Why??????

Hooper840

Hooper840

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Two nights ago I played the best pool of my life. I ran three racks in a set and put together two of those consecutively. I'm just trying to get better. All of a sudden, tonight, I can't make anything. My stroke feels horrible, balls are missing, shape and speed is off. It's like I'm a beginner all over again. Why is this?
 
Welcome to the club! It's the same for pretty much every poolplayer out there. We're always trying to recapture the magic of that time when we were in dead stroke, and that's why this game is so addicting.

Slumps can come suddenly, but then can end suddenly too, if you don't feed them with negative thoughts. You've already proven to yourself that you can take your game to another level, so just try to stay positive and not get frustrated when things are going poorly and things will turn around eventually. It could just be due to fatigue or anxiety from work, etc., so taking a break and starting over fresh later might be a good a idea as well.

Good luck and here's to higher highs and fewer lows!
 
Aloha

You might want to check your muffler bearings, they could be out..

but seriously....
Have you ever watched the movie "Tin Cup"?

Take all your change and put it in your left pocket. Tie your right shoe in a double knot. Turn your hat around backwards. Take this tee and stick it......behind your left ear. Now hit the ball. If it works your brain was getting in the way.

It's either this or the pool gods hate you, but we will just suggest that this is not the case, and karma is on your side, and save that for another discussion.

Just play your game, it will all come around. Everyday your body is older, just part of the journey. Have fun with it and don't let it stress you out.

Good luck

Aloha
 
I have a saying that I always tell the guys that play in my room. We develop bad habits when we are playing good because majority of us do not pay as much attention to our stroke when the balls are going in the pocket. On the other hand, we develop good stroke mechanics when playting bad because we tend to pay closer attention to our stroke when playing bad.
 
Sometimes you arrive at the pool hall and you feel relaxed.....you start to practice and the balls remain center pocket hits for the first dozen balls......you look at the object ball and you can seen hemispheres....quadrants...... for contact & aim points.......you stroke the ball softly ....slowly....not a lot of energy and object ball rolls smoothly....no wiggle or wobble.....right after hearing that click sound......the cue ball doesn't roll into and bounce off the rails but instead glides in and off the rails effortlessly and you begin to grasp why it doesn't take a lot of power to play the game well......this type warm-up establishes your mental state of mind and you just play within your confidence range and dominate.........then what?

Next night you come in and that day wasn't as good the day before......you rushed throughout the day.....late lunch....who knows what....... you meant to stop for gas on the way to the pool hall but traffic was heavy.......went straight there so you could practice before your match.......got stuck with the worst table after arriving......things for you are just different.......you start to practice and miss a few shots.......start thinking about what you are doing.....your get a cell phone call while practicing......yeah, things sure are different.......you never quite get around to feeling your stroke, especially after playing so well the last time.....you start looking for that feeling of a stroke.....like a fighter's jab that can be intentionally thrown at different speeds, distances and with varying power......just like the fighter feels a rhythm to their jabs & punches, the other night your pool stroke felt that way and it's just not there tonight.

Well, what did you expect? You were just going to walk in and put your cue together and it would just be like you'd be in that zone again........not!.....It's a new day and like in baseball, you get hot and you can get cold........that's why they compare a batter or pitcher's seasonal average against their performance over the month or the last 10 games or something akin to that......athletes get hot ...turn cold.....and stay there or get hot again or never return to their top level again for the rest of the season.....pool players aren't any different except that we control our own destiny unlike the game of baseball.

Matt B.
 
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Thanks for the replies, it's good to know I'm not the only one that has a sudden slump. My problem is when I play bad, I keep playing to try and figure it out. I'm sure this doesn't always help. I like and appreciate all the points stated above.
 
Hooper840 said:
Two nights ago I played the best pool of my life. I ran three racks in a set and put together two of those consecutively. I'm just trying to get better. All of a sudden, tonight, I can't make anything. My stroke feels horrible, balls are missing, shape and speed is off. It's like I'm a beginner all over again. Why is this?
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At this point you are unable to recognise the reasons and methods that allow you to play an inhabited game. Try filming a session or have a friend you trust, when your game is flowing. Once you analyse your game, a greater understanding you will have in order to remain consistent. :thumbup:
 
Hang in there Hooper. About a month ago I was telling the houseman at my room that I forgot how to play pool. That's how bad I was hitting them. Stick with it. Keep working. Every time this happens to me I break through a better player.
 
When I get into a slump the first thing I do is this: I put a little more weight on my bridge hand, this makes me concentrate on keeping the bridge hand down for a longer period of time. Sometimes it works sometimes not so much. Getting back to the basics I guess,
 
Hooper840 said:
Two nights ago I played the best pool of my life. I ran three racks in a set and put together two of those consecutively. I'm just trying to get better. All of a sudden, tonight, I can't make anything. My stroke feels horrible, balls are missing, shape and speed is off. It's like I'm a beginner all over again. Why is this?
Click to expand...


Because on that day you were doing many small physical things that happened to sync up for you. Some of those little things were seemingly insignificant but actually quite important to whatever idiosyncratic quirks make up your individual body mechanics and stroke.

Dead stroke visits us when we're doing one, two, or maybe more things, differently than before. Perhaps a bit more of a step to the left, establishing contact between bridge hand and cue shaft with different motion, a slightly longer or shorter bridge, a longer or shorter grip, a slightly turned wrist there, a higher or lower head, a more level cue, a longer back stroke, a more relaxed or tighter bridge, and so on. On occasion, all this comes together to produce a precise stroke and the ability to do what we will with the cue ball. But the next day you go to the table and because we're not machines we do it a bit differently and end up with different results.


That's it.

Lou Figueroa
 
For me nights like that normally come down to my approach or pre-shot routine (Thought pattern, stance & grip). Once I get it back on track the balls start dropping again.
 
Hooper840 said:
Two nights ago I played the best pool of my life. I ran three racks in a set and put together two of those consecutively. I'm just trying to get better. All of a sudden, tonight, I can't make anything. My stroke feels horrible, balls are missing, shape and speed is off. It's like I'm a beginner all over again. Why is this?
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You raised your expectations and now wish to play like that all the time. Welcome to the club. Relax and get back to your game. You will always have good and bad days.
 
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