Tips on maintaining focus during practice

L

lvlss42190

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've read a few books and watched just about everything I could find for videos, both DVD and youtube.

When practicing I am intensely focused for the first 20 minutes or so but after that I get lax and my game goes down the tubes. So other than practicing in short spurts I feel I'm not getting the benefit of what I'm trying to do. I've tried practicing in quiet and with mild music in the back ground to break up the monotony of the task at hand. Nothing seems to really keep me going.

So in short, how do I teach myself to maintain focus for longer than 15-20 minutes to keep working the weak points in my game as opposed to just wanting to set up and play rack after rack with myself.
 
The normal human can only practice effectively for about 20 minutes.

I break my practice routines into short and intense workouts.

Anything over 20 minutes probably will be counterproductive.

randyg
 
DMAE
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Provigil
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Ritalin
Cocaine
High sudden bursts of nicotine (some 18mg juice through a powerful vaporizer)
High-functioning Autism


Pick one.
 
lvlss42190 said:
I've read a few books and watched just about everything I could find for videos, both DVD and youtube.

When practicing I am intensely focused for the first 20 minutes or so but after that I get lax and my game goes down the tubes. So other than practicing in short spurts I feel I'm not getting the benefit of what I'm trying to do. I've tried practicing in quiet and with mild music in the back ground to break up the monotony of the task at hand. Nothing seems to really keep me going.

So in short, how do I teach myself to maintain focus for longer than 15-20 minutes to keep working the weak points in my game as opposed to just wanting to set up and play rack after rack with myself.
Click to expand...

20 Minutes is pretty good. I've read that 45 minutes is max but that's pretty rare. However, to me, the real key lies in your recovery period. I think that's where the real training and self-discipline comes into play. If you can keep it under 15 minutes, you can get right back to where you left off, and with full intensity.
 
lvlss42190 said:
I've read a few books and watched just about everything I could find for videos, both DVD and youtube.

When practicing I am intensely focused for the first 20 minutes or so but after that I get lax and my game goes down the tubes. So other than practicing in short spurts I feel I'm not getting the benefit of what I'm trying to do. I've tried practicing in quiet and with mild music in the back ground to break up the monotony of the task at hand. Nothing seems to really keep me going.

So in short, how do I teach myself to maintain focus for longer than 15-20 minutes to keep working the weak points in my game as opposed to just wanting to set up and play rack after rack with myself.
Click to expand...

Like the others have stated 20 minutes is about max for this, what I do to get the most out of my training sessions is this: After about 20 minutes or when I notice I am getting sloppy is I take a small break and change up the drill or practice session I am currently doing and keep this going until it is no longer productive. At one point I was conditioned for about 2-3 hours MAX then I need to take a long break 3-4 hours and then start another session. You have to experiment and find what works best for you.

Remember its not about the Quantity its about the Quality!
 
My job requires me to NEVER make a mistake, so 3hrs is normal for 100% concentration.
It can be done.

Nothing should bother you, all the "shark" moves are a joke - they bother people losing and people looking for an excuse to lose.

More honest words have ever beeen spoken^^^^^^^^^^^
Jason
 
jasonlaus said:
My job requires me to NEVER make a mistake, so 3hrs is normal for 100% concentration.

It can be done.



Nothing should bother you, all the "shark" moves are a joke - they bother people losing and people looking for an excuse to lose.



More honest words have ever beeen spoken^^^^^^^^^^^

Jason
Click to expand...



I have to agree with this. Concentration or focus is like a muscle that can be developed & once developed can be utilized for entire sessions lasting hours not minutes.

You decide whether your focus is interrupted by others or by boredom, no one can interrupt it unless you allow it.

Those that advocate that only 20 minutes is possible, well you're just not applying yourself. I'll liken you to the average joe who can't run a 26 mile marathon. In order to perform such a physical feat you can't just do it. You must train 1st and work up to that. Concentration & focus is no different, you have to train it first. I suggest meditation & breathing exercises. The mind is capable of amazing things if you train it.
 
Respectfully, 20-50 minutes is ideal or maximal for most people in academic study before a break, pool requires physical and mental concentration.

20 minutes is enough to run multiple racks in any game. Why do you think people have trouble running more than X racks? To play in the zone for more than 20 minutes is to be concentrating very casually!
 
Bank it said:
I have to agree with this. Concentration or focus is like a muscle that can be developed & once developed can be utilized for entire sessions lasting hours not minutes.

You decide whether your focus is interrupted by others or by boredom, no one can interrupt it unless you allow it.

Those that advocate that only 20 minutes is possible, well you're just not applying yourself. I'll liken you to the average joe who can't run a 26 mile marathon. In order to perform such a physical feat you can't just do it. You must train 1st and work up to that. Concentration & focus is no different, you have to train it first. I suggest meditation & breathing exercises. The mind is capable of amazing things if you train it.
Click to expand...

I thought the same thing as you when I first read the question. I recall practicing for hours on end not realizing what time it was or how much time had passed. But now that I look back, there were definitely breaks in my concentration. Even if it was just for a few minutes to drink a beverage.

So maybe what you're saying isn't any different than what the scientists say about 20 minutes, only it's a matter of definition. What they are saying is pure, uninterrupted focus that has been scientifically monitored.

I still advocate marathon practice sessions of 7 or more hours. I get the most accomplished in those sessions.
 
lvlss42190 said:
... So in short, how do I teach myself to maintain focus for longer than 15-20 minutes to keep working the weak points in my game as opposed to just wanting to set up and play rack after rack with myself.
Click to expand...
I find that if I'm trying to do something very specific -- make a shot and get exact shape -- I can do it for longer. More generally, make sure you are well rested and in good shape physically. I remember some of my best practice sessions were during the day time on weekends in a quiet room.
 
BilliardsAbout said:
Respectfully, 20-50 minutes is ideal or maximal for most people in academic study before a break, pool requires physical and mental concentration.

20 minutes is enough to run multiple racks in any game. Why do you think people have trouble running more than X racks? To play in the zone for more than 20 minutes is to be concentrating very casually!
Click to expand...

Straight pool they run many many racks

People dont run a ton of racks in 9 or 10 ball because of not making a ball on the break or balls tied up afterword.

Dont even know why I answered:rolleyes:
Jason
 
lvlss42190 said:
I've read a few books and watched just about everything I could find for videos, both DVD and youtube.

When practicing I am intensely focused for the first 20 minutes or so but after that I get lax and my game goes down the tubes. So other than practicing in short spurts I feel I'm not getting the benefit of what I'm trying to do. I've tried practicing in quiet and with mild music in the back ground to break up the monotony of the task at hand. Nothing seems to really keep me going.

So in short, how do I teach myself to maintain focus for longer than 15-20 minutes to keep working the weak points in my game as opposed to just wanting to set up and play rack after rack with myself.
Click to expand...

First of all, I'm not a pool instructor, so I hope it's okay to jump in here. I am a psychotherapist/psychophysiologist as well as the lifelong pool enthusiast. I have been studying and applying applied psychophysiology since I was first introduced to it in 1977. In my practice, I work with ADHD, optimal performance, and other issues in which focus, or more specifically the type of focus, or the ability to have variability in the type of focus is the key to optimal success. I lurked, and then joined Azbilliards.com because along the way of educating myself, I've had the opportunity to train with some psychologists who work with Olympic and other high-level athletes for optimal performance. While in this training my focus often goes to "these concepts are probably more applicable to pool than most of the sports that they're being used on" I'm at the stage of refining/researching what I want to say and the best venue to do that in. I started off trolling the main forum and then found my way over to this forum with the hope of sharing my experience without too much crap from the peanut gallery.....

There's a psychophysiological reason for the 20 minutes you describe. It's called secondary shift. The autonomic nervous system regulates and runs the body based on our interpretation of our environment real or imagined. Another concept is homeostasis or that the body has a thermostat of sorts that keeps you between the "yellow lines" of where you tend to function particularly over the last six months or so. If I were monitoring someones physiology with biofeedback or neuro- feedback and they were doing meditation or something that takes them outside their yellow lines; after about 20 minutes the nervous system without cognitive influence would tend to elicit arousal, or in pool language take you out of dead stroke. It's important to remember that all of this is plastic. It can change over time for the better or worse. There is no doubt that by applying specific techniques and particularly enhancing that with immediate feedback of what you're trying to achieve learning can and does take place.

I believe in pool, to optimally perform we have to be able to shift states frequently and be good at it. I know for myself when I'm patterning. deciding where I want to hit the cue ball, checking my set up and visualizing the outcome; that state is different from my optimal "stroke" state.

Breathing was mentioned earlier in the thread, and in another post I would like to talk in more detail about optimal breathing. When we look at respiration and the autonomic nervous system, breathing is particularly useful because it is unique in that it is the only part of the autonomic nervous system that is under voluntary control when we are conscious. This has what we call an afferent/efferent effect on the nervous system. That means that information comes from the brain, to the body but we can also feed information into the nervous system from the body. If you'd like to know more about breathing and optimal performance you might want to check out this YouTube video explaining it in more detail by one of the original researchers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nwFUKuJSE0
 
Hoser...This is very interesting information. I also live in FL. Please PM me your location, as I would like to meet you and learn more about this, to share with my fellow instructors. :thumbup: I sent you a PM.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
 
Hoser said:
........I believe in pool, to optimally perform we have to be able to shift states frequently and be good at it. I know for myself when I'm patterning. deciding where I want to hit the cue ball, checking my set up and visualizing the outcome; that state is different from my optimal "stroke" state...........


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nwFUKuJSE0
Click to expand...

Very interesting information and thanks for posting that. I cut and pasted one portion of your post here to address your comment about shifting states. I agree that we do shift states as we move through a pool match, but not necessarily in the instances you cited above.

Being in dead stroke includes moving around the table, making decisions, aiming, visualizing and finally stroking. It's a dance that we do with perfect timing and thoughts that are in perfect order.

The better you are, the easier it is to fall into the zone or dead stroke state because you are trained at doing things in an order that creates a distraction-free environment.

I played on the pro tour for a few decades (and I teach now) and that has been my experience as a player.

Second-guessing yourself or having a discussion with your opponent are examples of distractions that will cause a change in state of mind and a break in the dead-stroke zone.
 
jasonlaus said:
Straight pool they run many many racks

People dont run a ton of racks in 9 or 10 ball because of not making a ball on the break or balls tied up afterword.

Dont even know why I answered:rolleyes:
Jason
Click to expand...

Straight pool doesn't have balls tied after a break? :grin:

You can stop for a minute and check out the rack in Straights, Nine Ball is less thinking about the layout and more execution. I play Eight Ball with one friend and when we're exhausted mentally, we play Nine Ball while we talk about the weather.

Yes, there are people who've zoned out for hours playing Straight Pool, but 20 minutes is about max for people unless they hone their concentration.
 
Hoser said:
First of all, I'm not a pool instructor, so I hope it's okay to jump in here. I am a psychotherapist/psychophysiologist as well as the lifelong pool enthusiast. I have been studying and applying applied psychophysiology since I was first introduced to it in 1977. In my practice, I work with ADHD, optimal performance, and other issues in which focus, or more specifically the type of focus, or the ability to have variability in the type of focus is the key to optimal success. I lurked, and then joined Azbilliards.com because along the way of educating myself, I've had the opportunity to train with some psychologists who work with Olympic and other high-level athletes for optimal performance. While in this training my focus often goes to "these concepts are probably more applicable to pool than most of the sports that they're being used on" I'm at the stage of refining/researching what I want to say and the best venue to do that in. I started off trolling the main forum and then found my way over to this forum with the hope of sharing my experience without too much crap from the peanut gallery.....

There's a psychophysiological reason for the 20 minutes you describe. It's called secondary shift. The autonomic nervous system regulates and runs the body based on our interpretation of our environment real or imagined. Another concept is homeostasis or that the body has a thermostat of sorts that keeps you between the "yellow lines" of where you tend to function particularly over the last six months or so. If I were monitoring someones physiology with biofeedback or neuro- feedback and they were doing meditation or something that takes them outside their yellow lines; after about 20 minutes the nervous system without cognitive influence would tend to elicit arousal, or in pool language take you out of dead stroke. It's important to remember that all of this is plastic. It can change over time for the better or worse. There is no doubt that by applying specific techniques and particularly enhancing that with immediate feedback of what you're trying to achieve learning can and does take place.

I believe in pool, to optimally perform we have to be able to shift states frequently and be good at it. I know for myself when I'm patterning. deciding where I want to hit the cue ball, checking my set up and visualizing the outcome; that state is different from my optimal "stroke" state.

Breathing was mentioned earlier in the thread, and in another post I would like to talk in more detail about optimal breathing. When we look at respiration and the autonomic nervous system, breathing is particularly useful because it is unique in that it is the only part of the autonomic nervous system that is under voluntary control when we are conscious. This has what we call an afferent/efferent effect on the nervous system. That means that information comes from the brain, to the body but we can also feed information into the nervous system from the body. If you'd like to know more about breathing and optimal performance you might want to check out this YouTube video explaining it in more detail by one of the original researchers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nwFUKuJSE0
Click to expand...

Where in Florida are you? I have a group clinic in Jacksonville on Saturday the 11th, and would love for you to come as my guest for a free pool clinic and to share with me and with our students on your findings.

Thanks!
 
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