What do you do when you're lost?

[SmoothStroke]

Once you go negative you are finished, difficult to recover, could take weeks and nothing was repaired.
When you screw up analyze why and move on, positively, not negatively, it takes a few seconds.
If you go Sigmund Freud with yourself just dig a hole and jump in.

My everyday advice is never dwell on what you are doing wrong and why am I struggling.
Instead go full frontal on,,,,,what, and how I am doing, when I am doing it right.
I played great yesterday, repeat the focus and rhythms today, train your brain daily.

Do this before you even screw your cue together and always have that attitude, especially when you are dogging it.
Always learn from errors, never a negative repair always a positive.

 

[BilliardsAbout]

Missing a lot (relatively simple shots mainly, difficult ones seem to generate enough focus to take them down), and confidence is in the crapper. Negative self-talk is hard to banish (because... look at the simple run out you just blew [times 10]). Making 80% of the balls in a match but finding enough small ways to screw up that I lose the match. And on and on. This has been an issue for weeks now.

So, lack of focus, concentration, and confidence, and now it's affecting motivation as well. How do you get back on track?

Free lesson for you or post a vid for instruction here. Would like to see your stroke mechanics and stance. Thanks.

 

[SBC]

Missing a lot (relatively simple shots mainly, difficult ones seem to generate enough focus to take them down), and confidence is in the crapper. Negative self-talk is hard to banish (because... look at the simple run out you just blew [times 10]). Making 80% of the balls in a match but finding enough small ways to screw up that I lose the match. And on and on. This has been an issue for weeks now.

So, lack of focus, concentration, and confidence, and now it's affecting motivation as well. How do you get back on track?

All part of the process.
No straight line path to sucess. May be 2 steps forward and back.
If you are playing a couple times a week, it's not enough. Need 20 hours and focused practice.
Once you get more consistent, focus on turning weaknesses into strengths.

If you play 9 ball, practice running 4 balls from ball in hand. When you get out 80 percent, then go to 5 and then 6. Becomes a good warm up pre match/tournament.

When you are really playing...nothing better that playing the ghost with break and ball in hand. Can " beat the ghost" with even game or go 5 games to 4 or 3. It's very focused it will get your mind right.

You should be thinking nothing when down on the shot. Your unconscious mind can execute at much higher level than conscious. Guy playing guitar or piano isn't thinking about what he's doing physically....he's learned all the moves....and he executes.

That execution is what freestroking is or dead stroke. Once you can bring yourself to that...no amount of pressure or money bet will get in your head.

If you can...get a table.

 

[MattPoland]

I would just encourage you to focus on your preshot routine and fundamentals. Make sure you’re not rushing shot to shot. Take a second to see the balls lined up properly while standing before stepping into the shot. Once down, adjust nothing but careful and precise targeting of tip position for english. Keep your frame stable as a statue from your head, shoulders, hips and knees. And fire the shot in with control, confidence, follow-through and with the amount of power the shot needs.

If your preshot routine is consistent and your fundamentals are trustworthy, you should be pocketing balls and sending the cueball in the right direction. Try not to think about hard vs easy shots. Just shoot the shot that needs to be shot.

I think the next focus is just preparation. You need to learn which kinda of shots give you trouble and practice them. Get your shot percentages and speed control fine tuned with some drills.

And the final straw is staying in competitive environments to keep yourself battle tested. That helps either reduce the jitters or give you the familiarity to shoot through the jitters.

 

[rikdee]

Missing a lot (relatively simple shots mainly, difficult ones seem to generate enough focus to take them down), and confidence is in the crapper. Negative self-talk is hard to banish (because... look at the simple run out you just blew [times 10]). Making 80% of the balls in a match but finding enough small ways to screw up that I lose the match. And on and on. This has been an issue for weeks now.

So, lack of focus, concentration, and confidence, and now it's affecting motivation as well. How do you get back on track?

Post #23 touches on thiis: don't communicate in words. That allows your conscious mind to interfer with the process of playing. Communicate only with "pictures". Your mind already knows how to do this. Instead, just feed it a picture of what you want to happen and trust the process. Simply remove the conscious involment and all its negative chatter. There is no need for the conscious mind to "double check" the work.

 

[couldnthinkof01]

I take time off. Try to come back with new goals. Reset.

 

[jeffreylucky1]

I would just encourage you to focus on your preshot routine and fundamentals. Make sure you’re not rushing shot to shot. Take a second to see the balls lined up properly while standing before stepping into the shot. Once down, adjust nothing but careful and precise targeting of tip position for english. Keep your frame stable as a statue from your head, shoulders, hips and knees. And fire the shot in with control, confidence, follow-through and with the amount of power the shot needs.

If your preshot routine is consistent and your fundamentals are trustworthy, you should be pocketing balls and sending the cueball in the right direction. Try not to think about hard vs easy shots. Just shoot the shot that needs to be shot.

I think the next focus is just preparation. You need to learn which kinda of shots give you trouble and practice them. Get your shot percentages and speed control fine tuned with some drills.

And the final straw is staying in competitive environments to keep yourself battle tested. That helps either reduce the jitters or give you the familiarity to shoot through the jitters.

THIS^^^
Look at your shot.
Line it up.
Step into your shot!
Don't line up while down on the shot. Step into it after you line up! If you feel off, step away, line up again, and step into your shot again!
Watch older videos of Earl Strickland when he's on his game. He is the perfect example of this.

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

Loosing is part of life, even Babe Ruth struck out.

Suck it up or ask for participation trophy , that mean looser.

 

[Fatboy]

A little time off never hurt anyone.

 

[hang-the-9]

Missing a lot (relatively simple shots mainly, difficult ones seem to generate enough focus to take them down), and confidence is in the crapper. Negative self-talk is hard to banish (because... look at the simple run out you just blew [times 10]). Making 80% of the balls in a match but finding enough small ways to screw up that I lose the match. And on and on. This has been an issue for weeks now.

So, lack of focus, concentration, and confidence, and now it's affecting motivation as well. How do you get back on track?

Just keep playing. Unless someone is a pro level player, swings in play skill will happen. I have had horrible matches and good matches in the same night. It's nothing really to worry about. After a bunch of time those swings will be less varied to a better average, but the low points and high points will still be there. Fargo showed us that through all the games they track in solid numbers.

 

[336Robin]

Missing a lot (relatively simple shots mainly, difficult ones seem to generate enough focus to take them down), and confidence is in the crapper. Negative self-talk is hard to banish (because... look at the simple run out you just blew [times 10]). Making 80% of the balls in a match but finding enough small ways to screw up that I lose the match. And on and on. This has been an issue for weeks now.

So, lack of focus, concentration, and confidence, and now it's affecting motivation as well. How do you get back on track?

Buy 15 ounce cue and stop over hitting shots.

 

[lfigueroa]

Missing a lot (relatively simple shots mainly, difficult ones seem to generate enough focus to take them down), and confidence is in the crapper. Negative self-talk is hard to banish (because... look at the simple run out you just blew [times 10]). Making 80% of the balls in a match but finding enough small ways to screw up that I lose the match. And on and on. This has been an issue for weeks now.

So, lack of focus, concentration, and confidence, and now it's affecting motivation as well. How do you get back on track?

I think many guys are too hard on themselves.

If you take a ball close to a rail, a couple of diamonds away from a pocket with the CB at a modest angle, I'm going to guess most here can make that (forgetting the possibility of just dogging your brains out : -)

But if you have to come off the rail with a little low, a little follow inside, outside, go three rails, go two rails, bump a couple of balls open for another shot, draw spin the CB and so on for position, it's a different ball of wax and that's what some players overlook and then berate themselves for because they lack familiarity with one of the many, many variations any shot can present.

The shot is easy -- the infinite number of variants for position play, which affect the chances of pocketing the OB -- are not. So we beat ourselves up.

The game is tough as nails but looks like a walk in the park.

Lou Figueroa

 

[TheBasics]

OP, Howdy;

It's A GAME. Enjoy it. You should NOT be cultivating an ulcer about this.

hank

PS IT'S A GAME have fun.

 

[garczar]

Loosing is part of life, even Babe Ruth struck out.

Suck it up or ask for participation trophy , that mean looser.

The words are 'LOSE/LOSER' not loose/looser. Your participation trophy for spelling is in the mail.

 

[ldl01031]

This might appear to be off base, but first consider that you are seeking your answer electronically rather than turning to someone in a pool hall.

Everyone has gone through what you are experiencing. Take a break, sweat some action, learn or practice a new or different skill -- banking, combinations, caroms, kicking, learning to shoot left-handed -- anything but running. The foregoing skills are all part of a complete player's repertoire as is the innate confidence which will accompany their acquisition.

Do not try to force things. Wait for opportunity to evolve. We are predisposed to believe pool is all about pocketing balls, but experience will teach that pool is so much more. There are times to run and times to hide. Sadly, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to learn pool's basic lessons.

Pool halls, our schools of pool in which we learned so many of pool's and life's essential moves, are endangered. Some people enjoy condemning pool hall/hustling culture. However, the pool hall environment did produce incredibly talented players whose games and personalities have been proven second to none. We lesser players were also greatly benefited. League and tournament play may well be pool's saviors, but the faces and places of pool's glory days emanate from the pool halls of the past.

Interestingly enough, I had come to the opposite conclusion. I devote my practice time to basic skills and drills (kicking, banking, jumping, specific tough shots, the 'easy' drills that Darren publishes, and on and on) and only at the end shoot rotation. However, even then, when I miss, if it was a difficult shot, or one I could have shot a couple different ways, I usually set it up again (maybe even put down donuts and shoot it many times). When I miss a bunny (taking the shot for granted? or something else?) which is usually how a run ends, I just berate myself or shake my head and shoot again. In other words, I never have any negative consequences to missing. I just shoot again. What I find is that while I can make any shot and get any position, I have trouble sustaining the focus to run rack after rack. Next month, I have four hours of private lessons with Jeremy Jones (yes, eat your hearts out [sorry]). I expect those hours will focus almost entirely on fundamentals. So, I'm still left with how to learn that sustained focus. I recently started playing 'pool 300' (basically, scoring 10-ball like a bowling game - it's great fun and if anyone is interested, I'll post the very simple rules). Unfortunately, playing that game has confirmed my concerns. On the bright side, as I come out of this, I will have a very good barometer (the pool 300 scores). I think my recent decline in confidence has some now-understandable reasons. I didn't recognize them until I came here to ask opinions. Back in my previous life (I left pool for 30 years), a slump was always followed by a steep rise, so I'm optimistic. Things will get better from here.

 

[ldl01031]

OP, Howdy;

It's A GAME. Enjoy it. You should NOT be cultivating an ulcer about this.

hank

PS IT'S A GAME have fun.

Told myself that last night after having to sit down because I had just missed a straight-in three foot 8-ball (WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!!???).

Reminding myself I was supposed to be having fun actually helped quite a bit and I collected a few more game before losing the set.

 

[gregcantrall]

My solution came with my lessons from Backward Jan. Go back to the Basics. Having a routine that I could ascribe numbers to, allows me to go back to 1-2-3 to calm my mind. Allowed me to focus on doing the process to my practiced

 

[Fatboy]

Time is your friend in pool, until you hit 45….

 

[tableroll]

Missing a lot (relatively simple shots mainly, difficult ones seem to generate enough focus to take them down), and confidence is in the crapper. Negative self-talk is hard to banish (because... look at the simple run out you just blew [times 10]). Making 80% of the balls in a match but finding enough small ways to screw up that I lose the match. And on and on. This has been an issue for weeks now.

So, lack of focus, concentration, and confidence, and now it's affecting motivation as well. How do you get back on track?

Start out thinking about a nice "feeling good stance". Bend down and say to yourself: "Straight back....Straight forward." Do the straight back slowly. Repeat this several times maybe 25 times. It will make a difference in your confidence. Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. It is the only way. No quick fixes. Sweat in practice so you don't bleed in competition.

 

[ldl01031]

Its obvious that your problem is mental. Take a break for a week or two to decompress.

I'd be willing to bet when you are down on the shots that you are missing, you are thinking about the last time you missed a similar shot and what might happen in the near future. You MUST be thinking in the present.... not the past or the future.

It may sound odd, but I am 100% sure you will improve your mindset by listening to self hypnosis recordings. But you HAVE TO decide right from the beginning that you will free yourself of doubt. Remove all thoughts from your head. Relax in your recliner. Put on the headphones to remove all distractions. Immerse yourself into the words.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the results. You have to listen to them many times. In a week you will be more relaxed at the table then you have ever been in your life!

Some people find hypnosis to be a bunch of hooey. But I assure you it will help. The human mind is a powerful tool, or a powerful roadblock. I think yours is at a barricade at the moment.

Try it. What do you have to loose? I can reccomend where to start if you like. PM me

I have the original Contenderosis tapes (if you are familiar with them). I have a fairly large library of pool-specific or sports-related self-hypnosis materials. So, yep, I'm with you. I tend to use them in spurts and started again a couple of weeks ago. And of course, you're right about being down on a shot and fearing missing because of recent failures. My physical skills haven't gone anywhere, but obviously my head has. And again, I think I realize now what was probably underlying all this. So, I expect to be out of these doldrums soon. I have several major tournaments coming up (and then Derby City in January), so I'll just trust that I'll get out of this hole pretty quickly.