The yips are defeated!

[SouthPaw]

The yips are defeated!

Steve can we have some more information about yourself regarding qualifications? Did you play any sport competitively..?

Edit: Sorry just noticed you played pool for a living but was that professionally?

[Byrom]

I do not know if there is any cure for the yips that fits everyone afflicted as we are not all the same in snooker style of play and we are not all wired the same upstairs either and I would be careful about paying for this advice from anyone without them seeing you in person and proving it - like a professional coach might do.

The yips - or inability to deliver the cue forward properly does effect the odd person - I actually once helped someone overcome this who played in my team years ago but it took a while for him to adopt a new way of playing - he had tried everything including hypnotism.

Here is my take on it.

A player needs to overcome the fear of missing-by means of learning to stay down on the shot and keeping the cue forward until the ball has dropped - they need to understand its alright to miss and by staying down and keeping the head still and the cue forward you start to learn how you missed thick or thin and begin to understand the angles properly.

Basically my friend needed to stop the muscles tensing up in his arm - He cured this by doing all his thinking whilst up rather than his habit of aiming down on the shot - which seeded up his action and he learned to push through the white smoothly -

Here are some other things that might help-

imagining the cue ball is an egg you need to crack and practice improving timing by implementing a slight pause as you transfer your eyes to the object ball.
Practicing relaxing the grip slightly in time with the pullback on the back swing until you can accelerate and drive through the white positively, smoothly and consistently takes time and hours on a table - you can speed up this process of making this natural by using a squidgy ball and imitating the pullback and grip when not at the table.

If this still does not work then it might help to free your mind during the cueing process by counting or thinking of a key word as you drive through - eg 'BANG' or 'CUE THROUGH' which might take your mind off this physiological issue of the yips that effects the odd person out there. Aiming your tip to hit a specific point on the object ball might help too.

If the problem exists on the back pause then change your action eliminate the back pause use the squidgy ball thing and practice just pausing at the front pull back open the grip and drive through in one movement ala Jimmy White - sometimes when needing power people can over grip too - try pointing the index finger to the floor or not gripping with this finger at all may help you relax the grip and stop you tensing up - twitching - yipping or whatever the issue.

This advice is free - give it a go.

[j6uk]

shame mrT didn't get more time to hear what he had to say, anyway hope he'll come back

[Byrom]

Mr T allways came back when people needed him and his team as I remember

[jrc750]

Mr T allways came back when people needed him and his team as I remember

If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team

[j6uk]

mrT gonna need the team for this one

[Byrom]

Can I be the good looking one 'face?' with the cool car and the hot chicks?

[itsnoteasy]

A few months back J6 posted a video of Ronnie coaching and he was saying to float the balls in, this made quite a difference in my game, on difficult shots , needing a bit of power where movement or grip tightening could easily come in, I say this to myself (float it in)before I release the cue forward, it relaxes everything and gives me the back pause count, it also releases my arm from the elbow and just the hand plays the shot, if that makes sense ,because of this I can dial the power right back but get the same reaction or more as I hit the white sweeter.

[Byrom]

Yes that is the same theory as I mentioned - great minds work alike J6UK is a deep thinker - like his stuff too - well his coaching advice is often different than the norm which to me is is great - dont all want to be doing the same stuff do we?

I still live in hope he might one day post a tune I have actually have heard of though.

Wonder which character in the Yip team he would be - mmmmm

[mythman69]

If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team

the yip team.jpg

The Yip Team

[j6uk]

good to hear you got something out of the term 'float' itsnot, but i think ron was using 'float' to describe certain shots that might involve deceleration

[jb134]

He has left a comment here on the yips (for golf) a week ago.

Short Version:
The Yips are analogous to a bad baton pass in a relay race; snooker, golf, darts, life etc. Same problem in your head.
Started snooker at 17 (50 now). Hundred break within 14 months. Yips within a year. Could NOT hit the ball sometimes. Not the same game. Done!
Played pool for living in 90′s US poolhalls: Bigger pockets allow for a little flinch in your action.
Yips cost me 1000′s!
No more! 2 reasons. I don’t gamble and l now thoroughly understand the What How and Why, of the Yips. So does my son, nearly.
The Yips are the flip side to flow, what l was actually looking for when recognising “NO YIPS….AT ALL!” with the ‘recognizable’ loss of intensity when approaching flow. And beautiful ‘flashbacks’ to previous “Wow!” moments of play and moments of feeling ‘as one’ (cringe, but true) with the game.

http://www.peaksports.com/sports_psy...y_blog/?p=2668

If he is charging for this 'info' - I will give it a miss.

I agree and I'll tell you why, if one of the two reasons is "I don't gamble", what's the point? If you've removed the pressure from the situation you have not beaten the yips, you have changed the situation.

[mythman69]

I agree and I'll tell you why, if one of the two reasons is "I don't gamble", what's the point? If you've removed the pressure from the situation you have not beaten the yips, you have changed the situation.

I have met a couple of hustlers that say it is easy to win when you are playing with other people's money.

They just back them to win and they get a cut. Can't lose. No pressure!

[itsnoteasy]

good to hear you got something out of the term 'float' itsnot, but i think ron was using 'float' to describe certain shots that might involve deceleration

Ah I thought he meant don't hit out at the white , I took float to mean smooth and relaxed, I'm glad I got it wrong because it didn't half help me lol.

[j6uk]

if you can locate the post we could get it clear, but i remember the shot he was talking about around the black
this is it 1.25 in:

Ah I thought he meant don't hit out at the white , I took float to mean smooth and relaxed, I'm glad I got it wrong because it didn't half help me lol.