Stress does play a big factor in if I show up or not, I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself that oh I have to win I have to beat this guy that guy and then the added pressure from my teammates , for the longest time it was all on me if they did bad I had to pick them back up, my responsibility to vet the team points, all that crap , it started to weigh on me I started getting anxious , nervous , hands started to shake a bit and that never used to happen to me .
Whats wrong with me?
- Thread starter octy81
- Start date
Stress does play a big factor in if I show up or not, I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself that oh I have to win I have to beat this guy that guy and then the added pressure from my teammates , for the longest time it was all on me if they did bad I had to pick them back up, my responsibility to vet the team points, all that crap , it started to weigh on me I started getting anxious , nervous , hands started to shake a bit and that never used to happen to me .
The pitfall is that when you play down instead of up or even a par competitor,
you have absolutley nothing to prove or gain from a victory. You're expected
to prevail and handily too when your competitor is a much lower skill level.
Mentally it becomes harder for you to dial up your intensity level and focus
on the match at hand when you do not respect the skills of your opponent.
You know you should win and odds-makers would corroborate that but it
does not mean you will win, especially when you do not maintain your
competitive mind-set. Stronger players are less likley to play safeties in the
match and instead try to shoot harder. lower percentage shots to continue
their table run rather than use a safety in the middle of a table runout. But if
you knew your opponent was easily capable of running the table if you miss,
your approach and shot selection are more in line with your opponent's skills.
Playing down is always a pitfall that needs to be avoided and by not respecting
the fact that with a handicap, any lower skilled player can prevail if you do not
play your best game. To not do that is a disservice to your opponent because
it's only by producing your best game that your opponent can learn even through
mere observation of your table runouts. Always crush your opponents regardless
of their lower ratings because to not do so invites an apathetic mindset that will
undermine your mental approach, shot selection and overall match performance.
Matt B.
you have absolutley nothing to prove or gain from a victory. You're expected
to prevail and handily too when your competitor is a much lower skill level.
Mentally it becomes harder for you to dial up your intensity level and focus
on the match at hand when you do not respect the skills of your opponent.
You know you should win and odds-makers would corroborate that but it
does not mean you will win, especially when you do not maintain your
competitive mind-set. Stronger players are less likley to play safeties in the
match and instead try to shoot harder. lower percentage shots to continue
their table run rather than use a safety in the middle of a table runout. But if
you knew your opponent was easily capable of running the table if you miss,
your approach and shot selection are more in line with your opponent's skills.
Playing down is always a pitfall that needs to be avoided and by not respecting
the fact that with a handicap, any lower skilled player can prevail if you do not
play your best game. To not do that is a disservice to your opponent because
it's only by producing your best game that your opponent can learn even through
mere observation of your table runouts. Always crush your opponents regardless
of their lower ratings because to not do so invites an apathetic mindset that will
undermine your mental approach, shot selection and overall match performance.
Matt B.
Play more matches. Improving in every aspect of the game is a progression whether it's continuing to lose to a lesser opponent or something else. My answer for everything in pool is HAMB and play the best players you can when you can and the confidence will come.
Just pooped into my email:
Home
Jobs
News & Advice
Sign In
Post a Job
LIKE US ON FACEBOOK
Photo: Vasiliki Millousi
SUCCESS
How to increase mental toughness: 4 secrets of Navy SEALs and Olympians
Eric Barker
By Eric Barker
Jun 14, 2017
Know what’s really interesting? Learning how Navy SEALs build mental toughness to handle deadly situations.
Know what else is really interesting? Learning how Olympic athletes deal with the pressure of competition when the entire world is watching.
Know what’s the most interesting of all? When you find out they do a lot of the same things.
“Mental Links To Excellence” is a research study of what Olympians do to prepare for their big day. And so much of it lines up with what I learned researching SEAL training and talking to former Navy SEAL Platoon Commander James Waters.
The best part is you and I can use these methods to perform better at work and in our personal lives.
Let’s find out how . . .
1. Talk positively to yourself
Your brain is always going. It’s estimated you say 300 to 1,000 words to yourself per minute. Olympic athletes and SEALs agree: those words need to be positive.
One of the Olympians said:
Immediately before the race I was thinking about trying to stay on that edge, just letting myself relax, and doing a lot of positive self-talk about what I was going to do. I just felt like we couldn’t do anything wrong. It was just up to us. I said, “There’s nothing that’s affecting us in a negative way, the only thing now is to do it, and we can do it . . . I just have to do my best.”
SEALs use the same method — and they do it in a far more terrifying scenario. How terrifying?
You’re underwater with SCUBA gear. An instructor suddenly swims up behind you. He yanks the regulator out of your mouth. You can’t breathe. Then he ties your oxygen lines in a knot.
Your brain starts screaming, “YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.” But you have to keep cool, stay underwater and follow procedure to get your gear back in working order so you can breathe again.
And this happens over and over — for 20 minutes. Welcome to the dreaded “pool comp” section of SEAL qualification.
You get 4 attempts. Why? Because you need them. Only one in five guys can do it the first time out.
The danger here is panic. And SEALs are not allowed to panic . . . even when they cannot breathe. They must think positive to keep calm and pass “pool comp.”
So how can you use this?
Got a big presentation at work coming up? Encountering obstacles? You need to remember the 3 P’s: Permanence, pervasiveness, and whether it’s personal.
Pessimists tell themselves that bad events:
Will last a long time, or forever. (“I’ll never get this done.”)
Are universal. (“You can’t trust any of those people.”)
Are their own fault. (“I’m terrible at this.”)
Optimists look at setbacks in the exact opposite way:
Bad things are temporary. (“That happens occasionally but it’s no big deal.”)
Bad things have a specific cause and aren’t universal. (“When the weather is better that won’t be a problem.”)
It’s not their fault. (“I’m good at this but today wasn’t my lucky day.”)
When talking to yourself, be an optimist, not a pessimist.
(For more on how to think positively, click here.)
Okay, so you’re talking to yourself positively. What else do Olympians and SEALs agree on when you need to be at your best?
2. Setting goals
You hear this a lot. But you probably don’t do it. Specifically, ask yourself what you need to achieve right now.
From the Olympian study:
The best athletes had clear daily goals. They knew what they wanted to accomplish each day, each workout, each sequence or interval. They were determined to accomplish these goals and focused fully on doing so.
SEALs are taught to set goals too. Sometimes really small ones, but it’s enough to keep them going when every muscle in their body is screaming for them to quit.
“With goal setting the recruits were taught to set goals in extremely short chunks. For instance, one former Navy Seal discussed how he set goals such as making it to lunch, then dinner.”
And what happened when they achieved those goals? SEALs set new ones. The focus is on always improving. Here’s former SEAL Platoon Commander, James Waters:
Eric, this gets at my point of the SEAL experience, this constant learning, constantly not being satisfied. That’s one of the interesting things about the community: you never feel like you’ve got it all figured out. If you do feel like you figured it out, you probably aren’t doing it right. If you’re not willing to learn from other people then frankly you’re not doing all you need to do to be the best operator you can possibly be. It’s a culture of constant self-improvement and constant measurement of how you’re doing. That’s a theme I think that all SEALs would agree is critical.
So how can you use this?
Ask yourself, “What do I need to do to make this presentation better?”
Write your goals down and track your progress. As Dan Pink notes in his bestselling book on motivation, Drive, nothing motivates you better than seeing progress.
(For more secrets on how to build grit — from my interview with Navy SEAL platoon commander James Waters — click here.)
You’re thinking positive and setting goals. But how do you get ready for the unexpected problems that always pop up at the last minute?
3. Practice visualization
Close your eyes. See the big challenge. Walk through every step of it. Sound silly? Maybe, but the best of the best do this a lot.
From the study of Olympians:
These athletes had very well developed imagery skills and used them daily. They used imagery to prepare themselves to get what they wanted out of training, to perfect skills within the training sessions, to make technical corrections, to imagine themselves being successful in competition, and to see themselves achieving their ultimate goal.
Again, SEALs are taught to do the same thing:
With mental rehearsal they were taught to visualize themselves succeeding in their activities and going through the motions.
So how can you use this?
Visualize that presentation. But don’t merely fantasize about being perfect and just make yourself feel good. That kills motivation:
Results indicate that one reason positive fantasies predict poor achievement is because they do not generate energy to pursue the desired future.
You want to see the problems you might encounter and visualize how you will overcome them.
Dan Coyle, the expert on expertise, says it’s an essential part of how U.S. Special Forces prepare for every dangerous mission:
…they spend the entire morning going over every possible mistake or disaster that could happen during the mission. Every possible screwup is mercilessly examined, and linked to an appropriate response: if the helicopter crash-lands, we’ll do X. If we are dropped off at the wrong spot, we’ll do Y. If we are outnumbered, we’ll do Z.
(For more lessons from top athletes on how to be the best, click here.)
You’re visualizing the big day and walking through how you’ll deal with adversity. Cool. But how do you take that to the next level like the pros do?
4. Use simulations
Visualization is great because you can do it anywhere as often as you like. But in the end you must make practice as close to the real thing as possible.
From the study of Olympians:
The best athletes made extensive use of simulation training. They approached training runs, routines, plays, or scrimmages in practice as if they were at the competition, often wearing what they would wear and preparing like they would prepare.
And SEALs didn’t just visualize either. Before the raid on Bin Laden’s compound they built full-size replicas of the location so their training would be tailored to what they would face.
Via Daniel Coyle’s excellent book The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills:
When U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6 mounted its May 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, it prepared by constructing full-scale replicas of the compound in North Carolina and Nevada, and rehearsing for three weeks. Dozens of times the SEALs simulated the operation. Dozens of times, they created various conditions they might encounter.
Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel Mike Kenny agreed:
In Army parlance they say, “train like you fight.” Don’t screw around and say, “Okay, when it’s for real then we’ll really ramp up.” No, you need to do that now. You need to train as hard and as realistic as possible, because this notion that when it’s for real and the stakes are high, that’s when we’ll really turn it on and rise to the occasion… that’s not what happens. You will not rise to the occasion. You will sink to the lowest level of your training. It’s the truth.
So how can you use this?
How will you deal with the fear of standing in front of a big crowd when you give that presentation?
Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, and an introvert herself, is now a professional public speaker. How did she overcome public speaking fear?
She practiced in front of small, supportive groups to desensitize herself — she used a simulation.
From my interview with Susan:
I really had to desensitize myself to my fears of public speaking. I did that by practicing in very small, very supportive and very low-speed environments where it didn’t matter if I screwed up. And eventually you get used to the strange feeling of being looked at, which used to make me feel horrified. You become accustomed to it over time and your fear dissipates.
(To learn how to overcome your problems the way Special Forces operatives do, click here.)
So Olympic athletes and Navy SEALs agree on a lot. Let’s round up what we’ve learned and see how it can work for you.
Sum up
Here’s what Olympic athletes and Navy SEALs both do to be the best and achieve mental toughness:
Talk Positively To Yourself: Remember the 3 P’s: tell yourself bad things aren’t permanent, pervasive or personal — but good things are.
Setting Goals: Know what you want to achieve. Write it down. Focus on progress.
Practice Visualization: Don’t fantasize about getting what you want but see yourself overcoming specific obstacles.
Use Simulations: Always make your practice as close to the real thing as possible.
Olympians and Navy SEALs, by definition, are the best at what they do. But the methods they use to get there are things we can all use.
And those techniques aren’t based on muscles or natural talent. They’re all about good preparation and hard work. Apply those and you can get there too.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
Join over 205,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.
Related posts:
How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips
How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert
New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful
This article originally appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.
LIKE US ON FACEBOOK
Eric Barker
Eric Barker is the author of "Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong." He is also the author of the website by the same name.
@bakadesuyo
Read more about
How ToLevelling UpProductivitySuccessThe Whole Human
Find a great job
Desired Job Title
Next
First name
Last name
Zip code
Next
Email
Password
Get Started
Step 1 of 3
Resume Reviewer
Sign Up to Climb Higher
Be the first to receive Ladders career news & advice
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Share via email
About Us
Work at Ladders
Contact Us
News & Advice
Editorial Team
Engineering Blog
Recruiter Site
Press Releases
Privacy
Terms of Use
FAQs
Site Map
Home
Jobs
News & Advice
Sign In
Post a Job
LIKE US ON FACEBOOK
Photo: Vasiliki Millousi
SUCCESS
How to increase mental toughness: 4 secrets of Navy SEALs and Olympians
Eric Barker
By Eric Barker
Jun 14, 2017
Know what’s really interesting? Learning how Navy SEALs build mental toughness to handle deadly situations.
Know what else is really interesting? Learning how Olympic athletes deal with the pressure of competition when the entire world is watching.
Know what’s the most interesting of all? When you find out they do a lot of the same things.
“Mental Links To Excellence” is a research study of what Olympians do to prepare for their big day. And so much of it lines up with what I learned researching SEAL training and talking to former Navy SEAL Platoon Commander James Waters.
The best part is you and I can use these methods to perform better at work and in our personal lives.
Let’s find out how . . .
1. Talk positively to yourself
Your brain is always going. It’s estimated you say 300 to 1,000 words to yourself per minute. Olympic athletes and SEALs agree: those words need to be positive.
One of the Olympians said:
Immediately before the race I was thinking about trying to stay on that edge, just letting myself relax, and doing a lot of positive self-talk about what I was going to do. I just felt like we couldn’t do anything wrong. It was just up to us. I said, “There’s nothing that’s affecting us in a negative way, the only thing now is to do it, and we can do it . . . I just have to do my best.”
SEALs use the same method — and they do it in a far more terrifying scenario. How terrifying?
You’re underwater with SCUBA gear. An instructor suddenly swims up behind you. He yanks the regulator out of your mouth. You can’t breathe. Then he ties your oxygen lines in a knot.
Your brain starts screaming, “YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.” But you have to keep cool, stay underwater and follow procedure to get your gear back in working order so you can breathe again.
And this happens over and over — for 20 minutes. Welcome to the dreaded “pool comp” section of SEAL qualification.
You get 4 attempts. Why? Because you need them. Only one in five guys can do it the first time out.
The danger here is panic. And SEALs are not allowed to panic . . . even when they cannot breathe. They must think positive to keep calm and pass “pool comp.”
So how can you use this?
Got a big presentation at work coming up? Encountering obstacles? You need to remember the 3 P’s: Permanence, pervasiveness, and whether it’s personal.
Pessimists tell themselves that bad events:
Will last a long time, or forever. (“I’ll never get this done.”)
Are universal. (“You can’t trust any of those people.”)
Are their own fault. (“I’m terrible at this.”)
Optimists look at setbacks in the exact opposite way:
Bad things are temporary. (“That happens occasionally but it’s no big deal.”)
Bad things have a specific cause and aren’t universal. (“When the weather is better that won’t be a problem.”)
It’s not their fault. (“I’m good at this but today wasn’t my lucky day.”)
When talking to yourself, be an optimist, not a pessimist.
(For more on how to think positively, click here.)
Okay, so you’re talking to yourself positively. What else do Olympians and SEALs agree on when you need to be at your best?
2. Setting goals
You hear this a lot. But you probably don’t do it. Specifically, ask yourself what you need to achieve right now.
From the Olympian study:
The best athletes had clear daily goals. They knew what they wanted to accomplish each day, each workout, each sequence or interval. They were determined to accomplish these goals and focused fully on doing so.
SEALs are taught to set goals too. Sometimes really small ones, but it’s enough to keep them going when every muscle in their body is screaming for them to quit.
“With goal setting the recruits were taught to set goals in extremely short chunks. For instance, one former Navy Seal discussed how he set goals such as making it to lunch, then dinner.”
And what happened when they achieved those goals? SEALs set new ones. The focus is on always improving. Here’s former SEAL Platoon Commander, James Waters:
Eric, this gets at my point of the SEAL experience, this constant learning, constantly not being satisfied. That’s one of the interesting things about the community: you never feel like you’ve got it all figured out. If you do feel like you figured it out, you probably aren’t doing it right. If you’re not willing to learn from other people then frankly you’re not doing all you need to do to be the best operator you can possibly be. It’s a culture of constant self-improvement and constant measurement of how you’re doing. That’s a theme I think that all SEALs would agree is critical.
So how can you use this?
Ask yourself, “What do I need to do to make this presentation better?”
Write your goals down and track your progress. As Dan Pink notes in his bestselling book on motivation, Drive, nothing motivates you better than seeing progress.
(For more secrets on how to build grit — from my interview with Navy SEAL platoon commander James Waters — click here.)
You’re thinking positive and setting goals. But how do you get ready for the unexpected problems that always pop up at the last minute?
3. Practice visualization
Close your eyes. See the big challenge. Walk through every step of it. Sound silly? Maybe, but the best of the best do this a lot.
From the study of Olympians:
These athletes had very well developed imagery skills and used them daily. They used imagery to prepare themselves to get what they wanted out of training, to perfect skills within the training sessions, to make technical corrections, to imagine themselves being successful in competition, and to see themselves achieving their ultimate goal.
Again, SEALs are taught to do the same thing:
With mental rehearsal they were taught to visualize themselves succeeding in their activities and going through the motions.
So how can you use this?
Visualize that presentation. But don’t merely fantasize about being perfect and just make yourself feel good. That kills motivation:
Results indicate that one reason positive fantasies predict poor achievement is because they do not generate energy to pursue the desired future.
You want to see the problems you might encounter and visualize how you will overcome them.
Dan Coyle, the expert on expertise, says it’s an essential part of how U.S. Special Forces prepare for every dangerous mission:
…they spend the entire morning going over every possible mistake or disaster that could happen during the mission. Every possible screwup is mercilessly examined, and linked to an appropriate response: if the helicopter crash-lands, we’ll do X. If we are dropped off at the wrong spot, we’ll do Y. If we are outnumbered, we’ll do Z.
(For more lessons from top athletes on how to be the best, click here.)
You’re visualizing the big day and walking through how you’ll deal with adversity. Cool. But how do you take that to the next level like the pros do?
4. Use simulations
Visualization is great because you can do it anywhere as often as you like. But in the end you must make practice as close to the real thing as possible.
From the study of Olympians:
The best athletes made extensive use of simulation training. They approached training runs, routines, plays, or scrimmages in practice as if they were at the competition, often wearing what they would wear and preparing like they would prepare.
And SEALs didn’t just visualize either. Before the raid on Bin Laden’s compound they built full-size replicas of the location so their training would be tailored to what they would face.
Via Daniel Coyle’s excellent book The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills:
When U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6 mounted its May 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, it prepared by constructing full-scale replicas of the compound in North Carolina and Nevada, and rehearsing for three weeks. Dozens of times the SEALs simulated the operation. Dozens of times, they created various conditions they might encounter.
Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel Mike Kenny agreed:
In Army parlance they say, “train like you fight.” Don’t screw around and say, “Okay, when it’s for real then we’ll really ramp up.” No, you need to do that now. You need to train as hard and as realistic as possible, because this notion that when it’s for real and the stakes are high, that’s when we’ll really turn it on and rise to the occasion… that’s not what happens. You will not rise to the occasion. You will sink to the lowest level of your training. It’s the truth.
So how can you use this?
How will you deal with the fear of standing in front of a big crowd when you give that presentation?
Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, and an introvert herself, is now a professional public speaker. How did she overcome public speaking fear?
She practiced in front of small, supportive groups to desensitize herself — she used a simulation.
From my interview with Susan:
I really had to desensitize myself to my fears of public speaking. I did that by practicing in very small, very supportive and very low-speed environments where it didn’t matter if I screwed up. And eventually you get used to the strange feeling of being looked at, which used to make me feel horrified. You become accustomed to it over time and your fear dissipates.
(To learn how to overcome your problems the way Special Forces operatives do, click here.)
So Olympic athletes and Navy SEALs agree on a lot. Let’s round up what we’ve learned and see how it can work for you.
Sum up
Here’s what Olympic athletes and Navy SEALs both do to be the best and achieve mental toughness:
Talk Positively To Yourself: Remember the 3 P’s: tell yourself bad things aren’t permanent, pervasive or personal — but good things are.
Setting Goals: Know what you want to achieve. Write it down. Focus on progress.
Practice Visualization: Don’t fantasize about getting what you want but see yourself overcoming specific obstacles.
Use Simulations: Always make your practice as close to the real thing as possible.
Olympians and Navy SEALs, by definition, are the best at what they do. But the methods they use to get there are things we can all use.
And those techniques aren’t based on muscles or natural talent. They’re all about good preparation and hard work. Apply those and you can get there too.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
Join over 205,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.
Related posts:
How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips
How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert
New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful
This article originally appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.
LIKE US ON FACEBOOK
Eric Barker
Eric Barker is the author of "Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong." He is also the author of the website by the same name.
@bakadesuyo
Read more about
How ToLevelling UpProductivitySuccessThe Whole Human
Find a great job
Desired Job Title
Next
First name
Last name
Zip code
Next
Password
Get Started
Step 1 of 3
Resume Reviewer
Sign Up to Climb Higher
Be the first to receive Ladders career news & advice
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Share via email
About Us
Work at Ladders
Contact Us
News & Advice
Editorial Team
Engineering Blog
Recruiter Site
Press Releases
Privacy
Terms of Use
FAQs
Site Map
I agree and disagree with you both....I feel you should play the table AND the person.
...pool is a war game, like chess or boxing.
An opponent will have strengths and weaknesses that should determine some of your choices.
...and a table tends to have its own personality, sometimes affected by weather....
...so that imaginary ideal table in your mind doesn't always correspond to reality...
...as they say in the military..."The map is not the terrain."
If you look at it like this a opportunity for my team to a 3-0 match instead of a 2-1. Every time you play one of those lower level players
all they have to do is win one game and they have scored a point which is probably all their team was looking for when they made this match.
More than anything else I do my very best to play my normal game, safe where I'd normally play a safe, no stupid chances, and look for the
time to run out. Keep in mind that this is a real match and not practice time.
Another thing I might do that will me interested in the match is if I come upon a situation that that could be a teachable moment for one of my
lower rated players, I'll call a timeout and bring them up to the table, "Do you remember when you had this...."
that kinda keeps everyone involved.
If you're just giving this opponent a Saturday night beat down you have to find ways to stay focused without showing off or intentionally, obviously showing up your opponent.
You still want to win 5 or 6 to 0, but try not to do so while trying to make your opponent feel stupid. Remember though, this why major league pitchers throw at batters and give
them concussions. It's bad karma and the first time this guy gets a chance he'll make you his b!tch.
Keep it friendly and professional, unless of course he has been a total ass. If he has beat him hard, drink his beer, kiss his girl, and call him Alice ,
Last edited:
Couple of things that can be real tough about weaker opponents that is not your fault. They tend to rearrange the table frequently, often times blocking pockets, and because they are not very good at playing position they leave you (and themselves) hooked when they miss. I frequently end up playing safe when a weaker opponent breaks because so many times the cue ball is pinned on a short rail or even in the jaws of a pocket. I always hope my opponent makes a ball on the break when I play a weaker opponent.
You need to play the low skill level players differently that when you play the higher skill level player,
Against the higher skill level player you need to make things happen as oppose to the lower level player. Against the lower lever you get the balls ready before committing to run them. While making sure that their balls are not in position to be run. Even a low lever player can stumble out with a few balls. Once your balls are ready you run them.
Another factor to consider is how you break. Against a good player you're breaking to try to end the game. Against a lesser player you need to control the cue ball. If you're playing an eight on the break wins then you need to make sure you don't also scratch.
Against the higher skill level player you need to make things happen as oppose to the lower level player. Against the lower lever you get the balls ready before committing to run them. While making sure that their balls are not in position to be run. Even a low lever player can stumble out with a few balls. Once your balls are ready you run them.
Another factor to consider is how you break. Against a good player you're breaking to try to end the game. Against a lesser player you need to control the cue ball. If you're playing an eight on the break wins then you need to make sure you don't also scratch.
Absolutely PT. If you're playing a "2 or 3" I'll bet they can't shoot off a rail, or bank, or draw, etc. You don't need great safeties, leaving them stuck to a rail or ball is pretty much all you need
I think folks take way more "wing" shots playing a lesser player thinking they'll get back to the table, or to "show off" and they mess up the table more then guy they're playing I've called coaches more times than I can remember and said "WTH" you shooting that for. Just leave the cb here, he'll miss, and you're out.
When the other team throws a "2" at you, it's some kind of dirty trick. I think the next time they do that to you, you play your best lock up safeties early if you can't run out and just frustrate the hell out of your opponent. I know where you are coming from. In 8 ball, I lost to a "2" and I was an APA 7 or 8 at the time! (almost 3 yrs ago).
I had a guy once use his underdog status against me as a sharking move!
I'll call him Jim. In the beginning of the match he's making light comments about how good I am. In the first few games he makes some comment to his teammates after a safety "well I know I can't let this guy get a shot or I'm dead!". I didn't know the guy and I fell for it. I thought I SHOULD beat him. Part of what fooled me is he looks very inelegant walking around the table. Now, I know there are good players that look like graceful and confident ballerinas moving around the table and there are good players who look like they might trip and fall any second. This guy was in the latter category and I mistakenly took that as another cue I should win.
Well Jim gets up 2-5 on me in a race to 7 (every time I miss with 4-5 balls left he inelegantly cleans them up). So I win a few to bring it to 4-5 and he says (with all sincerity) "Well, I knew it. I've woken the sleeping giant". He wins the match 7-4.
A year later I see Jim blow away a very good player. So I ask a buddy, who plays my speed, about Jim. He says "Ohh, yeah I beat him once hill-hill. And the whole time he was telling me how great a player I was!"
I'll call him Jim. In the beginning of the match he's making light comments about how good I am. In the first few games he makes some comment to his teammates after a safety "well I know I can't let this guy get a shot or I'm dead!". I didn't know the guy and I fell for it. I thought I SHOULD beat him. Part of what fooled me is he looks very inelegant walking around the table. Now, I know there are good players that look like graceful and confident ballerinas moving around the table and there are good players who look like they might trip and fall any second. This guy was in the latter category and I mistakenly took that as another cue I should win.
Well Jim gets up 2-5 on me in a race to 7 (every time I miss with 4-5 balls left he inelegantly cleans them up). So I win a few to bring it to 4-5 and he says (with all sincerity) "Well, I knew it. I've woken the sleeping giant". He wins the match 7-4.
A year later I see Jim blow away a very good player. So I ask a buddy, who plays my speed, about Jim. He says "Ohh, yeah I beat him once hill-hill. And the whole time he was telling me how great a player I was!"
I played apa 9 ball vs a 2 last week that gave me one of the worst beatings ever. He won 19-15 in 12 innings playing 3 safes. 2 of them were very good safes . When he didn't pls safe he left me crap when he missed. I just chalk matches like that up to shit happens.
Along the same lines have you ever faced players around your level that you just cant beat ?
There are 2 girls that are 5's ....the same as me . One I have played around a dozen times over the years and have never beat. The other I finally beat after 7-8 tries and it was due to one of the bed come backs I have ever had. 38-38 race in 9 ball and at one point I am down 34-15 and score 23 points to her 3 points to win 38-37. It was during a tournament and the whole room was talking about that match. I finished 5th and she went on to finish 2nd .
There is a guy who I a 4 and I have played around 20 times and always lost until Las week when I finally won 38-20 in a 38-31 race.
Along the same lines have you ever faced players around your level that you just cant beat ?
There are 2 girls that are 5's ....the same as me . One I have played around a dozen times over the years and have never beat. The other I finally beat after 7-8 tries and it was due to one of the bed come backs I have ever had. 38-38 race in 9 ball and at one point I am down 34-15 and score 23 points to her 3 points to win 38-37. It was during a tournament and the whole room was talking about that match. I finished 5th and she went on to finish 2nd .
There is a guy who I a 4 and I have played around 20 times and always lost until Las week when I finally won 38-20 in a 38-31 race.
This happens to me because my playing flows mostly from my sub conscious, and when I size up my opponent's game that also can affect my sub conscience. Sometimes i default into hustler mode and can't play beyond my opponent. This is simply just another distraction. The key is to stay focused only on your shot and nothing else.
Sent from my LGLS755 using Tapatalk
Last edited:
That's the only way of beating some of us. I tellem, "Go feed that shit to someone else."
JoeyA
JoeyA
Not just win
Try to shut him out not just win. You don't want him even see a ball
much less win a game. You're goal is to beat him whatever to zero.
Put on your game face and make sure he knows it, none of that
friendly crap. Grind his ass into the floor 7-0.
jack
Try to shut him out not just win. You don't want him even see a ball
much less win a game. You're goal is to beat him whatever to zero.
Put on your game face and make sure he knows it, none of that
friendly crap. Grind his ass into the floor 7-0.
jack
Years ago When I was running a pool room in Dallas, Nick Varner was
in town visiting my good friend Dick Lane. I asked Dick if him and Nick
would come by. They did and Nick played challenge games with all that
wanted too. He played for almost two hours with anyone who got up.
He never missed a ball, it made no difference if it was a six year old
kid with his granddad. He broke and ran out, or ran out after they
broke. It was amazing. The point is this playing down to this lesser
player dose not happen to the top players, they just shoot your liver
out. It reminds me of a Family night that the NY Yankees had. The players
family, kids, and parents made up two teams. Roger Clements mother
was a bat with Roger pitching. He threw at her, said she was crowding
the plate.
jack
in town visiting my good friend Dick Lane. I asked Dick if him and Nick
would come by. They did and Nick played challenge games with all that
wanted too. He played for almost two hours with anyone who got up.
He never missed a ball, it made no difference if it was a six year old
kid with his granddad. He broke and ran out, or ran out after they
broke. It was amazing. The point is this playing down to this lesser
player dose not happen to the top players, they just shoot your liver
out. It reminds me of a Family night that the NY Yankees had. The players
family, kids, and parents made up two teams. Roger Clements mother
was a bat with Roger pitching. He threw at her, said she was crowding
the plate.
jack
I heard some interesting comments by Dr. CUE (Tom Rossman) the other night concerning this exact issue. He said better players form patterns immediately after the break, seeing runout patterns, safety opportunities, etc... We are always playing several balls ahead, with intentions of not disturbing balls that we don't need to disturb. A weaker player is playing one ball at time, sometimes thinking a ball a head, but not paying much attention to the layout of the entire table. This means they are constantly screwing up the predetermined patterns that the better player sees. Nothing is more irritating than having the table rearranged several times due to your opponent's lack of skills. Tom suggested approaching these types of games with a more laid back attitude, expecting pattern changes often and starting fresh with each approach to the table. I don't play leagues much anymore, so I'm not playing many weaker players, but this seems like great advice.