What do you do when you're lost?

bbb

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
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.
whats your fargo if i may ask?
 

ldl01031

Member
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.
Thanks. Can't hurt, right? I asked for opinions, so I should try anything that seems reasonable.
 

Fatboy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Try being 66 :) I don't want to think that's behind a lot of this because it is out of my control. And I'll stick with that.
I’m 55, soon 56. Game over for me.

I’m now something I said I’d never be. A full time rail bird. I’ve just accepted that is the best version of pool for me. Playing to just be 80% of what I was is not fun. Not being on the improve isn’t fun.

I was playing my best pool and improving until I wasn’t. That happened pretty fast. It was a sad time for me for a while. I had to come to terms that I couldn’t play like I did. I was never great anyways. But I can’t be the best version of myself.

I have to play games I can still get better at. So I switched. But because pool has always been #1, I’m a happy rail bird, making rail bird bets and follow pool, talk to players everyday. And enjoy AZB. That’s my version of pool.

Will I ever hit another ball? Maybe. Maybe not, I’m not sure. 10000% will be at Derby City this next time. I’ll be here. I’ll always be in pool someway some how.

That’s my story. I respect guys who play past their prime. That just didn’t work for me. Also living in Los Angeles sucks for playing pool, zero action. I don’t care about league pool. When I move if there’s local pool action-maybe I’ll play again. Time will tell.

Best
Fatboy<———rolling with the punches
 

CocoboloCowboy

Cowboys are my hero's
Silver Member
The words are 'LOSE/LOSER' not loose/looser. Your participation trophy for spelling is in the mail. ;)


Really you must be mailing to self, as your a nit picker.
 

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ldl01031

Member
whats your fargo if i may ask?
(head held low) 544. When I play my game, I'm accused of sand bagging, when I shoot like I have lately, it's "oh, I see why you're a 544." To be fair, my rating was established when I had first come back after not playing for 30 years - so everyone was beating me. Almost nothing in my area captures Fargo results (the tournament that did no longer makes sense to attend - it was the only place available when Covid shut everything down but is much too far to attend on a work night now that everything is open again). So, I haven't had any updates to my rating since last year. At 66 years old, I can't afford to 'wait' to get better before reentering pro events. I may not win many matches, but it still feels good to think "I'm back" (ala Paul Newman).
 

bbb

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
(head held low) 544. When I play my game, I'm accused of sand bagging, when I shoot like I have lately, it's "oh, I see why you're a 544." To be fair, my rating was established when I had first come back after not playing for 30 years - so everyone was beating me. Almost nothing in my area captures Fargo results (the tournament that did no longer makes sense to attend - it was the only place available when Covid shut everything down but is much too far to attend on a work night now that everything is open again). So, I haven't had any updates to my rating since last year. At 66 years old, I can't afford to 'wait' to get better before reentering pro events. I may not win many matches, but it still feels good to think "I'm back" (ala Paul Newman).
thanks for the reply
check your pm
 

ldl01031

Member
I’m 55, soon 56. Game over for me.

I’m now something I said I’d never be. A full time rail bird. I’ve just accepted that is the best version of pool for me. Playing to just be 80% of what I was is not fun. Not being on the improve isn’t fun.

I was playing my best pool and improving until I wasn’t. That happened pretty fast. It was a sad time for me for a while. I had to come to terms that I couldn’t play like I did. I was never great anyways. But I can’t be the best version of myself.

I have to play games I can still get better at. So I switched. But because pool has always been #1, I’m a happy rail bird, making rail bird bets and follow pool, talk to players everyday. And enjoy AZB. That’s my version of pool.

Will I ever hit another ball? Maybe. Maybe not, I’m not sure. 10000% will be at Derby City this next time. I’ll be here. I’ll always be in pool someway some how.

That’s my story. I respect guys who play past their prime. That just didn’t work for me. Also living in Los Angeles sucks for playing pool, zero action. I don’t care about league pool. When I move if there’s local pool action-maybe I’ll play again. Time will tell.

Best
Fatboy<———rolling with the punches
Dang, that makes me sad. I guess you know yourself better than anyone and if that's your take on it, then ok. Personally, I tell people that the only way I know how old I am is by looking at my driver's license. I was very fortunate to be blessed with athletic skills and have always (ok... past year or two not included) kept in good shape. Getting back into pool gives me a great reason to get back into shape (while being realistic so I don't hurt myself...again), and to push the envelope of what is possible. Keeps me young :)
 

philly

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
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.
Don't know how long you have been playing serious pool.
If it has been a while then there is not a shot the you haven't made before.
A good thing to remember.
 

ldl01031

Member
Free lesson for you or post a vid for instruction here. Would like to see your stroke mechanics and stance. Thanks.
Thanks. I'll be spending 4 hours with Jeremy Jones next month and I'm assuming my fundamentals will get an overhaul then (ideally, just tweaked of course - I had Mika Immonen overhaul them about two years ago). But I will definitely keep this in mind for future questions. Is there a 'place' to upload videos to?
 

ldl01031

Member
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.
Yep, 100% with you on all that. When Covid shut everything down (three weeks after I returned to pool), I kicked my car out of the garage and put in a 9-footer. Best decision I ever made :) I've averaged two hours a day for the past two years (I track everything). Which, frankly, makes a slump like this all the more perplexing (although I've already come to terms with the cause of this slump).
 

ldl01031

Member
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.
I call this 'the coach' and 'the player.' I'm the coach and my subconscious is the player. A significant improvement over the past week was brought on by realizing that the coach kept wanting to see the results of shots before the player was finished. I now remind the coach to not 'see what happened' until the player is done (best when I'm still down and unmoving until the ball is in the pocket).
 

ldl01031

Member
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
Thanks. I've been working lately on simplifying my game (some). I use english on pretty much every shot to get precise positioning. As a result, I never miss shape but I do miss shots (though this isn't the reason for the debilitating play of the last couple of weeks). Since most opponents won't let you keep going just because you got great shape... yeah, working on that. And for the record, I'm not a beginner experimenting with english. I understand it well and have used it like this for many decades. But I appreciate how much it complicates things, so I'm looking to, for instance, take alternate paths and accept good position as opposed to feeling I need to get ball in hand position on every single shot. Getting great shape but missing the shot is... stupid.
 

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
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?
Take a break. If you play every day, take a week off. If you play 2-3 times a week, take two weeks off. Hard to figure why, but you’ll be refreshed.
 

boogieman

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
Good wisdom there. I had already made just such a list. It isn't long, but it has some critically important lifestyle changes I need to make. So far this year I've lost my mom, my stepdad, a nephew, and two best friends. And I almost died of covid. Maybe I just need to work on me, and "stop hating the results, start loving the journey."

Wow, a useful therapy session in less than an hour. Glad I asked :)
A good book on the subject is "The Pleasure of Small Motions" if you like to read pool stuff.
 

Fatboy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Dang, that makes me sad. I guess you know yourself better than anyone and if that's your take on it, then ok. Personally, I tell people that the only way I know how old I am is by looking at my driver's license. I was very fortunate to be blessed with athletic skills and have always (ok... past year or two not included) kept in good shape. Getting back into pool gives me a great reason to get back into shape (while being realistic so I don't hurt myself...again), and to push the envelope of what is possible. Keeps me young :)
I mite start playing again when I leave la, if I’m in a spot where there’s action. Banging balls isn’t for me. I will always love pool and be in the pool world. That I like, my health is worse than I look. I’d rather look worse and feel better, but is what it is. I take care of myself that’s for sure.
 

kollegedave

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Just my 0.02, but I think you should consider putting your pre-shot routine down on paper. Express it. Create a definite plan. Shortly, it is likely that by sticking to that plan you may realize that you aren't doing something you used to do or you are doing something you didn't do. Either way, I think a clear expression of what you are trying to accomplish in your pre shot routine can be useful...at least to me and another pretty good local player where I am.

I was at a tournament with this other guy, and he said that I would probably think he is a super nerd, but he explained that he kept a pre-shot routine journal. I said, "You too!"

I hope this helps. I have felt lost before, and it is not fun. I think by keeping a journal you can create a bread crumb trail back to where you were. It won't happen over night. Don't give up.

kollegedave
 
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