Afraid of winning?

[poolqjunkie]

Do you have this problem?

Do you sometimes look at a situation, and say to yourself, "I could actually win this if I make this shot," and started to feel uncomfortable and shy away from it?

Do you feel deep down you are more comfortable with 2nd place finish?

[noel]

Do you have this problem?

Do you sometimes look at a situation, and say to yourself, "I could actually win this if I make this shot," and started to feel uncomfortable and shy away from it?

Do you feel deep down you are more comfortable with 2nd place finish?

Ya but No but Ya but No but...

Good question PJ... not a problem for me...
I find I play certain ways with certain opponents.
I spot my son points and hope to keep it close. Sometimes he NEEDS to win.
If I play against a pro or top amateur I play balls-to-the-wall hardcore win it!

There are many ways to come in first!


=o)

Noel

[RocketRoy1983]

Yes. I sometimes play whilst thinking "I really hope he wins because his played better" or "If I take this on and miss ive lost but if I pot it ill win"

Not a great outlook, especially for a coach, but hey thats life. Do as I say not as I do and all that

[trigger666]

not quite the same but my mates call me the clincher !!!!... most of the time i go off like a stag get a good lead ,then let them sneak there way back in to the match instead of finishing them off .... my names luke and i suffer from clinches disease......
(maybe thats the first step in my rehabilitation)

[bongo]

I've never heard this sort of question before. When I do see a winning situation I just make sure I don't rush or make a really bad mistake (I've been there before!). I don't see why you would rather have second place because after a match, after all the work through the match I always want 1st place. You may be worried that you could make a mistake when the winning situation is in front of you, in other words: pressure. I am never afraid of winning. The other day, I saw I could win if I cleared the colours from green to black, they were not on their spots, I did clear and I won, it gives you confidence, even small clearances.

Maybe you feel you don't deserve to win? Try to build up your confidence, maybe by practicing more on your own. I don't know practice schedule you do but that could help.

[poolqjunkie]

Thank you for the reply.
I have found that sometimes when the finishing line is closing, that I have a fear of really making it. It is like I can not believe that I can actually do it although I have been working very hard to achieve it.
When I am playing someone I feel is better than me, and I am ahead, I find myself not playing with enough conviction to "close the deal," it s like I think the result should be closer so I will let up on my opponent.
Sometimes, after I fluke a ball or get lucky with my position, I feel gulity to take that final ball to win.
Other times, when after a long grinding match, and I come from behind to the last black ball, I would feel like i dont deserve to win and I just cannot see myself winning in my mind.
I call this "afraid of winning" although I am sure there are better terms for it.
Just wondering if this kind of attitude and response is common.

[1lawyer]

This is why having your own pre-shot routine is important in my opinion. Doing the same things and having the same approach every shot helps bring everything together more of the time rather than being hesitant or thinking 'what if'. Learning this may give a player something to fall back on in pressure situations also perhaps.

[brettski]

This is why having your own pre-shot routine is important in my opinion. Doing the same things and having the same approach every shot helps bring everything together more of the time rather than being hesitant or thinking 'what if'. Learning this may give a player something to fall back on in pressure situations also perhaps.

I'm finding this to be very true, now I'm applying my own routine and sticking to it I seem to be cueing alot better and what you say is true it comforts me and eases off the pressure.

[1lawyer]

Glad to help.

[Theguywithaplan]

Thank you for the reply.
I have found that sometimes when the finishing line is closing, that I have a fear of really making it. It is like I can not believe that I can actually do it although I have been working very hard to achieve it.
When I am playing someone I feel is better than me, and I am ahead, I find myself not playing with enough conviction to "close the deal," it s like I think the result should be closer so I will let up on my opponent.
Sometimes, after I fluke a ball or get lucky with my position, I feel gulity to take that final ball to win.
Other times, when after a long grinding match, and I come from behind to the last black ball, I would feel like i dont deserve to win and I just cannot see myself winning in my mind.
I call this "afraid of winning" although I am sure there are better terms for it.
Just wondering if this kind of attitude and response is common.

I often feel like this if I've played poorly, or even if we play similar and I have a large amount of luck. I never feel like this when I've played well or have deserved it, but I need to work on this as it has cost me a lot of important matches.

[joe.l]

winning post

I think you are fogusing too much on winning , start thinking about playing well , if you do that , then you deserve to win , and the win will just be there

[felipecocco]

I suck at the mental aspect of the game - when playing American pool, I think my % shot accuracy on the 8 ball is probably about 25x smaller than the rest of them. On the one snooker tournament I played, I almost got to the final - lost on a black ball respot on the deciding frame! - but after the match a buddy looked at me and said: "I dont think you have to come in and practice any longer, I think what you need to do now is look for a shrink." Therefore, its obvious that my state of mind impacted my cueing quite substantially since he was able to notice it.

Therefore, I second the idea that the key to all of this is a solid shot routine. I can assure you that if you could step out and notice it, when you get into those mindsets your cueing gets different, timing gets out of whack, etc... the surest way to ensure that this mental aspect - which you can of course also work on - doesn't impact your game is to have just such a solid preshot routine that even if Giselle Bundchen materialized in front of the table and asked you if she could oil your shat you would still feather as many times as usual and follow through with the same pace. (ok, maybe that's a bit high of a standard for a preshot routine, but you get the idea...)

A good reminder of the importance of this is watching the pros (ROS excluded) potting the colors after a secured frame. They've done it a 324234324 million times, they've won the frame, super easy shots for them... but you see them get down, feather the same number of times, focus their eyes the way they normally do, focus on position the same way... wish I had that kinda discipline!

[joe.l]

afraid of winning ??

start relaxing and enjoying the game , don't be so hard on yourself ....your life isn't going to change because you didn't get the results you wanted in a snooker game ....( remember ..if you lose ... you don't go to jail , and you don't have to fight Mike Tyson )

[spike]

I think you are fogusing too much on winning , start thinking about playing well , if you do that , then you deserve to win , and the win will just be there

I agree...try & free your mind from such thoughts pooljunkie...it's not easy i know sometimes.

[poolqjunkie]

Thanks I am working on this now. Appreciate all the comment.