How to find "IT"?

[Strickimicki]

Hi all,

anybody out there got any Ideas on what to do to find "it"?

I'm pretty sure that a lot of you out there experience the same thing I'm about to go into. When I'm on the roll, I can pot next to anything. Then with no real reason at hand "it" goes and I can't pot now't. I'm pretty sure that this has to do with bad cueing, as I've been through lots of eye and sight test to have been found only very slightly lacking on my left eye (I'm right eye dominant).

The question is, how to get it back? How to find out what I'm doing wrong when this goes bad, and to be able to repair it during a game/match! I can be in the balls with a break of 50+ already scored and then it goes! I get down and can only guess what I'm aiming at!

Don't get me wrong here, I don't always have "IT". This can be on a daily change routine, I go into the club and it's there or it isn't. I immediately pot anything & everything or I don't.

Just finding out what I'm doing wrong would help, knowing something is half way to being able to solve the problem.

How to find the problem?

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Brian

[cantpotforshíte]

I'm pretty sure that most of us suffer from this problem, mate.
My guess (and it is only a guess) is that we're not seeing the whole shot properly before we get down. (I know others are going to disagree with this - there is a lot of very good advice recently posted on this forum about straight cueing, a lack of which is what I reckon most people are going to suggest is the problem)
On Frank Callan's website he splits the pot into two parts: the 95% and the 5%. The 95% is the seeing of the shot before hand and the get-down-on-the-shot, the 5% is the backswing and delivery. Obviously, Callan isn't suggesting that these figures are mathematically accurate, but he is rather provocatively suggesting that the before-the-shot routine is much more important than the execution.
It's my opinion that it's the 95% that we are failing on when we suffer such a catastrophic lack of potting form. The best way to remedy this (that I've found works for me at least) is to take a little longer between the shots, and make sure that you picture the entire shot before you get down. If neccessary, physically point with your cue tip to a spot on the table where you want the cue ball to finish.
Good luck, and if anybody else comes up with other ideas on how to beat the demons, I'm all ears.

[noel]

The best way to remedy this (that I've found works for me at least) is to take a little longer between the shots, and make sure that you picture the entire shot before you get down.

Let me put exclamation mark to this excellent advice with a recollection of my father's last amazingly lucid moment before he died.
Dad mentally shut down after my mother's death. His will to forget the painful loss of his lifelong partner since age 16 exacerbated
what within a few years was diagnosed as senial dementia. Oldtimer's not Alzheimer's but sadly similar forgetfulness.
He graduated from care at home to care in a Twilight Home as his condition worsend in his 80's.
I recall sitting at the dinner table with him and four old ladies one evening. [ he was always surrounded by ladies ]
While I fed him patiently he stared off into the "middle distance" as was his way by then.
One woman interrupted the sound of hungry old eating and in a rather nasty loud voice said "Why is he always staring like that?!"
Dad kept looking away.
I said, "All his life he was a successful artist and educator. He once told me that making art was 95% observing and 5% making".
The woman took a bite of mash.
Miraculously Dad turned quickly to look at me and winked the way he always did to acknowlege some special insight between us.
He turned away. He caught pneumonia the next week and passed away.

[ Hope you don't mind me sharing that... ]


=o)

Noel

[snookerfan91]

Lack of your mind and wanting to get that higher break is what puts alot of us down, all snooker players miss balls every now and then though.

[mooneyy]

[ Hope you don't mind me sharing that... ]

Sorry for OT, but I think it's an honour for a community when members can and do share something as important and personal as this!

Thank you noel!

[1lawyer]

Let me put exclamation mark to this excellent advice with a recollection of my father's last amazingly lucid moment before he died.
Dad mentally shut down after my mother's death. His will to forget the painful loss of his lifelong partner since age 16 exacerbated
what within a few years was diagnosed as senial dementia. Oldtimer's not Alzheimer's but sadly similar forgetfulness.
He graduated from care at home to care in a Twilight Home as his condition worsend in his 80's.
I recall sitting at the dinner table with him and four old ladies one evening. [ he was always surrounded by ladies ]
While I fed him patiently he stared off into the "middle distance" as was his way by then.
One woman interrupted the sound of hungry old eating and in a rather nasty loud voice said "Why is he always staring like that?!"
Dad kept looking away.
I said, "All his life he was a successful artist and educator. He once told me that making art was 95% observing and 5% making".
The woman took a bite of mash.
Miraculously Dad turned quickly to look at me and winked the way he always did to acknowlege some special insight between us.
He turned away. He caught pneumonia the next week and passed away.

[ Hope you don't mind me sharing that... ]


=o)

Noel

A beautiful memory to share Noel

[Strickimicki]

Dear Noel, you seem to have the knack of making all these snooker problems seem so unimportant. Thank you for sharing such dear memories with us forum users.

Yesterday I was in the club,

At the start of the evening I had to wait for my opponent for the evening, so I got down to it and started with the Fergel O'Brien line up. Starting with the bottom red ball, below the black. With this, one should take red, black all the time and in oder from below the black up to the blue. Well anyway I got on with it and the first six shots were pathetic. I took a bit more time looking at what I wanted to do before getting down and something clicked.

I cleared up the reds all but 3 that is. Having to take 5 pinks because of me letting the the cueball get away from me. But the main thing is, I was potting middle of the pocket every shot!

I have realized that, I approach the shot wrongly a lot of the time. The wrong approach is so very similar to how I should do it that I and others don't realize that it's happened. I now know that my arm (Cueing arm) is a little tucked in behind my head when this happens causing me to cue across the ball very slightly.

How do I put this right? How do I make myself realize that this is happening?
I want the feeling of hitting the cueball like it should be hit, I know I can, I've done it lots of times.

When it's there, It's so very very there and when it's not it's depressing!

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Brian.

[snookerfan91]

Taking your time and approaching it the correct way, if you have said you have done it before then you can do it the majority of the time, go with the flow would be my best bet. Just relax and be patient.

[mick 142]

Let me put exclamation mark to this excellent advice with a recollection of my father's last amazingly lucid moment before he died.
Dad mentally shut down after my mother's death. His will to forget the painful loss of his lifelong partner since age 16 exacerbated
what within a few years was diagnosed as senial dementia. Oldtimer's not Alzheimer's but sadly similar forgetfulness.
He graduated from care at home to care in a Twilight Home as his condition worsend in his 80's.
I recall sitting at the dinner table with him and four old ladies one evening. [ he was always surrounded by ladies ]
While I fed him patiently he stared off into the "middle distance" as was his way by then.
One woman interrupted the sound of hungry old eating and in a rather nasty loud voice said "Why is he always staring like that?!"
Dad kept looking away.
I said, "All his life he was a successful artist and educator. He once told me that making art was 95% observing and 5% making".
The woman took a bite of mash.
Miraculously Dad turned quickly to look at me and winked the way he always did to acknowlege some special insight between us.
He turned away. He caught pneumonia the next week and passed away.

[ Hope you don't mind me sharing that... ]


=o)

Noel

Thanks for that Noel it isnt until you loose some one that you understand . you look at things different cheers Noel

[saddler79]

A very poignant post there Noel. Informative, sad and uplifting all in one. Thanks for posting.

Now I feel a little ashamed to be moaning like a little 3 year old girl this morning after my embarrasing snooker display last night. Ironically for exactly the same reasons as the original poster.

[TheRowdyOne]

i brought my "IT" of Ebay. Although after several weeks i've come to realise that although i have my prized "IT", it's all psycological. You can't find "It" because it's always there, it's just wether you think you have it or not. Miss a shot you suddenly think..... hummm maby i not playing that well today, what happened to "IT"?

I found that to play well you shouldnt go into the game with negetive thoughts, even if they arnt about pool. ie give your wife a kiss goodbye before you go to play a game, leave 30mins early so you dont have to worry about the traffic, and when you get there, walk in, say hello, and then walk out and go for a look around outside. It all comes to time, pressure, and your expectations.

[ChatLag]

Noel, thank you for such a personal story.
And it moves focus back to the important things in life.

To enter the zone, to get into the flow, to find the focus or whatever you call it needs to leave the world outside the brain.

I love it to be at the table on a rainy day when it is gray outside and the light above the snooker table makes the place to an island.
My friend and I don't talk a lot during the frames and we try to keep the mood peaceful and quiet.
So far it's quite easy.

The hardest part is what happens inside your brain.
It is hard to stay away from thoughts like

"If I pot this ball and the next one I might improve my highest break"
or
"I have to speed up because I have to leave in half an hour and I want to play another frame"
or
"The barmaid looks really nice today" (Well, that might be not the exact wording...)
...

And if I will fond one day a way to generate this focussed state I'll write a book about it.

[snookerfan91]

Noel, thank you for such a personal story.
And it moves focus back to the important things in life.

To enter the zone, to get into the flow, to find the focus or whatever you call it needs to leave the world outside the brain.

I love it to be at the table on a rainy day when it is gray outside and the light above the snooker table makes the place to an island.
My friend and I don't talk a lot during the frames and we try to keep the mood peaceful and quiet.
So far it's quite easy.

The hardest part is what happens inside your brain.
It is hard to stay away from thoughts like

"If I pot this ball and the next one I might improve my highest break"
or
"I have to speed up because I have to leave in half an hour and I want to play another frame"
or
"The barmaid looks really nice today" (Well, that might be not the exact wording...)
...

And if I will fond one day a way to generate this focussed state I'll write a book about it.

Very good information there, I enjoyed reading that paragraph.

[SebastianZ]

[QUOTE=ChatLag;455066]
"The barmaid looks really nice today" (Well, that might be not the exact wording...)
...
QUOTE]

I found that I can actually play some wonderful stuff when hot chicks are around and watching....lol........
agree with the rest of the post....haha...