Aiming methods are certainly important for players to work out to reach a high level. A player must find a way that works for them.
But leaving aiming aside for a while, I've seen many players who seem to have all the right skills and can hit 'the zone' quite often in their basement or their local club in practice sessions, but take them out of that comfort zone and the quality drops.
Most players I have known with similar skills on the practice table had little tournament success. They'd come back with all kinds of excuses, but the simple fact was their game level dropped considerably in this highly competitive situation.
There are other players who are usually quite ordinary on the practice table, that lift their games to much higher levels once the money is on, or they are in a tourney.
Personally, I played a lot of tourneys and competitions (maybe 400+) over a few years and this toughened me up, along with a few major changes in mental perspective that I hope to get into during this thread.
In the beginning I played well below my practice standard in competitions, but after a few years I became able to play my strongest games in tournaments.
I would like to hear your ideas on what allows some players to shine while many other seemingly highly skilled players nearly always drop away early when the heat is on.
But leaving aiming aside for a while, I've seen many players who seem to have all the right skills and can hit 'the zone' quite often in their basement or their local club in practice sessions, but take them out of that comfort zone and the quality drops.
Most players I have known with similar skills on the practice table had little tournament success. They'd come back with all kinds of excuses, but the simple fact was their game level dropped considerably in this highly competitive situation.
There are other players who are usually quite ordinary on the practice table, that lift their games to much higher levels once the money is on, or they are in a tourney.
Personally, I played a lot of tourneys and competitions (maybe 400+) over a few years and this toughened me up, along with a few major changes in mental perspective that I hope to get into during this thread.
In the beginning I played well below my practice standard in competitions, but after a few years I became able to play my strongest games in tournaments.
I would like to hear your ideas on what allows some players to shine while many other seemingly highly skilled players nearly always drop away early when the heat is on.
There is one player in particular; I have never been in the zone while in his presence. He is by far the best player I know personally. He has coached at least one pro, that I know of and his opinion means something to me. Fear is the opposite of confidence, so confidence is what allows some players to shine.
