when "in the zone/dead stroke"?

oldplayer

oldplayer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
what is "in it" for you when you arrive? i wish i were there more often. i practice/play 6 days a week but mostly 2 hours per session. for the past week or so, however, i have been in a 9 ball match twice per week in the evening. thanks to my forum buddies i entered and have done quite well winning all of my matches. i practice 9 ball with the manager of the place in the afternoons and he usually beats me about 11 games to 7. last weds i beat him 11 to 6! during the play and especially after i realized that i was in the "dead stroke" or "in the zone". i noticed the object balls were in much better focus, i clearly "saw" the path that the OB was going to take, and certainly no doubt i was going to make the shot, much more confidence in my play. that to me was the "zone". it has been a long time since i was there and want to get there more often. so i was wondering, how often do you get there and what is there when you are in it? any tricks to accomplish that?
 
oldplayer...There is no way to cause yourself to fall into "dead stroke", or to be "in the zone". If there were, more players would do whatever it took. There is no way to tell when 'deadstroke' will arrive, how long it will last (one shot?...one game?...one match?), or when it will leave. Nobody on Earth has ever been 'in the zone' for a whole tournament. There is one recorded instance, where Wade Crane played perfectly for one match, scoring a 1.000...which means no misses and no unforced errors. That's one match out of many thousands of matches that Accu-Stats has recorded over the last 30 yrs.

Here's what a player can do...they can build a bulletproof PSR, that they can do perfectly, without thinking, under pressure, in one try. That alone will cause a huge surge of confidance. It's what we instructors call "building trust in your stroke". IMO, trust means you can strike the CB accurately (on the 1/8"/3mm contact patch), at any speed from a lag to a break, and do it on demand, under pressure, in one try. By being able to totally trust your stroke, you derive complete confidance in what you do, and everything seems to just happen. That's when deadstroke is likely to appear! Hope this helps! It sounds like you're playing well now! Keep it up! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

oldplayer said:
what is "in it" for you when you arrive? i wish i were there more often. i practice/play 6 days a week but mostly 2 hours per session. for the past week or so, however, i have been in a 9 ball match twice per week in the evening. thanks to my forum buddies i entered and have done quite well winning all of my matches. i practice 9 ball with the manager of the place in the afternoons and he usually beats me about 11 games to 7. last weds i beat him 11 to 6! during the play and especially after i realized that i was in the "dead stroke" or "in the zone". i noticed the object balls were in much better focus, i clearly "saw" the path that the OB was going to take, and certainly no doubt i was going to make the shot, much more confidence in my play. that to me was the "zone". it has been a long time since i was there and want to get there more often. so i was wondering, how often do you get there and what is there when you are in it? any tricks to accomplish that?
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thanks Scott, that is just what i needed to hear! i have been working on my PS a lot lately. it has made a difference now that you mention it. thanks again for the input.
 
Wade was the 1st player to ever post a 1000 under the Accu-Stats scoring system. Mosconi has several 150 and outs which would qualify and Efren and others have had them since Wade's first....

They are still super rare and it is always enthralling to watch... I wish Accu-Stats had been included in the Ultimate 10ball as I would have loved to have DeChaine's 8-0 over Archer in my library.... Yeah I know he broke dry the first rack but it would still be scored as a 1000...

It's pretty scary when a shortstop finds the zone... It's a force of nature when a pro finds it......
 
I don't know why it's termed dead stroke. But most of the components should come alive with heat. Your shaft has an energy to it. Once, I picked up a cue my great grandfather used and I had flashbacks of one of his matches, gliding it smoothly through hand. J/k.

"Shafts have energy"---lil Al.
 
oldplayer said:
during the play and especially after i realized that i was in the "dead stroke" or "in the zone". i noticed the object balls were in much better focus, i clearly "saw" the path that the OB was going to take, and certainly no doubt i was going to make the shot, much more confidence in my play. that to me was the "zone". it has been a long time since i was there and want to get there more often. so i was wondering, how often do you get there and what is there when you are in it? any tricks to accomplish that?
Click to expand...

When I am "in the zone" I can see the lines all the balls will take just like the "dancing Hippo" scene in "Fantasia". They are as if printed on the cloth just waiting for me to come along and plop them in.

Last night, when I went to the pool hall, I was just not playing 'right'. I missed 5 simple shots in a frikken row. This made me mad (at myself). The next game Burney broke, came up dry, and I ran out on him. The subsequent game I was within 1mm of break and run the whole rack. The subsequent game I flopped a difficult cut into the side off both edges after breaking and running 8.

I had not been playinig "all that well" for about a week (to 10 days) and that self humilliation brought back my desire to crush, kill destroy.

Nobody wanted to play me for the rest of the night.
 
does anyone remember the scene in the golf movie with Will Smith as the caddy? He saw the path to all the putts. It's almost the same thing. pocket looks huge ballis on a string . hard to achieve , but if you've been there you'll never forget it.
 
Unlike others that say they see the balls clearly, and see every line the CB can possibly take or whatever the case, in the past when I went into "The Other World" I didn't 'see' anything. It was more like I just 'did'. Make sense? Most often when I've run multiple racks to finish a set. For example, I need 3 to win a race to 7 and have run the last 3 to get to the finish line. By then, I have no idea what the score was/is, what the hell I was thinking on that 6 ball, can't hear the music, and won't stop until somebody tells me I don't need play anymore or until I break dry or something.
I can't ever seem to remember my best pool.
dave
 
Read "Finding Your Zone" by Dr. Michael Lardon, MD. He is probably the top sports psychologist in the field today, treats some of the top golf and tennis pros and has been a world class competitor himself. Great book.
:p
 
Tokyo-dave said:
Unlike others that say they see the balls clearly, and see every line the CB can possibly take or whatever the case, in the past when I went into "The Other World" I didn't 'see' anything. It was more like I just 'did'. Make sense? Most often when I've run multiple racks to finish a set. For example, I need 3 to win a race to 7 and have run the last 3 to get to the finish line. By then, I have no idea what the score was/is, what the hell I was thinking on that 6 ball, can't hear the music, and won't stop until somebody tells me I don't need play anymore or until I break dry or something.
I can't ever seem to remember my best pool.
dave
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Makes perfect sense. In zen, it is referred to as doing what just needs to be done.

The best way to help the zone to happen is to be in the zone no matter what you are doing throughout the day.
 
I wish that I can cause myself going to that "zone" but its just random for me, yesterday it happened, I was playing 9ball with a friend, a race to 21, during that first set I was making shots from everywhere, and feeling exactly the path of the cueball, and my speed was nice, and if it didn't lay as I intended, I just cut the ball in, I was there for a duration of the set, of which I broke and ran 4 consecutive racks, and also while playing, I come and ran 2 racks, 3 racks, etc during the whole set, the break would stop me, and thats the only thing that stopped me, I was on fire and the score was 17 to 6 (he's a good player) but I wasn't letting him play, then he decided not to continue, and told me "Hey wanna reset and play 0-0" and I said ok.

guess what happened from here, lol, its crazy, I was missing like mad, still running out from time to time, but the "Zone" as you speak of it, is GONE, why? I don't know :( but its just wasn't there in the second set, my friend was happy as he's been playing now, taking games , I almost lost the set, but yet I have won 21-18 , but still, I was really unhappy due to not knowing what happened there, why is pool like that? :(

thanks for reading.
 
a favorite subject

There are several levels to the zone, maybe more. The highest level I have heard of and achieved is pretty awesome. Being in the zone has literally saved a life a time or two when I did the almost impossible, definitely highly improbable.

Nobody can guarantee getting in the zone whenever they want to but the more you find the zone the easier it gets and certain activities lead to the zone more easily than others. Not knocking a book I haven't read but I have read books about the zone by leading sports pyschologists that didn't even know what the zone was!

The first thing is to define the zone. It is anything but a narrow focus. When in the zone I have more information pouring in than at any other time. I have proven myself aware of what would be impossible at any other time. So let's say one attribute is that all of your senses are working at or very near their maximum potential. Another equally impressive feature is that your mind is sorting all of this without effort, using what it needs to perform the tasks at the moment and saving the other information for future use. Also during the zone there aren't any thoughts expressed in words.

I first found the zone racing short track cars where every lap is very similar and every lap is different due to dealing with traffic. I found that I could always find the zone doing this, sooner or later in a race. Pool it is more difficult because of the less repetitive nature and the constant interruptions of reracking meaning generally the zone can only last for one rack. I once stayed in the zone for over eight hours shooting pool but that was a strange and unique situation. I was a stranger on a challenge table and people were determined to see me beaten. At times I had over a hundred challenges on that table and I played all night without racking after the first time. I wasn't unaware of what was going on but time collapsed on me and I felt like I had played maybe three or four hours and was surprised when I stepped outside into the sunlight of a new day.

Of more interest to a pool player, I hit the zone deliberately on demand at a signal to shoot the final two stages of a pistol competition to shoot the first perfect score in fifteen years of that competition. Literally dozens of shooters with superior physical skills had sought the perfect score before I found it in my second year of shooting. However I realized a clean score was within my physical abilities a little over halfway through the event and I went away from everyone else and deliberately mentally prepared for the last two stages for twenty to thirty minutes before each relay. It is very possible to be alone in a crowd in a pool hall also so mental prep for a match can be done anywhere.

There is a series of commands and a buzzer to start a run at a pistol match. I was in the zone when the buzzer sounded each time and shooting the perfect score was never really in doubt. While information poured in I used only what I needed to achieve my goals and my physical actions were smooth and effortless.

OK, I do realize I am writing a book as I usually do when talking about the zone but the background is necessary both to describe the zone and how to get there more often. Note that circle track racing was the easiest place to find the zone, acting on a signal the hardest place with pool being between the two but more towards the harder end.

A key thing to understand is that the more often you enter the zone doing anything at all the easier it is to enter the zone when you are trying to achieve it. Finding the zone is a skill in itself, not necessarily related to pool. Any repetitive activity with slight variations seems ideal to find the zone. Bouncing a ball off of the wall and floor, hitting a cue ball up and down the table trying to have it return precisely centered on the cue tip any similar type of activity that can be continued for fifteen minutes to an hour or more at a time. Interruptions are the enemy of the zone especially when first seeking it.

Seemingly a step in the wrong direction but narrow focus can be one entrance to the zone. A many times world champion defines that as the the second level zone and the zone I seek as the third and highest level. Maintain focus on one thing such as follow through. When you fatigue enough you will quit thinking in words and that is when you may find the zone I describe. I found the zone long before it had a name and never used the narrow focus step. After reading a fantastic book by J Michael Plaxco I did follow his step shooting pistols and found that it got me to the same place as simply letting go and letting the zone happen. It is probably the better route for someone who has never or rarely found the higher level zone.

To those that think this is a load of hogwash I don't particularly blame you, if you haven't been there the zone is almost like telling somebody they can fly without any wings. I think it may be a close cousin to meditation and some of the eastern religious things but I don't really know. To those that seek the zone, good luck it is out there!

Hu
 
Thanks!

Scott Lee said:
Nice post Hu! :thumbup: Thought provoking, to say the least!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
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Scott,

Thank you. It is worth noting that repetitive and familiar actions are an aid to reaching the zone I seek. A preshot routine is a repetition of a very familiar action. Seeking the zone doesn't conflict with other better understood routes to success. Also worth noting that as a general statement the zone requires that you be comfortable with your abilities. It doesn't replace hard work and building blocks but it can let you get the absolute maximum from your skills.

Hu
 
Scott Lee said:
oldplayer...There is no way to cause yourself to fall into "dead stroke", or to be "in the zone". If there were, more players would do whatever it took. There is no way to tell when 'deadstroke' will arrive, how long it will last (one shot?...one game?...one match?), or when it will leave. Nobody on Earth has ever been 'in the zone' for a whole tournament. There is one recorded instance, where Wade Crane played perfectly for one match, scoring a 1.000...which means no misses and no unforced errors. That's one match out of many thousands of matches that Accu-Stats has recorded over the last 30 yrs.

Here's what a player can do...they can build a bulletproof PSR, that they can do perfectly, without thinking, under pressure, in one try. That alone will cause a huge surge of confidance. It's what we instructors call "building trust in your stroke". IMO, trust means you can strike the CB accurately (on the 1/8"/3mm contact patch), at any speed from a lag to a break, and do it on demand, under pressure, in one try. By being able to totally trust your stroke, you derive complete confidance in what you do, and everything seems to just happen. That's when deadstroke is likely to appear! Hope this helps! It sounds like you're playing well now! Keep it up! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

Not true for 99% of the players. My wife can go into the zone anytime she wants to. She learned this in Yoga class. I have seen her rip SL5s 3-2, and SL4s. Of course the toughest part of her doing this is nearby distractions, like players constantly talking to her. She has to go stand in a corner, so to speak. I know you think I am exaggertating, but it is true, trust me. And others will verify this.

She was explaning to me how to do this: in training you have to have a place you like to be - like at the beach, or out in the country. Then you want to go into the zone you can push this trigger and be there before you know it. This takes lots of practice and dedication, none of which I have.

Then there are degrees of the zone. A few times she has been so deep in the zone she has an OBE, seeing herself play pool from 6 feet above the table. When she comes out of a deep zone like this she is wasted for the rest of the evening.

The key to doing this all day, such as in a tournament, is to be able to bring yourself in and out of the zone, which she can do to some extent - but this is very difficult. Again you need the triggers.

So my advice is to take lots of Yoga classes.
 
Risk will put you in the zone.


Dont think so, Go drive a car over 180mph and then say "I wasnt in the zone" Aint gonna happen, go skydiving and not get a rush. until you have had 100's of jumps you'll get in the zone all right.

in pool bet something and you'll be in the zone.

since most people are risk averse they never find the zone, I feel bad for them.
 
Eric...I luv ya, and respect you...but that is the wierdest statement I've ever heard! Without the requisite skill necessary, one cannot 'get in the zone' on a pool table...at least not what I would consider being in 'deadstroke', or 'in the zone'. Betting money on a pool game, without the skill to win is financial suicide, at best.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Fatboy2 said:
in pool bet something and you'll be in the zone.
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