The_JV,
I am a baseball fan. I heard a story once (I don't know how true it is) that during or after Mickey Mantle's famous 1956 season, he saw Ted Williams at the All Star Game. Williams was super into hitting technique and fundamentals and was looking forward to talking to Mantle about Mantle's technique, because of Mantle's recent success. The story goes that Williams found Mantle and started quizzing Mantle about Mantle's hitting technique. Mantle claims never to have heard of or considered any of the things Williams was talking about, but after having the issues brought to his attention, Mantle went into a dreadful two-week slump.
Count me as a Ted Williams guy when it comes to fundamentals. For me, sometimes small things make a big difference, and having time away can sometimes make those small things seem bigger, more noticeable, and new, because your once familiar process has become just a little strange.
It is not my intention to down play fundamentals. Quite the opposite. However, I wouldn't want to send anyone into a "Mickey Mantle slump" either. My point is that people may not often think about using a break from pool as a way to illuminate portions of their fundamentals that feel strange when they get back to pool.
kollegedave