Will practising too much be bad?

X Breaker said:
Is practising too much bad for one's game sometimes?
I feel that I was playing good about two weeks ago, so I have decided to put in about two hours to practise everyday, hoping I would play even better.
I also practise a bit of snooker, in order to improve my potting ability.
For some reason, I am now really confused and inconsistent. I am having a lot of problems with my cue ball control now.
I also feel very awkward about my stroke.
I am not sure if it is from switching between the snooker table (higher table, and I use a shorter stroke) and 9 ball table (lower table, with a longer follow through), or just from practising too much by myself.
I am just really confused, and frustrated.
In my experience, I know that somtimes doing something for a long time can put one in a coma, so one can no longer see and enjoy what one is doing. Sometimes, taking a break is a good idea. I remember when I was a student, taking a break after studying for about 2 to 3 hours can do wonders; while if I keep trying to solve a problem for a long time, without any break, my mind will just go into a coma, and nothing positive can come out of that.
Is it the same way with pool?
Is taking a break good?
If so, what kind of 'break" do you take? Do you play tournament only, go watch tournament but not play, or just practise shorter sessions?
Thank you for your help.
Richard
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dude, it could have been written by me as well. Hang in there and refresh your mind. What helps me is to watch videos of pros playing, it boosts me and I usually stay focused and feel my stroke and if that doesn't work, I take a break for a couple of days but less than a week.
 
Welllll, I can't really speak for whether it can hurt other people's games, I'll just give an example of what it did for my game..

I had been playing about 3 or 4 years at the time, and I had the chance to take leave from the military. I spent the next 30 days practicing 12-14 hours a day.

My game jumped at least 2-3 balls in that month.

Yes, I felt like I was losing focus sometimes, but I would just find something else to practice.

And if I really lost the desire to practice, I would go find someone good to play, get stomped, and presto!, I had the desire to practice whatever it was that cost me the win..

Russ
 
Great advise by Scott Lee, bsmutz, Neil and others!

I've found that overpracticing can be a problem. When it is, I will get away from the game for awhile. This is the time to take a walk in the park, read a book or work in the yard. After taking 2, 3 or 4 days of outside activities, I usually come back recharged and ready to play. My game may suffer on my return but I now realize it is just a temporary condition. In the long run, a good break from the game is beneficial.
 
I think one of the greatest things about overloading like this is, you start dreaming about pool.. I think the pool dreaming even has positive benefits on your game..

Russ
 
"practice"

One thing that jumps out at me from reading this thread is that "practice" means different things to different people. I don't learn anything in practice, I hone existing skills and groove in mechanics. If I am trying something new, that isn't really practice. If I am playing someone else, that isn't really quite the same as a practice session by myself either.

Any mechanical action is learned by your body and mind by repetition. While you do have to be practicing the correct action, you aren't really mentally learning something new. You are getting the feel of the motion and the feedback when you do things correctly deeply entrenched in your subconscious. Unlike when we are consciously learning something new, there can be benefits to doing this for hours on end. Fatigue can be a good thing because you lose some of the conscious interference that is harming the training process.

I consider anything I am learning with the conscious mind, IE: use outside english on the cue ball to run an object ball down a rail, an educational process involving the conscious mind. This type of learning does happen easiest when you are fresh and alert. Pauses, short sessions, repetition, and multiple types of input all help this type of learning. If you see what you are trying to learn, read it, and hear it, maybe write it down, this speeds learning over the same amount of time only doing one of these things.

There is also another type of learning which I consider training. This can be considered teaching the subconscious, muscle memory, or a variety of names. This involves learning the successful execution of something that you already know how to do in theory from having taught the conscious mind. Here repetition is an advantage and often a little fatigue to distance the conscious mind is a benefit. Now your body and subconscious are learning to work together to achieve the desired result. As long as you are achieving the desired result there is not a time limit on this type of practice. Hundreds of repetitions over time are what gives the synchronization your subconscious and your body needs to perform complex actions reliably. Working on this is what I consider the purest form of practice.

Of course these are my opinions based on my experiences and the comic books I have read. Everyone's mileage may vary!

Hu
 
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I am A Believer!!

Scott Lee said:
Richard...My advice would be to seek out a qualified instructor, and have them check out your stroke. It's quite possible that you have quirks and/or inconsistencies that are preventing you from having the ability to "trust" your stroke.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
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I worked with Scott and coming into it I was concerned about control problems and strategy ! Scott saw and worked with my stroke mechanics and it has made everything better! :)
 
Well, I met Scott in the Derby, and watched him play a bit. He is a very good player.
I am going to stay with one cue, and see if things will improve. I find it hard to switch between my 9 ball cue and my snooker cue all the time.
I will try to think about what I am doing, when I practise, and not spend too much time on trying out one thing.
Thank you once again, everyone.
Richard
 
From my (little) experience I have found that practicing too much is only bad from a mental standpoint. When I practice too much I begin to assume that I really should be making visible improvements and that I should be alot better than I am, this thought process is suicide for my game (and most people's games) becuase the second you get out of line you take it way too hard and start to feel like practiceing isn't doing much and that you aren't as good as you should be for the amoutn of time you have put in. The only other way too much practice is bad would be if you were practicing wrong, wrong technique or whatever which then would then be reinforced but I remember you saying you take lessons so I'm sure this isn't the case. Hope that helped sorta maybe possibly :cool:
 
8ballEinstein said:
Great advise by Scott Lee, bsmutz, Neil and others!

I've found that overpracticing can be a problem. When it is, I will get away from the game for awhile. This is the time to take a walk in the park, read a book or work in the yard. After taking 2, 3 or 4 days of outside activities, I usually come back recharged and ready to play. My game may suffer on my return but I now realize it is just a temporary condition. In the long run, a good break from the game is beneficial.
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Taking breaks from pool make you play more focused and enthusiastically...for me it's because missing means I'm not playing, my opponents is and I won't be having any of that...LOLz
 
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