slumps and getting better

wgcp

wgcp

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Dec 13, 2004
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long beach, mississippi
Does any one else get into a slump for a couple of months, and then come out of it playing better? I have been in one for at least 3 months and can't seem to break out of it... have gone back to basic banking and set 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 cut shots both sides... I feel as if I am trying too hard here lately... Oh well, I guess continuously getting my butt handed to me by one of the best on the coast doesn't help either...

If this is part of the learning curve it just sucks...

B
 
Tom Wirth

Tom Wirth

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Delray Beach, Florida
wgcp said:
Does any one else get into a slump for a couple of months, and then come out of it playing better? I have been in one for at least 3 months and can't seem to break out of it... have gone back to basic banking and set 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 cut shots both sides... I feel as if I am trying too hard here lately... Oh well, I guess continuously getting my butt handed to me by one of the best on the coast doesn't help either...

If this is part of the learning curve it just sucks...

B
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Bille,
It sounds to me as though your problem is in your ritual & Rhythm. Slumps like you are describing should not last several months unless you have an issue with your approach to your shots. The only other possibility I can think of would be in your attitude to every shot.

Think back to the whys of your losses. Are you making poor decisions at key moments? Are you missing balls which you know you should be making? Is your attitude such that you doubt yourself when you should be confident?

If your stroke is jerky, spend the next few hours on the practice table devoting all your concentration on stroke production. Shoot every shot from off the spot and check the result of the stroke by looking at where the cue stick finishes in relation to the spot. The tip of your cue should be directly over the spot and in a straight line in the direction of the original point of aim. If you are right handed and the tip has squirted left of the spot then you are coming out with you grip hand. The tip will squirt to the right if you twist your wrist on your follow through. Are you following through the cue ball? The tip of your cue will show you whether you are or not. The spot is a key learning tool for stroke production. Use it. Think smooth, develop rhythm, have a ritual which you repeat with every shot and brings comfort, and confidence. Visualize the shot before hand. Train yourself to see the shot in your minds eye and don't shoot until that visualization is clear.

I suggest you start there and see.

Good luck, :)

Tom
 
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B

Bill

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Jan 21, 2005
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Washington DC
wgcp said:
Does any one else get into a slump for a couple of months, and then come out of it playing better? I have been in one for at least 3 months and can't seem to break out of it... have gone back to basic banking and set 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 cut shots both sides... I feel as if I am trying too hard here lately... Oh well, I guess continuously getting my butt handed to me by one of the best on the coast doesn't help either...

If this is part of the learning curve it just sucks...

B
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my reply is a little less involved than Tommy's but need to say back home TomTom and I evolved in a very pool oriented environment. DC had it all … players and the 24hr poolrooms

speaking for myself B, and my game is a good one, once I see I'm not playing well my inner talkings occur :)

maybe I'm not supposed to play any better than this. maybe I'm washed up and that's it so to speak. maybe this, maybe that ... then I just let it go, not giving up of course, but just go back to enjoying the game I so love

sure enough once I stop dwelling on the past or my slump, and emphasize (sp?)
enjoyment - amazingly enough I notice that "hey I'm playing pretty good" these days. what's up??

this not an over night thing B but something with no time table, it just happens

one step back- two steps forward, has happened often in my pool career. let it go and continue putting in your dues. it's there, stop looking for it and let it find you

jmo
 
gulfportdoc

gulfportdoc

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Jun 25, 2004
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12,685
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Gulfport, Mississippi
wgcp said:
Does any one else get into a slump for a couple of months, and then come out of it playing better? I have been in one for at least 3 months and can't seem to break out of it... have gone back to basic banking and set 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 cut shots both sides... I feel as if I am trying too hard here lately... Oh well, I guess continuously getting my butt handed to me by one of the best on the coast doesn't help either...

If this is part of the learning curve it just sucks... B
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Bille, if you're still playing bad this week, let's play some...:D Incidentally you should qualify "one of the best on the coast" as JM. Otherwise everyone will just assume that it is I.:cool:

Doc
 
wgcp

wgcp

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long beach, mississippi
doc

doc

I am off till next Tuesday... my diamond or yours?

Tom,
thanks, my tip was moving left... I did eberle's drill, no practice stroke, just align, set the cue, fire it in, and it fixed it... only took me three hours...

B
 
wgcp

wgcp

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Dec 13, 2004
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From
long beach, mississippi
tom

tom

Have not decided in whether to drive the diesel or the jag to derby... but save me a spot on your dance card... I will fire a couple at you

B
 
Mkbtank

Mkbtank

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Philly Pa
If anyone ever wants to pick up a great book on the mental part of the game (as folks mentioned below) check out "pleasures of small motions" by Robert Fancher. For me it was fantastic.
 
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newfosgatesucks

newfosgatesucks

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Nov 23, 2006
Messages
858
Your favorite food is cool too. But everyday?
Then after a week of being force fed it, you bash your head into eating it, even though you were tired of it....
......compounded by the fact we think about pool even when not playing. Leaves way less chance for positives.

Generally when I have a rough time i revert to other hobbies. When good things happen there, it will follow you to the table.
 
S

senor

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May 27, 2004
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The best slump buster, like Freddie already noted, is to find a road kill game and beat on them relentlessly. A recent victory and a little money in your pocket will instill a little confidence back into your game.
 
Tom Wirth

Tom Wirth

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From
Delray Beach, Florida
kingrichardthelionheart said:
give up the proper weight and you be in action everyday.
Click to expand...

That's like the advice the old time hustler used to say when the young gun asked him for the two best pieces of advice he had for solid pool play.

"First and best piece of advice I can give Ya kid is to never, under any circumstances, undercut a shot." "Oh Yeah. What's the other piece of advice you got for me?" "Never overcut a shot." :D

Tom
 
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