Zen and the Art of Pre-Shot Routine Maintenance

[Patrick Johnson]

Over the years, as I’ve become more adept at the various skills required for pool, my development goals have become less and less about “physical” skills like pocketing balls and controlling the CB and more and more about “mental” skills like visualization, focus and consistency that provide the “fertile ground” for the other skills to grow and mature.

I’ve kept my eyes and ears open for information or guidance from any source, and have been surprised at the variety of sources for useful lessons. I’ve learned techniques used by pool players, but also from other sports like golf, tennis and even baseball. Not surprisingly, I’ve also learned some things from meditation techniques like Zen, especially sport-meditation hybrids like Zen archery.

Over time it has dawned on me that all these different techniques have at their core a common message about how to excel at activities requiring extreme precision. All of them teach that the intense mental focus and physical consistency needed for success can be achieved through disciplined repetition of highly choreographed physical routines leading up to and completing the action. In pool this is the pre-shot routine.

Pool’s pre-shot routine and the methods of other disciplines have two central objectives in common:

1. to place the body in a precisely predetermined “best” position for the task

2. to clear and focus the mind on the task, using the repetitive choreography (pre-shot routine) as a “meditative trigger”

An Added Step For My Routine

In addition to the normal sort of pre-shot routine (stepping into the shot and lowering into the stance) I’ve added a final step developed from the “one-stroke” practice technique. One-stroke practice is simply not taking any practice strokes before the shot stroke, forcing yourself to be especially careful and precise in finding the aim line and aligning with it as you lower into your stance, and also forcing yourself to take a few moments while at the CB address position to be sure that your head position and aim is precise, your stick is pointed precisely on-line and your stroking arm feels like it’s positioned to make a perfect in-line stroke on the first and only try.

I don’t actually one-stroke while playing, but I imagine that I'm going to, which reminds me to be more careful and precise in setup and to stop for a prolonged moment (as much as a few seconds for some shots) at CB address before taking any practice strokes, using this “quiet time” to make the same careful assessment of my aim, alignment and readiness to make a perfect shot stroke and to bring my focus fully on the task. I then allow myself to take (usually only a few) practice strokes before actually shooting, narrowing my focus more with each one.

This added step has made a significant difference in my success rate.

pj
chgo

 

[GetMeThere]

Good post.

I think about these sorts of things a lot--but my days of thinking about ZEN all the time passed twenty years ago For one thing, I no longer believe in "the magic of masters," like the master in Zen in the Art of Archery who could hit the shaft of the previous arrow in the dark!

I'd rather try to be creative in applying scientific work (cognitive science) to playing pool.

IMO, the most fertile area from that perspective would be techniques for enhancing (and TESTING--the most important part) methods of visualization and aiming.

Simply put, learning is a process of trial, error, and correction. The cognitive phenomenon now needed in pool is a method for visualization, aiming, and test/verification of the process--that can be performed WITHOUT playing pool (and even better, without having access to a pool table). Ideally, the exercise could be repeated easily and quickly, so that the NUMBER of trials that result in learning could be LARGE, per unit time.

At the end of the day, you need to practice most things tens of thousands of times to get them DEAD COLD (and practice them EFFECTIVELY--the part most people miss). If would be great if one could practice some of the talents required for pool (at a great time value) without having to bother actually knocking balls around.

Think about it sometime: actual pool practice is TERRIBLY inefficient. If you include set up time for balls, you're lucky to get only ONE serious test per minute, on average--and the feedback is terrible: it's difficult in actual play to know IMMEDIATELY whether your aim was right, etc., etc., etc.

Let me summarize and restate: The ideal cognitive scheme for pool practice is to break down the process into individual skills, and have non-pool methods (that are time-efficient and provide immediate feedback) to learn, enhance, practive those skills. I spend a lot of time thinking about what those might be...

Here's an extremely simple example: Pictures flashing on a screen of a shot layout viewed from a standing position, followed by a view of a "down" position with ghost ball in place. One could have two ball-cutouts (simply properly sized circles) in hand to overlap to predict the proper ghost ball appearance. Furthermore, to enhance actual angle visualization without reference to pockets, the "aimpoint" could be another ball on the table rather than a pocket. If you got good, you could do that maybe 500 times an hour! Do 2000 such tests a day for a few weeks and you'd be better at visualizing shots than any player living!

I can imagine, for example, some Chinese sports minister pairing up with cognitive scientists, and devising such things for Chinese players. The art of pool would be HUGELY enhanced if it could be made into an Olympic sport--and academic experts started applying their discipline to pool.

 

[ChazL]

A very sound idea, Patrick...

I'm nobody's idea of a great player, but I recall practicing this way (one stroke) when I was first learning the game. It does in fact encourage better concentration and more precise aiming.

I really can't say how or why I got away from this, but I haven't done it in years. I plan to try it again the next time I practice. Thanks for posting this PJ.

 

[JimS]

Thanks PJ.

I learned the value of a good pre-shot routine when I was learning to play golf and have transferred it to pool.

You've successfully put into words the exact process that I've been honing. It starts while standing and the focus narrows and intensifies until the "going home" stage is completed.

 

[cuetechasaurus]

Stepping into the shot and getting down the same way every time is so important. Just look at Oscar Dominguez. Watch his pre-shot routine. When he is stepping into the shot, if he feels he is off by even a hair, he steps back and starts over. It takes extreme discipline to do that!

 

[duckie]

The real goal is to achieve no form. To be free from technique.

There is no pre shot routine, there is only doing what is needed. No thought, just doing.

Any practice, real or mental, is ineffiecent when not done well. One must forget themselves for real improvement.

It doesn't matter if you made this shot 1 million times before, it only matters in the present not the past.

FWIW

 

[Zbotiman]

more and more about “mental” skills like visualization,
2. to clear and focus the mind on the task, using the repetitive choreography (pre-shot routine) as a “meditative trigger”

I just wanted to address the congruency of these 2 statements you've made here in your opening synopsis.
Years ago when sports psychology was in it's infancy, I took golf lessons from a touring pro. His best tip was visualizing the completed golf shot as you wanted it to be from behind the ball, before address. With that imaginary picture in mind, you can figure out the shots variables and adjust "your situational reality" to fit your desired result. Then your can begin the "physical, pre-shot routine."

In pool, that simply means seeing the completed shot in your mind, in exact execution, before you bend over the table. The "physical, pre-shot routine" is only practice for what that "particular shot will require."

So in that way, the meditative trigger applies directly to your visualized desired result. That's a lot easier to do on the pool table as a rule, too!
There are a lot less variables involved in pool!

 

[Pushout]

I just wanted to address the congruency of these 2 statements you've made here in your opening synopsis.
Years ago when sports psychology was in it's infancy, I took golf lessons from a touring pro. His best tip was visualizing the completed golf shot as you wanted it to be from behind the ball, before address. With that imaginary picture in mind, you can figure out the shots variables and adjust "your situational reality" to fit your desired result. Then your can begin the "physical, pre-shot routine."

In pool, that simply means seeing the completed shot in your mind, in exact execution, before you bend over the table. The "physical, pre-shot routine" is only practice for what that "particular shot will require."

So in that way, the meditative trigger applies directly to your visualized desired result. That's a lot easier to do on the pool table as a rule, too!
There are a lot less variables involved in pool!

I asked Grady Mathews several years ago if he used visualization and he said no. I was kind of surprised by this but apparently there are also other pros who do not visualize.

 

[JohnnyP]

...

Here's an extremely simple example: Pictures flashing on a screen of a shot layout viewed from a standing position, followed by a view of a "down" position with ghost ball in place. One could have two ball-cutouts (simply properly sized circles) in hand to overlap to predict the proper ghost ball appearance. Furthermore, to enhance actual angle visualization without reference to pockets, the "aimpoint" could be another ball on the table rather than a pocket. If you got good, you could do that maybe 500 times an hour! Do 2000 such tests a day for a few weeks and you'd be better at visualizing shots than any player living!

I have a tendency to under cut balls to the right, and over cut them to the left.

I'm thinking of using the hole reinforcers to set up a cut shot, then set up a target on the rail to aim at that puts the ball in the heart of the pocket for that angle.

Then I can learn where to put my body and head so the shot looks right when aiming at the target.

The target could be a toothpick stuck in an eraser. I don't get down that low, so I might have to set it on the bed, between the rail and the object ball.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

I have a tendency to under cut balls to the right, and over cut them to the left.

I'm thinking of using the hole reinforcers to set up a cut shot, then set up a target on the rail to aim at that puts the ball in the heart of the pocket for that angle.

Then I can learn where to put my body and head so the shot looks right when aiming at the target.

The target could be a toothpick stuck in an eraser. I don't get down that low, so I might have to set it on the bed, between the rail and the object ball.

I think you're right about your head position being the problem. Sounds like you need to move your head a little to the left.

pj
chgo

 

[Zbotiman]

I asked Grady Mathews several years ago if he used visualization and he said no. I was kind of surprised by this but apparently there are also other pros who do not visualize.

Wow, that's a surprising response from him. After all, in 1-pocket, looking at the table and seeing where you want the cue-ball to be, at the end of the shot, is usually the best way to decide on how to get it there. "You've gotta see that ahead of time at some point in your pre-shot thinking don't you?"
I believe about every good player does that much upstairs! It might just be the terminology that Grady was responding too, visualizing.
But hey, that sounds like the spur of the moment Professor for ya! You catch which way the wind was blowin' that day?

 

[Pushout]

Wow, that's a surprising response from him. After all, in 1-pocket, looking at the table and seeing where you want the cue-ball to be, at the end of the shot, is usually the best way to decide on how to get it there. "You've gotta see that ahead of time at some point in your pre-shot thinking don't you?"
I believe about every good player does that much upstairs! It might just be the terminology that Grady was responding too, visualizing.
But hey, that sounds like the spur of the moment Professor for ya! You catch which way the wind was blowin' that day?

We talked about it for several minutes. He knew exactly what I was saying.

 

[cookie man]

i think you're right about your head position being the problem. Sounds like you need to move your head a little to the left.

Pj
chgo

good advice.

 

[JohnnyP]

I think I'll put up the "Gone Fishing" sign today and sneak off to DannyK's to test this.

 

[JoeW]

One of the interesting things about martial arts and playing pool for that matter, is that practitioners place a great deal of effort into precise movements and yet when it is time to use the tools learned the circumstances are continually changing. It seems to me that all of the previously learned routines are then generalized as the situation requires. Something like dancing: You can place foot prints on the floor and follow them exactly using some sort of drum beat. But when that girl is in your arms, you just feel the music. As you and I have seen, some people are better at this than others.

Learning the steps is necessary and then learning to let go of the steps is just as important.

 

[MOJOE]

Great post Pat.. These bits of advice are rare but often very very helpful.. Thanks for sharing!

 

[smokey]

hey duckie...

The real goal is to achieve no form. To be free from technique.

There is no pre shot routine, there is only doing what is needed. No thought, just doing.

Any practice, real or mental, is inefficient when not done well. One must forget themselves for real improvement.

It doesn't matter if you made this shot 1 million times before, it only matters in the present not the past.

FWIW

your post is one of the most profound posts i have ever read on AZ imho...

i agree 'no thought'!!!! """EXECUTE""" perfection!!!! however you state it, fine...

but i do think "VISUALIZATION" is HELPFUL, INTEGRAL!!!! see it all in your mind - as in the zen of archery, how does the blind man "SEE" THE LAST ARROW HE SHOT AND THEN SPLIT IT WITH HIS SECOND SHOT? and that was done and proven, make no mistake those whom are doubtful

and yes, only the 'present' carries value, as all else is non-consequential

and from my world, how does a trap-shooter break all hundred targets or even 200 targets without a miss - then break 5 or 600 more in the shootoff??

imho, it is without thinking in any measure one can ascribe...

i can't say more, cause i can't understand more with my mind

all the best,
smokey

 

[Patrick Johnson]

smokey:
how does the blind man "SEE" THE LAST ARROW HE SHOT AND THEN SPLIT IT WITH HIS SECOND SHOT? and that was done and proven, make no mistake those whom are doubtful

No, it wasn't. You're thinking of an episode described in Zen in the Art of Archery. The "blind man" was the teacher and the author was the student - and the teacher wasn't blind, it was just in a darkened room. The teacher later explained that it was just a fluke shot, and a shot that hits the previous arrow is actually a bad shot, not a good one.

pj
chgo

 

[genomachino]

Your left eye dominant............

I have a tendency to under cut balls to the right, and over cut them to the left.

I'm thinking of using the hole reinforcers to set up a cut shot, then set up a target on the rail to aim at that puts the ball in the heart of the pocket for that angle.

Then I can learn where to put my body and head so the shot looks right when aiming at the target.

The target could be a toothpick stuck in an eraser. I don't get down that low, so I might have to set it on the bed, between the rail and the object ball.

Hi there JohnnyP

Your left eye is your pool shooting dominant eye. This is the same problem that most players have but most don't even know which way they have trouble shooting.

This is what I teach and is the whole root to the problem that most players face when aiming a shot.

It's like 1+1=2. It is the same for all players that shoot with both eyes excluding the one eyed wonders of the world. By that I mean the guys that shoot with only one eye.

Have a great day geno..........

 

[TATE]

Over the years, as I’ve become more adept at the various skills required for pool, my development goals have become less and less about “physical” skills like pocketing balls and controlling the CB and more and more about “mental” skills like visualization, focus and consistency that provide the “fertile ground” for the other skills to grow and mature.

I’ve kept my eyes and ears open for information or guidance from any source, and have been surprised at the variety of sources for useful lessons. I’ve learned techniques used by pool players, but also from other sports like golf, tennis and even baseball. Not surprisingly, I’ve also learned some things from meditation techniques like Zen, especially sport-meditation hybrids like Zen archery.

Over time it has dawned on me that all these different techniques have at their core a common message about how to excel at activities requiring extreme precision. All of them teach that the intense mental focus and physical consistency needed for success can be achieved through disciplined repetition of highly choreographed physical routines leading up to and completing the action. In pool this is the pre-shot routine.

Pool’s pre-shot routine and the methods of other disciplines have two central objectives in common:

1. to place the body in a precisely predetermined “best” position for the task

2. to clear and focus the mind on the task, using the repetitive choreography (pre-shot routine) as a “meditative trigger”

An Added Step For My Routine

In addition to the normal sort of pre-shot routine (stepping into the shot and lowering into the stance) I’ve added a final step developed from the “one-stroke” practice technique. One-stroke practice is simply not taking any practice strokes before the shot stroke, forcing yourself to be especially careful and precise in finding the aim line and aligning with it as you lower into your stance, and also forcing yourself to take a few moments while at the CB address position to be sure that your head position and aim is precise, your stick is pointed precisely on-line and your stroking arm feels like it’s positioned to make a perfect in-line stroke on the first and only try.

I don’t actually one-stroke while playing, but I imagine that I'm going to, which reminds me to be more careful and precise in setup and to stop for a prolonged moment (as much as a few seconds for some shots) at CB address before taking any practice strokes, using this “quiet time” to make the same careful assessment of my aim, alignment and readiness to make a perfect shot stroke and to bring my focus fully on the task. I then allow myself to take (usually only a few) practice strokes before actually shooting, narrowing my focus more with each one.

This added step has made a significant difference in my success rate.

pj
chgo

I want to add something to this. There are basics that are advisable, but there is no one routine that fits all of us. For example, if I tried to copy Bustamante's set-up, I would play terrible.

In my opinion, the greatest benefit of having a repeatable routine, no matter what technique you individually select, is that it gives you consistent "feedback" and you learn more from your mistakes.

When a player gets all twisted out of position and never gets down the same way twice, or moves around a lot when they are down, they will miss shots for many different reasons, other than aim or visualization. However, when you get down on a shot consistently the same way, I believe we can only then truly learn from our mistakes.

Also, on the "one stroke" practice - there is timing involved in the pre-shot routine that is often overlooked. When we are under pressure, the tendency is to either speed up or freeze up and miss the shot because we go 'out of routine". The best players keep a consistent pace of play when faced with an obvious layout, whether it is fast or slow. I find the closer I can stay to my successful rhythm, the fewer mistakes I make.

A player's routine is his best friend under pressure, so you have to practice it a lot and put all your trust and faith in it.

One last thing - to judge your own improvement, something I noticed in my own shotmaking was, with more practice I got better and better at visualizing the aim line. This is one way to gage your improvement, so no matter how "out of stroke" you may get, your mind remembers the correct aim line. It's something that comes with practice and really helps to build confidence, but it does not come without a repeatable routine.

Chris