Zen and the Art of Pool

Runnintable said:
I wonder how good this is:

http://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Small-Motions-Mastering-Billiards/dp/1585745391

This is a great book:

http://www.amazon.com/Inner-Game-Te...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284836014&sr=1-1
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If you like "The Inner game of Tennis" then you will love "The Pleasures of Small Motions":cool:[/QUOTE]

It's not that I didn't like PoSM, it just doesn't "speak" to me the way I expected it would. I've read it three times and it didn't help a bit that I could see. The Inner Game of Tennis I got a lot out of, that and George Fels' comment about following the cue ball after contact instead of watching the object ball go in the pocket.
 
Pushout said:
...George Fels' comment about following the cue ball after contact instead of watching the object ball go in the pocket.
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To learn to trust my stroke, I've done a lot of practice lining the shot up, and then closing my eyes as I shoot.
 
SK Custom Cues said:
Sorry Keeb, but the origin of power in the 'one inch punch' does not come from the wrist.

For any of you who want to know about martial art, you must study the 'Do' aspect. Too many people never get past the surface...... powerful techniques, superior fighting skill, who can beat who in a cage. That's not what martial art is meant for.

Technique is not the primary focus of martial art.

It is about the mastery of one's self.

Ultimately, martial art is about overcoming the fears that strangle your potential to find true happiness, making the world a more livable place to be in for both you and the ones who surround you.

This is why everyone should practice martial art; however, many people fail to grasp the real essence of martial art because of E G O.
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Then go to wikipedia and fix what it says....i just copied and pasted that for ease of understanding......but yes I must whole heartedly agree.....is in your mental attitude and mastery of YOU......why do you think i refer to pool as a "martial art" b/c its all in your head...the physical part is the easiest part. You must have magnificent focus and mental fortitude to excel far in this game.

Don't take me as trying to be a kung fu expert....for i am most def NOT lol....

but if you didn't know karate sung......this would be you lmfao.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdE34vH5F2M

-Grey Ghost-
 
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Ratta said:
Hi there,

easy said: It s all about acceleration-nothing else.
And when it depends on acceleration it doesn t matter if you re *a small boy* Keebie^^

on-topic: There are many books explaining how to *use* mental parts (especially if we re talking about material arts). And if we take the example of archery, you could also easily say, that you have to BELIEVE.
If you have perfectly trained/drilled you fundamentals, you should be sure about them- and then you re able to *JUST DO YOUR JOB* and this is nothing else than executing the stroke! You can be the mentally strongest weekend-warrior on this planet- without the mechanical fundamentals you ll be just a guy who ll be sometimes lucky enough to do some things right-but never consistantly.

The unconcsious mind was and will be always the one of the most important part of this game(if not THE most importan). And some guys have it a bit easier to deal with it, after reading one of those books. There are many psychological workouts for sports. But unfortuneatly too many players give a shit on it :) and for sure beside them the other part spending too much time on it before having fundamentals.

just my opinion,

lg
Ingo
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The way I line up......how i use my stick to aim.....it all goes off the center of my WILL.....I WILL THE BALLS INTO THE POCKETS......when my will fails the balls do not fall.

I remember when i was first schooled on this idea....and boy way I blown away....been a believer ever since.
 
As a Christian, Ive always been hesitant when it comes to using the mind (or soul power) to hone skills, or to over achieve my normal course of practice.

Eastern religions show that the mind can alter states and in reality, help you enter into the supernatural. Those stories of Monks and Buddhists who go into sub-zero temps wearing a wet blanket around them and no getting frostbite is true.

The same goes for that book The Secret. There is a natural law of the universe called the Law of Attraction, but teaching yourself by use of the soul to manipulate it through rituals and affirmations is not too far off from what the pagans or witchcraft does. (or the Masons, or some religions).

Im not saying that using the mind (soul) and honing focus is wrong at all, it does however have a fine line between the physical use and tapping into the spiritual.

When you hear the talk of CHI, that is tapping into the supernatural through the mind. And for me and my beliefs, I am taught to surrender the soul to the spirit and the will of God... self vs His Will doctrine.

Of course, Im not judging, criticizing, or in any advocating a religious philosophy to anyone here, it is merely something I have observed and try to avoid because of the choice I made on who to serve in this world.

Argonath
 
Bob Callahan said:
I do this lots. Mindless pool, but in a good way. When you toss wadded up paper in the waste basket, you don't think about it lots...you just let your brain do what it knows best. I bet everyone here remembers shots they've missed because they overthought them! One of my older pool playing buddies used to often say, "Think long--think wrong"
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I question this often heard "missed due to over-thinking" idea. I believe we're putting the blame in the wrong spot.

Take a player who runs 20 balls on autopilot and then stops to think about the 21st shot and misses. What happened? It's popular to say "you thought yourself out of it" or over-thought it or whatever--putting the BLAME for the miss on the thinking.

But why is that person trying to think it through rather than just firing the ball in the hole in the first place? I believe it's because that harmonic convergence of knowledge and intuition we call autopilot broke down for some reason. That's WHY the person is compelled to think it through.

I spelled all these words I just typed without really thinking about it. If --as happens occasionally-- I draw a blank about how to spell a particular common word, like say "VERY," I'm probably going to try to think it through to spell it, and it's not going to work verry well. It doesn't make sense to blame the thinking for the problem. The thinking got involved because something else broke down. The thinking was just incapable of fixing the problem.
 
mikepage said:
I question this often heard "missed due to over-thinking" idea. I believe we're putting the blame in the wrong spot.

Take a player who runs 20 balls on autopilot and then stops to think about the 21st shot and misses. What happened? It's popular to say "you thought yourself out of it" or over-thought it or whatever--putting the BLAME for the miss on the thinking.

But why is that person trying to think it through rather than just firing the ball in the hole in the first place? I believe it's because that harmonic convergence of knowledge and intuition we call autopilot broke down for some reason. That's WHY the person is compelled to think it through.

I spelled all these words I just typed without really thinking about it. If --as happens occasionally-- I draw a blank about how to spell a particular common word, like say "VERY," I'm probably going to try to think it through to spell it, and it's not going to work verry well. It doesn't make sense to blame the thinking for the problem. The thinking got involved because something else broke down. The thinking was just incapable of fixing the problem.
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It depends on why you stop in a run. There is a saying that music is the pauses between the notes.

Sometimes its best to stop and revaluate the situation on the table, this is a technique used by Bruce Lee in fighting.

The key is to combine the pauses and action into one flow where the mind does not stop even when the action is stopped. Once the flow is stopped, mistakes will happen.

When you go from just seeing the shot and just doing to visualzing every setp needed to make a shot, the mind has stopped. This is over thinking a shot.

As a example, there other day I was practicing. I saw a two rail bank shot, got down and just stroked the shot and made it first try. I have never even tried this shot before, nor even thought about doing this type of shot.

I just saw it, knew what was needed to do and made it. If I had taken the time to stop to think about how to do it, I am sure I would have missed it due to thinking about making it.

I had mushin.
 
mikepage said:
I question this often heard "missed due to over-thinking" idea.
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I'm not disagreeing with what you've said. This is what I'm talking about:

"Trying to concentrate on monitoring the quality of your performance is counterproductive because the cerebellum, which controls complex motor tasks, is not consciously accessible.

…In a 2008 study psychologist Sian L. Beilock of the University of Chicago divided novice and skilled golfers into two groups and instructed them to perform a series of golf putts. The researchers encouraged members of the first group to take their time, whereas they exhorted members of the second group to swing as quickly as they could. Novice golfers performed less accurately when speed was emphasized, but skilled golfers showed exactly the opposite pattern: they performed best when told to execute quickly and faltered when advised to take their time."

From: http://thefuturebuzz.com/2009/04/27/overthinking/

The original article: How to Avoid Choking Under Pressure

Just throwing the balls on the table and banging around is often discouraged as being nonproductive practice, but I think it's verry useful--it helps build a relaxed, playful mindset that makes me a better player. I'm not real fond of thinking of pool as a life-or-death struggle. I laugh a lot at my misses--I may never be great because of this, but at least I'm in good company--this guy does it too: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/16/w...ile-oh-this-shark-has-missing-teeth-dear.html
 
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