Why CANT intermediate players stick to a pre shot rountine?

[ShootingArts]

Here's something you need to address. Your final decision needs to be made BEFORE you get down on the shot, not after. If you are still in conceptualization mode when you get over the cue ball, you cannot give your complete attention to shot execution, which is all you should be thinking about once you are over the cue ball.

One of the game's oldest and wisest sayings is "make all your decisions standing."

I was reading the thread before making the same comment. Yours is the seventeenth post and yours is the first to point out his routine was flawed.

JudoChoke, Stu just pointed out something very basic, and very true! Things look different when you are standing and when you are bent over. Ah, I see that Geosnookery said what I was getting around to while I was typing, slow on the trigger today!

Might stir the pot mightily here but you can align the shot standing, or you can align it after you are bent over! However, you can't do both, different perspectives. It is a royal pain to decide on your shot lines after you are down on the shot so for the sake of consistency with almost all players I strongly recommend making all of your decisions standing.

Most of the time, changing your mind after you are down on a shot results in a miss. Decision making of any sort except deciding to stand back up when your "Spider Sense" is tingling and telling you things aren't right is a mistake. If you feel the shot is wrong, stand up! don't fudge that little bit while down on the shot, stand up! Check your distance from the table and alignment. If the shot still looks wrong adjust. Now give yourself ten or fifteen seconds just to calm your conscious mind and get it to shut up. That is gonna come hard for awhile when you have been making decisions while down on the shot. In my younger years and occasionally now, I play entire innings without a thought. If something goes wrong I will notice and regroup but the goal is to either win or play a planned safety from the ball I am starting on. I consider everything I do without interruption from my conscious mind to be one continuous action. Even now people don't like it when I hit that gear.

Great Advice from SJM(Stu) and Geosnookery. Read over what they both said a few times, burn it into long term memory.

I'll finish with another bit of advice. If you are using chalk that doesn't require chalking before every shot, don't make chalking part of your preshot routine. Chalk first if you need to, then start your preshot checklist. If you chalk every shot then making it part of your preshot routine is fine, even a good idea. Unless table conditions make it impossible, your preshot routine should be just that, a routine. After awhile you won't notice going through the routine, it is so much a part of the shot that you go through your routine on autopilot.

Hu

 

[CJ Wiley]

If I could stick to my pre shot rountine, I would be a much better player. Here’s me: break a rack of 9 ball, dry break, ball in hand, I look for the pocket line of the 1 ball. Line up my body to the shot line, aim from UP ABOVE, THINK ABOUT WHAT SPEED AND SPIN I NEED. get down on the shot, make a final decision, and shoot. BOOM A GHOST BALL WIN.

but normally, by the second Or third rack, all my Pre shot rountine is gone. I’m starting to think I’m the greatest player in the world, I start to panic and tell myself not to miss, so I can be 2 wins in a row. Now, I just look at the ball I’m trying to make, look for next position, nothing else. Lolll I end up just shooting the cue ball, no speed decision, no aimimg from above, taking maybe 4 seconds from start to finish to shoot. And of course i either miss or get totally out of line.

and this happens all the time. If I force myself to look at each shot for 30-40 seconds, I don’t miss. Of course a game would take forever at that speed, but it works for me.

why can’t intermediate players stick to a pre shot rountine? Does it come with time and experience???

The goal for any player is to Get Down on every shot as if they have already made it!

This isn't possible unless there's a way to rehearse the different components of the shot FIRST. This is where players get mixed up and try to rehearse the actual stroke and that's not possible. You'll usually see this when they are taking their practice strokes, the problem is, they have to stop the tip BEHIND the cue ball so they are actually rehearsing a release point that is not precisely at the point of cue ball contact.

There are some highly effective pre shot routines and each player won't do it the same, although there are common denominators at the highest level. I have some complimentary videos on this subject on my You Tube channel under the 'Ultimate Pool Secrets' section. The stance, distance from the cueball and the bridge length must be in sync, this is even more important than the pre shot routine and actually should be a part of the routine. This is easy to do, but it will take a few days to get in the habit, the results will keep you doing it!

 

[trob]

A useless distraction imo

Look get down shoot, why does it need to be more complicated than that

for mental reasons that would be a waste to explain To you. The best players in the world all have pre shot routines whether it be pool , bowling golf etc. for a reason. If you don’t need one good for you.

 

[Texas Carom Club]

for mental reasons that would be a waste to explain To you. The best players in the world all have pre shot routines whether it be pool , bowling golf etc. for a reason. If you don’t need one good for you.

What is Mike or nicks preshot routine

What's johhny or rafa's preshot routine?

What's fred's preshot routine?

What's is ronnie's preshot routine as he runs a fast 147

 

[lfigueroa]

If I took the time to do it, I suspect that I could pick out elements of a PSR in each of those cases.

But I don't think that would accomplish much. On the other side of the coin, if you watched me play I doubt you could pick out all the elements of my PSR, though I most certainly have a very detailed one. The central issue being that much of a good PSR is at a very fine level of precision that would be undetectable unless the player explained what to look for.

In any case, as I said in my previous post, a PSR will help most, but not all players. Some guys are just naturals, plop down and shoot. But given how often players here lament about inconsistency, day-to-day or even over the course of a session, it's clear that a more consistent PSR would help.

Lou Figueroa

 

[The_JV]

What's is ronnie's preshot routine as he runs a fast 147

You can have a PSR much like ronnie displays early on in that 147 and deviate from it as you see fit. The PSR is meant to get you in gear/rhythm/whatever.

I didn't bother watching the pool examples, but do you think Ronnie needed to swipe chalk on his cue twice, adjust his grip hand by sliding down the butt and step into all the early shots the same way.. ? Thats a PSR, which he deviates from when comfortable

 

[Texas Carom Club]

You can have a PSR much like ronnie displays early on in that 147 and deviate from it as you see fit. The PSR is meant to get you in gear/rhythm/whatever.

I didn't bother watching the pool examples, but do you think Ronnie needed to swipe chalk on his cue twice, adjust his grip hand by sliding down the butt and step into all the early shots the same way.. ? Thats a PSR, which he deviates from when comfortable

Swiping more chalk...
Sounds like your telling me he looked at it got down and shot in a fancy round about way

 

[Protractor]

If I could stick to my pre shot rountine, I would be a much better player. Here’s me: break a rack of 9 ball, dry break, ball in hand, I look for the pocket line of the 1 ball. Line up my body to the shot line, aim from UP ABOVE, THINK ABOUT WHAT SPEED AND SPIN I NEED. get down on the shot, make a final decision, and shoot. BOOM A GHOST BALL WIN.

but normally, by the second Or third rack, all my Pre shot rountine is gone. I’m starting to think I’m the greatest player in the world, I start to panic and tell myself not to miss, so I can be 2 wins in a row. Now, I just look at the ball I’m trying to make, look for next position, nothing else. Lolll I end up just shooting the cue ball, no speed decision, no aimimg from above, taking maybe 4 seconds from start to finish to shoot. And of course i either miss or get totally out of line.

and this happens all the time. If I force myself to look at each shot for 30-40 seconds, I don’t miss. Of course a game would take forever at that speed, but it works for me.

why can’t intermediate players stick to a pre shot rountine? Does it come with time and experience???

Lack of focus, or rather, shifting your focus to the wrong things.

As circular as it sounds, you have to focus on focusing on the right things, or what I call 'The Process" which includes everything you mentioned doing in your first rack. If it takes 30-40 seconds for each shot that only would matter if you are are in a tournament with a shot clock and while it may aggravate opponents during matches why is an issue during ghost ball?

There is more to it than the PSR. In your first game you described, you are focused on The Process. In your second or third rack, you are focused on outcome instead of The Process, and maybe on how you are going to impress those watching you go to town.

When you find yourself doing that during practice, slow down again and recover your focus. If it is lost, take a short break and come back to the table. The object is to practice correctly and avoid practicing bad habits.

If you get down on a shot during a match and feel yourself going off the rails, stand back up and start over after taking a deep breath or two. This too is part of The Process.

And you will find that the more you practice The Process the less time it will take, although if you are doing it correctly it does seem to slow down the clock.

 

[The_JV]

Swiping more chalk...
Sounds like your telling me he looked at it got down and shot in a fancy round about way

Sure if that's the way it sounds to you... Now if you do that 'fancy round about way' consistently before every shot, it's considered a PSR.

I have a PSR, but only follow it when I really need to regain focus, or in an effort to manlipulate table time.

 

[Welder84]

Swiping more chalk...
Sounds like your telling me he looked at it got down and shot in a fancy round about way

Most advanced player's have a PSR. When under pressure a ritual relaxes the player and helps them focus. A good example is kicking PSR. Top players have a PSR for kicking (they often measure the table). An average player would not have the presence of mind to work out the shot before ever getting down on the ball.

 

[Texas Carom Club]

Most advanced player's have a PSR. When under pressure a ritual relaxes the player and helps them focus. A good example is kicking PSR. Top players have a PSR for kicking (they often measure the table). An average player would not have the presence of mind to work out the shot before ever getting down on the ball.

So what pre shot routines do the top players in the videos I posted display

Frederic is pretty much all kicking since it's 3c

 

[The_JV]

I pointed Ronnie's out already...

Guess that didn't suit your argument though...lol

 

[Texas Carom Club]

I pointed Ronnie's out already...

Guess that didn't suit your argument though...lol

Cause it was look get down and shoot

 

[Texas Carom Club]

What about the others?

 

[The_JV]

Cause it was look get down and shoot

Agreed.... if you disregard the PSR elements he performs repeatedly throughout the bulk of the break. The method he uses to chalk his cue. The way he adjusts his grip as he walks into the shot. All of those things are apart of his PSR. If you fail to recognize them as PSR elements then I honestly feel that you shouldn't be commenting on the validity of PSR to begin with.

Again, a PSR isn't something you must do. It's something you can do to build a rhythm and/or get in a groove.

 

[Welder84]

So what pre shot routines do the top players in the videos I posted display

Frederic is pretty much all kicking since it's 3cif

So the first 45 seconds of the match you can clearly see the shooter (I guess FBN) studying his shot (visualizing what he is trying to due) while chalking before getting down on the ball. That would be a PSR!

 

[Texas Carom Club]

So the first 45 seconds of the match you can clearly see the shooter (I guess FBN) studying his shot (visualizing what he is trying to due) while chalking before getting down on the ball. That would be a PSR!

Like I originally said then,
look get down shoot,

 

[JazzboxBlues]

This is a very timely question. A solid PSR is missing from my game. I’ve have been working on it and know it’s essential for my improvement. Thanks for all the thoughtful replies. Lots of great information.



Sent from my iPhone using AzBilliards Forums

 

[Welder84]

So the first 45 seconds of the match you can clearly see the shooter (I guess FBN) studying his shot (visualizing what he is trying to due) while chalking before getting down on the ball. That would be a PSR!

Like I originally said then,
look get down shoot,

A little more detailed than that. The shooter is able to do a couple key things with their PSR. They take control of the pace of play and visualize making the object ball as well as the cue ball destination (then get down and shoot). Also (as others have said) align yourself to the shot. I agree that some players at the top of their game in dead stroke due go on an auto pilot at times. However the top players grinding through tournaments stick to a method mostly.
So again to just say look, get down and shoot at the highest level would not be accurate for most. My opinion.

 

[Welder84]

This is a very timely question. A solid PSR is missing from my game. I’ve have been working on it and know it’s essential for my improvement. Thanks for all the thoughtful replies.



Sent from my iPhone using AzBilliards Forums

Watch all three of these and your game will improve.