When "feel" abandons me.

CaptainJR

CaptainJR

Shiver me timbers.
Silver Member
I guess this is an aiming thread, but not in the tradition sense of this board. This one is specifically for the "feel" players.

Yes, on more difficult shots I use something else but normally I make shots by feel. Now and then when I miss a medium to easy shot (that I used feel) I step back from the miss and think, "what went wrong? When I made the stoke I hit it just the way I meant to. I wasn't careless about it. If I had it to play again right now I don't know what I would change." So I sort of figure that my feel on the shot was wrong.

What do you do to avoid this happening? Is the anything short of using another aiming system? I don't want to abandon feel. Feel is what I'm using when I get to or close to the zone. Is there some key thought or check you make that could avoid this?

Had this happen yesterday so it is current on my mind.
 
I use a couple of aiming methods depending on the difficulty of the shot. But, like you, when I'm in the zone, it's very clear that I am not consciously aiming.

When "feel" abandons me, and it does often, I do use aiming methods but I also try to regain it.

What I do is walk back and forth from the OB to the CB; pick a specific part of the pocket; visualize the shot and shotlines; and, finally, start aiming full and slowly consider thinner and thinner angles until something (hopefully) clicks and I recognize the angle of the shot.

All as visually realistic and tactile as possible. All while standing.

In this situation I'll also get down and up from the shot several times until my brain says "go", to the utter consternation of my opponent.:mad:
 
The key is to play without judgment. If you stop and say "gee, I didn't hit that right. What the hell? It was easy. What happened? Next time do this. Just put your focus here and do this." You're screwed if you do that. The best of the best make a mistake, maybe learn something from it, but invariably have it completely cleared out by the next time they stroke the ball. If you enhance your feel and your focus then your subconscious will fix the little error you may have made. Intellectualizing it will kill your game fast. This is not easy to do, but if you get stuck in your head and can afford to take a little break, do it. You'd only be hurting yourself playing like that.
 
Feel never abandons you ...

Once you develop a feel for the game and table, it does not abandon you, only your 'sensitivity' to it changes. Some players have good feel for cue ball control, others struggle with it all the time, and seemed forced rather
than natural in their delivery. Emotional or mental states at the time when you are playing can affect your sensitivity to feel, which the end result is
that your 'feel' is off.
For example, there are times I have been gently caressed by a woman and
it electrifies me, and other times the same woman can caress me again where I feel almost numb to it, but it wasn't her, it was me, and the state
I was in at the time it occurred.
I have known quite a few players whose feel for the game changes, depending on whether they are drinking alcohol or not because it changes
how you feel inside.

Every once and awhile, I have a brain dead night, or just don't feel up to par mentally, and I have to 'think' or 'concentrate' more on my game to maintain the level I normally shoot It puts a red flag up in my mind, and
I try to be careful of problem areas more when I play, finesse shots, right amount of english, windows for cue ball paths, etc.. I conciously run these things through my mind, not dwelling on them, but to give them
consideration before I shoot, where on a normal night, I just instinctively
know what to do.
I have had this happen to me even over a 3 day tournament, shoot great
on Friday night, and Saturday, and then be brain dead on Sunday.

You can not help how you feel, but you can prepare for it, so you will have
alternative options to rely on when they occur that will affect your
game and consistency. Winning is 90% preparation, mentally as well as
physically.

And I check my biorythmn if I have a 'funny' feeling .... lol
 
That happened to me this weekend. I had been killin em all on saturday and on Sunday I was playing on a table and there were spectators nearby. I was in the zone beating a guy 7-2 in a race to 7, runnin racks and banking, just hittin em great. On a thin cut shot a guy bumped me on my final stroke and I got up but went back down and missed the OB. I was furious at first but then calmed down. From then on I couldn't make a ball, I was struggling to make a ball after that much less worry about my shape. I lost all my confidence and couldn't feel a shot to save my life. I finally woke up a little when he was on the hill 8-7 and won the next to games. After that I was one of the top 8 on the winners side but my next match it was more of the same story, trouble pocketing a ball. I think I am going to start aiming on every shot now to save myself the embarrassment when this happens again. Oh and this happened during a Fast Eddie's tour event. Do most top players aim or are they all feel????
 
CaptainJR said:
I guess this is an aiming thread, but not in the tradition sense of this board. This one is specifically for the "feel" players.

Yes, on more difficult shots I use something else but normally I make shots by feel. Now and then when I miss a medium to easy shot (that I used feel) I step back from the miss and think, "what went wrong? When I made the stoke I hit it just the way I meant to. I wasn't careless about it. If I had it to play again right now I don't know what I would change." So I sort of figure that my feel on the shot was wrong.

What do you do to avoid this happening? Is the anything short of using another aiming system? I don't want to abandon feel. Feel is what I'm using when I get to or close to the zone. Is there some key thought or check you make that could avoid this?

Had this happen yesterday so it is current on my mind.
Click to expand...
Good question JR. I too play by "feel" and there are times when I swear I hit it good but wasn't even close to what I had envisioned. Most of the time I can tell what I did do wrong and it comes down to what speed I hit the CB. I say that because I use so much spin on the CB that speed is a big factor. If I hit it too hard when I'm using left, I miss left. Too hard when using right, I miss right. Just the opposite when I hit it too slow, using left, I miss right, using right, I miss left. Make sense so far?

If I don't hit the CB the correct speed, I don't give the CB time to react to what I want it to do when I hit it too hard. And if I hit it too slow, the reaction that I'm looking for happens before I want it to. But, as far as "feel" goes, and I think a lot of players can relate to this, when you're so close to the OB with the CB and you get lined up before addressing the CB, once you get down, you lose the line because the CB has blocked your line of sight. Does everyone agree with this? So what do we do then? For me, that's when "Feel" comes into play. I address the CB, get my line set up, then adjust for whatever spin I may be using. Once I commit to it, I hit it. I try not to think too much in this situation because I'm really hitting it in the dark. This may be wrong, but it's what I do. If anyone has a better method, I'm all ears.

As far as losing your "feel" JR, it's not a bad idea to take a little time off if possible. Of course, if you're in the middle of a money match or tournament, that's not an option. If that's the case, go to what you know, the basics. The basics are what got you to this point in your game, don't ever abandon them.

I don't play or practice enough these days to be of a lot of help but I will offer my input. If it works, great. If not, somewhere down the line it may be of some use to someone. Good luck JR and I do hope that I have helped you in some way. Peace, John.
 
CaptainJR said:
I guess this is an aiming thread, but not in the tradition sense of this board. This one is specifically for the "feel" players.

Yes, on more difficult shots I use something else but normally I make shots by feel. Now and then when I miss a medium to easy shot (that I used feel) I step back from the miss and think, "what went wrong? When I made the stoke I hit it just the way I meant to. I wasn't careless about it. If I had it to play again right now I don't know what I would change." So I sort of figure that my feel on the shot was wrong.

What do you do to avoid this happening? Is the anything short of using another aiming system? I don't want to abandon feel. Feel is what I'm using when I get to or close to the zone. Is there some key thought or check you make that could avoid this?

Had this happen yesterday so it is current on my mind.
Click to expand...

If your in a match forget about your misses. Maintain composure and concentration. Match play isn't the time to be figuring out what to change in your game. Obviously if you notice that your snatching at the ball, lifting your head, twitching, jumping etc. then stop it.

In practice if there is a shot bothering shoot it 100 to 200 times (Im not exagerating).

But in match play if you step back and say that your feel was wrong that is the first step to doubting your ability and game. If that happens then you are lost.
 
Here is what I'm hearing so far.

After a miss like this maybe stand back up and take a second confirming look at shots even if the shot looks right. Take your time and make sure it is right.

Don't let it upset you emotionally. Everyone misses.

Was it feel for the aiming of the shot that you goofed up OR was it something else like spin or speed that you didn't quite compensate correctly for. Start checking your adjustments a little more carefully.

All good stuff and thank you all.
 
CaptainJR said:
Here is what I'm hearing so far.

After a miss like this maybe stand back up and take a second confirming look at shots even if the shot looks right. Take your time and make sure it is right.

Don't let it upset you emotionally. Everyone misses.

Was it feel for the aiming of the shot that you goofed up OR was it something else like spin or speed that you didn't quite compensate correctly for. Start checking your adjustments a little more carefully.

All good stuff and thank you all.
Click to expand...

Wow, some really great advice here Captain. I like snapshots answer.

(Anyway, I'll hold off on my comments until a transformation exists acknowledging that on felt, side spin doesn't transfer. Balls twist and OB has side spin as an effect of felt and CB spin. Someone pointed out that the videos showed the player applying high left English and not middle left which in this case makes the OB travel with middle right making everyone think that side spin was transferred. And I thought they made it happen by putting the balls on wax paper.)
 
Cameron Smith said:
If your in a match forget about your misses. Maintain composure and concentration. Match play isn't the time to be figuring out what to change in your game. Obviously if you notice that your snatching at the ball, lifting your head, twitching, jumping etc. then stop it.

In practice if there is a shot bothering shoot it 100 to 200 times (Im not exagerating).

But in match play if you step back and say that your feel was wrong that is the first step to doubting your ability and game. If that happens then you are lost.
Click to expand...

Cameorn is exactly right. If you start to doubt yourself, then your game can regress pretty fast. Through the process of trying to fix one minute error, you will invariably lose confidence in all of the good things in what you did. If you can trust yourself enough to believe that you will do better next time and continue to build on all the positive mental flow you've established, then you will push yourself to further success.

Success is about always moving forward. If your nature is to be a perfectionist about how it is accomplished, leave it as your nature. Don't let it affect your demeanor. Your demeanor should be to attack the table in the simplest, most efficient manner you know how -- mentally and physically. If your nature is to try to achieve perfection, then it will carry over subconsciously to your minimalist game.
 
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