Founding Father of PoolSynergy, John Biddle, is hosting PoolSynergy's anniversary month (November) and his topic is:: "Three Tips." Each contributor is to write up a post containing 3 tips related to pool, preferably of the same general classification.
Same classification? Oh, wow, toughie....
Well, here it goes:
I think it's very important to prepare for the UNKNOWN conditions of your tournament BEFORE you get to the tournament. Specifically, these unknowns:
1. Equipment
2. Temperature
3. Surroundings
What? How can I prepare for the conditions before I'm even at the pool room, or have practiced on the table to see how it rolls?... you might be asking yourself.
Let me 'Esplain:
Equipment:
You should be aware and be prepared that the equipment may not be the best. To help combat your frustrations with non-perfect tables, consider that everyone is playing under the same conditions. Yes, we would like pristine conditions, but let's be realistic - there may be holes in the cloth, dead rails, plastic/clumsy racks/pockets, bad lightning. I have played in a pool tournament with all of these conditions on one table before! If you let yourself get upset over these things (things which you can't control), then you are not focusing on pool. You are letting things interfere with your pool game that has nothing to do with being mentally able to focus completely on the task at hand.
Temperature:
Same for the temperature in the pool room. Be prepared that some pool rooms get exceptionally cold or hot! Bring an extra sweater or over shirt with sleeves as a backup in case the room is cold. Better to have this as a backup than you not being able to play because your arms are frozen. In the Summer in Texas, sometimes the A/C breaks or freezes and it gets hotter inside than out (no joke). We play in these conditions a lot, believe it or not. If you are consumed with negative thoughts about how damn hot it is, then you aren't focusing on pool again. Don't let the negative energy of being upset about something YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER affect your pool game.
Atmosphere/Surroundings:
Now for the atmosphere - you never really know what you might be getting into. Even if you've played in this particular tourney 1,000 times, maybe this time there is a heckler, or they get a new waitress who is the worst server ever, or the guys on the next table are clueless and keep getting in your way when you shoot. Be prepared for everything; for anything. Know that things may not be perfect; accept that! Accept that you have no control over your surroundings. When you do, then you can instead focus on playing your best pool, so the distractions do not become a negative and interfere with your matches.
Nothing is worse than distractions affecting your mental game. Distractions are negative emotions that cause negative thoughts which leads to not thinking clearly which causes tenses muscles and your fundamentals become affected. Negative thoughts and emotions CAN be tamed. These tips above can help if you practice them.
The whole point of this blog entry is to help remind us to not let things bother us that we cannot control. If you accept that things may go wrong and NOT let them bother you, you can then focus on playing pool; your best ability to play pool. Don't let any of the above become YOUR excuse for losing. Or for not playing your best. Before you set foot into the pool room to play in the tourney, already be prepared for the unknown distractions so you can PLAY POOL with a clear, positive, strong mind.
Reminds me of the serenity prayer, to help one focus on true opportunities rather than on wastes of time. Easier said than done, but extremely good advice.
ReplyDeleteI had an incident in our league last night that addressed pretty much every point you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteIt's summer in South Africa so its bloody hot... there was no working A/C.
There were 4 teams playing in a single hall which got very messy as it was a small place. And there were regulars lurking to boot.
But the worst was the condition of the tables. It severely demoralizes you when you play a perfect safety that requires finesse and your thwarted by the fact the the table rolls slanted like a hill-side.
After my second safety failed I was down in the dumps. The apposing teams were playing to the roll of the table as they are the home team and I lost many frames due to having to play aggressive.
I'm known for being able to rattle an entire team with ridiculous snake shots. My strongest point became my weakness in these conditions. I still don't know how I'll deal with it next time we get there.
This is so true. I can't count the times where something about the environment has "ruined" it for me and put me in a bad mood. Then I blow the tournament and drive home fuming.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder not to sweat the small stuff and to bring a jacket in case the AC is set to Tundra.