The pressure of winning

Assuming it's a mental issue, you need to meditate on those shots. Trying to deal with them as if they were regular shots won't help IMHO, it's the winning ball we're talking about.
It's like bringing in your "mind camera" the position you need to bring the CB in every shot, and then actually recreate it.
Prepare yourself about those issues in a similar way, you need to "see" the situation inside your mind first and deal with it, imagine your self dealing with the pressure, "see" the whole match to the end, and then just do it.
Please excuse my English, tried to explain it as best as I could.
All the best,
Petros
 
Petros Andrikop said:
It's like bringing in your "mind camera" the position you need to bring the CB in every shot, and then actually recreate it.
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Hi Petros, your English is fine don't worry. I see one problem with that approach. You visualize the shot and the position you want like you said. Then you shoot and you don't get that position. This adds more stress, it's the opposite of staying loose.

Julian
 
Catalin said:
Hi Petros, your English is fine don't worry. I see one problem with that approach. You visualize the shot and the position you want like you said. Then you shoot and you don't get that position. This adds more stress, it's the opposite of staying loose.

Julian
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Visualizing the objective of a shot is a method used in getting the desired result. If that result doesn't come it is an entirely different subject to deal with.
Coming back to the issue, another way to phrase it is visualizing overcoming the pressure of the winning shot, again, if this is a mainly a mental issue. There are other factors to consider when taking the shot in a techniqal direction, such as using a firm speed, simplifying the elements of the shot, chalk well, take a bit extra time etc.
 
A pro once told me we tend to assess a different value to the 9 or 9 ball. Just relax, get down on the shot and don't spend too much time on how you should hit it...just make the shot.

When he told me that it all made sense..now it's all good.
 
jrctherake said:
Same thing in pool to me. Get use to easy games and all of a sudden I can't handle real pressure.

Rake
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You can combat this by injecting additional requirements for "the win" against the weaker player that only exist inside your head.. I.e., focus on getting the cue ball inside a specific area for the 9 ball, forcing yu to play tight tight position throughout the rack... Etc.

Keep in mind, Rodney Morris had no one even close to his speed in Hawaii, he got his speed up to par by being REALLY hard on himself when he failed to capitalize when he was practicing against himself. He mentally treated every practice sessions like he was playing for the U.S. Open title. And he visualized it so strongly that he might break a cue when practicing against himself if he missed at the wrong time in the set.

The problem is, people don't "practice" the mental game at all, and they therefore get the appropriate results.

Short Bus Russ
 
From ALL of the previous responses (including Russ's, which had some good points)...this one is the most true. Dead Stroke occurs when we have a completely unconscious process (physical and mental). We cannot force ourselves into "the zone"...or we would live there. What we can do, as players, is to create, implement and ingrain a perfect process for us (it may not be the same for everyone).

That process must be consciously trained (verbalization is often an advantage in 'learning' your process). Certainly one has to physically TRAIN the process consciously before it can move from conscious to unconscious. What we CAN do is create more opportunities for us to fall into dead stroke...and hopefully stay there longer, as we don't know how long 'dead stroke' will last...maybe only one shot; maybe one game; perhaps even an entire match.
Nobody, even pros, can control going in and out of the zone for an extended length of time (a multiple day tournemant, for example). SVB has probably come the closest, by winning tournaments undefeated.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

JC said:
A solid pre shot routine that you do not vary from is key.

When you have that you are constantly executing a process without those nasty thoughts about results, which magically take care of themselves.

JC
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The techniqal part of the approach to pressure shots is of course elementary.
The thing is that pressure attacks fundamentals, even at pro levels.
Pros deal with it better because they are prepared better in the mental part, at least some of them and with the rest it just comes naturally.
It is necessary to visualize overcoming pressure while keeping the shot routine intact, rather than trying to avoid it in any way, and one way is focusing solely to the mechanics of the stroke.
Mechanics is not going to be always in good shape, still a match ball must be pocketed with good enough mechanics.
It's almost impossible to distinguish a bad stroke at pro level when they make high pressure shots in a match, most of the times you just hear it from them after the match is over when they state "I wasn't stroking the ball too well".
I only wonder what would be a thorough explanation of Efren Reyes's thinking while he's playing, at least when he was in his prime. Was he really bypassing pressure due to his phenomenal skills or was it just natural?.. The very few times I could see his face darkened in a match was against Earl Strickland, and that wasn't due to any opponent's behavior or something like that, you could see that even the Magician when he faced top world class play his mechanics failed to comply a few times.
 
You dont have to go that many lines to find the Magician with negative mechanics. He jumps up at least every 10 shots ...for the last decade +.

No, I dont want any.

At some point, a player has to tell himself to stfu and make the damn ball. We make lots of balls and we miss a lot too. The ratio is yours to determine.

Now tell me: what are you here for?

Winning. Make it happen.

Petros Andrikop said:
The techniqal part of the approach to pressure shots is of course elementary.
The thing is that pressure attacks fundamentals, even at pro levels.
Pros deal with it better because they are prepared better in the mental part, at least some of them and with the rest it just comes naturally.
It is necessary to visualize overcoming pressure while keeping the shot routine intact, rather than trying to avoid it in any way, and one way is focusing solely to the mechanics of the stroke.
Mechanics is not going to be always in good shape, still a match ball must be pocketed with good enough mechanics.
It's almost impossible to distinguish a bad stroke at pro level when they make high pressure shots in a match, most of the times you just hear it from them after the match is over when they state "I wasn't stroking the ball too well".
I only wonder what would be a thorough explanation of Efren Reyes's thinking while he's playing, at least when he was in his prime. Was he really bypassing pressure due to his phenomenal skills or was it just natural?.. The very few times I could see his face darkened in a match was against Earl Strickland, and that wasn't due to any opponent's behavior or something like that, you could see that even the Magician when he faced top world class play his mechanics failed to comply a few times.
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Pressure shots.

I was taught at the age of 8, if it is the bottom of the ninth, basses loaded, 2 outs, the count is 3 and 2. You want to be at the plate.
Period. Just
 
For starters you have a choice of what to label any situation. If you call something a pressure packed moment, you generate that feeling in your body when it occurs. This is about mindset. I once noticed a guy practicing. He kept missing the same shot the same way so I offered to help. The problem was he was aiming at the pocket instead of the opening. We quickly fixed the issue. Asking him why he was practicing revealed that despite being near the top of his league he froze up in tournaments. My response was that was the paradox of tournaments. They may actually be easier to win than weekly matches. What he was experiencing was what most of the field was experiencing. Anyone can beat anyone else on a league night but increase the importance and 95% of the field fold under pressure. That means there are 2-3 players in a field of 50 who are the real competition. Even they will crack on occasion. Figure out who your real opponents are in the field. The real winners watched their opponents carefully for signs of them making mistakes. Making them pay for the early mistakes just piles on the pressure. Playing safe when there isn’t a clear path to the end. Playing safe in ways that prevent them from having clear paths is also good tactically. I advised him to shake hands at the beginning of each match. I told him it wasn’t to be polite. You want to feel for the sweat in his palm. He called me later. He won the tournament.

Now to the question at hand, finishing. Since you claim to normally make the shots you are missing in key situations, that tells me this is not a skill or aim issue. This is when you need a good reference to guide you. I keep a pool journal. I learned that on days where I could hardly miss, the balls seemed big and the pockets were like pails. We create our own cognitive rendition of each context. A shot you know. A shot you have the skill to make. Each spell OPPORTUNITY. Now isn’t that a better label than pressure. Take a close look, a really close look at the shot. Think about it, we can do cognitive magnification. Watch the pros. They go around to the other side of the shot, looking for impediments, rubbing out chalk marks, smoothing the cloth. Look for lint, threads, chalk flecks on the table around the balls and along the ball paths. Look for nicks near the contact point. Have the cue ball cleaned. Look for the cross hatched pattern of the cloth. Don’t those balls and pockets look huge after looking at all the tiny stuff. Even the tip and shaft. When things look big like this we know that inner calm of certainty. It’s there on our best days. See the whole shot. Pick a simple safe spot for the cue ball to land. The simple opening and closing of the elbow let’s you move onto the next game. Air stroke with that feeling, then get down. Keep it simple by immersing in the details of the shot, then execute.
 
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