier that night and I had been in pretty good stroke. I could tell that my alignment and aim were "on," and I stepped into the match with decent confidence, but once the shaking started, that confidence just melted away. I started expecting to miss, and of course I did. I tried taking deep breaths and a few other relaxation techniques, but I just couldn't calm my gripping hand. I was shaking like I was trying to drink a glass of water on the subway.
Somehow, I hung in there and clawed my way to a victory. I was being spotted 4 games in a race to 10, and though my opponent was clearly a very skilled player, he was probably a little "off" last night and he pretty much handed me several games (scratched on the 7, scratched on the 9, etc.). In the final game, I made a decent 5-ball run to close it out, but that was easily my biggest run of the night. So basically, I got lucky - my opponent did most of the work for me.
However, I did manage to regain my composure and steadiness towards the end. The one thing that helped was, as I was down on a shot, to simply remind myself that shooting pool is fun! Funny how you can forget that in a tense match. I forced myself to look at each shot as a fun challenge, and not as a measure of my worth or something. I tried to recapture that curious fascination that comes so much more easily when you're just practicing and banging balls around. It took a strong, conscious effort, though, and I hardly started playing miraculously - it just calmed me enough to keep from shaking and start getting out where I was supposed to. Oh, something else that helped was when I actually noticed my opponent shaking on a difficult, jacked-up shot!
Anyway, it remains to be seen if I'll get another unexpected attack of the nerves next time, and how helpful my "pool is fun" attitude will be. It reminded me of something I read a while ago in Bob Fancher's "The Pleasures of Small Motions" about really understanding your motivation for playing. Anyone have any other strategies for dealing with the jitters? Obviously alcohol is a big one, and I'll sometimes have a beer to take the edge off my nerves, but I'd like to find other ways to overcome nervousness that don't involve alcohol.
Andrew
Don't shoot lazily or casually, but shoot with the expectation that if you dog it, nobody's gonna be upset and you can just shrug it off and smile. I think it'll settle your hand. You have to simultaneously put care into each shot, but not care too much in general... if that makes any sense.