petie
Verified Member
Sacre Bleu!
14.1 Psych Question …
http://www.onepocket.org/forum/showpost.php?p=118208
In Sunny's thread about psyching out an opponent I explained I can be prone to being sucked into my opponents' negative energy.
Rodney put up some great feedback that I've linked above, and I would like to read more opinions and experiences on this theme. I would especially like to know the thoughts of members who have competed at the top levels, e.g. Billy Incardona, Freddy Bentivegna, onepockethacker, senor, Tom W, etc.
Sacre Bleu!
You are both right about the title of the thread. I can be so clumsy about stuff like that. How can I change it?
I assumed that the best players had to have the best mental games, and not just the best technical games. I still tend to think that. I think I was hoping that one of those top guys had a magic formula for mental toughness. I forget that mental toughness has to be developed with effort (like technical ability), and that it can take time.
I see, Tyler, that the more sharkable a player the more his opponent will try to shark him. You made a great point about being sharked when your opponent doesn't miss. That IS the toughest to fade. How do you stay relaxed and focused when you're getting beat like that?
Internal affairs has confirmed your imput....More later.
Thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge and wisdom on this topic. I had a nice talk with Rodney yesterday over the sharking and playing 'your' game, among other things. I think it is easy to come up with the answers to these questions. A lot of it seems like common sense. The hard part is doing it. I've seen Rodney and other experienced players 'do it' almost every time in competition. So I guess that part is the wisdom that comes with experience. I am getting better
Whoops ! Nice win anyway.Thanks a lot Rodney.
-Lou
P.s. it was a 9 ball tourney
You addressed the thread to two people.
Not that you care, but I personally think if you are letting your opponent's negative energy get to you, that you need to seriously work on that. What your opponent does simply should not affect you negatively, whether it is a time out, or screaming at the top of his lungs, or throwing the chalk, or asking you to rerack 20 times. IF this stuff affects you, believe me, people will do it to you. I personally feel great when my opponent gets negative, and feel like I have totally lost something to him if I get negative. Think about it like that kid that always got picked on in school. That is exactly what it is like. If people know you will respond to something negatively, they WILL do it to you, rest assured.
Once the above stuff is mastered, I would guess the next step is getting strong when you are watching your opponent play well. I personally don't think time outs are an issue at all. A player should be able to mentally diverge his energy and say something like "great, let me gather myself after that miss" if his opponent takes a time out. Time should NEVER be the enemy, why would it be? The only reason time could be an enemy is a chink in the mental armor of a player. Now, balls flying into the hole can be tough to deal with. It is like a different animal to conquer in my estimation, and the one "shark move" that gives all of us fits I would say.