The monk book series
- Thread starter trob
- Start date
Monk
Monk came to our town,actually on a league night and hung around till we were done and made his spiel. Nice guy and he will make deals! Very mental and emphasizes the basic shots and diff strokes. I bought I believe his entire set of stuff, about four books, several videos and the cards for $115. I don't think you would get this deal buying on his site or online. Inquire where he might be close to you and probably get a better deal. His main thing is called the punch stroke, letting cue travel it's intended path with no English. It works. Of course English must sometimes be used and he goes into that. He has a deck of cards with shots and explanations of shots on each card. As I understand it you get online and PLAY someone. Like poker I think, you need a table in your home really. Each pick a card and score points based on your execution. Some shots harder and scoring more. Much of his thing is the mental game and learning how to win. His books are small maybe 5 x 9 spiral binder. Nice tough little books that will last. I will say I haven't heard much of his work on the az forums. He has advertised in most Billiards pubs for many years.
Monk came to our town,actually on a league night and hung around till we were done and made his spiel. Nice guy and he will make deals! Very mental and emphasizes the basic shots and diff strokes. I bought I believe his entire set of stuff, about four books, several videos and the cards for $115. I don't think you would get this deal buying on his site or online. Inquire where he might be close to you and probably get a better deal. His main thing is called the punch stroke, letting cue travel it's intended path with no English. It works. Of course English must sometimes be used and he goes into that. He has a deck of cards with shots and explanations of shots on each card. As I understand it you get online and PLAY someone. Like poker I think, you need a table in your home really. Each pick a card and score points based on your execution. Some shots harder and scoring more. Much of his thing is the mental game and learning how to win. His books are small maybe 5 x 9 spiral binder. Nice tough little books that will last. I will say I haven't heard much of his work on the az forums. He has advertised in most Billiards pubs for many years.
Mr. Trob
That was a pretty long post and upon further thinking I believe I would just invest in his main book The Lesson as a start. I just looked at my kit I bought and there were two more books. One was a How To Win type thing and the other was called Performance Pool which explains the card game and how to execute the shots. Maybe the explanations are not on the cards. The two videos I have not watched, shame on me! The whole mental thing to me is not something you can learn by reading books, you just have to figure out how to fall into your own little fog. I advocate instinctive shooting as opposed to the whole measuring and analyzing thing. Notice what happens when you do fall into dead stroke? Nothing happens!! You are playing instinctively like your on auto pilot! Not to say slowing down and thinking isn't necessary, and I do, but you must trust yourself and let your stroke out. There is so much to deal with while you play you can't be thinking about your mental game while playing. Learn how to forget the previous shots, your game is in front of you not behind you!!!
That was a pretty long post and upon further thinking I believe I would just invest in his main book The Lesson as a start. I just looked at my kit I bought and there were two more books. One was a How To Win type thing and the other was called Performance Pool which explains the card game and how to execute the shots. Maybe the explanations are not on the cards. The two videos I have not watched, shame on me! The whole mental thing to me is not something you can learn by reading books, you just have to figure out how to fall into your own little fog. I advocate instinctive shooting as opposed to the whole measuring and analyzing thing. Notice what happens when you do fall into dead stroke? Nothing happens!! You are playing instinctively like your on auto pilot! Not to say slowing down and thinking isn't necessary, and I do, but you must trust yourself and let your stroke out. There is so much to deal with while you play you can't be thinking about your mental game while playing. Learn how to forget the previous shots, your game is in front of you not behind you!!!
I've seen some of his stuff and personally, I think there are better (much better) sources. I don't like the guy's work myself. Pleasures of Small Motions, The Inner Game of Tennis, and even Zen Archery are good reads. I think his DVDs are a joke. But that's just me.
I'm gonna ramble a bit, but if it's helpful to anyone, then I did some good.
Now while I'm no expert, I believe your mental game grows as your physical game improves. If you're not sure of making the shot, or if you are not totally prepared to shoot the shot because pieces of the shot's puzzle are missing or unclear, everything else falls apart like dominoes. It may seem like mental lapse, but in reality it's confusion IMHO.
I mentioned this in another thread a little while ago, but I think it's very important. I believe that if you are absolutely sure of your shot. If you plan it completely in your mind. The part of the pocket to hit with the OB and the path / route the CB takes to an exact resting place on the table, then your mind will be much less likely to wander while you are in your stance. The mental picture is complete and there is no confusion on that last forward stroke.
My favorite line comes from Curly, one of the 3 Stooges. He said, " I'm trying to think, but nothing happens." It's truer than we realize. You can't think if you don't know what to think about. Or if you're not comfortable with what you just thought.
Sometimes you plan your shot well, see the line your CB will take for position, then get down to shoot the shot and realize the angle just isn't what you envisioned while you were standing. If you don't take the time to regroup, but rather try to adjust while you're down, things go wrong.
Another huge factor in the mental game is desire. For me, as I get older with a few extra aches and pains, my level of desire goes down and that effects the mental game a lot.
Outside distractions in our minds can range from anything from job, family, pets, God knows what else.
I believe if any of these kinds of things cloud our thoughts, no book is going to be the magic bullet. Rather, as I mentioned, filling your mind with the specifics of the shot, so long as your physical ability can deliver on your mental image, and being in the moment, watching your mental movie play out phyically works best. IMO
I'm gonna ramble a bit, but if it's helpful to anyone, then I did some good.
Now while I'm no expert, I believe your mental game grows as your physical game improves. If you're not sure of making the shot, or if you are not totally prepared to shoot the shot because pieces of the shot's puzzle are missing or unclear, everything else falls apart like dominoes. It may seem like mental lapse, but in reality it's confusion IMHO.
I mentioned this in another thread a little while ago, but I think it's very important. I believe that if you are absolutely sure of your shot. If you plan it completely in your mind. The part of the pocket to hit with the OB and the path / route the CB takes to an exact resting place on the table, then your mind will be much less likely to wander while you are in your stance. The mental picture is complete and there is no confusion on that last forward stroke.
My favorite line comes from Curly, one of the 3 Stooges. He said, " I'm trying to think, but nothing happens." It's truer than we realize. You can't think if you don't know what to think about. Or if you're not comfortable with what you just thought.
Sometimes you plan your shot well, see the line your CB will take for position, then get down to shoot the shot and realize the angle just isn't what you envisioned while you were standing. If you don't take the time to regroup, but rather try to adjust while you're down, things go wrong.
Another huge factor in the mental game is desire. For me, as I get older with a few extra aches and pains, my level of desire goes down and that effects the mental game a lot.
Outside distractions in our minds can range from anything from job, family, pets, God knows what else.
I believe if any of these kinds of things cloud our thoughts, no book is going to be the magic bullet. Rather, as I mentioned, filling your mind with the specifics of the shot, so long as your physical ability can deliver on your mental image, and being in the moment, watching your mental movie play out phyically works best. IMO
Monk
Your probably right 3andout! That's why you don't hear much about him on az. If he was the cats meow we would all be all over it wouldn't we? I did buy his stuff on impulse and would have never have done so if he wasn't there in person. I have spent money more foolishly. I wasn't looking for a magic bullet as there is no such thing. My advice to anyone wanting to improve their game is always the same. Hit some balls and then hit more balls. Play folks better than yourself. And my latest epiphany, start playing one pocket!
Your probably right 3andout! That's why you don't hear much about him on az. If he was the cats meow we would all be all over it wouldn't we? I did buy his stuff on impulse and would have never have done so if he wasn't there in person. I have spent money more foolishly. I wasn't looking for a magic bullet as there is no such thing. My advice to anyone wanting to improve their game is always the same. Hit some balls and then hit more balls. Play folks better than yourself. And my latest epiphany, start playing one pocket!
Monk
I have looked at several of Monks books and DVD's.
Here is my opinion (For what it's worth)
The best read on improving your mental game is The Pleasure Of Small Motions. Read it at least 2 or 3 times and let it sink in. Excellent advice in those pages. The tennis book is good as well but I find the first one more enjoyable.
The monk is, well.....the Monk! Love him or hate him.
Personally I don't like his style. I also detest the way he goes over things again and again like people are too stupid to remember what he said 5 minutes ago. I also don't like the way he strings people along. Example, The Punch stroke is what I like to use for this shot but you can also use punch stroke variations which are clearly described in the DVD you are not watching. He continually throughout his DVD's refers to other things you just have to know to get where you want to be but of course it's always another DVD or book to buy.
I have looked at several of Monks books and DVD's.
Here is my opinion (For what it's worth)
The best read on improving your mental game is The Pleasure Of Small Motions. Read it at least 2 or 3 times and let it sink in. Excellent advice in those pages. The tennis book is good as well but I find the first one more enjoyable.
The monk is, well.....the Monk! Love him or hate him.
Personally I don't like his style. I also detest the way he goes over things again and again like people are too stupid to remember what he said 5 minutes ago. I also don't like the way he strings people along. Example, The Punch stroke is what I like to use for this shot but you can also use punch stroke variations which are clearly described in the DVD you are not watching. He continually throughout his DVD's refers to other things you just have to know to get where you want to be but of course it's always another DVD or book to buy.
Be aware that "Pleasures of Small Motions" is definitely not for everybody. I've talked to people who think it's the greatest thing ever written on pool. I've read it three times and disagree. It's still better than the monk's stuff. I've met him and thought he was a nice guy but was not impressed with the things he showed, all of which I already knew.
10-Minute Toughness by Jason Selk
I've read all the books discussed above and then some. 10-Minute Toughness is by far the best book I've read on the mental aspect of doing anything competitively.
He states that the single most important factor that determines performance is confidence.
I am from the old school that believed that you didn't share information that would help your opponents beat you, but this forum has really made pool come alive for me so I try to give something back.
I actually learned of this book on this forum, and its definitely a winner.
I've read all the books discussed above and then some. 10-Minute Toughness is by far the best book I've read on the mental aspect of doing anything competitively.
He states that the single most important factor that determines performance is confidence.
I am from the old school that believed that you didn't share information that would help your opponents beat you, but this forum has really made pool come alive for me so I try to give something back.
I actually learned of this book on this forum, and its definitely a winner.