TheOne said:
I've always lived by the saying: "there's always a shot".
Does everyone agree that this is true or can you think of any situation where there is "no shot" (to either get safe or make a ball)?
Clearly there are situations on a table where you have all but lost the game save for a miracle or extreme incompetence from your opponent.
But in the great majority of situations I do think there is always a shot, and that believing that is very valuable as a player.
In my earlier playing years I didn't see it this way. When the balls ran badly I would begin to feel that the game was treating me unfairly. This would cause me to play poor shots or attempt hard low percentage shots. And the bad runs, unlucky kiss outs etc would continue.
Later I began to believe that if I thought hard and clear and executed with skill and focus that I could climb out of any position. Even when the odds were 90-10 against me in a situation, instead of taking a wild shot, I'd focus on it, look for ways to improve my chances of getting a bit of good fortune, execute with a clear intention....and amazingly, a lot of times the luck either comes on that shot or a shot or two later something weird happens to the opponent's position that puts me back in with a chance.
So the moral is to never give up. Play at 100% on each shot and look for the best shots to play. The player who works smarter and harder at the table almost always gets the end result.
Smartness here includes your accumulated skill and knowledge of the game. So a C level player, no matter how hard he works, does not have the knowledge to make his work valuable enough against a much higher rated player.
So what TheOne is saying, I feel is a very important factor in mental approach. There is a shot there on the table that needs to be found. Find that shot and execute it well. Do this and nearly always the opponent will have to dig pretty deep to finish the frame.
Have you ever noticed how when you play a better player that the finishing patterns often seem to play out tricky, but against a mug you seem to get a lot of easy outs?
