Rut?

Gosh, I sure am playing badly right now.  Well, not just "right now," but honestly, in the last month. 

I know it doesn't make sense, rationally:  Let's see, I was on a team that WON the Women's Open at BCAPL Nationals, I just placed 7th at the OB Cues Ladies Tour last weekend, I won 4 out of 5 games at league on Monday. 

But, it's the matches in-between that tell the real story.  Or, some of the luck I had in the matches I won.

I can just tell I'm not playing well.

I don't know exactly when it started, but I know it was either right before my trip to Vegas or it started IN Vegas.  I didn't play well the entire time in Vegas.  I lost matches I never should have lost in every single division I played in - singles, doubles, teams.  I missed shots I never should miss.

On my Thursday night league, I have played the first two weeks and already have a terrible stat of only winning 5 out of 10 games.  For me, that's TERRIBLE! 

I keep missing shots, thinking of shape, not taking my time, etc.  My pre-shot routine is out the window!  I'm even practicing at home, but that's not helping.

When I placed 7th at the OB Stop last weekend, I got lucky I got that far.  I barely even felt like playing at first because I felt so out of place playing pool.  Luckily, I had a decent draw on the one-loss side after losing my first match hill-hill.  I got in dead-stroke ("in the zone") for my last match on Saturday night, but other than that, I can't remember the last match I played well - only all the games I gave away and all the shots I keep missing.

If it IS a rut, then I can't wait to get out of it, because as all pool players know, when we come out, we are playing better.  I just hope that's what it is; I am hoping it's not my confidence. 

Something is off, though.

Scary, sucks,and frustrating.

UGH!

While we can never "plan" ruts, the timing isn't good for me - I have a big tourney at the end of the month I'd like to play well in.  While I would get lucky to get in the money based on the tough field, I more want to play well by Sept 20th when I play in the next OB Cues Ladies Tour so I can remain high in the rankings on that tour.

Ugh!

:)

Thank you for listening.