Going off the boil & luck!

[Strickimicki]

I once asked John Higgins what he did when his game started to fade in a match, he said "pray" as he said it he had a smile on his face!

Well, I'd like to know what you guys do when your game starts to go off? Not only this, but I have realised on such occasions it's not only my own game that goes down the pan. It's also the question of luck, what your opponent leaves when he misses, what happens when you go for canons (splitting colours from reds and so forth).

We had our yearly club tournement at the weekend, and not only did I play terribly, but also what ever happened I was left nothing time and time and time again. For example, my opponent tried to pot the pink into the middle pocket and split the remaining 6 reds. He succeeded in splitting the reds, but the pink hit the upper jaw sending the pink towards the reds and the white. This went through a gap in the reds (about a quater of an inch bigger than the cueball) knocking the white about 2 inches further up the table. The white went from being in a position where all 6 reds were pottable, to being in a position were nothing would pot and to play safe was difficult to say the least. LOL Things like this went on all day, no matter how much I tried I just couldn't get on the right footing!

I can laugh about it now, but on days like this tears are more fitting!

So what do you do on days like this?


Thanks,

Brian.

[blackballgame]

I'll try and think it's my first shot in the first frame of the Match and forget what's happened earlier.
I sometime's get's a run of the ball when i do that

[The Statman]

Yes it's frustrating isn't it!

That thing about luck is partly true I'm sure, but also partly in the mind: you notice these things more when you're not playing well - it is like adding insult to injury. The times you have similar lucky flicks are not likely to be so noticeable to you.

Not only that, of course, if you were playing well you wouldn't have to worry so much about situations you unluckily found yourself in (plus you'd spend a higher percentage of the time at the table, when your opponent cannot have any kind of luck!)

Then again, of course, if you're not playing well then arguably you don't deserve so much luck - how many times have we seen that appear to be true when we're a third-party spectator? (The commentary phrase "The balls never forgive you" is a good one.)

As blackballgame says, the thing is to forget the past and concentrate on what lies ahead, but it's easier said than done - again, as we've seen so many times even at the highest level.

That's a long-winded way of not answering a question but I fancies a midnight ramble so forgive me!

[Strickimicki]

Forgiven, but answers would be more appropriate! LOL

I suppose there are no real answers, forget and move on probably the best advice. Now going back to the day I mentioned, I did start playing better later on, but my luck never changed: I got to the quater finals beating a German first division player on the way there. Only to get his team mate in the quarters. No matter what he went for, he left nothing. He even appolagised after the game for his run of luck.

Oh well it's just a game after all!!!

[cueman]

Its horrible when the balls don't run for you or your opponent gets so much luck its unreal.

I don't think its always down to your mindset though. I've played plenty of times when I've been playing well and an opponent rides his luck time and time again. Its very difficult to forget all that if your opponent flukes a pot and makes a break to win a vital frame or flukes a snooker that wins a frame etc. You just have to put it down as being part and parcel of the game and accept that it isn't your day sometimes.

[The Statman]

Its horrible when the balls don't run for you or your opponent gets so much luck its unreal.

I don't think its always down to your mindset though. I've played plenty of times when I've been playing well and an opponent rides his luck time and time again. Its very difficult to forget all that if your opponent flukes a pot and makes a break to win a vital frame or flukes a snooker that wins a frame etc. You just have to put it down as being part and parcel of the game and accept that it isn't your day sometimes.

Yes.

It took me a long time but I do now realise that there is no point getting wound up about your opponent's good fortune - because there is nothing you could have done to change it. Getting wound up about your own play - that shot that you should have judged better so you weren't stuck to the side cushion, or whatever - is a different matter because you could have done something about it!

[peterpackage]

For me there are two main causes which make me going off the boil

a) Playing too long that session and just getting tired and losing concentration

b) trying to tinker with mechanics during play, that can be fatal. You should only tinker during practice, not match play

[Piston]

I've really struggled the last few months. I have a brief spell when I play well, but just can't seem to make that last! Then I tend to end up thinking about too many things when trying to play a shot.

I decided to put a new tip on yesterday and went for a practice and suddenly started to pot pretty well. Did a line up and knocked in a 64.

Also, if playing badly in a match I would try not to get annoyed as that made me play worse, but recently that's something that's crept back into my game.

[nrage]

Something else which can change your thinking, is the realisation that there is no such thing as 'luck' in snooker.

A controversial idea I know, but if you think about the typical things we talk about as being luck i.e. a coin toss, or dice roll. In both cases you toss the coin, or roll the dice and at the point you let go of the dice or coin the physical laws of the universe take over and there is only 1 possible outcome. Our brains aren't capable of calculating the outcome, and thus we call it 'luck' when we guess it correctly.

But, take the dice roll again, and imagine you practice throwing the dice, from the same height, with the same number upright before you throw and so on. Suddenly there is less 'luck' involved and more control over the result. The result is still impossible to guarantee, but is a direct result of your actions, and you have some control over it.

Snooker is essentially the same, the moment the white leaves the cue tip, physical laws take over. There is only 1 possible result, and that result is directly determined by the players actions and the physical laws. So, even if the player cannot possibly have calculated the result, it's still their 'fault' as it were.

So, when my opponent has good 'luck' and I feel like they dont 'deserve' it, and the universe is against me, I just have to realise that, in fact, the result was directly related to their actions, and therefore they do 'deserve' it, and the universe is not in fact against me.. and this helps me shrug it off and carry on.

Likewise, when I have bad 'luck' I realise the same things, and that the result was a result of my own actions, and under my control to some degree. This encourages me to think about my shot selection more, to think about the path of the white after contact more .. as this is typically where bad 'luck' strikes, as it's the hardest to calculate/know.

The opposite is true also, I realise that my brain is not capable of calculating everything and I can only do my best, this helps me get past bad 'luck' and carry on with my game.

.. the mad ramblings of a part time philosopher

[saddler79]

nrage, nice philisophical response but I dont buy into it. When my opponent is going to pot a straight red, jaws out then cannons 2 other balls before going into the opposite pocket for example this is clearly good luck for him. He has ended up with a positive outcome that was clearly out of his control.

It is well known in any sport that if you are playing well you typically get good luck and vice versa. People will say this is down to your state of mind and perception of luck but I have noticed this in games I am not participating in. Professional golfers will 9 times out of 10 get a good break when an amatuer player in the same situation will get a dreadful break. (e.g tee shot off line into the trees). Teams down in the relagation zone in football always seem to have crucial decisions go against them.

For me, when things are going against me the best thing to do is offer a wry grin and carry on as if nothing has happened. My old technique of building up anger and testing how hard I could smack my cue before it snapped never seemed to work.

[nrage]

nrage, nice philisophical response but I dont buy into it. When my opponent is going to pot a straight red, jaws out then cannons 2 other balls before going into the opposite pocket for example this is clearly good luck for him. He has ended up with a positive outcome that was clearly out of his control.

It's true that he wasn't trying for that result, and it's true that he couldn't possibly have calculated that outcome, but the outcome was the result of his actions, and the physical laws of nature, and so all his fault.

This example is definitely at the more random end of the spectrum, but there are other examples (see below) with slightly more predictable/controllable outcomes, which I think are therefore less 'luck'/random and more skill/planning.

It is well known in any sport that if you are playing well you typically get good luck and vice versa. People will say this is down to your state of mind and perception of luck but I have noticed this in games I am not participating in. Professional golfers will 9 times out of 10 get a good break when an amatuer player in the same situation will get a dreadful break. (e.g tee shot off line into the trees). Teams down in the relagation zone in football always seem to have crucial decisions go against them.

I think it's mostly state of mind, but perhaps a little bit is perception.

When you're playing well you're relaxed and you're thinking about your shots and taking into account various possible outcomes etc. So, when you get good 'luck' it's actually quite possibly an outcome you considered consciously or subconsciously and therefore adjusted your shot to allow for. An example might be missing a pot but ending up with a snooker, subconsciously you may have realised/calculated the correct power to play the pot, to make that result possible.

But, if you're playing bad you're concentrating on the things you're doing wrong, and not things like the possible snooker. And you're probably compensating for bad cueing and playing shots too hard. Playing that way, the snooker is far less likely.

Basically, I think when you're playing well all your conscious and subconscious thoughts are in sync and they ensure the best results are more likely. Basically you're making your own 'luck' by doing everything you can to make 'good' things as likely as you can manage.

How many times have you got down on a shot and thought, if I miss this pot I should end up safe, or I might get a snooker behind .. etc, and how many times have you gotten an accidental snooker and then realised you didn't even think about where the white might end up?

The former is skill/planning, the latter more random/luck. But both are direct results of the shot you played and therefore all within your control, to some degree. That is the realisation I think is useful when dealing with 'luck' good or bad.

For me, when things are going against me the best thing to do is offer a wry grin and carry on as if nothing has happened. My old technique of building up anger and testing how hard I could smack my cue before it snapped never seemed to work.

I agree completely. You have to 'accept' the outcome and concentrate on what you can do/change, not what you cannot. The whole, "no such thing as luck" theory helps me do that.. I thought it might help someone else too.