The Rattlesnake Analogy

Blackjack

Blackjack

Illuminati Blacksmack
Silver Member
PART I

Negative Motivation

The Rattlesnake Analogy​

"Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe." - Augustine

NEGATIVE MOTIVATION
Are you fueling your confidence with something positive, or are you fueling it with something negative? Here is an example of a negative fuel source: Using a fear of losing as a motivation for winning . This almost never works. Fear is a negative emotion. Fear causes panic. Panic creeps in and reason flies out the window. My best description of panic is how you would react if a rattlesnake were dropped down your pants. That's panic.

Now, this is the one area that sends my students pouting out the door more than any other, and that brings me to gambling. Gambling has been a part of pool since the game was invented. More beginners come to me and ask me about ways they can win more money playing pool. They wait for me to give them gambling advice or some description of an ingenious hustle. I simply tell them, "Work on your game!" They look at me as if I'm crazy.

"Work on my game? Me? I don't need that! I need more cash! I don't need to practice or learn anything new." Some actually come right out and say things like that. Newsflash!!! Playing some guy a race to seven for fifty bucks does not constitute practice. Practice is just that, practice. Gambling is gambling. You were wasting your time if you thought this study is a handbook on the advanced art of pool hustling. The material in this book can aid you in that area of your life, but the author does not endorse, participate in, or condone that practice. This study is designed to help you overcome mental stumbling blocks that have limited your playing ability up to this point. If you follow directions and do what is suggested, you will experience positive results. What you do with it from there is none of my business. This couse of study can change your destiny as a pool player forever. So can being lead astray and off course. I do not encourage gambling because it is a form of the bold printed description at the top of this paragraph.

I believe, that for a pool player, gambling stunts one's growth. I see the paths of being a great player or a great gambler as two different roads that go in two different directions. Some claim that they are both. This is not true. That is a justification to participate in the behavior. If you are a top player (a player that is dedicated) you will not allow anything or anybody to get in the way of your practice. You will be completely dedicated to getting better at your craft every single day. You will avoid bad habits, and GAMBLING is a bad habit. Yes, I said habit,and gambling is a bad one. A wise man once said, "we don't have bad habits, they have us!" and that is so true. Instead of constructing the Perfect Game, we end up constructing the Fattest Wallet. The fattest wallet won't necessarily guarantee that you will have the biggest game. Take it from a old Road Warrior, sometimes when your wallet is getting fatter you are actually the sucker. Don't ever forget that.

"If I think I'm gonna lose all my money, something will kick in and I'll try to win more." You're right. FEAR will kick in. PANIC takes over, causing DISASTER.

FEAR

PANIC

DISASTER

Think back to "the rattlesnake in the pants" analogy. We covered my description of panic. My description of fear is the feeling you have just before the rattlesnake is being dropped down your pants. That's fear. Panic is what you do when the rattlesnake is in your pants. Disaster is what happens when the rattlesnake bites you where it hurts. Now, applying this to pool, I submit for your consideration the thought of dropping a rattlesnake down your pants as a requirement for your pool playing enjoyment. You walk into any pool hall and see this happening right now.

"COME ON, A LITTLE SIDE BET NEVER KILLED ANYBODY"

I'm not a prude, nor am I against throwing a few bucks into the equation every now and then, but, most beginners are drawn to gambling like a moth to a flame. They build their games to a level where they are confident that they can win money with it. They win a few bucks and believe that they have built the Perfect Game. They stop growing. Eventually they lose, and in revenge chase after that fifty bucks they lost as opposed to chasing down a way to enhance their level of skill. This is how gambling stunts your growth. We want to build the Perfect Game, but yet most of us don't want to put in the time. We want what we want and we want it now. We want to enhance our abilities, but we want to do it in the easiest and quickest way possible. If you want the Perfect Game, it is out there, but its got a big price tag on it. If you want the average, every day run of the mill-rock bottom game, its out there too. It depends on which one you want and how much effort you are willing to put into it. If we want to "Build the Perfect Game", then we need to do certain things, and we need to not do certain things. We can build the Perfect Game in much the same way we would build the perfect house. We will be going through 5 stages in our construction of the perfect game. PLANNING , FOUNDATION , CONSTRUCTION ,DECORATING & MAINTENANCE.

What is fear and how does fear start? Remember when we talked about precipitating events? This is where fear is conceived most of the time. We have a bad experience in a certain situation, therefore we link a faithless tag to the outcome of that situation. Instead of looking at similar situations as oppotunities to re-establish control, we label all similar situations as faith-less, sometimes hopeless doom-destined situations. This leads to avoidance behavior. If you mis cross-side bank shots in tough, high pressure situations, such as on teh money ball in 9 ball, then sooner or later you will begin to asociate that shot with failure. Your lack of faith in your abilities will cause an underlying fear which will cause you to avoid that shot if you are faced with it. Chances are you will either play safe, or follow through with the shot in fear, causing you to choke. You must understand that you did not miss the shot because you are physically incapable of making it. You missed the shot because you were mentally incapable of dealing with the situation. Still with me?
 
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Part II: Attacking Avoidance Behavior

Attacking Avoidance Behavior​

If you keep avoiding the things that fear you, you will continue to be afraid and you will panic in every similar situation. If you are scared of dogs and always avoid dogs, you will continue to have physical, emotional and mental FEAR reactions when confronted with the situation. Dog's will sense your fear and quite possibly chase you down the street because of it. Teh same happens in pool. But, if someone bought you a small puppy and you learned how to respond positively around the puppy as it grew into a dog, your fear of dogs will be weakened. It's the same thing with situations in pool. If you missed a cross side bank shot to lose a close match at last week's tournament, you have two choices:

a) Respond in fear every time you are faced with that shot for the rest of your life; OR

b) Expose yourself to the intense fear and "UNLEARN" it.

Unlearning the fear means that you must face the triggering event that established the fear in the first place. I don't care what the situation is, it can be re-created inpractice; it can be recreated mentally (as proven by consistent fear behavior). This is where mental practice becomes a vital tool. Champions have the ability to deal with setbacks and disappointments effectively. They don't "Re-Experience" the triggering event every time they are faced with the same situation. Through mental imagery, you can re-live the situation and picture yourself dealing with the situation in a successful way. To do this, you must first recognize that the fear exists. This is the biggest problem most players face. Many claim to be fearless, when in fact the opposite is true. When performing our "unlearning" of the fear, we must re-experience the emotions, the thoughts, and the physical changes that we experince in our minds and our bodies when we are faced with these fears. If we do not understand the fear, then we can not conquer it. It's like our rattlesnake. It's not so much the snake we are scared of, but what the snake can do to us. The same can be said of all of our fears.

It's not so much that the fear or the triggering event causes us to panic. It's the result of our response to the fear that actually gets our heart pumping faster. If you learn nothing else, learn this: If the fear is gone, so is the impending doom. Remember that.

Fear Vs Faith
The first step is establishing faith in our abilities, as opposed to establishing fear in our inabilities. The best way to do this is to develop a training program that mimics competition. This way you can experience situations that you will have to deal with at a tournament or on league night. This way, you can experience stressful situations in practice, and create ways of maintaining your focus during these situations. The more realistic you make yoru training environment, the more confident you will be in head to head competition. You will begin to develop faith in your ability to deal with situations, and will rely on that faith in our abilities instead of the fear associated with our inablities. You must realize that this will alwsy be a consatnt internal battle. You must prepare for this battle during competition. Many of us worry about our opponent, yet we fail to realize that our opponent is fighting the same battle inside his/her head. Now, let's examine fear.

Fear of losing

Many players have an intense fear of losing a match or set. They have somehow connected setbacks with ultimate failure. There is nothing final until you quit. Losses and setbacks show us where we need to make improvements. Many players are so overpowered by this fear, that before the match even starts, we defeat ourselves with fear. We need to learn when this is happeneing. We can combat this by using key words to calm our nerves. This usually happens when we are playing a very good player and sitting in the chair. While we are sitting, we can tell ourselves things like "okay, I might be outclassed, but I will do my best", or "What can I learn from this experience?" Never start beating yourself up. That will just make matters worse. The key here is to recognize when the fear starts creeping in. If you can catch the thought before it becomes a belief, you can turn the tables on whoever you are playing. I know this because I came back from a 12-1 deficit to win 13-12 against a very good player. I refused to believe that I was out of the match, therefore I remained alive. You can do the same thing. Just refuse to believe that you are going to lose. EVen if you lose the match, you win, because you have learned something. It may be that a weakness was exposed that you can work on when you get back home. Don't beat yourself up over it. Take it in stride.

Fear of Winning

This is not as uncommon as you would think. Many players, deep down inside, do not think of themselves as winners. Therefore, when faced with the match winning ball, they prevent their own success on a subconscious level. I will discuss this more in depth when we look at mindsets in competition. This is also based on how we feel about winners. If we look at the best player in our sights and say "I hate his/her guts." Then how will we feel about ourselves when we take their place upon that perch? We must learn to appreciate great players. If we don't, we fall into the trap of resenting winners, therefore subconciously we avoid becoming winners ourselves. Do you avoid seeing the vision of yourself raising the trophy over your head? Remember that winning means we need to get out of our own way. We are no more vcitims of winning than we are victims of losing. We tend to look as if we have been victimized by the better players, therefore we breed resentments that put a wall bewteen us and the winner's circle. This is known as preventing your own success. It's psychological junk mail in my opinion. You think you are doing something right by resenting your opponent, yet you are destroying your own psyche. Remember it is garbage in - garbage out. If we honor our opponents and respect their skills, we will have no problem grabbing their place on the podium, collecting the cash, or raising the trophy. As competitors, we must be very careful to avoid destructive approaches.
 
Part III: Perfectionism Defined

PERFECTIONISM DEFINED ​

Perfectionism is the belief that one must attain perfection or one is a failure. Perfectionism is an extreme distortion of the concept “Do your best” when a player believes that his or her “best” means, “perfect.” Some players become terrified of making mistakes and may experience stress, anxiety, and depression. Some will avoid competition altogether.

Some typical perfectionistic beliefs include:

“It is absolutely necessary that everyone like me and approve of me.”

“I must be absolutely competent and perfect in everything I undertake.”

“If I make a mistake, I am a miserable failure.”

“I’d rather not try than to make a mistake.”

“It’s terrible to ever be embarrassed or to appear foolish.”

“A perfect relationship is possible if I just find the right person.”


HOW DOES THIS INTERFERE WITH OUR GROWTH?
Another response players often give is, “Yes, I’m a perfectionist. Is there something wrong with that?” The problem is that perfectionistic beliefs undermine an player’s self-esteem and wreak havoc with all relationships.

Two players compete in the same tournament. Both players finish the tournament tied for 33rd place. One player, is pleased with their performance as it is the best finish they have had in that level tournament. The other player is upset because they feel as if they shoudl have won the tournament.

In the long run, this self-critical attitude will affect that player's performance. As perfectionistic beliefs increase a player’s stress or anxiety, his or her ability to perform complex and/or mental tasks during competition will decrease. Thus, such attitudes affect performance, reationships away from the table, job perfromance, and even everyday tasks.

For instance, in the job context, this individual may become reluctant to share ideas and take risks for fear of making a mistake or appearing foolish. As an employee, he/she may become so focused on the details of the job that he or she becomes unable to complete any task.

Procrastination and paralysis are commonly associated with perfectionism. The perfectionist pool player becomes so terrified of making a mistake that he/ she waits to the last possible moment when caught between two beliefs--one focused upon displeasing someone by making a mistake and the other focused upon displeasing someone by not completing the task. This player may also procrastinate as a way to save face. It’s often easier to rationalize by saying, “I would have done better if I had more time.” Time in this case is not the issue, fear is.

In severe cases of perfectionism, the player may experience complete and total paralysis. He or she may shy away from every challenge, test, or tournament becasue the tasks seem too difficult.

Finally, perfectionists may find that relationships are negatively affected by their perfectionist behavior because they not only have high expectations for themselves, but also for other people. This means that he or she may be overly critical or overly demanding of those closest to him or her. This interfere's in their interpersonal relationships, and spills over into their performance at the table.

IS PERFECTIONISM A COMMON PROBLEM?
We are bombarded by society with images of pefectionism in commercials, TV shows, models, etc. We are always faced with the images and messages of perfectionism. Some people give in to the belief that they must meet the standards described above, and if they don't, they feel as if there is something wrong with them. This is the person that is upset because The Brady Bunch are able to solve their problems in less time that it takes for a pizza to be delivered. There are pool players that look upon players such as Efren Reyes as the standard of perfection. When they are unable to meet that level of perfection, the beat themsleves up. They ignore progress and ultimatley prevent progress with their perfectionist attitude. This often leads to anger, depression, anxiety, and paralyzes the player's competitive drive. They believe they need to meet the standards of perfectionism or they are failures.

WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT PERFECTIONISM?
Most importantly, you need to be aware of your perfectionistic beliefs. Notice where they start, where they are leading, and where they end. When you are experiencing stress, depression, or anxiety, write down a description of the event and then record a list of your thoughts related to the event. It is my suggestion that you keep a diary or journal. For example, you are going to play in a tournament and you are feeling anxious. The thoughts you write may be similar to the following: “What if I blow this match? I never do well. I’ll never amount to anything in pool. As a pool player, I’m just a failure. I may as well not even try. So and so always wins, I never do.” These are examples of what perfectionist thoughts do inside our head. Remember that negative thoughts breed more negative thoughts. Positive thoughts breed just as quickly.

Once you begin to examine your thoughts on a regular basis, it will be difficult to ignore the thought process that contributes to your experience of stress, depression, or anxiety. After you become aware of these thoughts, you want to examine them and determine the irrational ideas they may contain. For instance, in the above example, the individual is engaging in catastrophic thinking, all or nothing thinking, and hopelessness. Catastrophic thinking occurs when a person thinks that the worst possible thing will happen. It can often be distinguished by “what if” questions. All or nothing thinking, common for perfectionists, is the belief that everything can be categorized as opposites--good/bad, black/white--with no shades of gray. Therefore, a person either succeeds or fails; there are no degrees of success. All or nothing thinking can often be detected by use of the words always or never. Hopelessness is the irrational belief that the person already knows the future outcome of his or her action and has no control over future events, and therefore, need not attempt to change the situation. (Dr. Monica Frank, PhD, Making Mistakes, 2000, Behavioral Consultants)

Once you have determined your irrational thinking pattern, it is time to challenge and change the beliefs that add to your stress and anxiety level. This is what leads to fear anxiety and guilt, and this is where we can put out those flames of negativity. If you have correctly identified the irrational beliefs, you can challenge them directly. For instance, with catastrophic thinking, you can state, “The worst possible thing is not the thing likely to happen.” For all or nothing thinking, you can state, “It is not true that I always fail." For thoughts that put down your faith in yourslef, you can say - "I am capable of winning. I have all of the talent and skill necessary to be successful.”

Our perfectionist thinking and patterns did not occur overnight. This flaw in our attitude will not be changed overnight. It will take a lot of practice, a lot of repitition. These positive statements must be used to counteract the negative statements. You have to tilt the scales in the favor of the positive. This means that you must be more positive than you were negative in your thinking. You must use these positive statements frequently and cosistently in order for teh change to take place.

Finally, the strongest challenge to irrational beliefs is opposing experiential evidence . In other words, you want to experience making mistakes as a POSITIVE influence in your development as a player. Making mistakes gives us the opportunity to learn and to grow. As you overcome your fear of making mistakes, you will be able to take risks. The ability to take risks is what allows a person to be successful in any endeavor. Nothing risked, nothing gained. That is so true when with pool and in life.

One way to experience mistakes is taking the opportunity to deliberately make them. First of all, identify situations that are fearful for you such as missing a pocket hanger, or miscueing on the break. Then, deliberately engage in the behavior while using rational self-statements to help yourself cope with the situation. One thing to remember in this process is that what one person may consider a mistake, may not bother another person. The important thing is to face the challenges of pool by risking mistakes. In doing so, you will become more self-confident and will be able to accomplish more because your fears will not inhibit your playing or your mental attitude.
 
Part IV: Flying The Plane

FLYING THE PLANE​

If an airline pilot just thought about what would happen if he crashed the plane, the passengers would quite possibly be in for a bumpy ride. However, if the pilot is well trained, confident in his training and his ability to take off and land the airplane, then the task becomes routine. However, if the pilot is fearful of the dangers of crashing, his mind will only focus on the impact of the crash and nothing else. This will paralyze him with fear, and possibly put everyone on board the plane in danger. At the table, you are the pilot. The passengers are your thoughts and abilities. Your goal is to get them from point A (start of the match) to point B (end of the match). If you terrorize your passengers (your thoughts & ablilities) chances are that they will not fly with you again, and if they do - they will not be comfortable. When we concentrate on the belief that we will crash the plane we completely block out the thought of a successful flight and a safe landing. How many times have you been in competition and started thinking like our doomsday pilot?

Remember that beliefs are things. We can change our beliefs because they are formed through external factors. If we are flying an airplane, we must perform a maintenance check prior to flight. We have to have a starting point and a destination, and a pre-planned route on how we are going to get there. We not only have to know where we are going, but how we are going to get there. The same holds true for our game. We need to perform pre-maintenance, checking for anything that needs to be fixed or corrected. We need to know where we are going, how we are going to get there, and which route we are going to take. We then perform a post maintenance inspection to evaluate the condition of our airplane post flight. Many of us crash the plane over and over again and never repair the damage. Then we sit around and wonder why we can't get the plane off the ground. Remember that our brain is the pilot. We can perform maintenance and repairs on the plane all day, but if our pilot is incompetent or overflowing with negative thoughts, we'll crash every plane that we attempt to fly. A lot of players also jump ship, or abandon the airplanes frequently. These are the players that try something once and when they don't get immediate results, they abandon it and never get to their destination. How would you feel if you boarded a plane and the pilot was the only one wearing a parachute? You may laugh, but that is the relationship many players have with their brains and the mental aspect of the game of pool.

We must understand that our pilot needs to be confident, secure, with a good sense of knowledge, direction, and skill. Our pilot needs to know how to take off, fly, and land the plane. We must have a good working relationship with our pilot. We have to have faith in our pilot so that we can sit back and enjoy the flight. Yet, most of us sit there clutching the seat in fear, waiting for the impact of the crash. If you are like this, remember that your game is a product of your thoughts, combined with your past experiences, as well as your relationships.
 
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Highly logical and very well presented....eerily reconcilable with my own philosophies on these subjects. Thanks for a great post, Blackjack.

PS I was replying to the first post in this thread.
 
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Part V: Pool Hall Survival

Pool Hall Survival​

Analyzing My Relationships

The structure of your game is merely the shell that contains the skills and abilities, knowledge, and traits necessary to play the game of pool. When we buy a house or rent an apartment, it is always wise to check out the neighborhood. While researching the material for this book I spoke to hundreds of pool players and found that many of them had built their existing structures in bad neighborhoods. By this, I mean that they had surrounded themselves with the wrong people. Complacent people usually seek out complacent people as friends. I have seen many a good player hit a dead end by surrounding themselves with a bunch of pool room idiots that have nothing to offer. One of the best things I did as a player was to separate myself from what I call The Pool Hall Hierarchy. If I am going to surround myself with anyone in the pool hall, I ask myself 3 simple questions:

1. How can this relationship help me as a player?

2. How can this relationship hurt me as a player?

3. What is this person’s motives?

You would be surprised at how many times I have disassociated myself with many local players because their motives were less than admirable. As a room owner, believe me, you are associated with and grouped with the company that you keep. I know more people by who they hang around with, not by their name. If you are stuck in a bad neighborhood, what do you do?

Start asking yourself those 3 questions with every person that you come in contact with at the pool hall. If you are like most I have worked with, you will be surprised at how many worthless relationships you have. I know that sounds harsh, but I take this game seriously. I am a professional player. When I practice, it is because I am preparing myself for competition. Many players in my area know that I am preparing for competition, yet they still will interrupt my practice sessions to discuss pointless issues, or to gossip about this pro or that pro. Nothing personal, but I don’t have time for that. I am a busy man. Playing pool is not my only career. I politely answer and go back to shooting pool, hoping that whoever it is will catch on. If they don’t catch on, I will say something a bit more direct, but I remain polite. I am businesslike in my approach at all times. I want you to be the same way. Just because I taught you those 3 questions does not mean I am trying to turn you into the pool hall asshole. I don’t want you to isolate yourself from everybody either. What I am recommending is that you take inventory in some of your relationships to see what you are getting out of them, and what they are getting out of you. Your game will jump two levels just by completing this one task.

Your neighborhood has to meet your needs. I’m not saying change pool halls, but if you believe that is necessary at first, feel free to change your environment for a little while. Nothing is permanent. Our environment is very important.

Negativity

Negative people are like a disease in pool halls. I remember a guy back in my home room in New Jersey that would always say things that were aimed to discourage me. “You can’t run that rack. You’re not there yet.”

Sure enough, I’d get to the six ball and leave myself something I couldn’t make, to which he’d add, “See, I told you that you wouldn’t get out.”
That was Rick. There was word that rhymed with “Rick” that I used to call him, but that’s another story. This guy really infuriated me. Whenever I played straight pool, he’d watch for a while. After I had run 20-30 balls, he’d come over and start making his comments. This went on for years, and I allowed him do this even after I had won a Junior National Championship. This guy knew exactly what to say and when to say it. I hated him for this, and I eventually stopped frequenting that pool hall for the simple reason that I hated Rick’s guts. Rick would always say that I would never be anything more than a good “A” player, and added “that’s a stretch.” Trouble was, that when I was around him and his attitude, everything Rick said was true. I played bad, and not anywhere near my potential. Years later, I learned the hard truth that nobody can make you feel “average” without your permission. If you have a “Rick” eating your lunch at the pool hall every day, my advice is to turn down the volume. Years later I had the satisfaction of going back to that pool hall and running 7 racks of 9 ball in succession on my good ol’ pal, Rick. Not only did that shut him up, but it proved that everything he ever said about me and my game was BS.

Most guys that are like “Rick” need to keep others down in order for them to feel good. Like Fast Eddie said to Bert, “You can’t live unless you make everything else dead around you!” Bert treated Eddie like a loser, and he made Eddie feel like a loser. After a while, Eddie started to act like one. It wasn’t until Eddie broke away from Bert’s spell that he figured out that he was a winner all along. Eddie just didn’t know it.

Leeches

Pool halls are filled with these guys. There a different kinds of leeches, but I’ll primarily look at the guy that is friend just because he knows he win money from you ever so often. My advice to you is that for the next 6 months, stop playing for money. See how many of these “friends” either disappear or start talking about you behind your back. Above all other relationships I will cover, this is the most useless and the most destructive. I could go ob forever describing the different methods they use, and what they do, but quite simply do as instructed, watch what happens, and I’ll let you decide.

Creeps

This is sort of a general term, but they’re everywhere. The most common type is the guy that doesn’t look you in the eye when he talks to you. The whole point to this section is to develop worthwhile relationships that will aid you in achieving your goals. The rest of the other relationships are not worth pursuing. Have more associates than friends. An associate will try to win the last $20 you have. A friend will give you his. Learn to know the difference. The bare naked truth is that there are not many “friends” waiting for you at the pool hall. Pool halls are filled with people that are out to get something from you; they are not there to aid you in your development. Friends are very few and far between, and friendships contain that magical ingredient called “mutual respect”. Friends don’t try to clear out your wallet, and they definitely don’t try to set you up for somebody else. I’ve had both happen to me, and I know I’m not alone here.

Knowing who to hang around and who to stay away from is usually learned the hard way by scores of players. Many people get ripped off, backstabbed, and cheated several times before they learn how to take hold of their relationships in the pool hall. This is a vital piece of the puzzle when Building the Perfect game. If you cannot master and control your relationships in pool, your climb to the top will be very difficult. The key is finding the right people to surround yourself with. I surround myself with positive people. Quite frankly, I do not have time for any of the negative people or occurrences that happen in the pool hall. If its not positive, uplifting, or beneficial to me, I don’t want to hear it. This goes for gambling arguments, gossip, war stories of how you got screwed in the tournament last Friday, along with anything else you want to dump on me about your personal life. Remember the term “Garbage in-Garbage out”. This is a very important term to remember when choosing and developing your relationships at the pool hall.

Examining this part of your game is vital to your growth as a player. It will assist you in staying focused on your goals and not on the amount of money you are winning and losing. Many players make the mistake of measuring their game by the amount of money they have won, or by wins and losses. By charting your progress with preset goals, you will know exactly where you are, and where you are headed. By eliminating distractive, non essential relationships from your life, you are removing obstacles from your path. It may sound harsh and cold to say that, but nobody gets to the top by surrounding themselves with negative and destructive relationships that hold no value.

Excerpts From Building The Perfect Game, Copyright 2000, Blackjack David Sapolis


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RSB-Refugee said:
Great thread, Blackjack. Are you a big wrestling fan?

Tracy
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I have been involved with the sports entertainment industry in one way or another since 1979. Eddie was a good friend. He will be missed by many people. 38 is too young.
 
Blackjack said:
I have been involved with the sports entertainment industry in one way or another since 1979. Eddie was a good friend. He will be missed by many people. 38 is too young.
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I am sorry for your loss of a friend. My stepson is a huge fan. When I saw your avatar I asked him is that Eddie? It is a shock when young healthy people die suddenly.

Tracy
 
a lot of good information

BlackJack,

A lot of good information for free. Unfortunately I have already had to learn these things, many of them the hard way! I do have to wonder if people will really accept much of it when they read it though. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink!

The one area that we seem to disagree just reading this small excerpt is concerning perfectionism. It seems that you consider it always bad, I have found that it is only how some people react to not achieving perfection that is the problem. I have put in some of the best performances of my life and lost and went away happy. I have also won and went away thoroughly annoyed with my performance.

You have definitely whetted my curiosity and I will check to see what the rest of this book and your other writings are about.

Hu
 
One of the best threads I have ever had the pleasure to view. Thank you Blackjack!
 
Getnbzy said:
One of the best threads I have ever had the pleasure to view. Thank you Blackjack!
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Getnbzy,
I like u man .Thanks for introducing all those pretty faces.This girl is gorgeous.Keep up the good work.
 
ShootingArts said:
The one area that we seem to disagree just reading this small excerpt is concerning perfectionism. It seems that you consider it always bad, I have found that it is only how some people react to not achieving perfection that is the problem. I have put in some of the best performances of my life and lost and went away happy. I have also won and went away thoroughly annoyed with my performance.

You have definitely whetted my curiosity and I will check to see what the rest of this book and your other writings are about.

Hu
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I'm not saying that it is wrong, I am just pointing out where it is detrimental and unrealistic to expect yourself to perform to perfection. High standards are good to have, but unrealistic, unachievable standards will lead anyone to frustration quicker than they will lead them to improvement.

This excerpt is actually part of a study, which comes complete with questions and workbook assignments. If there is a measureable demand for this study I can provide the lessons in this forum with one lesson per week. I can also provide the study questions with the material.

BTW -I have discontinued my web site, but I will continue to post my material in the forums.
 
Good points ...

Blackjack, but if all of us accepted what you have so adequately
pointed out in black and white, we would say we should quit Pool,
but we won't. It's kind of like being married to someone that can
make you happy, but has a lot of annoying things about them. You
put up with the annoyances to get to feel the happy feeling.

All I can say is The devil tempts us all, and there are a lot of
twisted webs out there, and we all have to learn.

On a personal note, and this may seem silly to some, but one of
the most pleasing thoughts I have is that I am playing on God's
Pool team. I know, I know, but it makes me feel good inside.
 
I'm interested in seeing more

I am interested in seeing more. I'm trying to put my game back together after a many year lay off from pool. This is actually the second time trying to restore my pool game. The first time was reasonably successful but I once again was distracted by minor details.(wife and family!)

Most people feel that their mental game is strong but I have a bit more reason than many. While not shooting pool I have faced world class competition in other activities without beating myself. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost, but I generally put my best game out.

I strive for perfection in competition. However I also recognize when I have turned in the best performance I can reasonably expect. This has little to do with where I place. I am almost as bent out of shape about a winning performance that was sloppy as losing due to poor execution. On the other hand if I fail to win with a performance that I feel would have won probably four times out of five or more I simply accept that it wasn't my day. I also recognize when my current skill level isn't adequate to win.

What I find interesting, and annoying, is my physical game. In my early teens through mid-twenties I played a very untraditional game. My style worked simply due to many hundreds of hours of play. When I returned to pool after about a ten year gap, I learned a more traditional style of play which seems like it would be much easier to return to. However, trying to come back after another long lay off, I find that my stroke tends to instinctively return to my earliest style of play rather than the way I played last. The result of unintentionally combining the two styles is UGLY!

Hu



Blackjack said:
I'm not saying that it is wrong, I am just pointing out where it is detrimental and unrealistic to expect yourself to perform to perfection. High standards are good to have, but unrealistic, unachievable standards will lead anyone to frustration quicker than they will lead them to improvement.

This excerpt is actually part of a study, which comes complete with questions and workbook assignments. If there is a measureable demand for this study I can provide the lessons in this forum with one lesson per week. I can also provide the study questions with the material.

BTW -I have discontinued my web site, but I will continue to post my material in the forums.
Click to expand...
 
oh man

Blackjack

BTW -I have discontinued my web site, but I will continue to post my material in the forums.


I'm sorry to hear you discontinued your website BJ. As I have said in earlier threads I was a always a big fan. I have most of the information from your site printed out, but I liked to go back from time to time to check things out. Once again thanks for all your valuable information that you put out there for others to have. It is greatly appreciated.
 
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