Today I was playing someone really cheap sets, just race to 7 for $20 and I was playing really well for the first time in a long time. I almost fixed my stroke so I was hitting them alot better. The table we were playing on was breaking really well, I was consistently making the wing ball. Every time I ran out the whole rack, when I would get down on the 9, my heart would start pounding and I would almost miss. I broke and ran one rack, and when I got down on the 9, which was an easy straight in shot, I got so nervous I started shaking a little, and I barely made the ball. I let my nerves settle, broke and ran out again, this time I had a medium difficulty cut on the 9, and I got way more nervous, so I took my time. I barely made it this time. The third break, I hit a picture perfect break sinking two balls and the cueball sat right in front of the one with an easy shot. As I was running out this time, I started thinking to myself "I'm gonna run three racks, I've never done this before, I haven't played this good in a long time" So each ball I made I got more and more nervous. I got down to the 8 with a fairly easy cut in the corner and I shanked it, badly. After we finished playing I just couldnt stop thinking about it. I've never ran a 3-pack before, I've run 2 in a row a bunch of times, and I've ran 3 with a 9 on the break or a early 9-combination, but I've never RAN 3 racks. I got so nervous thinking I was going to run a 3 pack that I dogged it badly. I was just playing for $20, which is nothing! I don't know why I get so nervous when shooting my out ball. In the other games if I just ran 4 or 5 balls to win the game, I didn't get nervous at all. Only when I run out the whole rack.
Why Do I Get So Nervous Over Nothing?
- Thread starter LowEnglish
- Start date
LowEnglish said:
I have the same problem. For me, it's because I'm thinking too much on a game or set level and not on the immediate task at hand...making the shot I'm looking at right now. What helps me is to make myself concentrate on my preshot routine...that tends to help me get focused on the shot at hand. If I find myself down on a shot and thinking about anything other than the spot on the object ball I'm aiming for, then I need to stand up and start over.
I have to just take one ball at a time. If I start thinking "Man, I'm working on stringing 3!" or, "If I just make these 4 balls I win this set." or "Man, if I miss this shot it's gonna cost me.", then I'm toast. I'll fall apart.
You should bet 40. then 20 will be less 
Play 10 ball
No, you just gotta use that adreline to your advantage. Focus, think and execute. Just say I'm beautiful and people like me. No, really you just gotta bear down and concentrat on the task at hand. Sounds so simple but there are lots of us trying to do it!
Play 10 ball No, you just gotta use that adreline to your advantage. Focus, think and execute. Just say I'm beautiful and people like me. No, really you just gotta bear down and concentrat on the task at hand. Sounds so simple but there are lots of us trying to do it!
sounds like you need to put yourself in a pressure situation more and more until you get used to it. you'll still have the pressure, but you'll know how to deal with it and use it to your advantage.
also, your mental game probably needs work.
see blackjack about this, he has some great material on the mental game.
VAP
also, your mental game probably needs work.
see blackjack about this, he has some great material on the mental game.
VAP
I have the opposite problem. I play as if I could care less. I have a very hard time making myself concentrate. VERY RARELY do I play with confidence. I get down often and hardly ever come back to win. I especially get down on myself if I lose the first few games. I play much better when I play for a set amount on each game. If I play a race, I'll lose. I seem to always try the same stupid shit all the time. Trying to force the cue ball, trying impossible shots, etc.
It's a phenomenon known as "grinding". Instead of the gears running smooth and quiet, well lubricated, a nice smooth stroke, the added pressure we put on ourselves makes everything seem more difficult. Doubt sets in, and we start second guessing everything. "a little more spin, a liittle less/ is that the right angle? A little thinner? a little thicker?"
When this starts happenening, between games take a break. Go to the bathroom, go get a coke. Look around the room and gather yourself for a minute or two. Let yourself calm down.
Play smart, play good, play bad - but whatever you do, don't play scared. Just tell yourself this. It will help.
Chris
When this starts happenening, between games take a break. Go to the bathroom, go get a coke. Look around the room and gather yourself for a minute or two. Let yourself calm down.
Play smart, play good, play bad - but whatever you do, don't play scared. Just tell yourself this. It will help.
Chris
LowEnglish, if it makes you feel better I do this all the time. I start playing really good, then I think to myself "Hey, your playing really good". Then, I immediately dog the next ball.
kollegedave
kollegedave
LowEnglish said:
The Pleasure of Small Motions really helped me. I am not as bad as I used to be.
kollegedave
kollegedave
vapoolplayer said:
you definitely need the book pleasures of small motions, like dave stated above. I was noticing the same thing, i would be in a small stakes game playing well and find myself nervous and shaking. One of the many things i learned in the book is, dont forget to breath!! I would get all up tight, and basically be holding my breath during a tense situation. Now when i start to feel a little pressure ill take a couple of big deep breaths, calms me right out. That book wont only teach you how to deal with the pressure, it teaches you why you feel it, and how to learn to think about pool in other ways to take the pressure off and put the fun in.
Clutching ...
What's your emotional state? Did you just break up with a girlfriend? Have
a death in your family? Did your dog die? Those things can affect your mental state for the game.
If not, you just got scared of losing? Not the money, because like you said
$20 is nothing. It is called performance anxiety.
Same reason a medium player will dog shots against a good player, they are scared they will lose, and usually they will.
I am an old money player, and when I started playing big tournaments, I was
putting more pressure on myself to perform than when shooting $1,000 to
$3,000 sets. I had several talks with myself and gradually worked through it.
There are some players that can never control their emotions, get mad at the slightest thing, and their game goes downhill from there. Some learn better as they get older with more experience and some never learn.
Ever notice a guy that will make a sexual comment or gesture when playing a girl? That's because he knows it will fluster her, and she won't be able to shoot good anymore. It's a type of shark so he can save face.
What's your emotional state? Did you just break up with a girlfriend? Have
a death in your family? Did your dog die? Those things can affect your mental state for the game.
If not, you just got scared of losing? Not the money, because like you said
$20 is nothing. It is called performance anxiety.
Same reason a medium player will dog shots against a good player, they are scared they will lose, and usually they will.
I am an old money player, and when I started playing big tournaments, I was
putting more pressure on myself to perform than when shooting $1,000 to
$3,000 sets. I had several talks with myself and gradually worked through it.
There are some players that can never control their emotions, get mad at the slightest thing, and their game goes downhill from there. Some learn better as they get older with more experience and some never learn.
Ever notice a guy that will make a sexual comment or gesture when playing a girl? That's because he knows it will fluster her, and she won't be able to shoot good anymore. It's a type of shark so he can save face.
Snapshot9 said:
Or he would like a slice!
LowEnglish said:
LE,
It sounds like you do know WHY (its because you are nervous). What you really want to know is HOW TO STOP IT from happening.
All the champions I have played with and taken lessons from ALL approach each shot the same (whether its the first or last shot in a rack or match, no matter the score). Their experience under pressure allows them to successfully repeat their stroke no matter the situation.
You need to immediately get into a straight pool league (move to Indiana or NYC if you must - notify your boss today). In nine-ball, the pressure situations are fewer, and the penalties for missing are somewhat less than in straight pool. In a 2 hour straight pool match to 100, you will find that the last half hour (and longer if the opponent is a champion) is INTENSE; where EVERY shot, no matter how easy, starts to look impossible (as you are describing above). You could play nine-ball for a week and never experience as much pressure as in a single close straight pool match. JMO. It is a great game to learn to shoot under pressure.
I was fortunate to hear Nick Varner tell a story about a great straight pool match that he played (can't remember the opponent). He said that he had an agonizingly close match, and at the end he made a TREMENDOUSLY difficult shot (one of the toughest he has ever made) that allowed him to get the rest of the rack and the match. He said he was so proud of making such a difficult shot under such intense pressure that he asked the film crew if he could view it, copy the tape so he could have some way to remember it. When he viewed the shot later on tape, he said, "it looked like a hanger a baby could make." Pressure does funny things to the mind, even the pro's are not exempt - they just deal with it better.
This weekend I've got a tornament...intermediate player class, some ok players, but no runout machines. I have dogged many 8's and 9's at first 3 tornaments of my league (first 3 legs all 9ball discipline). So far my best result was only a quarterfinal. All my final losses were on a hill-hill with me choking of course. Extremely dissapointing.
But it's straight pool this time, not 9ball. I wonder what the pressure will be like at 14.1? I'm thinking that if I one gets a good lead, he's favourite to win since the opponent has to run many balls to catch up, unlike 9ball. Of course, this goes for average players, not some pro's who can score 100 or more.
I already feel the pressure as I type this. All my clubmates see me as a favourite to win. Few days ago I ran 43 balls and felt on top of my game. I thought to myself if I play even close to that at tournament, it will be a walk in the park. I know for a fact that none of my competitors ever got to 3rd rack. Expectations are killing me.
Been reading "Mind for pool" by Phill Capelle lately as well as some online articles on mental game by various people such as those of Blackjack David Sapolis. Really good stuff in there. I have all the infomation on mental game I will ever need, but the problem is...how to properly apply it???
But it's straight pool this time, not 9ball. I wonder what the pressure will be like at 14.1? I'm thinking that if I one gets a good lead, he's favourite to win since the opponent has to run many balls to catch up, unlike 9ball. Of course, this goes for average players, not some pro's who can score 100 or more.
I already feel the pressure as I type this. All my clubmates see me as a favourite to win. Few days ago I ran 43 balls and felt on top of my game. I thought to myself if I play even close to that at tournament, it will be a walk in the park. I know for a fact that none of my competitors ever got to 3rd rack. Expectations are killing me.
Been reading "Mind for pool" by Phill Capelle lately as well as some online articles on mental game by various people such as those of Blackjack David Sapolis. Really good stuff in there. I have all the infomation on mental game I will ever need, but the problem is...how to properly apply it???