There is No Opponent... Only The Table

[Byrom]

Three hours and fifteen minutes for 5 frames in my local pro-am Sunday morning. Timing, the will to win, the will to live, enjoyment, all just completely gone.

I can completely sympathise with this - some days you cant put your finger on it but it feel like you are using someone else's cue arm - these days become less but you never get rid of these off days - snooker is very much a mood game.

Tomorrow is another day - if I feel like this and I do sometimes I put the cue away and do something different for a while. This is why snooker is so frustrating - you can never completely master it. Then I will watch a game on TV, or someone will talk about it on here and I think yeah I try that - or maybe I buy a new cue a table will get re covered and I will get the hunger to play again. Weird really.

But you must understand playing in a pro am like this generally you will play against such a higher standard of player than the league you can look at it and take positives - everyone else will seem easier and you have learned that sometimes you just cant turn it on - preparation? - tired? - or a certain shot or lack of patience that let you down during the game? - recall them shots and positions - practice more - the pain goes away after a day or so as you know - get back on the horse.

[damienlch]

Tournament or not, I play ultra tight especially against weak opponents. Alway try to keep as many colours on spot as possible.
Why would anyone want to play ultra tight against weak below 30 break guys?
Well, you go for a difficult black, miss it, it ends up on a cushion. You let your weak opponent have a shot on a high colour, he will miss it, and not only that, he will also put two other colours on the cushion all in one shot, as well as few reds. Count on it.
And before you know it, frame will come down to final few colours with you leading by only a few points. Suddenly, your weak opponent pots a few very low percentage pots, and then you begin to wander...how can this guy get even close to me?

SPOT ON!! I have no problems with me getting hammered by stronger players all day and daily, it just makes me hungry for more in a sadistic way but these are the frames that really get to me.

[9outof10]

Hendry said, "You don't get points for safety.", but, I say "You might get a shot though." I'm emotionally dead when I hit the table. The most I think is, "I need this one." No emotion, no fear, a touch of happiness on a good play, that's about it. I feel as if I am knocking them around on the practice table. You can either control the nerves, or get rid of them.

[sberry]

If the opening statement was true then Tony Meo and Willie Thorne to name but two would have won many titles between them, they could master the table but not the opponent or the occasion

[9outof10]

For me the hardest thing to get my head around was: The ball is in till it misses, not I hope it goes in. (and really, really, really believing it.)

they could master the table but not the opponent or the occasion

There are so many aspects that make a up a successful champion. The pros (to me) only really feel it bad when they are doing something for the first time. Like 20 147's in practice, first on TV etc. That might make them get the jitters, or as we know it, highest break syndrome.

Again to me, at the social, bit of competition amateur standard most of us are at I guess, it's not about worrying about the opponent, it's about getting rid of the mistakes and playing your best game. The pressure comes because, this is a game you love, you want to do your best and you try so hard to do it. With that a person builds their own pressure, its not the opponent. The only thing the opponent represents is how likely you are going to fail.

My advice is not to care so much. Plan and execute every shot you take the absolute best you can, but know, at your level, there are going to be misses, position drops and that. (at any level) What I'm trying to say is, the hoping, praying, anger with yourself doesn't help at all. So I suggest dropping it if you do it.

There is no advice better than hitting balls around a snooker table on the internet. Learning to sink 10 or 20 on the practice table is more valuable in mentally tackling the opponent than the best sports psychologist. haha

[SnookeredYou]

Thank you guys for all your advice and stories. I can very much relate to everyone posting. I have been playing a lot of International Snooker 2014 (on my iphone) and I have actually notice that it helps my mental thinking on the table. It has even helped my aiming system a little bit. Right now I am just going back to the basics and getting my pre-shot routine down to a science. I have had a lot of people tell me I have really good consistent form and even when I miss I make it look good . I just need to work on my half ball shots and quarter ball shots. That is the bread and butter of snooker shots so I have been practicing those two shots more than anything else right now.