what do you do when in a slump ?

L

lorider

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
i have been in a real bad slump this session. i mean bad ! won 7 lost 16 for a 30% win record. this is my 6th session and i have never been below 50% till now.

i have a table at home but never can bring myself to practice on it. lately i find myself waiting till the last minute to go to league. we get free table time for an hour and a half before league starts but i never get to the pool hall until about 15 minutes before starting time.

when i play my matches i either jump out ahead of my opponent and then slack off ltting them come back and beat me, or i start slow and then when they get on the hill i usually win a few racks sometimes winning the match but more often than not i lose.

it seems like i was just losing interest in the game... until yesterday.

the captain of one of my teams asked me to play in a jack and jill scotch doubles tournament with her. at first i did not want to but she really wanted to play and could not get a partner. i figured we did not have a chance in hell as she is only a 2. i am just a 5.

playing doubles with a week partner presents all kind of problems.. you have to really focus on cueball position to leave them the best opportunity for a shot. i knew i was going to have to really pick up my game so i would not dissapoint her.

our 1st match we faced 2 5's, it was a 4-3 race. we won 3-1. we won our next 2 matches also without too much problem. i was playing the best i have in a loooong time. it was all because i was not thinking about my game, it was all because i was thinking what was best for her game.

i played way more safes than i usaully do resulting in her getting ball in hand most of the time , i also made a n more concious effort in choosing my shots so i knew she had a shot. we lost our next 2 matches resulting in coming in 5th out of 24 teams. way better than i thought we would.

tonight i went to league early and practiced some with a new attitude. i beat a 7 3-2 tonight playing the same strategy i used in that jack and jill tournament.

maybe changing my mindset will get me out of this slump i have been in.

what do you change when you are in a slump ?
 
I actually do the exact opposite of preparation. I play almost every day (I work at a poolhall), so when I get into a slump I usually take a few days off.

I think you need to rest your mind once in a while and come back to the table with fresh eyes sometimes.
 
do the opposite of what you normally do...

if you are a practice rat... walk away for 2 weeks...

if you never practice.. take 2 weeks and dive into drills...
 
Take two weeks off and then quit! :wink:

P.S. I have a quick solution for this problem that will be in my next book. It works too! The OP can PM for this information.
 
When I get into a slump I sometimes think about ending my own life.
Why, just the other day I called a suicide hot line. I had to press one for English.
They transferred me to a call center in Pakistan. I told the guy I wanted to commit suicide. He asked if I knew how to drive a truck.
I decided to take a nap, instead. :smile:


P.S. I told this joke a few days ago and it went over like a turd in a punch bowl. Let's see what happens this time.
 
I was in a slump for over 6 months a few years back. I would pocket a ball then miss, miss, miss, miss.

My friend saw me and asked if I wanted to play (hadn't seen him in 6 - 8 months). Told him about my slump. Bobby said go warm up and I'll come down and see if we can't get you back.

He came down, watched me for a mintue or two, and said...

I went on to playing some of m best pool up to that point.

Thank Bobby...

Pete
 
mcericville said:
I actually do the exact opposite of preparation. I play almost every day (I work at a poolhall), so when I get into a slump I usually take a few days off.

I think you need to rest your mind once in a while and come back to the table with fresh eyes sometimes.
Click to expand...

I agree with this advice. I have a home table and when I start struggling and can't seem to get out on easy lay outs I take some time off away from practicing! Having a home table makes it easy for me to play and practice too much. When I was younger it wasn't as bad as it is now. My mind and body need a rest sometimes from playing. Once you know what to do you can get back in descent stroke pretty quickly so for me hitting pool balls too much hurt more than it helped. I know there are many players who will disagree with my advice, but i'll bet most of them are young guns loaded with energy. Try taking a few days off away from pool and see if you don't come back refreshed and ready to play at a high level.

James
 
First off, If you have a table like I also do It usually our own fault if we're too lazy too go hit ball's. What I generally do if I'm out of stroke Is shoot spot shot's and playthree rail shapes on balls back down table. Theres just something about hitting thatperfect shot that sounds and feels so good,it perks you up. Hope this helps.
 
I think their will always be slumps because without them there would be no highs...just play through and dont make it worse than it is, there is no guarantee that u will always play good. Also when u reach a high it adventually wears down. The best thing to do is track your highs and lows And try to Recognize Them faster That way it gives you power to adjust practice time,play time, and breaks,. the goal should be consistency.
 
Take a break

The slump may be caused by your lack of desire to play. You aren't focused when you shoot, because you aren't interested in the games, so you miss more often and don't improve.
Take 2 weeks to a month off, then come back. By that time your hand should be itching to pick up a pool cue, and your concentration will have improved because you're interested in the game.
The other suggestion is to take a lesson. Find an instructor who can offer you challenges that you can go home and practice. y recent lessons have really raised my game and opened up some new dimensions to the game that I wasn't considering.
I also love having a table at home and it makes the practicing so much easier than if I was in a pool hall.
Good luck!
 
When I've gone into APA slumps in the past, I took a step back and evaluated my style of play sort of like you did. It could be that I was trying to play how I thought I should play or something else, instead of just playing my game.

Other than that, when I start slumping, I get a little bit annoyed. I play through it, though, knowing that just about any time I hit a slump it means I'm going to be coming out of it shooting even better. Except for the not-playing-well part, I almost look forward to slumps nowadays. :embarrassed2:
 
For me, there is only one way. Play through it. Maybe that's why they are few & short when they do pop up.

It's like when Babe Ruth was in slump. He had just struck out for the umpteenth time & walked back to the dug out with a big smile on his face. Another player asked him, 'Babe, why are are smiling like that? You just stuck out, AGAIN!' Babe answered, 'Because that's just one more swing closer to my next home run.':wink:

Regards,
 
Take a few days off and then start looking at your basic mechanics, stance, bridge, grip, stroke, follow through, not head-bobbing, jumping up, etc. I've recently changed my grip and just a day or so ago, found that my bridge hand was positioned wrong. And, try not to take yourself so seriously;)
 
ENGLISH! said:
For me, there is only one way. Play through it. Maybe that's why they are few & short when they do pop up.
Click to expand...

That's what I do and what I tell people that complain of being in a slump.

Just keep plugging away and KNOW that it's just temporary. You're gonna take some lumps but that's just a part of the process. Everybody that plays pool regularly goes through them, some more often than others and some may last longer than others.

If you have the skills and knowledge and no new physical maladies, it's all gonna come back to you eventually.

Maniac (just recently "played through" one myself)
 
Slumps don't exist.

Sort of.


Basically, the idea of a slump is "something is making me lose more than I ought to be". So what is that something? In rare cases, maybe you acquired a new condition or habit that's hurting your game. Could be how you a new bridge you've been trying. Could be the cocaine.

But if it's not one of those things, what else is it? The pool gods? Some cosmic force that wants you to lose? You have to accept it's not any external magical force, it's internal. Which means it's in your head. And "It's all in your head" is a phrase we use to say "You're imagining things, it doesn't exist".

Basically, belief in slumps is a self-fulfulling prophecy. You think there's something that's wrecking your game, so you feel nervous or resigned or angry when you shoot, and those feelings lead to poor shooting. In your mind this confirms the slump exists.

But it doesn't, and it never will if you refuse to believe in them. Statistically, if you flip a coin enough times, you'll eventually get ten tails in a row. It's the same with pool... eventually you'll lose ten times in a row. But as long as you don't read too much into it, you can be sure that a win is right around the corner.

Thinking about slumps and other superstitious nonsense is like slapping the coin down tails without even flipping it.
 
The first thing I always do is put more weight on my bridge hand (just a little more). It works for me most of the time. Hope you work it out.
 
slump

When I am in a slump, I piss and moan and swear a lot. I kick things and drink more.

I do not damage my cue in any way..............only amateurs do that....

Eventually I get over it........


LOL

Kim
 
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