what to do if youre having a bad day...

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locki

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i think everyone here has experienced this kind of thing...well it has happened to me hell of a lot this month...
how do you handle such dillema?
i just cant get over it...i lost earlier to a doubles match...even though my partner didnt show...i know it was me who caused the match..
my shots are off...i overhit/underhit the cueball sometimes..damn.
a bad day really...

also, another question...could it be because i scuffed my tip last night that's why my shots are off? i noticed that even if i was not applying english on the ball, there's a slight spin on the cue ball even if i hit it dead center...and mind you...i have started playing pool and i learned the basics of pool by hitting the center of the ball...no english. so by now, a no-english shot is a so-so for me.
could it have been caused by the tip?

what are the shapes of your tips? rounded? a little rounded? flat? a little flat?
i scuffed my tip last night so that its flat on the center but i made it a point to fillet the ends by about 2 mm...so i can still squeeze some juice...
before i scuffed it, my tip is a little flat...
 
Hello Locki. Many times, players blame equipment for a bad night. Not unless there really is something wrong like a half-detached tip will I believe it is equipment.

There just are some nights when people cannot play well. Lack of sleep, unsteady back-swing, bad eyesight, loose bridge, short attention span, pressure, etc. - these are factors that affect performance, and you have only yourself to blame for it.

I played miserably yesterday because in the afternoon, I repaired office equipment and I strained my forearm enough to let it forget its muscle memory. It also happened to be before when I was sanding down a shaft all afternoon.

What to do? Go back to basics and be more defensive than usual. Take your time and be aware that you are playing bad so that you can be happy with the result of what you are doing despite.

Don't gamble during a bad night. Never, even if you know you are playing with someone whose skills are inferior to yours. Your mistakes will make him play even better. Trust me on that.

As Efren once told me, "Why play when you're not going to enjoy yourself? You will just be wasting time and money."
 
you're going to have to xpect those nights. the difference compared to pros is that your bad nights will be mor esevere. also, remember that your "game" is not how you play when you play good. your "game" is how you play most of the time.
 
yeah sputnik...i wasnt bragging to them about the tip, i just thought of it when i got home.
i remember, we had a quiz earlier before i went to the pool hall. i was really ready for the quiz, but our instuctor gave a very hard quiz for the first-timers. i just felt so bad about it. i noticed i also had an unsteady back-stroke, i tried to correct it, but its still inconsistent. and btw...i dont gamble, i play pool for fun! :D

thanks for the tip. ill try and be more defensive next time. ;)
 
Sometimes when your game gets stale it is good to take a break from pool and come back revitalized and motivated. For me it is about a 1 month lay off a couple times a year.
 
Locki, with what you have explained my best guess would be that the problem is in your stroke , when you stated even on shots where you were using no english there was spin on the cueball, I recommend 2 things, first and foremost the monk 101 series of books tapes or dvd's, they are truly a treasure for someone that has a desire to really improve their game, also elephant practice balls, they really helped me alot, you can get the monk series from my website www.wholesalebilliardcues.com and if you are interested in the elephant training balls just drop me an email to sales@wholesalebilliardcues.com and I will give you the address of where to get them, when I am having a down spell I just try to make one shot at a time and go back to the basics. If you need a few practice shots drop me an email and I will give you a few of the monks excersices to work on, I am always willing to help someone that truly has a desire to learn and I will do anything I can to help promote the sport we all love.

Jeff

www.wholesalebilliardcues.com
 
locki said:
i think everyone here has experienced this kind of thing...well it has happened to me hell of a lot this month...
how do you handle such dillema?
i just cant get over it...i lost earlier to a doubles match...even though my partner didnt show...i know it was me who caused the match..
my shots are off...i overhit/underhit the cueball sometimes..damn.
a bad day really...

also, another question...could it be because i scuffed my tip last night that's why my shots are off? i noticed that even if i was not applying english on the ball, there's a slight spin on the cue ball even if i hit it dead center...and mind you...i have started playing pool and i learned the basics of pool by hitting the center of the ball...no english. so by now, a no-english shot is a so-so for me.
could it have been caused by the tip?

what are the shapes of your tips? rounded? a little rounded? flat? a little flat?
i scuffed my tip last night so that its flat on the center but i made it a point to fillet the ends by about 2 mm...so i can still squeeze some juice...
before i scuffed it, my tip is a little flat...
Click to expand...

Forget the equiptment. It can one of many things.
Your interest isnt there although you think it is, you arent paying full attention.
Or as someone whose opinion i respect highly said to me, it could very well be what you eat before you start playing. Big carb dinners, macaroni, potatos stuff like that will make you sluggush. It will throw your blood sugar level off. Try eating some candy or something sweet before and while youre playing.
Cant hurt to try , right ?
 
Actually, eating boiled potatoes will put more glucose in your bloodstream than most candies ^^

When your equipment is causing you problems, you will feel it and know it.

There are many things that can get someone out of stroke. Like the person above me said, food can be a factor. Eating well balanced meals can help this.

Usually when someone is struggling with their game, they are too tight. The problem with this is that once you become tight and start playing bad, you get frustrated, which tightens you up even more. Ever tried to draw the cueball 3 inches back from an OB two feet away, and end up either stopping the CB, or drawing it way to far? This can be associated with muscle tension. You've got to try to be fluid, smooth, and loose.

When you are practicing and having a hard time, instead of working on tough shots, work on TOUCH shots. Set up the CB and OB a foot or two away, and try to draw the cb back an inch or two. Try to train your muscles to memorize that this shot requires but a light tap on the CB, there is no effort. In fact, drawing the CB the length of the table should require little effort. All you really need to do is let your arm go, with your body completely solid, including your elbow, and the cuestick should do all the work for you.

Good luck
 
I would bet the problem is in mechanics and fundamentals as others have stated. The other night my whole team was having a bad night and one player noticed that two of the three of us were not staying down long enough on the shot. Especially a tough shot almost everyone jumps up and the stroke is affected with usually a miss. We all stayed down which made my concentration and stoke better and I kicked ass after that. Usually missed shots can be traced to a fundemental flaw in aiming (head not exactly over the cue) or not staying down and completing the stoke resulting in a poke instead of a stroke. Try it. What do you have to lose?
 
thanks for the constructive replies guys....
cues4less, thanks for the recommendations, but im only 19 yrs old, and am currently studying here in the philippines. Im too shy to ask for money from my parents for a copy of those things.

horpy...if i remember it right, i didnt eat lunch that time, and before the game, i was eating bread with beef in it...with root beer as beverage....also, ive tried candies before while playing...but i missed shots while eating them...hehe, i eventually threw it away. :D

pro-player, i havent tried boiled potatoes before a game...hmm...now where do i buy some around our school?? :D
and yeah, i agree, when you notice that when you are having a bad day, you become more tight. i do those things, loosen up in my seat, but my arms just wouldnt loosen up. stroke problems...

terry, i dont think i have problems with the mechanics and fundamentals of the game. i know where i have to place my bridge on the cue (5-7 inches away from the tip), where to hold my cue, the follow-through (with the cue still on its line, staying down after the shot) determines how hard the ball was hit. never ever bend down without knowing first how hard to hit the ball...etc. things like those. follow-through is a vital aspect of the game btw. never ever jump up after making a shot. like what ive said, my aim is just fine, i can cut exterme shots fine. but once you see my arms starting to give me that stroke problems again, its hard to get back.

btw, when i won a semi-tournament before, i remember, i was lifting 20-lb weights every night. i havent been lifting for like 2 months now...could that also be a source of the problem?
 
refirkey, yeah. its a good thing to do, but for me, i think a week of rest is the best. longer than that, i am finding a hard-time viewing the ghost-ball. (its my favorite technique in shot-making...:D)
 
I take a weeks break every week now that I am a husband and father. I play friday nights. If you want to be a great pool player, don't settle down or take on too much responsiblity.
 
if someone is hitting center but spinning the ball, it has to be the mechanics of their stroke. practice very long, straight shots and make the q stop exactly.
 
Hello Locki. Terry may be right you know. Mechanics, becuse we are not machines. Sometimes we do human things. If nothing can ever be wrong with mechanics, then we all would be world-class players now. It may be that your closed bridge is a little loose; your backswing sways; your grip is different. Many, many human factors.
 
I agree with most of what was said above, however, you just might also really have a problem with the shape of your tip. I've always been told that your tip should be rounded the same as a nickel or a dime if you want more spin. I would have someone who is a respected person with cue repair take a look at it. If your tip is way out of shape, it could make it very difficult to put the proper spin on the cb.
 
yeah, its the stroke im having problems with sometimes, psychological status as well. ill be playing later on, ill try something new, ill be holding my cue with only 2 fingers, also, i sanded my tip last night so it would be almost flat. im used to playing with an almost flat tip.

i think my loop bridge is also loose, you think i should close it more?
 
Sometimes closing the loop bridge helps me. It helps keep my stroke a little straighter. Do you play much with an open bridge? Try it and see what your cue looks like after you shoot and freeze.
 
guess what, i won! i played later in my fave pool hall, got challenged by another player, and i won. me and my friend (my partner during our doubles match last saturday when i got a bad day) were practicing so we were playing 8-ball, he told me my shots were way different from what i showed last saturday. i told him about the tip. so it was the tip after all. i was running out a rack of 8-balls depending on the spread of the balls, i think out of 15 games we played i was able to run-out i think 5-6 racks. its not consecutively btw.

im using the loop bridge when im applying bottom spin, my fingers are short, so when i use the close bridge, the tip is pointing somewhere below the center of the cb.
most of the time im using the open bridge.

that's the way i play.
 
LOL! yeah, some people tell me the same things as well, unwinding in some unchartered land with lots of virgin people to...you know...hehe. well, i dont have the money and time to travel at this time of my life, but i do have a second sport, i play basketball as well, but im just more hooked into pool...:D
 
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