The pressure of winning

C

Catalin

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
We have a local tournament here one time a month. I noticed that when I'm winning or about to shoot the winning shot(s) I'm feeling a lot more nervous than when I'm losing. This is causing me to miss on the black regularly. If I would always pocket the black with the first shot, I would win about 50% more games.

Example: I am playing in a tournament today, I was up 4-2 then it was 4-3, 4-4.
On both of those games that I lost, I had a shot on the black and I missed it. That doesn't happen so much when I'm playing casually, last Thursday I won 5-0 against a better player.

Do you have any advice for coping with the pressure? I realize that a lot of it is individual, but what works for you?

Julian
 
Happens to a lot of us. Keep playing, Keep competing. Concentrate and stay loose. Mainly be confident. You made the shot before. You'll make it again.

Play the 8 like it's the first ball. Play position with the last ball. Get down and fire it in. RELAX!! Yes losing is easier than winning... I think I wrote the book on that....but I'm getting better. Winning is something that has to be learned sometimes. You'll get there.
 
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Play position when shooting the 8. I like to try and get the cb to the middle of an end rail or the middle of the table.

This makes me shoot the final ball just as I'd shoot any other ball. I don't know if it'll work for ya, but it's worth a try.


Jeff Livingston
 
chefjeff said:
Play position when shooting the 8. I like to try and get the cb to the middle of an end rail or the middle of the table.

This makes me shoot the final ball just as I'd shoot any other ball. I don't know if it'll work for ya, but it's worth a try.


Jeff Livingston
Click to expand...

I've been doing that for years but in 9ball. Sometimes I forget but most times I try to play position dead between the two sides when I play the 9.
 
Stand straight up and take a deep breath. Practice making the eight ball from long straight in shots to difficult cut shots but shoot that same shot 10x. Focus on making those shots EVERY TIME. 10 out of 10.

If you feel nervous on shooting the eight ball, make a safe by tying up the eight ball with other balls so you opponent has a hard run out. You must give yourself every chance to win. keep up posted.
 
JustPlay made a great recommendation.
Taking a deep breath and reassessment of the shot can help
ease your nerves quite a bit.
Like you say... You know you can make it!
Don't tell yourself any different.
Confidence is the key to the lock.
 
Thanks guys! I won my first 4 matches! Still on the winners bracket

Root for me!

Julian
 
Shoot every shot like it’s game ball.
..if you aren’t giving every shot everything you got, then what are you doing there?
 
I can share what has helped me.
1. Playing through center table position after the game ball
so I can hit it like almost every other shot with the same stroke speed.
2. Playing under pressure a lot makes you more comfortable.
3. Taking a few seconds to walk around and get my end game
pattern on the last 2 or 3 balls. I would take the last couple for granted
and make a position error.
4. When I would get down to the last ball or two to win a big match
my heart starts racing, can’t see the pattern(brain fog), arm gets the shakes.
It’s just adrenaline. Stand up, compose, walk around the table, reset, psr, and
smooth stoke it in.
5. The more you have to shoot these shots under pressure your
confidence will go up because your bound to make em every now and then.
Gl
 
The key to playing every shot without pressure is hyper focus on a single small point... The contact point. I said the following in another thread, but I will say it again here:

What we call "dead stroke", where we seem to be unaware of anything outside the table, hit everything with a pure stroke, and can barely remember any of the shots, is actually a physiological reaction the brain has when you continue to focus on something like your life depends on it.

From an evolutionary perspective, if you were focusing on something that hard, your life DID depend on it. You were looking at either something you desperately needed to catch and kill, or you were looking at a predator you needed to escape.

So, your peak performance is always gonna come from intense focus. So, practice intensely focusing on what you are doing at the table. Focus on the smallest contact point you can see on the object ball. Practice this away from the table by choosing a spot on the wall, and focusing intently on it, and making sure your eyes do not wander.

"Dead Stroke" is a state where you don't have to worry about fear and extraneous, self-defeating thought, as part of the physiological reaction is to quench these. The brain knows you can't catch and kill the first meal you've had in a week if fear or doubt are anywhere in the picture. Chemicals that reinforce confidence and decisiveness are part of the physiological reaction. You've never heard a person coming out of dead stroke talk about how they "were afraid of missing that last shot".
 
JustPlay said:
Stand straight up and take a deep breath. Practice making the eight ball from long straight in shots to difficult cut shots but shoot that same shot 10x. Focus on making those shots EVERY TIME. 10 out of 10.

If you feel nervous on shooting the eight ball, make a safe by tying up the eight ball with other balls so you opponent has a hard run out. You must give yourself every chance to win. keep up posted.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry but NEVER tie up your balls or the 8 b all when playing safe, unless there is absolutely no other way to stay alive. Against a good player you will just get tortured even more by tying up your last ball or the 8 ball. You need to be a threat to win the game if your opponent misses/makes a bad hit after you play safe. Otherwise, if you are forced to break them up, you are breaking them up for your opponent
 
Catalin said:
We have a local tournament here one time a month. I noticed that when I'm winning or about to shoot the winning shot(s) I'm feeling a lot more nervous than when I'm losing. This is causing me to miss on the black regularly. If I would always pocket the black with the first shot, I would win about 50% more games.

Example: I am playing in a tournament today, I was up 4-2 then it was 4-3, 4-4.
On both of those games that I lost, I had a shot on the black and I missed it. That doesn't happen so much when I'm playing casually, last Thursday I won 5-0 against a better player.

Do you have any advice for coping with the pressure? I realize that a lot of it is individual, but what works for you?

Julian
Click to expand...

I didn't bother to read other responses because we're all different and the fix for each of may be similar or may not.

Don't know your level of play but i have done some of the following in the past to help weather myself against pressure:

Sometimes I will go to a local room and openly challenge the entire room to gamble with me playing the ghost. I know what $$$$ amount bothers me so I stay under it but gradually approach that number as I win a race or stay where it is if losing. You have to push the amount sometimes or it will be a waste of time.

I keep playing win or lose, does not matter. I'm not there to make money, I'm there to put myself under the gun.

Another thing I do (when possible):

Challenge a pro (when one is available) without a spot. If you can afford it, this one is my favorite.

Bottom line:

You have to learn to be in the spotlight and still perform like your hitting balls at home.

It don't come cheap for most of us.

Rake
 
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
 
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
Click to expand...

I agree for most part but for some people like myself, if I go for, say, couple months without playing a very strong player (think strong shortstop) I get to comfortable and it causes my game to be weaker no matter how many drills I run.

The thing is, my weaknesses will not show up until, you guessed it, I am in a game situation for cash against someone that plays better than myself. By then, well, I'm toast and paying off.

Again, I agree. If a player keeps their P.S.R consistent they will normally do fine and i wish it was that simple for me when looking across the table at someone that is considered a beast.

It's almost like lifting weights. You have to lift heavy weights this time so you will be able to lift them next time.

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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