The Cueist Finding His Stroke

Latest thoughts from The Cueist:

So I've been slowly going out to play a little more pool. My first time back to hitting my first ball was about a week after my previous post. My Wednesday league had our league banquet, which was mostly to give the payouts for a very short season. But nonetheless, I went out there mostly to get out of the house. Usually, they have a small tourney to pass the time, but I had no intention of playing it IF they had one. I wanted to hit a few balls and find my stroke, which had been on an extended hiatus. 

So, one of the shots that I spent a ton of time practicing was a stroke shot with inside English. I set the object ball on the spot, and the cue ball on the head spot. I also set up a ball on the short rail closest to the head spot, so you have to avoid the scratch, and go 3 rails for shape on the next ball. I get down on the shot, and my eyes are having a hard time adjusting to the sight picture. I guess it had been THAT long. LOL. I do a few warm up strokes and my arm feels so weird doing the cueing motion again. So I stand up, step into the shot and concentrate on the shot. Surprisingly, I fired it in center pocket, avoid the scratch, and float the 3 rails for shape. One of my teammates saw and said, "Wow, haven't been playing my a$$!" I laughed and set up the shot again. Stepped into it, and boom....center pocket again. Now, this is one of my most practiced shots so I figured I made the shots due to the fact that it was so comfortable to me. So, I decided to break a rack of 9-ball and try to beat the ghost for a few games.

Now, this is where the wheels promptly fell off. LOL. 

I took ball in hand and got perfect shape on the 2. Now, the 2 is about center table, and I had to force follow with inside for shape on the 3. So I get down on the shot and I missed the shot by a diamond. I set it up again, and same result. Now, I set it up one more time and adjusted.....missed the shot by 1/3 diamond this time - so I was improving, LOL. So I decided to scratch that and go back to the basics and do a drill my old coach Gordy used to have me do. 

While I didn't have the actual track, I just set up the balls accordingly and practiced on mechanics. It took me about 30 mins, but I managed to complete the drill after lots of frustrations. But as you (Melinda) mentioned in a previous blog, if you have a good stroke then we'd have nothing to worry about. But, I sure was worried there!!

Now, since then I've gone to practice about once a week and have been sparring with a guy that's about 2 points (Fargo) lower than I am. He's got access to a table at home, but hasn't really competed either aside from playing the ghost at home. So the first night, we played 3 races to 7. I lost 7/1, won 7/3, then won hill/hill. The following week, the same exact result. The 3rd session, I lose hill/hill, win 7/1, win 7/2. 

The practice was leading up to a goal in mind, and that was me playing in a tournament coming up. Last week, I made it a point to go play 2 times that week, and I felt like I was about 90% compared to my old self. But, while my muscle memory may have been there, along with my stroke, my mental game wasn't near at 90% come to find out. 

So, the morning of the tourney, I woke up early and made it a point to stop and get breakfast at God's chicken house (Chick-fil-A). The poolroom is about 50 mins away so I got there with plenty of time to hit balls and finish my breakfast in the car. While finishing breakfast, the weirdest thing happened....I started to get nervous! Now, don't get me wrong, I get nervous all the time. But I haven't felt nerves BEFORE walking into the poolroom since the early part of my pool career. The only difference was that this time around, I was nervous about not playing up to my usual expectations, and making a fool of myself. I mean, last year I worked so hard on my game and was finally getting the results that I wanted in my league. So, I felt like I somewhat had to keep getting some decent results.

After the draw was complete, I realized I had to play a guy who is a low 600s Fargo on paper, but I'm the favorite. But he's been going out of state to play during the pandemic, while I've been doing home projects and woodworking projects. LOL. So it was a tough first match. 

In my mind, I thought "oh great, there's going to be an audience for this attempt of mine to play pool again." Aside from that, the nerves started to creep up again immediately and I felt my grip hand quiver a bit during my PreShot Routine. So, I had to reset multiple times on each shot to try and shake that feeling.

Naturally, because of the extra concentration, I found myself playing pretty good actually. I gave away 2 games but overall, played well and made it to the hill first. I was up 7/2 and was firmly in the driver's seat. I was finally able to close it out with a score of 7/4. 

My next match was against a good friend, teammate, who has tons of knowledge. So, by me not being at 100%, I knew I had to play good just to make it competitive. I played great, only made 2 mistakes. But unfortunately, he only made 1 mistake! Damn him, lol. He beat me hill/hill. It was a little disappointing because I played soooo well. But, I can't be too upset because he really did play almost flawless.

My next match was on against that sparing partner I mentioned (figures, right?). I didn't play too well in that match, and I ended up losing hill/hill. But, considering I haven't competed in five months, I'm both disappointed and proud. 

Disappointed because I felt like I gave myself a chance to win both matches that I lost. And proud because I did give myself a chance to win. So, all of my hard work wasn't lost 100% during the pandemic. Sure, I have a little rust in my mechanics. But, give me another month and I'll be VERY close to 100% again. 

Like you said in your blog.....give it time, you'll be fine if you haven't been playing much.

Focus on One Thing to Keep Emotions at Bay - The Cueist Project

I found another email from The Cueist (the pool player of The Cueist Project section of my blog) from last year and saw a gem in it to blog about.

He was upset at his opponent for pulling some sharking moves during the playoffs of one of his leagues.

He shared:

I couldn't help but think that I was about to lose the game b/c of those stupid moves that that guy pulled. And I tried everything to shake it. I could hear my heart beating, and I just wanted to win so badly after this.

So I make the 1 and I'm still upset. I make the 2, and tell myself "just make one ball at a time. You don't have to get perfect, just get out."

First, I hate for anyone to have to deal with tough opponents or raised emotions while we are trying to compete.  Sucks, doesn't it?

But his last sentence is something I wanted to touch upon today with you all.  It's really golden advice and and a great reminder.  And something I suggest you consider when you are upset, feel pressure, or are riled up during a match.

One ball at a time.

Usually, negative emotions can lead to us not performing our best, which in turn can cause us to lose the match. We try our hardest to win!  But....we still lose because the emotions overcome our muscle memory and our pre-shot routines.

One ball at a time.

The Cueist shared what he was thinking during this chaotic match, and it goes along with what I preach in my blog all the time.

What the Cueist eventually transitioned to was to was focusing his mind and thoughts on playing his best for the shot in front of him.

He eventually turned his focus, and he was no longer thinking about the score, or how badly he wanted to win, or how pissed he was.  Are any of those thoughts related to the mechanical process of playing pool?

NOPE.

His thinking was spot on. At this point, when he was so upset and wanted to win so badly, that isn't the time to be fancy and cute and also try to get perfect shape. It's actually the perfect time to re-focus solely on the ball in front of you.

One ball at a time.

Remember that, peeps!

Do you see what is so great about this?  The Cueist removed emotion from his mind, and started to focus on the shot in front of him. THAT wins you games. THAT helps your nerves, pressure, or negative emotions. THAT helps your pre-shot routine. THAT helps you win more games.

It's okay to think and feel negative things. But let them go quickly! And then get back to the task at hand:  kicking your opponents' ass....One ball at a time.

image from Goalcast.com

Cueist Project: That Miss - Lesson 4, Committing

The Cueist recently had learning lessons from a crucial miss. I will share each lesson in separate blog posts.

Today we will talk about Lesson #4: Committing to the shot.

Here is the story:

I'm deep in a big state tournament. My opponent is spotting me 1 game and in a matter of about 10 mins, I'm down 4/1. I claw my way to being down only 5/3, and he misses his last ball. I only have 4balls on the table and I have the break on the hill game. Heck yeah, that's exactly what I wanted! I make my first ball, stop shot. Take a breath. 2nd ball, good shape. Take a breath. 3rd ball, had to go 2 rails for shape w/ inside English. Nail it and took a breath. Last ball before the 8 ball, and I have to draw it back off of the rail w/ outside English. Well, I didn't HAVE to do that, but that was going to get me perfect shape on the 8ball. I get down on the shot feeling a bit nervous and single stroked the shot, while chicken-winging it, and jumping up at the same time. Then took a breath. LOL. Cost me the match of course.

Cueist adds:

I didn't make up my mind on where I needed the cue ball, and as a result, I didn't commit to the shot.

Personally, I think this lesson (#4) is the key to any shot.

You have to commit to every shot, and if you're not fully committed, we need to stop and reset.

I remember getting down on the shot and said to myself that it's an easy shot, but can get tricky due to the side pocket. In reality, the side pocket should've never come into play. But because of that last second doubt and indecision, I should've stopped, gotten up, and reset. You see? I hadn't truly decided yet where I wanted to be; and it cost me.

I hate this for Cueist. A little bit of nerves, a little bit of an indecision, a little bit of thinking in his head, all led to a crucial miss.

So many things can happen to us during every shot.  The four lessons we are rehashing with The Cueist (Lesson one (easy shots), Lesson two (perfect shape), Lesson three (nerves), and today's lesson (committing) are KEY.  And the bottom line is to stay down, stay calm, breathe, and focus only on your fundamentals and solid pre shot routine.  And you'll be okay!

Cueist Project: That Miss - Lesson 1, Easy Shots

The Cueist recently had learning lessons from a crucial miss. I will share each lesson in separate blog posts.

Today we will talk about Lesson #1: Taking shots for granted.

Here is the story:

I'm deep in a big state tournament. My opponent is spotting me 1 game and in a matter of about 10 mins, I'm down 4/1. I claw my way to being down only 5/3, and he misses his last ball. I only have 4balls on the table and I have the break on the hill game. Heck yeah, that's exactly what I wanted! I make my first ball, stop shot. Take a breath. 2nd ball, good shape. Take a breath. 3rd ball, had to go 2 rails for shape w/ inside English. Nail it and took a breath. Last ball before the 8 ball, and I have to draw it back off of the rail w/ outside English. Well, I didn't HAVE to do that, but that was going to get me perfect shape on the 8ball. I get down on the shot feeling a bit nervous and single stroked the shot, while chicken-winging it, and jumping up at the same time. Then took a breath. LOL. Cost me the match of course.

Cueist added:

Prior to me missing that shot, I had to grind and stay in the match. And in that last game, I honestly thought he was out. Then all of a sudden, he missed. I never got nervous during the first couple of shots. I actually attribute the miss a few different things....

It was such as easy shot, that I took it for granted. I basically just had to make the last shot and not scratch anywhere on the table, and I'd be able to make the 8ball.

But, I took it for granted.

I think we can all relate to this. We bear down on the tough shots, right? Stroke a little more, breathe a little more, stay down. But here comes the easy ones and we two-stoke it, or don't stay down, or rush it. What the @#%#&%&**(&!

I once watched a one pocket match for $5 a game 15 years ago against two guys in their 60s. I was SO surprised when one guy would stroke the ball 4-5 times on straight-in stop shots. I was like, "What the hell is he doing?"

He was giving each shot the courtesy and time that it deserved. He had enough years of experience under his belt to know that even the easy shots could be missed and cost him money. He took his time and was intentional in his efforts, intentional on every single shot - even the easy ones. And, it helped him!

The point is, we all at times rush our shots, but more so ESPECIALLY in the heat of the moment and under pressure. That's why it's so key to get your pre shot routine down!

So, be wary of the easy shots!

Now, Cueist plays good and has a solid pre shot routine, but you will find out in the upcoming learning experiences there were other things going on that impacted that damn easy miss, errr, that shot,

(yes, you have to wait some more, lol)

Happy For Friends Games Maturing

This past weekend was a nice treat for those who love to watch women's pool. RackemTV, a live streaming company out of the Dallas area, streamed throughout the Jerry Olivier's Ladies Tour stop at JR Pockets in Denton, Texas.

I played at JR Pockets several years via the Omega Tour, so it was nice to see a familiar place in the background. And one of my favorite commentators was helping call plays (Billy Guy who I wrote about before), so that was an added bonus as well. When RackemTV was streaming the DFW 9Ball Tour last month from JR Pockets, Billy was not the commentator and boy was he missed!

Anyway, the reason for writing this morning is to share how happy and proud I was to see some friends play who have not just kept their game up, who have not just improved, but that their game has a maturity to it that we all hope for in our friends game!

I can't begin to put into words how happy my heart was to see some of my friends who have been playing well for years, who now play not just better, but with confidence, poise, and improved knowledge. They not only played well, they shot damn good - their games have really matured! They didn't take shots for granted, they stayed in each match whether up or down, and their mechanics were spot-on. It was such a joy to see shot after shot these few friends who I have always loved and admired their game and talent, but to see them play even more successful because of their solid mechanics, gained experience, and comfortable confidence.

I can't really put down in words what I mean.  I guess I am trying to say after years of watching them play and improve, it was nice to see their games elevated to such a level of maturity that no longer showed weak fundamentals, bad shots, or poor choices, if that makes sense. Every shot mattered, every pre-shot-routine was important and solid, and every decision was smart and confident. It was such a joy to witness!!

Awww, growing up is so much fun seeing in others!

What Can Help Your Pre-Shot Routine Under Pressure

A couple of weeks ago I was watching a stream because one of my friends was on it. I don't check them out all the time, but I get more interested when I personally know one of the players.

My friend is an up-and-coming player and I happened to catch the end of his match and watch him play a couple of games - the score was about even (5-5), so it was a close one!

As I watched him, I kept thinking to myself I needed to get a hold of this guy and help him with his fundamental! He wasn't staying down at all and he was rushing his shots. That caused him to miss a lot. He also cared more about shape than making the ball, which also caused him to miss. His body language showed he was frustrated (and maybe embarrassed, too, I'm guessing), but he was missing because he wasn't taking his time or staying down and didn't have a good pre-shot routine.

I guess I'm like the cat lady, lol, who wants to help all strays in need. She swoops them up and takes them home so she can care for them.

And that's what I wanted to with this guy! I wanted to reach out to him and ask if we can meet up so I can try and help him with this game. You know, instill in him that he needs to stay down and focus on the shot and stop rushing! He would see so much more progress in his game and faster results if he did this. I guess wish someone would have taken me aside and given me a deep cleansing lesson. So, I want to help him so he doesn't have to struggle for a long time like I did, and instead sees results sooner.

Btw, he ended up losing that match. :(

But then something happened.

I saw on Facebook a few days later that he linked to the match. So, for whatever reason, I decided to check out how he started in the match - did he take the lead first or did he make a come back or were they about even the whole time until I showed up at 5-5 when I watched it live the other day?

And what I saw is a HUGE thing that reminded me of a tip I received once that I am super excited about to share with you all!

So, what did I see? I saw that he was playing good!

Wait, what?

Yep! He was staying down on his shots, he was taking his time, he wasn't rushing, he showed less "emotion" and he was playing jam up! One of the first or second games he even ran out from the 2 ball. I was impressed!

And then it hit me.

Without even seeing the middle of the match, I can tell you what happened. Why do I know what happened in the match without seeing it in its entirety? Well, because I'm psychic. No, no, that's not it! It's because I could clearly see his mannerism and body language and shot-routine were completely different from how he started the match to what I saw the other day at the end of his match.

I don't know exactly what happened (told you I wasn't psychic) but something "negative" happened that created emotions, stress, pressure, nerves, or embarrassment, etc that got his game off kilter.

What I learned once was, when you recognize you are playing badly/off due to pressure, or if you already know you will be playing in a pressure match, you need to take a couple more strokes than usual before you shoot the ball.

This may seem counter intuitive. You might be saying to yourself, "It is counter intuitive, Melinda. Everyone knows you should have the same pre-shot routine every shot; that includes the same number of strokes." And, THAT's TRUE. However, what you are trying do to when you are nervous or upset or feeling pressure, is to get back to your usual pre-shot routine. And taking extra strokes helps you do that and slows down your adrenaline a bit because your body has slowed down.

You see, the reason why my friend was missing wasn't because he didn't know how to stay down or not rush his shots. He was missing because he felt the heat of the game or was upset about something. So, taking a few more strokes before we hit the ball gets us back into our pattern. It slows us down. And that's what he needed - to slow down, stay down, be reminded of his great pre-shot routine. Nerves and pressure causes our pre-shot routine to leap out the window. Our arms feel like jello and we keep missing and we don't know why, which frustrates us even more. But, taking extra strokes before we shoot the ball keeps us down on the shot longer, which helps us from jumping up and rushing. For whatever reason, it WORKS.

I feel a little embarrassed I wanted to take my friend home and care for him like a stray, lol, when in fact he already shoots really good! Just needs to have this tool in his toolbox for when the situation arises in the future.

Don't worry, I will let him know (guess I'm still kinda like that cat lady after all).

Enjoy!

Ask Why, Then Decide Solutions

I shared in my previous blog post that I sparred with one of my clients/students/friend over the weekend.  It was actually the second time we sparred this month - we met up two weekends before that.  But otherwise, I have not played pool for an ENTIRE YEAR.  The last time I played pool was January of 2018.  

Yes, seriously.

The first time her and I sparred earlier this month, though, I was tired towards the end of the 2nd hour, and distracted by several things.  One was the weather was nice for once and I wanted to work in my garage, lol (it has been so cold, I haven't been able to do that for a couple of months).  Two was, a few guys came in and played a couple of tables away from us and started to engage in conversation a little bit (not much, but enough to where it was bothersome).  And three, I was having some digestive issues (I know, tmi, lol).

While I played decent in the beginning, toward the end of the sparring sessions, I was definitely missing more shots.  And of course, that didn't spur me on to want to keep playing that afternoon lol.

However, we did schedule to spar again in two weeks.  

During this two-week period, it crossed my mind one day that the reasons why I played poorly toward the end was because of the typical demons:  (1) I wasn't staying down on my shots, (2) I wasn't focusing on my shots, (3) I wasn't comfortable and felt kinda tired, and (4) I was distracted.

Therefore, because these items are in my control, I was very cognizant of what I wanted to do differently when we met up again.

So, two weeks later, I deliberately ran errands before I met up with her - this allowed me to feel more "awake" and also give my body time to wake up.  I had this same routine for when I used to compete regularly.  I was also more cognizant and stayed down on my shots longer and focused on looking at the object ball last - both of these allow me to play my best.  And finally, I deliberately didn't have other plans that afternoon, so my attention was solely on the sparring session, and not thoughts of what I needed to do when we were done.

And sure enough, I played jam up and a lot better this time around!

Even though I haven't competed in an entire year, and barely competed the year before that, the problem-solving process remained.  I figured out what was off, thought about what I needed to do, then did it.

This tells me I have a good habit (in general) of figuring out what is going on/wrong, and then preparing to resolve it.  

So my question to you is, have you incorporated this into your game?  Or how about your daily life? This is a great trait to have, right!?

Be the Example

I mentioned the other day I am giving lessons to a new client.  She is good player and it's a joy to see her kick my butt!  

She is very similar to my other main client and is a quick learner, so I appreciate that a lot, lol.  Further, she also asks for clarification of my shot selections or questions a suggestion, which is really cool to be able to provide reasoning and further details of the whys.

The one area she needs to work on, which we talked about, is she tends to poke at the ball.  I don't see it all the time, just off and on, but if she could stay down and follow through more and consistently, she would be even more of a force to be reckoned with.

We talked about some tips to help her follow through more often, but following through and staying down is really something one has to figure out on their own what is the best thing to help them accomplish that.  I explained that staying down and following through on tough shots is really a beautiful feeling.  Yes, a feeling.  It truly is.  No way for me to explain it except when you have that smooth stroke, taking your time, following through, it feels, well, beautiful.

So, I find myself in a lucky situation!  It took me over 20 years to finally stay down and follow through and feel that beautiful smooth stroke, but I can always use reminders :).  So when her and I spar, I tend to exaggerate staying down and following through.  I do this so she can see for 3 straight hours someone consistently and steadily staying down, taking their time, and following through well.  I have proudly shared that watching those EXACT things for a few years on the Omega Tour on Sundays from the top players elevated my game because I started to emulate them and the effectiveness of staying down so well.

I want the same for her. 

It also proves that when staying down well, I make more of my shots.  (weird coincidence, huh?)  So, while I am staying down longer on my shots to help her, it is also hugely helping me re-instill this key component of my game.

Filling Your Head

As I sat with my friend Dave Faver on Christmas Day, who was in the hospital over the holidays, we were talking about pool at one point.  Dave is a great pool player in the DFW-area (and other states, too) and he has a vast knowledge of the game that most people don't realize he has.

I was sharing with him that I was distracted when I had sparred over the weekend, and was missing easy shots at times.  You see, because I'm not competing as much anymore and as often, my mental toughness is actually really weak.  I don't bare down or focus as much as I used to, and I get easily distracted with thoughts.

He shared with me, "Yep, if you don't fill your head with of the right things, then the wrong things will wind up there for sure."

And he's SO right!

I have a tourney in Oklahoma this weekend and I know if I can fill my head with focusing on following through, staying down and focusing on the object last, then the surroundings and atmosphere and negative thoughts will have a tougher time to get into my head.

Great advice/reminder for me for this tournament!

Don't Take Easy Outs For Granted

I was listening to two commentators talk about a game and their words hit me like a brick and I wanted to share them, because it was the EXACT reason for the importance of a pre-shot routine and non-laziness.

I hadn't watched any of this match except the very last game that someone shared on Facebook.  It was evidently a race-to-30 gambling match.  The player on 28 games breaks his 10-ball rack but doesn't make a ball.  His opponent is left with a really tough layout, and he is on game 29!

I am can only imagine what they were playing for, and I would guess in the $1,000s range, since it was streaming from the Derby tourney action room.

Anyway, as the player is running out this tough rack, the commentators share this information:

The player at the table had been messing up earlier in the match and getting out of line more on easy layouts.  One of the commentators even called it "Mickey Mouse" outs.  And the player was getting in more trouble with them, and those are the ones the commentators kept thinking he would run out on.

They went on to say the player "razzled and dazzled" and didn't take his time, and not only got out of line a lot on the easy layouts, but also missed a straight-in 10-ball earlier in the set.

This player, the commentators said, "bares down much harder on the tough ones [layout]."

And this out WAS a very tough layout and he DID get out.

It goes to show that you should put the same effort into all shots, matches, and games.

Don't get lazy, and don't presume a lot about the layout.  Walk around the table, don't rush your shots or 2-stroke your shots, and don't take any shots for granted.  That's what gets us in trouble.

And a pre-shot routine will help you realize that every shot is important; every shot deserves the same respect.  And you will be more successful.

Pre-Shot Routine is a Habit

A friend of mine lost his chalk holder one Saturday night during a big tournament in October.  However, he didn't realize it until the next morning when he was about to play his first match of the day on that crisp Sunday morning.

It's the type of chalk holder that has a long end, where you can tuck it in your pocket, and the chalk hangs out.  Kinda like this:

I remembered another friend asking me if I knew who's this was, as he had found the chalk holder that Saturday night on the floor.

I immediately texted my friend Sunday morning, "Hey, I found out who's chalk holder that is and he needs it back."

The player said he would be okay that morning without, but I knew how uncomfortable he would be all day.  I knew that if his pre-shot routine included him tucking his chalk holder in his pocket after every shot (which he does), then he would be doomed....

Habits are hard to break.

And your pre-shot routine is a huge habit.  If that habit is broken or altered, it will very most likely affect your play just by the distraction of not doing something you've been doing every shot for years.

The player did not get his chalk holder back that day, but will at the next tournament.  He told me he has had it for 10 years or something and it means a lot to him.  Can you imagine a pre-shot routine for 10 years and then one day you have to change that routine?  

Here is another important point:  IF that did not affect his play, then he needs to work on his pre-shot routine.  Pre-shot routines are essential, critical parts of our game.  The more routine it is, the better chance we have at focusing on the ball in front of us the same every single shot.

Creating Bad Habits

I have been trying to explain this in other blog entries, but never really got my point across (yea, sometimes it takes me a while, lol).

However, I was talking to someone a few weeks ago at the Omega Billiards Tour stop about this and he described it perfectly, so I wanted to try and explain this one more time, lol, since I think this new explanation will help.

I have shared that I really don't like to just hit balls around socially with just anyone.  It brings my game down and hurts my fundamentals.

I also do not like to play pool when I've had too much to drink, because my fundamentals go out the window.  I've worked so hard on my fundamentals all these years, why would I ever consider playing pool while drinking too much or for fun if it will CREATE BAD HABITS?

If I am TRYING to practice with friends, then I will be fine, but otherwise, I do not play pool socially - I always have a goal or plan when I play. 

I honestly only try to play pool to better my game.

This means, I do not play unless I'm practicing and I don't like to just hit balls. 

Again, playing pool while drinking or just being social CREATES BAD HABITS! 

If you are okay with that, then it's super okay to have fun and play pool socially and/or drink!

My point it is for me, sure it's ok to socialize and have fun, but I take my game very serious and the last thing I want to do is create bad habits and weaken my fundamentals.

Randomly hitting balls around is not improving my game.  I have to be focused; sober, in the right frame of mind.  Otherwise, playing while drinking creates bad habits that I have tried to break all these years.  Staying down, follow through, looking at the object last, etc.   I can NOT do those things if I've had too much to drink!

Have I done this?  Sure.  Was I happy about it?  No not really.  But, I then get right back on the practice table and practice my pre-shot routine and fundamentals.  I don't want anything funny going on in tournaments or leagues!

I recommend to all my friends that want to improve your game, be careful how and when you play pool - don't create bad habits.  You want to at all times WORK on solidifying your fundamentals.

I'm not saying not to have fun, I'm just saying to keep this in the back of your mind.

:)

Handling Nervousness

I have learned a few very good tips over the years about how to handle nerves.  I thought I would share those today.

First and foremost, if you find yourself nervous, by all means, freaking BREATHE!

:)

Seriously, the best thing I have found to slow down my adrenaline is to take a very deep breath in, then HOLD IT.

Hold it in.

Then slowly let it out.

Repeat it.

Don't keep doing this til you pass out, lol, but do it til you feel your heart rate slow down.  You will know when to stop.

You will notice when you hold your breath in, you can feel your heart pulsating, usually in your neck and chest loudly.

But as you let go slowly, you can feel with just the very next deep breath in, your heart rate has been lowered.

I do this a few times in a row when I get nervous and it really, really helps.

The other thing I do doesn't necessarily stop me from being nervous, but it HELPS my play.

When I get nervous, my arms get wobbly.   Tough to play pool well and make great shots when your arms feel like butter.

When I am nervous, I tend to rush my shots.  I'm not really thinking clear when I'm nervous anyway, so it's very easy for my old habits of shooting too fast and jumping up to creep their ugly heads up.

So, instead, when I'm nervous, I stroke MORE.  A lot more.  Not 100 times, but more than normal. This is my second biggest tip for nerves.

I know what you are thinking, you shouldn't adjust your pre shot routine and fundamentals.  And that's fine.  But if I'm too nervous, my fundamentals are out the window anyway.  Might as well use something to help me stay down and combat the nerves a little, which for many is to stroke a few more times than you normally would.

#3:  This may seem to conflict directly with the above paragraph, but when I focus my thoughts on my fundamentals, it actually distracts me from being nervous anyway.  It's a beautiful thing!  So, stroking a couple of extra (or few) times more when I'm nervous allows me to stay down better, and reminds me to look at the object ball last.


Fourthly, of course the other thing to consider is, the more pressure situations you put yourself in (or find yourself in), the better you do each time.  My biggest learning experiences are the ones where I did NOT win; the ones where I fell right on my face in front of everyone.  Those experiences allowed me to do better under the pressure the next time.  Allowed me to have another change to keep my nerves in check with breathing and stroking more, and to learn from the mistakes I made under pressure in the past.  You will get better and better each time you get to "practice" these techniques under pressure.

Cinco: I try to remember if I'm nervous, it just means I care.  And it's a beautiful thing to care about being in the finals or playing in a big tournament or against a tough opponent. It means it's important to you.

And finally #6, if I get really nervous, I sometimes compare it to other things.  Is being in the finals of a tournament really something I should be nervous about?  Heck, I've witnessed death, been through a divorce, lost my best friend; you get the point.  Now, don't bring yourself down!  But perspective is a good thing and can help with your nerves, too.  Nerves = scary.  Don't be scared; be happy you can even play this game we all love!

As I overheard my friend Suzanne Osborne Smith say on a live stream once, "the pros don't ignore the pressure, they just know how to handle pressure."

I'm not saying I'm a pro, but what I do know from experience is you can't ignore nerves or ignore pressure; accept them and try to control them a little bit. And the pieces of advice above have helped me the most. 

Hope it helps you, too!

It's funny, when I started this blog entry, I was only going to mention the first two items (they are the most helpful out of all of them for me right now).  But then I remembered more, lol.

Gambling 101

On Sunday, I met with my ACS Nationals women's teammates to hit some balls with each other in preparation for the tourney.  Afterwards, I went to another pool room where my boyfriend was in a ring game.

I walk in and say my hellos and after only about 10 minutes, my boyfriend overhears that a guy down a few tables likes to gamble and was possibly looking for a game.  He also heard he isn't that good of a player, but has money and likes to play.

He then turns to me and tells me I should ask the guy to play.

Being the non-gambler that I am, I blow off the notion right away.

I don't recognize the guy, but he seems to be having fun talking to everyone around him.

After about 20 minutes, my boyfriend moves tables to the other side of the pool room, ironically,  closer to this guy named T..

As I find a place to sit near my boyfriend's table to watch him play, I see two friends and wanted to say hi and also talk about the Omega Billiards Tour.  I spoke to both about the upcoming stops because I and needed to find out which tourneys they were still interested in playing in.

As I'm talking to one of them, I see T hitting balls.  He is shooting at balls randomly, but he made every one of the eight balls on the table (strips and solids).

I tell one of the guys, "I hear I can beat this guy, but he looks pretty good to me."

Immediately, he says to me, "You can beat this guy.  You wanna play?  I'll back you."

The guy had only seen me play one other time about 2 years ago, and he's willing to back me?

He asks T if he would like to play and next thing you know, I'm in a race to seven 9-ball game for $100!

I wasn't sure how I would do as I was tired, but I got up there and played pretty dang sporty!  :)  I won the first game and a couple 5 tables down are cheering for me (yes, from way across the room, lol).  And another girl sitting on the sidelines claps for me, too. 

I didn't realize so many people would be watching.

I just tried to focus on pool. 

After the second game, I am LIT UP inside!  I am playing so freaking good, I can barely contain my excitement, but I need to keep focused.  I don't smile and just see the layouts and try to stay down super well.

Then, The Backer comes up to me and tells me I need to miss more or else the guy wont play another set.

Wait, what?

Really?

But I'm playing good!

I knew he was right, but I kinda wanted to just keep playing so well!  It felt fantastic!  I could feel a little pressure (I don't normally gamble), but I was controlled and comfortable.

I tried to miss a few times and it was actually very difficult!

Further, and this is the weird part, lol, I was playing SO good, that I was proud of myself and wanted to keep playing good in front of everyone.  I didn't want people to think I played bad or that the pressure of gambling was getting to me!

I was tormenting myself with the what I should do and what I wanted to do.

I didn't want to look bad, I wanted to keep playing well!

I tried to miss early, but it didn't work.  I saw the runs so beautifully, it was tough to not "show off" and just keep running the balls.  Many people were saying how well I played (many hadn't seen me play before) and I wanted to keep playing well.

Instead of missing early, I scratched a few times late in the rack and he would win those games.  He won a few on his own, too, but I was the better player.

My boyfriend was watching from the other side of the room and he saw I was messing up.  He came up to me and told me, "Calm down, you'll be okay."  I laughed at his kindness of trying to help me and confided I was trying to let the guy win a few games.  He smiled and understood I wasn't playing bad all of a sudden, I was intentionally playing bad.

The Backer told me T agreed already to play another set for sure, so I could start playing a little bit better again.

I scratched on a break at one point and he ran out!  He was now on 5 with me (Score 5-5 in a race to 7).  I then made an unintentional mistake and he got on the hill first!

OMG, really??  The slacking off was backfiring.

I told The Backer, "he might win this set.  It might have backfired."

He reassured me things would be okay.

The Backer was talking to T a lot.  He told me, "He likes to be entertained, we need to entertain him."

T was a talker.  And The Backer would say a lot, "make the 9 on the break, T!" or "go for the 9-ball combo!" trying to keep him excited.

I should have recognized to talk more and smile more, but I am so new to this whole thing, I was just trying to play pool.

T got on the hill first and made a big production out of it.  I remained calm.  I got on the hill with him and The Backer high-fived me and told me, "good out."

I broke dry hill-hill and just sat there, waiting my turn.  He scratched on the 3ball. 

I get the cueball and The Backer comes up to me and tells me, "Just take your time, okay?"

My heart was beating out of my chest.  I could feel everyone watching and the pressure was immense.  If I just played my own game (good) I would have beat him 7-4 (at most!).

I ran all the balls and left myself a tough cut on the 9ball.  I told myself to just stay down, like I did in the finals of the team event when everything is riding on it.

I made it!  It was SUCH a tough shot, and run out!

Everyone was cheering and happy and I was like, "Whew!"

I played really good.  :)

Then we played another set (they upped the bet to $200) and I was finally able to go back to playing good again and won 7-4.  And made $120 from the guy backing me!  :)

(and no, I don't know why I didn't get exactly half, as I don't normally get staked and therefore don't know the etiquette.)

Everyone in the place was happy I won.  I guess he is annoying to some people.  People were high-fiving me and thanking me for beating him.  And one girl said I was playing for all the females, lol.  But she was super supportive cheering for me (I admit I am not used to clapping during gambling matches, btw).

He wouldn't play me anymore.  Not even 8ball.  I wish I would have been more animated, that might have helped, but honestly, he recognized he was in a bad game and wont play me again unless I adjust.  And I wont give up weight (yet). 

It was a learning experience for sure.  To have to deliberately play bad is tougher than I thought.

I was SO glad I did this, though.  With ACS Nationals coming up in less than two weeks, I needed another good experience of using good fundamentals under pressure.  The Backer told me I had great fundamentals and stayed down well.  I was impressed as well with myself, but happy not only with my fundamentals, but also with my runs.  I could see the entire layout of the runs very well this day.  :)

Great experience for my Vegas tourney coming up!

Scotch Doubles Reminders

On Saturday I played in a scotch doubles tourney and my partner and I only placed 4th.  We should have won the whole thing, but we did not :(

(click photo to enlarge to see Roy's Sports Bar)

I felt overly confident when we started off, but as the tourney went on, I got more and more unsure of my choices and felt I would be told what I did wrong, and therefore it affected my play immensely.  I was thinking while down on my shots, second guessing my choices, and very un-confident.

My boyfriend was my partner and we have had only about three instances of not playing well together in the last 2 1/2 years.  I suppose those odds are good, but it still upsets me we even go through these types of situations where he comments on my shots and we end up not placing well.  He knows I play best when he just supports my misses or choices, but as most men do, he was simply stating facts and hadn't remembered I do best when he's simply supportive.

I told him this week, "You are lucky I don't write about what happened in my blog."

His response: "I figured you would anyway."

lol.

I wonder if that crosses his mind sometimes, like, "Oh shit, she's gonna write about that."  lol

I am kinda glad this bad scotch doubles situation happened, though.  We have a much bigger scotch doubles tourney coming up next week at the BCAPL Texas State Tourney.  Last year we placed a measly 2nd and we should have won it.  (I said that above, too, huh? lol. But, we were one shot away from being in the hotseat last year.)

Anyway, I think it's good we got that mess out of the way and it was a great reminder for him to not second guess my choices out loud TO me.  I do so much better with support, even if I dog it.  :)  Seriously, I can recover much faster from a mistake if he just says, "it's okay, Honey" instead of "you should have used draw on that ball," because that puts doubt in my head.  As he remembered after the tourney, he can share advice AFTER the tournament is over with - during just messes with my confidence.

Further, the tourney showed some reoccurring flaws in my pre shot routine and those mistakes will now be a great reminder for the upcoming tourney in all the events I play in.

So, glad that happened.  Really!

And then on Monday (just two days later), we played at the same pool room for league as we had on Saturday.  For some reason I could see the table and balls and layouts SO MUCH clearer!  It was amazing.

But, I was also more cognizant of thinking when standing and getting back up if I wasn't sure, because just on Saturday I was not doing that.

And it showed in my stats!  I play on a strong men's team and we played against another strong men's team.  I won 3 outta 5 games WITH a break and run!  :)