New Golden Nuggets

I always love good nuggets of information and in the last month or so I've "stumbled" upon some great ones I liked so much, I want to share them because they are new for me, and more importantly, because they have helped my game so much recently.

The Rear View Mirror, by CJ Wiley

I watched CJ Wiley's Ultimate Pool Secrets DVD two weeks ago before my big Ladies Tournament.  I noticed my boyfriend had been playing better after he watched the video, so I wanted to take a gander at it.

While my boyfriend liked CJ's approach to the shots best, of all the things that stood out to me, was in one of the discussions CJ had with his "Mental" guest, John J Emerick Jr..

Dr. Emerick stated to CJ, "Many of the excellent achievers I interviewed, once they miss, they will mentally rehearse not what they did wrong, but how they would have done it differently."

This hit me like a ton of bricks!  I thought it was a great way to think about my mistakes.  When I miss, I try to figure out what I did wrong - not stay down, not follow through, thinking while down on the shot, etc.  But this perspective that Dr. Emerick learned from his interviews of top professionals is very enlightening to me!  It's a huge thing, imo, because it shows the difference from what I was doing, to what I could do better that would help me.

CJ shared with Dr. Emerick that he doesn't look in the rear view mirror.  CJ stays in the present. Oh, if only I could do that, too!

Focus on the Shot, by Joe Salazar

Joe Salazar and I talked about shotmaking.  He mentioned to me in Feb in Reno that once he figured out to focus on the shot instead of thinking about making the shot, his game sky rocketed. 

The moment he shared that, I immediately asked him to repeat it.  I recognized how powerful it was (and wanted to write it own verbatim).  I had an epiphany!  I exclaimed to Joe, "That's wild!  Sometimes when I'm down on a shot, I am thinking, 'Just make this shot, don't worry about shape, just make the ball, follow through, stay down.'"

"Exactly," he says, "don't do that."

"Instead, concentrate and focus on making the ball, don't think about making the ball."

I realize we are told all the time not to think while down on our shots, but I admit I was trying too hard to make my shots sometimes.

This was extremely helpful and I noticed it helped right away.  I did exactly as he suggested - focused on making the shot, instead of thinking about making the shot.

Walking Around the Table, by Lee Bret

During a big ladies tourney in January, I noted how I cried after one of my matches (I am not ashamed, I was emotional, upset, and being a GIRL!).  What I noticed was I missed late in the rack - every single game of the two matches on that Sunday.  I wasn't sure what was going on with me or why I was doing that.

I recalled a mental coach told me once that on average, people normally run a certain number of balls.  Her and I watched a female pro play in a big tournament in Austin.  The mental coach was the pro's coach and so she already knew the pro's ball count run was 5.  We would watch a great layout, do-able for sure, and sure enough, she would miss on the 6th ball.  A LOT.  It was wild what I was witnessing!

While I didn't ask her the solution (wish now I would have), I wondered how I should handle my late misses, and wondered if it had anything to do with the what I had heard from this mental coach over 8 years ago.

Then, before my second big ladies tournament in March, I watched this video by coach/pro player Lee Bret (promotional video for his upcoming DVD):




Bret goes over A LOT of helpful advice in this promo video (it's ten minutes long), but the biggest thing that I got out of the video that I utilized in my very next tourney was to walk around more.  "Don't walk this way (to the right), walk this way (to the left, the long way).  See the whole picture," Lee advises.  Walk around the table, see the entire table.

I can't explain why this helped me miss less and finish racks more.  But I was elated to finally not dog the 6, 7, 8 or 9 balls so much, lol.  I walked around more.  It helped me.

I always try to make sure what side of the next ball I need to be on, but the few extra steps I took that weekend during the tourney, really helped me finish out racks.

Approaching Shots, by Lee Bret

All the top pros have their own way to approach shots. Some use a certain line and bend over, some come into the shot, some use the snooker approach, whatever.

I asked Lee Brett (coach to many pros) in Reno about the 5 parts he teaches for each shot.  He showed them all to me in about 5 seconds (kid you not!).

One part of the five that he taught me in those quick seconds, I used a lot in Reno (and after) and helped me the most:  Walk into the shot.

I don't know how to explain it, except to share this:  When I would get down to shoot, I'd realize I didn't walk into the shot.  I would get back up, step back a couple of feet behind the shot, look at the shot, then walk into it, and then bend down for the shot.

Before, I didn't walk into the shot, I would just get down on the shot.  Walking into the shot made me see it better; and be more confident about the shot.  If I am on a tough shot, I will get back up, step back, and then walk into the shot.  It helped me stay down, too.  It helped me see the whole shot better.

BTW, you can buy Lee Brett's Secret Art of Pool on Amazon here. (also available for the kindle!)


So difficult to describe easily why all the above helped me so much, but I wanted to share these because I love them so much!