whats my problem? mentally tired?

Z

Zkid09

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
over the past couple weeks, i have noticed something thats been happening and want everyones opinion.
so last week i was playing a few games and playing pretty well. i beat a 6 in a small tourny, then lost two rounds later to a 7. for only getting back into playing a couple months ago, i feel like im shooting very well.
so a couple days later, im shooting again. i didnt have hardly any cash on me so i was playing a guy for $10 a rack. i beat him a couple games and we moved on. a buddy of mine came in wanting to win $5 back that i took from him last week. i wasnt playing very well by this time for some reason but i agreed and lost. it was almost as if i lost before i even started....
then tonight really got me. i was playing super well on some 8 ft tables against a couple guys. running a few sets had me up and me and the lady friend left for supper. after supper, we went back to the pool hall for a few more games and hopefully a little action. when i got there, a friend asked if i would play doubles with him for 40 a set. sure, why not. it was on a 9 ft table so i ran a rack off missing two or three shots. nothing major because the shots i missed were long. during the game, i played worse and worse by shot. we ended up losing the sets which didnt get to me horribly, but my good game going to crap started bothering me. so, i picked up and moved to an 8 ft table by myself. i started shooting fairly well. i ran about 5 or 6 racks missing just a couple times. not perfect, but wasnt bad for me. i then started getting a little worse rack by rack and after 2 or 3 racks, i was back to shooting awful. i tried firing a couple longer shots and couldnt make a ball to save my life.

after the frustration, i set up a few shorter shots and made them, along with some draw shots just to keep my confidence up and leave on a good note.

now, what do you guys feel is happening here? both times i had been playing for around 3-4 hours i would say. am i just getting mentally drained and not focusing on each shot or what? most of the time i can look and draw a line in my head of the exact line i need to follow on the shot and when i get this way, its like i cant even imagine that line or its way off. this one has me stumped because i have never really witnessed this before.

thanks in advance everyone.. hopefully i can figure it out and make it better!
 
Your problem is...

Zkid09 said:
over the past couple weeks, i have noticed something thats been happening and want everyones opinion.
so last week i was playing a few games and playing pretty well. i beat a 6 in a small tourny, then lost two rounds later to a 7. for only getting back into playing a couple months ago, i feel like im shooting very well.
so a couple days later, im shooting again. i didnt have hardly any cash on me so i was playing a guy for $10 a rack. i beat him a couple games and we moved on. a buddy of mine came in wanting to win $5 back that i took from him last week. i wasnt playing very well by this time for some reason but i agreed and lost. it was almost as if i lost before i even started....
then tonight really got me. i was playing super well on some 8 ft tables against a couple guys. running a few sets had me up and me and the lady friend left for supper. after supper, we went back to the pool hall for a few more games and hopefully a little action. when i got there, a friend asked if i would play doubles with him for 40 a set. sure, why not. it was on a 9 ft table so i ran a rack off missing two or three shots. nothing major because the shots i missed were long. during the game, i played worse and worse by shot. we ended up losing the sets which didnt get to me horribly, but my good game going to crap started bothering me. so, i picked up and moved to an 8 ft table by myself. i started shooting fairly well. i ran about 5 or 6 racks missing just a couple times. not perfect, but wasnt bad for me. i then started getting a little worse rack by rack and after 2 or 3 racks, i was back to shooting awful. i tried firing a couple longer shots and couldnt make a ball to save my life.

after the frustration, i set up a few shorter shots and made them, along with some draw shots just to keep my confidence up and leave on a good note.

now, what do you guys feel is happening here? both times i had been playing for around 3-4 hours i would say. am i just getting mentally drained and not focusing on each shot or what? most of the time i can look and draw a line in my head of the exact line i need to follow on the shot and when i get this way, its like i cant even imagine that line or its way off. this one has me stumped because i have never really witnessed this before.

thanks in advance everyone.. hopefully i can figure it out and make it better!
Click to expand...

Your problem is you're human! We are not wired to perform at our best all the time. It's how nature works. And we're still a part of nature, no matter how much we deny it.
Thing is, it's not getting better for us. We have trouble focusing for a variety of reasons, especially the "skill" of multi-tasking which allows us to do multiple chores at the same time, but none of them all that well. Television and the computer screen contribute heavily to this phenomenon.
Our minds are evolving to jump at high speed from topic to topic, and this makes it quite difficult to maintain focus on any one task.

My suggestions? Watch less TV. Use ear plugs when you're reading. Don't use your cell phone while driving. In other words, avoid multi-tasking when it's not necessary.

When you lose your stroke, take a bathroom break to wash your face and clear your head. Do breathing exercises to relax and re-focus.

Everybody misses and everybody gets out of stroke. The best we can hope for is to miss less and get back in stroke as quickly as possible.

I like your method of setting up a few easy shots to regain stroke and confidence. I tell all my students that when you're having a bad night, do not quit frustrated. Shoot a few easy shots to bury the errors that you have been adding to your memory bank, and you will likely begin on a positive note the next time you put your cue together...

Donny L
PBIA/ACS Instructor
 
B Positive!

Donny Lutz said:
Your problem is you're human! We are not wired to perform at our best all the time. It's how nature works. And we're still a part of nature, no matter how much we deny it.
Thing is, it's not getting better for us. We have trouble focusing for a variety of reasons, especially the "skill" of multi-tasking which allows us to do multiple chores at the same time, but none of them all that well. Television and the computer screen contribute heavily to this phenomenon.
Our minds are evolving to jump at high speed from topic to topic, and this makes it quite difficult to maintain focus on any one task.

My suggestions? Watch less TV. Use ear plugs when you're reading. Don't use your cell phone while driving. In other words, avoid multi-tasking when it's not necessary.

When you lose your stroke, take a bathroom break to wash your face and clear your head. Do breathing exercises to relax and re-focus.

Everybody misses and everybody gets out of stroke. The best we can hope for is to miss less and get back in stroke as quickly as possible.

I like your method of setting up a few easy shots to regain stroke and confidence. I tell all my students that when you're having a bad night, do not quit frustrated. Shoot a few easy shots to bury the errors that you have been adding to your memory bank, and you will likely begin on a positive note the next time you put your cue together...

Donny L
PBIA/ACS Instructor
Click to expand...

It is so important to have and maintain a positive attitude towards pool and life it cannot be stated enough. You always want to feel positive about playing pool if you want to perform at your best. If you go into a match thinking or feeling that you are going to lose you may have lost before you even started. Positive thoughts are far more likely to produce positive results and negative thoughts are more likely to produce negative results.. Great advice Donny!!!
 
I'm not an instructor.

I agree with the above posts.

You stated that after dinner you went to the pool room and began playing.

My suggestion is not to play for one to two hours after eating a meal. There are plenty of resources on the internet that explain the "why".

But the one reason that strikes me is the ability to focus decreases while digestion is taking place.

Some days you bite the dog and some days the dog bites you. :frown:


Have fun and stay loose

John
 
Zkid09 said:
over the past couple weeks, i have noticed something thats been happening and want everyones opinion.
so last week i was playing a few games and playing pretty well. i beat a 6 in a small tourny, then lost two rounds later to a 7. for only getting back into playing a couple months ago, i feel like im shooting very well.
so a couple days later, im shooting again. i didnt have hardly any cash on me so i was playing a guy for $10 a rack. i beat him a couple games and we moved on. a buddy of mine came in wanting to win $5 back that i took from him last week. i wasnt playing very well by this time for some reason but i agreed and lost. it was almost as if i lost before i even started....
then tonight really got me. i was playing super well on some 8 ft tables against a couple guys. running a few sets had me up and me and the lady friend left for supper. after supper, we went back to the pool hall for a few more games and hopefully a little action. when i got there, a friend asked if i would play doubles with him for 40 a set. sure, why not. it was on a 9 ft table so i ran a rack off missing two or three shots. nothing major because the shots i missed were long. during the game, i played worse and worse by shot. we ended up losing the sets which didnt get to me horribly, but my good game going to crap started bothering me. so, i picked up and moved to an 8 ft table by myself. i started shooting fairly well. i ran about 5 or 6 racks missing just a couple times. not perfect, but wasnt bad for me. i then started getting a little worse rack by rack and after 2 or 3 racks, i was back to shooting awful. i tried firing a couple longer shots and couldnt make a ball to save my life.

after the frustration, i set up a few shorter shots and made them, along with some draw shots just to keep my confidence up and leave on a good note.

now, what do you guys feel is happening here? both times i had been playing for around 3-4 hours i would say. am i just getting mentally drained and not focusing on each shot or what? most of the time i can look and draw a line in my head of the exact line i need to follow on the shot and when i get this way, its like i cant even imagine that line or its way off. this one has me stumped because i have never really witnessed this before.

thanks in advance everyone.. hopefully i can figure it out and make it better!
Click to expand...

I'll give you an answer that's not out of a can.

You're starting to focus too much on the money. You're losing your love of the game. Play because you love to play and you'll find your focus. Find your love of the game again.
 
I'm currently in a slump myself, which may sound ironic given I'm teaching others, but it's not as if anyone were immune against e.g. age, stress, health problems etc. Which is why I'm going swimming at least one and a half miles every second day now. Only went seven times in the past two weeks thus far, can't say I can tell much of a difference, let alone improvement thus far. But doing more for my physical and mental fitness can't hurt. :smile:

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
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