close to quiting

[snooks1000]

You're welcome, I hope something I've said helps. I was lucky to have been raised by a mother who was also a psychologist. She helped me to be more aware of my thoughts and the effect they have. I have noticed in all the sports I play that the right attitude and environment can have a big impact on performance.

Anyone who has played a team sport will likely recall making a mistake and having half the team come down on them for it, this never ceases to amaze me because it's so counter productive. The person making the mistake is clearly not doing it on purpose, clearly knows they've made a mistake and will try twice as hard next time, so why do people think they have to tell them? But, people do, and it creates a terrible atmosphere where more mistakes are almost inevitable.

Getting down on yourself is almost exactly the same, only you can be absolutely sure you tried your best and absolutely sure you didn't do it on purpose. So there is no reason to dwell on it, just learn what you can from it and move on.

For example, last night in my weekly comp I got down to a shot without having fully thought it through, the end result was fouling the black and giving away 7 points. Instead of getting down on myself, I thought; next time I'm in that situation, or one like it, I'll chose a safer option. Then I forgot about it, and played my two best shots of the evening to pot a long pink and then the black for the win.

So, don't get mad with yourself, get even.

you talk alot of sense. thanks man...

[nrage]

you talk alot of sense. thanks man...

NP, best of luck.

[ace man]

I've read 'Pleasures of small motions', it's a good book, teaches you not to have big expectations. But I don't think it is for those who are serious about improving their game. More for those who want to find enjoyment on their current level and simply improve by being less stressful about it. I mean, if you want to seriously improve, sometimes you have to take on shots you're not entirely comfortable with.
And just so you know, the author of the book supposedly quit the game (read this on AZBilliards board so not entirely reliable). If true, that speaks volumes.

snooks, who are you playing with? If you play against guys well below your level, your own level will drop down no matter what. Find some guys much stronger than you. Get humiliated. Maybe that will spark a fire.

I've had thoughts about quitting too, but not because I was awful, but because of the whole snooker situation where I live. I play against players who rarely if ever make anything above 30...most frames come down to final three colours scattered around the table and I really don't fancy that kind of roulette. To avoid it, I would have to substantially improve. I do plenty of solo practice, read coaching advices here, but the biggest problem is I don't have any good players in my country to push me further. What's horrible is that I am one of the better players here. If I make a bad mistake, I don't get punished, my opponent just makes more mess. Vice versa too. If I make a break of 40 or more, the frame is won unless the Earth is perfectly aligned with Jupiter and Mars. Simply put, no one can play well and this frustrates me to no end.

[throtts]

[QUOTE=
snooks, who are you playing with? If you play against guys well below your level, your own level will drop down no matter what. Find some guys much stronger than you. Get humiliated. Maybe that will spark a fire.
QUOTE]

This I can relate too big time..

Not blowing my trumpet but every session I play, I myself is considered the hot favourite. This in itself is a bad thing and was proven so 3yr ago. I played a guy that I was told was a strong player, which I did not believe, however he was. First session he beat me and I was gutted, he was very aware and always chose the correct shot, safety was awesome which had me in all sorts of bother. A week passed till our next session and during that week I thought alot and one of the thought's were "TO TAKE MY CHANCES WHEN THEY BLOODY COME" because they was not coming due to his tight play. The session came and I really felt ready for it, my mind was of complete difference to when I played the lesser players. In that session and other sessions against him I played the best snooker I have ever played and beat him in that 2nd match and the large majority of sessions that followed.

The thing I found out about myself was that I was capable of playing good stuff and most importantly was my(and we have heard it before) CONCENTRATION was at a very much higher level , I was so fixed in the zone when we played each other, I did not hear anything else in the club or did I take my vision away from my table. My whole game was more complete including the cue action, everything was so much solid. Rarely did we decide a frame on the colours, which was a sign of a tidy frame more often than not.

So my opinion is always try to find the best player you can, it really refreshes one's vision, mind and concentration..

[DWOT]

You're welcome, I hope something I've said helps. I was lucky to have been raised by a mother who was also a psychologist. She helped me to be more aware of my thoughts and the effect they have. I have noticed in all the sports I play that the right attitude and environment can have a big impact on performance.

Anyone who has played a team sport will likely recall making a mistake and having half the team come down on them for it, this never ceases to amaze me because it's so counter productive. The person making the mistake is clearly not doing it on purpose, clearly knows they've made a mistake and will try twice as hard next time, so why do people think they have to tell them? But, people do, and it creates a terrible atmosphere where more mistakes are almost inevitable.

Getting down on yourself is almost exactly the same, only you can be absolutely sure you tried your best and absolutely sure you didn't do it on purpose. So there is no reason to dwell on it, just learn what you can from it and move on.

For example, last night in my weekly comp I got down to a shot without having fully thought it through, the end result was fouling the black and giving away 7 points. Instead of getting down on myself, I thought; next time I'm in that situation, or one like it, I'll chose a safer option. Then I forgot about it, and played my two best shots of the evening to pot a long pink and then the black for the win.

So, don't get mad with yourself, get even.

I applied this to my snooker tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it, potted some superb long pots as is my way (In all seriousness I'd fancy my chance against anybody if it were just long pots!!!) and even won a frame against a player who's a much, much better player than me and took another who's in the Q school to the last 2 balls and indeed rattled the pink to win a frame! Got hammered in the other frames but still thoroughly enjoyed it!

Recon if I can keep this in mind my game will come on quite nicely thank you very much!

[pottingpinks]

With snooker I'd always advise take the rough with the smooth, dont get too carried away if you play really well one night nor too down on yourself if you play like a plank, its that sort of game really where most people are constantly striving to find a higher plane but I always say its not an easy game so theres never any disgrace in having an off day or three every now and again.

Enjoy the good performances and try to become hard to beat when you're having a bad day, thats my motto.

Motivation is a big factor too I think, as you get older and have been there and done it, its becomes harder sometimes to raise your game which in the early stages it is easy to do when you come against a better player.

I remember playing a top Chesterfield League player in my best spell of snooker in my 20s and was that focussed I asked the ref (who was my Dad) if he could refrain from going to the gents at the end of the first frame so as not to distract my focus, sounds ridiculous now and thankfully he couldn't have been that desperate as he made it through the next frame OK and I did end up winning.

But have long since lost that kind of intensity, in fact if someone made that request to me now I would tell him where to get off probably lol, unless I had a handy sample bottle I could use lol.

[nrage]

I applied this to my snooker tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it, potted some superb long pots as is my way (In all seriousness I'd fancy my chance against anybody if it were just long pots!!!) and even won a frame against a player who's a much, much better player than me and took another who's in the Q school to the last 2 balls and indeed rattled the pink to win a frame! Got hammered in the other frames but still thoroughly enjoyed it!

Recon if I can keep this in mind my game will come on quite nicely thank you very much!

Brilliant This is how you want to play the game. And now for practice... At practice I tend to be a little more focused, picking something I am not happy with in my game, like white ball control, or consistent cueing, or similar and try to make a game/challenge out of it in some way.

The key, again, is not to get down on yourself if you have a bad practice as it doesn't really mean anything except that on that day, at that time, for some reason or another, things weren't flowing. I've played some of my best match snooker after a dreadful practice the day before. It seems that even if you think you have had a bad practice your body/brain has managed to learn something which later becomes useful.

Once you have the right frame of mind, you can start to challenge yourself more. The trick is to find realistic goals, but not to set a time limit on them. I mean, we can't all practice regularly, and even when/if we do progress can come in jumps with slow spells in between. The important thing to continue to improve, at whatever speed. Also keep an eye on your thoughts/feeling and try not to fall back into the habit of getting down on yourself if you don't reach them.

[snooks1000]

Brilliant This is how you want to play the game. And now for practice... At practice I tend to be a little more focused, picking something I am not happy with in my game, like white ball control, or consistent cueing, or similar and try to make a game/challenge out of it in some way.

The key, again, is not to get down on yourself if you have a bad practice as it doesn't really mean anything except that on that day, at that time, for some reason or another, things weren't flowing. I've played some of my best match snooker after a dreadful practice the day before. It seems that even if you think you have had a bad practice your body/brain has managed to learn something which later becomes useful.

Once you have the right frame of mind, you can start to challenge yourself more. The trick is to find realistic goals, but not to set a time limit on them. I mean, we can't all practice regularly, and even when/if we do progress can come in jumps with slow spells in between. The important thing to continue to improve, at whatever speed. Also keep an eye on your thoughts/feeling and try not to fall back into the habit of getting down on yourself if you don't reach them.

woke up with a more postive attitude towards the game than i had this time yesterday. so for that alone, this thread was worthwhile. Think i need to lower my expectations and if it takes me ages to get back to how i felt i was playing a few years ago then so be it. the key is enjoying the journey of trying to get there maybe?

[nrage]

woke up with a more postive attitude towards the game than i had this time yesterday. so for that alone, this thread was worthwhile. Think i need to lower my expectations and if it takes me ages to get back to how i felt i was playing a few years ago then so be it. the key is enjoying the journey of trying to get there maybe?

Definitely. After all, the reason we play snooker is for fun and enjoyment, unless you're a pro in which case it's also a job/career. Everyone enjoys winning, but you don't have to hate losing, or get down about it. Not hating losing, doesn't mean you let it happen, or don't try your best, it just means you can deal with it when it happens, which is important because it happens even to the very best in the world every now and again. Plus, there is always something to learn from a loss, which is why when I am losing to a better player I concentrate on trying to learn from the decisions they make and the shots they take, instead of resenting them for it. Resentment of skill (or even luck) is simply jealousy, which doesn't help you play any better, in fact the opposite. So, enjoy the challenge of improving, enjoy the times you're playing well and try to learn something from the times you're not

[bongo]

the key is enjoying the journey of trying to get there maybe?

snooks1000: A book you really need to read in my view is Success vs Joy by Geet Sethi (billiards player). That book is based totally around what you have said above. It is not a coaching book and does not really give advice on improving your game, however it is very informative and goes pretty deep into the perfect mindset and it is quite an easy book to read and very well written. Some may find it useless and some find it incredibly useful and I think you really should try to read it if you can get it for a reasonable price. It was published in India and is not too easy to find. Conveniently, the book is available to read (in full I think) online at THIS LINK.

I think you should read it, and really try to think about what is written.

[johno]

Hi Bongo

Any idea where I could get a copy of this book, seems a good read and raises some
interesting idea's.
cheers

[DWOT]

Well all I can say is that with the words of NRAGE and from reading the first chapter of Small Motions and trying to apply all those things I've thus far read, IT'S WORKED!

I've only just gone and knocked in my first ever 50 break!!!!!

The first of many hopefully!!!!

[throtts]

Well all I can say is that with the words of NRAGE and from reading the first chapter of Small Motions and trying to apply all those things I've thus far read, IT'S WORKED!

I've only just gone and knocked in my first ever 50 break!!!!!

The first of many hopefully!!!!

Congrats, DWOT, must of felt special. Was it in match play?.

Played today myself and was solid, won the session also.

Beautiful game when your playing well...

[DWOT]

Congrats, DWOT, must of felt special. Was it in match play?.

Played today myself and was solid, won the session also.

Beautiful game when your playing well...

Was solo practice, knocking one in a Match has to be a goal for next season though! :-)

[agromann]

Just a BTW...I sometimes get my groove back by simply potting. Place all balls in easy poition and hit away. Get the pot and the right position for the next 2 and don't worry about red/colour sequence. Any ball goes. Try and miss as few as possible but basically, just pot and pick the next and play easy shots. Then grab a mate who is better and play a frame or 10. If you do 12 of them, that equates to a 48, if you do them all, that's an 81. (OK we are leaving out break building, cracking the pack etc but this is about simple potting and simple positioning to get some confidence and fun back.