How can I remain calm?

[thelongbomber]

My experiences:

Try to remember to calm down after every shot, even after the first pot, very easy pots, or even after a bad shot. This helped me to diminish an early escalation of nervousness.

Watch a match with Murphy, Higgins or even Robertson...they are imho the big masters of concentration and relaxation.

Higgins for sure is renown for his match play and control. Good idea

[the priest]

Dont you love that feeling when the room goes quiet because your on a big break ya cant beat it.

Here are a few pitfalls to avoid when in this position.

Snatching.. the tension in your body gets into your arm and you suddenly have a cue action that only comes back an inch! You might still get the pot but youve probably wrecked your positional play.
Make sure you pull back at least 3 inches in the clutch

Trying to look perfect.. because all eyes are on you its easy to slip into trying to look/cue like your favourite player this destracts your attention from the job in hand. "You" got yourself in this position "you" can continue the break

This is linked to the previous sentence.. trying to be flash.. you want to be seen as making it look easy so you speed up your play and end up rushing around then messing up. If your gonna brake thru your personal barrier slow everything down a touch feather a couple more times really focus on making the pot go in without touching a knuckle/jaw.

As ive said before billions of people around the world wont care one iota how big your break is.. only you really care so next time you reach 60 or so tell yourself "right this is it damn it this is my time to shine.. put some bloody effort in to focus on the shots at hand.. make it happen.. dont hope for it to happen.


Good luck fella i know you can do it!

[cally]

Inspiring that....