Relaxing on the long blue

[misspentoldage]

If I'm playing a long shot from the middle of the table, typically the blue from its spot to one corner, I know I'm going to be successful on the shot because there is a relaxed calm comes over me as I take the shot. Conversely, when I don't have that sense of relaxation I almost invariably miss. Difficult to maintain that relaxation, though, on every shot, not just because of the natural tension of a match but sometimes relaxation can become looseness (or I worry that it does) which stops you cueing straight. I wish I could be more consistently relaxed if it's going to make me more consistently successful on those long blues.

As a more general truth, isn't it the case that you just about always know before a pot is successfully made that it will go in, and vice versa. I wish I could more often delude myself that I'm a good player.

[humperdingle]

If I'm playing a long shot from the middle of the table, typically the blue from its spot to one corner, I know I'm going to be successful on the shot because there is a relaxed calm comes over me as I take the shot. Conversely, when I don't have that sense of relaxation I almost invariably miss. Difficult to maintain that relaxation, though, on every shot, not just because of the natural tension of a match but sometimes relaxation can become looseness (or I worry that it does) which stops you cueing straight. I wish I could be more consistently relaxed if it's going to make me more consistently successful on those long blues.

As a more general truth, isn't it the case that you just about always know before a pot is successfully made that it will go in, and vice versa. I wish I could more often delude myself that I'm a good player.

It takes a while to get used to 'restarting' a shot, if things don't feel right.

If something feels not quite right, the shot probably won't be.