The yips are defeated!

[j6uk]

mrT with the spirit of w burrows when his fingers hit the keys, dragging us all down in his grand sinking ship to the cold dark hell of psycho billiard doom.
i dedicate a song to you on the music of the snookerheads thread

[Steve T.]

Scientific.
Watch 2 films of any one player, one playing well, one playing bad. The visual difference is obvious
before watching them. The reason is psycho-, the knock-on effect is scientific.
The problem with sport psychs is that they ask the best players what they do.
When it's all going wrong, players ask somebody else.
Basically players do not know exactly what they are doing right. No shame! Awesome at 'doing' it sometimes. But 'doing' is not 'knowing'.
Ronnie's some time long potting problems are easily fixed. Jimmy's return to 'touch and feel' (when it matters), a doddle! Stuart Bingham needs to watch his one specific difference last few tournaments. You can watch anyone and understand exactly what is going wrong, everytime it goes wrong.
I joined Mensa about 10 years ago. You only have to be able to recognise subtle differences in patterns and sequences. S'a doddle if you look, and think, long enough!
No sinking psycho ships here my friend, just as yet unappreciated gold!
People nearly always agree with me eventually. S'not my first time on this side of the fence.

Steve Tomlinson

[Steve T.]

We left handers look more natural. Correct?
Watch a right hander in the mirror. Same effect! More natural looking. Nothing has changed but your view.
Why? The action is occurring predominantly in your right visual field when facing a left hander, signals going to your left hemisphere 'first'.
It is apparent that this does make a difference strong enough to cause an unfounded belief. Naturalness! Might be more natural, but not visibly.

Steve Tomlinson

[itsnoteasy]

I can agree with some of that Steve, even at my standard when form dips or excels you can sometimes not feel the difference, so you are doing without knowing as you have said, sometimes you can't feel the problem and as some of it can be happening behind you in snooker it can be very hard to self correct, but saying these things is nothing new,that's why even the top pros visit coaches.
The most natural looking snooker player is right handed.

[Steve T.]

Players don't leave a coach knowing exactly the bits that matter. If they did, they wouldn't need to keep returning. And the greatest sin in the coaching '''world''' is, "Picture the ball going in!" Sounds logical to do so, but just what your mind doesn't need. Too far ahead of """your""" involvement. Talk about a yips feeding frenzy. Do picture something as your goal, something you cause more directly, that doesn't cause your mind to spasm because it can't cause directly, by induced action, what is being pictured, the ball going in.

Steve Tomlinson

[itsnoteasy]

I think your confusing what happens during a shot routine , yes visualising the shot is part of the shot routine when standing, as is
power and height of contact on the cue ball, and of course picking the line of aim and contact point, the last two are used while dropping down, the first three are decided so can be removed from your thoughts. Once down and checked the line can then be forgotten so in the end all you have to do is cue through straight locked on to the potting point, so through the shot you are actually freeing your mind from clutter until you have just one thing to do,and that's delivering the cue straight. Thats my take on it anyway.

[itsnoteasy]

This is what the eye rhythm is for , while feathering,checking you are hitting the centre of the white , then checking the object ball. So are you saying you should be aiming directly at a ghost ball you can imagine.

[Steve T.]

I 'am' saying that you 'have' a ghost ball imprinted on your retina. Notice where you look when curving round a ball. A posterior visual flick to the edge maybe, but you're on the centre line of the non-existent cueball travelling past the ball to be curved round.
It is necessary to understand the 2 players competing in your head to understand the relevance of why to look where and more importantly where not and when, during preparation, some things are allowable.
l couldn't write an understandable breakdown of the prior/posterior, focal/peripheral waffle. Verbally it's easy. These these little bits are something but without the framework of how we operate (2 operating systems), they're just pretty pictures without any connective understanding.

Steve Tomlinson

[Giggity1984]

I 'am' saying that you 'have' a ghost ball imprinted on your retina. Notice where you look when curving round a ball. A posterior visual flick to the edge maybe, but you're on the centre line of the non-existent cueball travelling past the ball to be curved round.
It is necessary to understand the 2 players competing in your head to understand the relevance of why to look where and more importantly where not and when, during preparation, some things are allowable.
l couldn't write an understandable breakdown of the prior/posterior, focal/peripheral waffle. Verbally it's easy. These these little bits are something but without the framework of how we operate (2 operating systems), they're just pretty pictures without any connective understanding.

Steve Tomlinson

Sounds like gibberish to me!

[Steve T.]

Watch a single tournament. How many play what they would call 'good'? Normally not many!
Is there no reason for this? I
For those who play well in practice, but less well during matchplay. What have you/they changed?
Without the answer to that question one has nothing but an oil change/tune up. Then eventually another one.
I originally named this, when just an early 'method'. - "Get out outta the way stupid! l don't need your help!" - to underline the fact that it's YOU that interferes in your 'performance' of an act.
I read a thread title, "Back to basics ruined my game". Not surprising unless you're really messed up.
Going back to 'basics' should imply something more akin to 'bas(al ganglia)ics'; muscle memory usage. If you've played well enough, it's there. Getting it out is the
When playing loosely, the very thing that needs to be, starts to occur, but needs pointing out at the time so as to connect certain feelings of loss of doubt etc with certain actions. Otherwise the connections are unnoticed and lost.
I'll put some film up of me sometime, misses and all. Can't film what's going on in my head though. That's what matters!

Steve Tomlinson

[Steve T.]

Watch a single tournament. How many play what they would call 'good'? Normally not many!
Is there no reason for this? I
For those who play well in practice, but less well during matchplay. What have you/they changed?
Without the answer to that question one has nothing but an oil change/tune up. Then eventually another one.
I originally named this, when just an early 'method'. - "Get out outta the way stupid! l don't need your help!" - to underline the fact that it's YOU that interferes in your 'performance' of an act.
I read a thread title, "Back to basics ruined my game". Not surprising unless you're really messed up.
Going back to 'basics' should imply something more akin to 'bas(al ganglia)ics'; muscle memory usage. If you've played well enough, it's there. Getting it out is the
When playing loosely, the very thing that needs to be, starts to occur, but needs pointing out at the time so as to connect certain feelings of loss of doubt etc with certain actions. Otherwise the connections are unnoticed and lost.
I'll put some film up of me sometime, misses and all. Can't film what's going on in my head though. That's what matters!

Steve Tomlinson

[vmax4steve]

When playing loosely, the very thing that needs to be, starts to occur, but needs pointing out at the time so as to connect certain feelings of loss of doubt etc with certain actions. Otherwise the connections are unnoticed and lost.
I'll put some film up of me sometime, misses and all. Can't film what's going on in my head though. That's what matters!

Steve Tomlinson

Playing with no thought is what you are advocating mate and pointing it out to someone when they are doing so puts thought into that persons head so defeats the object.
Speaking in tongues to convey something so basic is attention seeking. Come back when you have something new and real and can convey it in basic english.

[cyberheater]

Watch a single tournament. How many play what they would call 'good'? Normally not many!
Is there no reason for this? I
For those who play well in practice, but less well during matchplay. What have you/they changed?
Without the answer to that question one has nothing but an oil change/tune up. Then eventually another one.
I originally named this, when just an early 'method'. - "Get out outta the way stupid! l don't need your help!" - to underline the fact that it's YOU that interferes in your 'performance' of an act.
I read a thread title, "Back to basics ruined my game". Not surprising unless you're really messed up.
Going back to 'basics' should imply something more akin to 'bas(al ganglia)ics'; muscle memory usage. If you've played well enough, it's there. Getting it out is the
When playing loosely, the very thing that needs to be, starts to occur, but needs pointing out at the time so as to connect certain feelings of loss of doubt etc with certain actions. Otherwise the connections are unnoticed and lost.
I'll put some film up of me sometime, misses and all. Can't film what's going on in my head though. That's what matters!

Steve Tomlinson

I'm sorry but I'm having an extremely hard time figuring out what you are trying to say. I have a vague notion that you might have a valid point but I can't pick it out. Can you make it clearer?

[guernseygooner]

I'm sorry but I'm having an extremely hard time figuring out what you are trying to say. I have a vague notion that you might have a valid point but I can't pick it out. Can you make it clearer?

I think the gist of it (just seen vmax's reply) is when you are playing freely, ie buzzing, you have no self doubt/thoughts holding you back and somehow you are then supposed to start thinking about your lack of thinking to replicate the feeling all the time!

I think this is a load of spiel. When you make a break you find you can't remember much about it. You have been in a zone and it is something you cant turn off and on, it just happens. Being fully prepared, practised and relaxed before a match can help you get into that state but it is certainly not something you can consciously decide to do.

Everyone's practice game is better than their matchplay its why I consider ROS to be one of the greatest - he makes it look like he is having a practice knock around even in a final.

[cyberheater]

I think the gist of it (just seen vmax's reply) is when you are playing freely, ie buzzing, you have no self doubt/thoughts holding you back and somehow you are then supposed to start thinking about your lack of thinking to replicate the feeling all the time!

I think this is a load of spiel. When you make a break you find you can't remember much about it. You have been in a zone and it is something you cant turn off and on, it just happens. Being fully prepared, practised and relaxed before a match can help you get into that state but it is certainly not something you can consciously decide to do.

Okay. I think I get it. So not really practical because you can't control that. It just happens to you.

Everyone's practice game is better than their matchplay its why I consider ROS to be one of the greatest - he makes it look like he is having a practice knock around even in a final.

I heard Judd Trump say that he was practising next to ROS and in a afternoon. ROS made 7 147's. Just amazing.