Nerves ruining my natural game during matches

[stus cues]

Another way to bild up amunity is to play fe cash in practice you will soon get over the nerves or be penny less.

[hotpot]

this is right on the money for me great advice -- try and hide them they stay with you - understand yourself you can learn to defeat them.

Having a new job is nerve wrecking - but go there every day it becomes second nature - playing someone new can be unpredictable - understanding that this will happen again and again and that there is only you at the table doing your thing is key - learn not to inhibit yourself. For me if I tell people around me I feel nervous it goes away fast. Might be because I have admitted it - so i let that bad boy out and laugh it off at the same time.

The more you play at a level and the more you have been in a situation to clear the colours and feel confident to do it the less you get hit with it though - but it does come on for a few reasons - maybe because you place importance on the game - you subconsciously think the other guy is going to tear you up - or the fear of failure - now work out which it is or something else and build yourself a strategy to deal with it.#

The first one - I remember playing in this final years ago the prize was 200 for the winner and a cup you keep for a year - big deal at the time - thinking about it now - so what who cares - just another dust collector - the first thing you win is always the hardest after you realize any nerves in a victory or loss is just compounded to the importance you attach to it - you being to realize its good to try not to attach any importance to it - league match or UK final - tell yourself there will be other victories and bad losses - but less defeats if you play with freedom.

The second one - snooker is not like table tennis - its not you then him - you at the table play your own game - he cant pot what you don't leave - dont care who he is - so don't be beat before you start - stay focused in your zone let him worry about his.

The third key - preparation - if you have practised hard you can do no more - confidence comes from knowing you can do things in practice - so get busy with it.

If that don't work another trick is that I simply recall the best player I ever beat and compare them to the guy I'm playing in front of me - or recall a time that I cleared up before - lots of times feeling like this or worse - focus on the ball - take a breath maybe get up and map the table look a bit more confident walking around and owning the table - if you look confident stomping around in your pre shot routine on the outside - you feel a bit more confident on the inside mapping the table gives you a sense of aura to the other guy and helps you re-focus - don't get distracted by anyone especially yourself - get focused - I hum a tune to myself if I feel my mind wandering or filling with technique or am I doing this or that wrong nonsense sometimes - if my opponent is busy potting away I stay watching the position watching the white - waiting for a time where I think he might fall down - and I can jump up and carry on.

Then of course there is the dreaded match ball if you freeze up on this shot perhaps try using some trigger words as I pull back pause and strike through the ball -

Finally - you can not win them all - understanding that is key - accepting defeat is a part of wining. Those purple patches always change colour - but they will come back again because as the old clique says sunshine always follows rain - but you can keep dry if you prepare and bring your umbrella yes? - These are a few things that helped me - but you may have your own ways - learn about yourself - be honest with the nerves - everyone gets them or has had them - learning to deal with it is just the same to you as it is leaning to pot that long blue off the spot better than last time - everyone has had to do it at some point - so learn about yourself and what works for you - it takes time but will get easier - trust me -

Anyway that's my two pence worth - good luck

Great post Byrom , When i go into a match thats important i say to myself well im going to be nervous but i have to control it , that for me is a much better scenario and a lot easier to control and deal with than the other way around of i hope i dont get nervous now in this one theres a lot riding on it .
Once you accept youre going to be nervous and its normal and part of the game then i think its easier to deal with it .

[CoachGavin]

Nerves ruining my natural game during matches

Marriott had some very good advice but it sounds like you are scared of losing and playing badly. This then leads to doubts and anxiety which leads to tightness in the muscles. You need to adjust your thinking so that you accept that it is okay to miss. If the top professionals miss pots, play bad safety and suffer under pressure then you are allowed to. Keep that in mind. Also when you play don't aim to PLAY your best but aim to TRY your best. playing your best is not in your control due to your opponent, table conditions etc so this will make you nervous. However trying your best is always possible in every situation and knowing this will help you stay relaxed. Just try your best in every match. If you win then great but if everything goes wrong you tried your best and life continues.

[ace man]

There is no way to 'overcome the nerves'. The only thing you can do is to play more competitive matches so that you get more used to play under adrenalin rush and very high heart rate. Almost everyone's technique will crumble under those conditions. How could it not? Cues will be steered, arms will twitch, bodies and heads will move...
Just make sure you do it less then others.

Take the opposite. If you play a match that is really important to you, winning line is close, opponent is tough but not necessarily better,
...but you don't get any nerves at all...nothing, absolutely nothing!!! Is that normal? I would have to say no, unless you are using heavy drugs.

I've had some morons recommend drugs and heavy liquor to me. Naturally I have dismissed those. That's how players usually are. Always looking for magic pill, not wanting to put any work.

[CoachGavin]

Nerves ruining my natural game during matches

As aceman says there is no way to overcome nerves. However i think there are different types of nerves and pressure. Everyone suffers from pressure and nerves but yours are far higher than they should be for the matches you are playing and that's the problem. I think for an ordinary league match played every week you shouldn't be so nervous. I highly recommend changing your mentality to effort based rather than achievement based.

[Hazard]

Marriott had some very good advice but it sounds like you are scared of losing and playing badly. This then leads to doubts and anxiety which leads to tightness in the muscles. You need to adjust your thinking so that you accept that it is okay to miss. If the top professionals miss pots, play bad safety and suffer under pressure then you are allowed to. Keep that in mind. Also when you play don't aim to PLAY your best but aim to TRY your best. playing your best is not in your control due to your opponent, table conditions etc so this will make you nervous. However trying your best is always possible in every situation and knowing this will help you stay relaxed. Just try your best in every match. If you win then great but if everything goes wrong you tried your best and life continues.

This sounds pretty close.

I am probably putting more pressure on myself by the way I approach my matches, I know my team mates are probably expecting me to win nearly every week as they see the division im in as a step down. With not playing for a long time I have had to start in a lower division just to get into a team.

I need to change my way of thinking before and during the game, as it is mostly negative thoughts.

[robertmac]

I found that I needed to lighten up as I used to
take myself and my game far too seriously. I had
to see each game as a chance to improve my game
and not a win / lose situation. Even the top players
lose or have a bad day or lose to less skilled players.
Today I play better and enjoy the game since I have
changed my attitude and view of the game.

[golferson123]

my own experience of nerves is somewhat different I remember when I first started getting better and was entering lots of comps I loved it, I loved the so called nerves but realise now that it was really anticipation not nerves. I loved playing names and wanted to give it them but as time went on I slowly became part of the scene and no longer surprised myself with winning and then came the deal breaker I started trying not to lose instead of trying to win, anticipation turned to nerves and there's no going back. don't miss this instead of I'm in, is a killer. you should understand the difference between nerves and anticipation, you will try to beat a better player or peer but you will try not to lose to a lesser player, I don't know the secret to overcome it but it can be done in when Hendre or Davies dominated they knew but when pressed they had their moments

[j6uk]

good little read, and can relate to a lot of it. as you said you can get to wrapped up in the scene which is a psychological mind field and not something thats talked about much, especially when your out there on the battle field seasonally

my own experience of nerves is somewhat different I remember when I first started getting better and was entering lots of comps I loved it, I loved the so called nerves but realise now that it was really anticipation not nerves. I loved playing names and wanted to give it them but as time went on I slowly became part of the scene and no longer surprised myself with winning and then came the deal breaker I started trying not to lose instead of trying to win, anticipation turned to nerves and there's no going back. don't miss this instead of I'm in, is a killer. you should understand the difference between nerves and anticipation, you will try to beat a better player or peer but you will try not to lose to a lesser player, I don't know the secret to overcome it but it can be done in when Hendre or Davies dominated they knew but when pressed they had their moments

[GeordieDS]

my own experience of nerves is somewhat different I remember when I first started getting better and was entering lots of comps I loved it, I loved the so called nerves but realise now that it was really anticipation not nerves. I loved playing names and wanted to give it them but as time went on I slowly became part of the scene and no longer surprised myself with winning and then came the deal breaker I started trying not to lose instead of trying to win, anticipation turned to nerves and there's no going back. don't miss this instead of I'm in, is a killer. you should understand the difference between nerves and anticipation, you will try to beat a better player or peer but you will try not to lose to a lesser player, I don't know the secret to overcome it but it can be done in when Hendre or Davies dominated they knew but when pressed they had their moments

I've lost count of the amount of league games I've lost because I was thinking about not losing, it's insane how powerful the mind is

[eaoin11]

We are all the same. Remember that when someone sees you miss or choke or whatever, they won't think about it for very long because they've already seen it happen to other people a thousand times. When you smash them with a great clearance then they tend to remember.

The brain uses an enormous amount of energy when you're nervous and I think it actually tries to tell you that you will miss in order to give itself a rest. This happens for a lot of shots that you would normally play comfortably and I've learned to recognize when this is happening, stop what I was doing and say to myself,"This ball is going in and the white is going there" then I just focus on the process of making that happen, ensuring that my eye is firmly on the point of contact when I hit the white ball.

I also have to say, that great technique does a lot to reduce the effect of nerves. It means you spend less mental energy on each shot and when you are under pressure (particularly for long matches) it is all about managing your mental energy.

[j6uk]

We are all the same. Remember that when someone sees you miss or choke or whatever, they won't think about it for very long because they've already seen it happen to other people a thousand times. When you smash them with a great clearance then they tend to remember.

The brain uses an enormous amount of energy when you're nervous and I think it actually tries to tell you that you will miss in order to give itself a rest. This happens for a lot of shots that you would normally play comfortably and I've learned to recognize when this is happening, stop what I was doing and say to myself,"This ball is going in and the white is going there" then I just focus on the process of making that happen, ensuring that my eye is firmly on the point of contact when I hit the white ball.

I also have to say, that great technique does a lot to reduce the effect of nerves. It means you spend less mental energy on each shot and when you are under pressure (particularly for long matches) it is all about managing your mental energy.

'''bingo'''

[Neil Taperell]

Think Coach Gavin has hit the nail on the head as far as nerves go for me . Scared of playing badly . Don't practice no where near as much as I used to do ( in fact not picked up a cue for over 4 months ) and when I start playing again , I assume it will be the same scenario ..........expecting too much from myself and going to get the hump when I play badly , even though my mindset will be ' Don't expect too much ' .
Very hard when you know the shots but are let down by either poor technique ( due to lack of practice ) or nerves .
I've been playing league snooker for 25 years and still get an element of nerves , it is how you control it . So for me , hopefully I will get some practice down the club . Only issue is the majority of players are better than me , so that adds to the nerves / pressure . As you don't want to miss and then watch them ram a break up you !

[allaboutsnooker]

Any of you guys offer any advice on how to deal with nerves during matches?

I have suffered with them since I started playing the game and it effects my game badly where it will cause me to miss the easiest of balls.

I even let the nerves get to me against people I shouldnt really be struggling against and because of it can sometimes end up with a terrible result because of it.

I stopped playing the game for ten years and have only been back playing a year, because of this i am having to work my way back up from the lower leagues. Not to disrespect my opponents, but i should not be struggling with nerves against them. Anyone no matter how good they are can lose the odd game i know that, but this is down to nerves more than anything.

Has anybody got some advice that may help in this situation? Really frustrating when i know im a lot better than my performance suggests.

Can I ask why you get nervous? Is it because you are afraid of losing or worried about not playing to your ability in front of people watching? Steve Davis said once about nervous in snooker matches that his success was partly down to a achieving a mental state of mind of being able to play a match as if it meant nothing when it meant everything.

[eaoin11]

On a different but related issue, a lot of snooker players who take caffeine regularly might benefit significantly by giving it up.

Caffeine works by inhibiting adenosine ('go slow' hormone) receptors in neurons, therefore speeding up neural activity. Research has shown that when completing activities that require skill and care, caffeine will make us complete them faster but with more mistakes, which is obviously no good for snooker players.

When we take it regularly the body compensates by increasing levels of adenosine with the effect that you no longer get the benefits from caffeine because you now need it just to feel 'normal'. So now you're subject to fluctuations between too much or too little adenosine with relatively short periods of time when the levels are appropriate. When you consider how we have to switch mindsets during play, between spatial problem solving (when choosing a shot) and pin point accuracy (executing the shot), and how hard this can be under pressure, you really don't want to be navigating the caffeine/adenosine roller coaster at the same time.

You can really only maintain normal levels of adenosine constantly by ceasing the practise of periodically flooding your system with caffeine. I quit just recently and have been feeling really good about it.

Caffeine is the one of the easiest drugs to give up. Withdrawal symptoms include headaches, irritability, sleepiness, depression and the like. I found that they get easier after a couple of days and research has shown that they cease completely within 7-9 days. After that any remaining addiction is pretty much psychological but I haven't had any issues with that so far. The first headache was pretty bad though, I must warn you.