What is yourtechnique to help you concentrate during a match?

[mchpddl1]

How do you focus and concentrate during a match? What technique do you use, can you share with me? Do you use concentartion technique before match?

[Deepscrew]

I dont have anything in particular...perhaps thats my problem!!

Im easily distracted so i find playing at Rileys in Bristol very hard, all the live football on loads of massive screens all over the place doesnt help!

[andy carson]

alcohol usually

[damienlch]

I use a number of techniques to help me... Many of them gleaned from fellow members' posts. Some are from Snooker pro tips on Youtube and from the snooker commentaries; I find them quite informative despite some people's criticisms on certain commentators, haha.

When your opponent is at the table, play the shots in your head (and despise him when he plays differently from what you would do... lol...)

When I'm at the table, I try a number of things... whatever seems to work. Sometimes I concentrate on a front pause and at other times I think of a long, lazy cue action. There are times when I focus on my back pause and on some days I try to hold the cue quite loosely. When I feel that I'm playing hopelessly bad and nothing seems to work, I may even change my grip to what I can describe as something of an Alex Higgins' grip with my forefinger hanging loose and the butt resting on the middle and fourth finger, but only for the easier, straightforward shots.

Hope this helps somewhat...

[damienlch]

alcohol usually

Oh dear... really?

[andy carson]

Oh dear... really?

it works makes me concentrate more when down on my own shots.....

[damienlch]

it works makes me concentrate more when down on my own shots.....

Lol... ah yes, nothing like a few shots of vitamin A...

[CoachGavin]

One idea is to go through in your head the match you will play and some of the scenarios and what you will do if they happen. This way when something happens you will not be shocked or panic. For example your mates best break is 50 and he makes a 60 in the first frame and a 55 in the second, Obviously he is playing the snooker of his life. Now sometimes players will then panic and think "oh my god if he plays like this i am gonna get hammered tonight!". If you have already visualized him playing brilliant before the match you will know that you are going to stay calm and tighten up your safety etc. Its not a shock and you can go on to beat him. Also visualize yourself cueing smoothly and effortlessly before a match to get yourself in the right frame of mind. Hope that helps.

[damienlch]

That's great advice, CoachGavin... yup, when my opponent is potting everything in sight or being extremely flukey, I will bide my time and think "Never mind, he can't possibly do that every time he's at the table"... and if he does, well, it's the nature of the game...

Sometimes it's hard to swallow and I do feel aggrieved, especially when I lose games in certain ways. But having a positive frame of mind definitely helps... not to mention a short memory... or should I say a selective memory; remember only the good stuff... haha.

[R1ncewind]

Thanks for the advices too! For the last two weeks or so I tend to think too much before executing the shot. This destroyes my concentration and is very exhausting over time. How do you manage to muten the critical overseer during the shot process?

[damienlch]

Thanks for the advices too! For the last two weeks or so I tend to think too much before executing the shot. This destroyes my concentration and is very exhausting over time. How do you manage to muten the critical overseer during the shot process?

Hi R1ncewind, what is "muten the critical overseer"?

[R1ncewind]

Hi R1ncewind, what is "muten the critical overseer"?

Sorry if I described it badly. The should descibe the litte voice in your head that asks: Is your stance right, is your cuehand in the right distance, is the backswing straight, does the ellbow drop...and stuff like that.
I think it has to do with the training I started again recently. Maybe I should spend more hours on the practice table to build more confidence with the changes in technique.

[R1ncewind]

...cuehand in the right distance...

Bridge ... of course...
An edit function would be great

[jrc750]

....An edit function would be great

There is but you have to reach 10 posts 1st

[damienlch]

Sorry if I described it badly. The should descibe the litte voice in your head that asks: Is your stance right, is your cuehand in the right distance, is the backswing straight, does the ellbow drop...and stuff like that.
I think it has to do with the training I started again recently. Maybe I should spend more hours on the practice table to build more confidence with the changes in technique.

Lol, that sounded a lot like me... It takes away much fun in playing snooker if you over elaborate on your shots. Everything becomes so labourious and you get tired after only 25 minutes of play. Everyone has their natural rhythm, some play faster, some slower and I think it is very important to play at your own rhythm.

The things you described are mostly pre-shot routines and many should come rather instinctively if you play regularly or have been playing for some time. As the name suggests, they should be decided before you are down on your shot, i.e. pre-shot. Also, it should only take a moment for you to run through them in your mind, they're not hard to comprehend so don't overthink. Take a good look by standing right behind the shot and decide what you want to do. Once you are down on your shot, you should focus on checking if the potting angle is right and to get a feel the shot.

There are usually one or two things in your technique that mess up your shot BIG TIME and you can often use a dummy to try and overcome them. A dummy is what I would decribe as a thought you hold in your mind when down on the shot. For me, I tend to shorten up on my pull back and hence jab at the shot. So my dummy would be to think of a long, lazy pull back and smoothly accelerate on the push through. You have to do a bit of self coaching to find out what your dummy is. Or see a certified coach if possible.

I am in no way qualified to offer coaching advice and what I've shared above is what I do. I've picked these tips up from various sources and incorporated them into my game gradually. Maybe you'll find them useful...