Moving up a slippery slope with my roller skates

[Sidd]

Hello everyone,

I have been going through too much lately. Work at office is very tough these days. New project and audit and what not. Apart from that I have had a few trainings to deliver and am also teaching as a visiting faculty at two universities. Teaching International Human Rights Law, Business Law, Taxation and Social Work. Here at the NGO I am stuck with so many things but I can't leave teaching and professional trainings as that is my passion. But then making this NGO and working for the development sector in Paksitan was also perhaps a passion. Well I don't know really whatever it is. I am still trying to find the answer to the question- who am I?

This recent routine has done two things. One positive and one negative. In fact two positives. Well the negative is that I don't find the time these days to write as perhaps that is my actual passion (NGO management, development practice, trainings, teaching are somewhat decoy passions as they earn the bread and butter) so these days I have a bad block and can't write a word I have novel to look up to and complete with a co-author but I just can't write. The good things are that I am back to playing snooker as it relaxes me from the whole stressful world that I have build up around me. Secondly, I can't tinker a lot about technique these days as I do not have enough time on me to. So I am playing kind of not bad at all. Back to my winning spree lately

I tried the Ron Alex Higgins grip again and that worked fine and long pots started going in. I thought that was it. But the next day I went in and hahaha forgot to keep that grip and played with my usual first finger grip and still balls went in even long shots.. breaks of 20 and 30 odds were there too. On my way back I recalled that I played with my natural grip (thanks to Terry who taught me the proper configuration and pressure) and all of you who have had patience with me Well it was my dear Mr BoB who helped me in playing good with both grips. So its all about Mr BoB and I keep that in mind. I have created a sort of Mantra, if you like, (thanks to Steve for this advice) and this mantra is that I start reciting in my mind something that helps me regain focus once I am down to pieces... it is this "BoB Cocoon BoB" hahaha and I sort of sing it- crazy yeah but it works.

How did I get it well BoB is back of the ball (OB) and cocoon is when on Ron's recent 147 Hendry was commentating and seeing Ron doing it he said 'right now he is in a bubble, the camera the audience the lights nothing matters to him he can't listen to anything, as if he is in a cocoon of concentration' So yeah this helps me a lot

I have observed that when I am playing properly I have a nice hold on the cue my grip hand is relaxed not loose but not firm on the grip I can just feel the butt inside the hand roughly and if you try to snatch the cue from it, you won't have any trouble in trying to do that. Secondly, I have a very pronounced natural back pause and when I do that I release the cue nicely and slowly and get the results without power I mean less power more action on the CB and that is when I can pot consistently.

I think I am there and am enjoying my snooker. One of my club fellows said to me the other day- you are playing like you used to 4 or 5 years from now I hope I maintain this and do not get back to the tinkering thing. It does come to me on EVERY SINGLE miss trust me it does but I try to fight my brain and shrug it off and this is where BoB Cocoon helps.

Happy snookering everyone.
I just hope I can start writing again. I miss that

Adios.

[Master Blaster]

Interesting read, thanks. Who is Steve? Is this your coach?

Mantra's are very interesting things, and can be powerful psychological tools for stopping every type of psychological hijacking we suffer (Dr. Steve Peter's talks about this with Ronnie) and also as a cure to many things such as insomnia/stress/etc. They are more understood in Asia and in their ultimate form by wise Bhudist monks. Very interesting stuff. But please tell me why 'back of ball' (BOB) was chosen? Does it mean stop thinking of negativity and focus on back of ball or something different?

[sealer]

He is Les of yesterday :-)

[itsnoteasy]

He is Les of yesterday :-)

Who Sidd or Steve ? Steve is Vmax, a very good contributer to these forums.

[Master Blaster]

Ok, so what does BOB mean, focus on rear of ball, eliminate all other thoughts?

[Terry Davidson]

Ok, so what does BOB mean, focus on rear of ball, eliminate all other thoughts?

Sidd:

Now that you have all that sorted the only thing left to do for you to improve is to get more practice. Without that you will likely stay at about the same level but at least it sounds like you have moved from worrying about the technique too much and settling down into just one technique which you can use all the time.

Perhaps as you get more senior in your NGO job maybe you can find more time off to sneak down to the snooker club for some practice

[Sidd]

Sidd:

Now that you have all that sorted the only thing left to do for you to improve is to get more practice. Without that you will likely stay at about the same level but at least it sounds like you have moved from worrying about the technique too much and settling down into just one technique which you can use all the time.

Perhaps as you get more senior in your NGO job maybe you can find more time off to sneak down to the snooker club for some practice

Thanks Terry yes indeed you are right. All I need is solo practice now given that I have full knowledge of my body action during the shot. I can somehow improve on that in solo as I focus on them one by one. But I am happy overall that I am a bit aware of my action rather than merely having trial and error.

As for practice, I shall try somehow to find time, which I cannot at the moment. I won't get senior in the NGO job given that I am already its CEO but yes as time passes and we get more projects and more staff to run the projects, my burden shall be lessened and I can focus on the game more; lets see.

But thanks all the way coach !

[Sidd]

Interesting read, thanks. Who is Steve? Is this your coach?

Mantra's are very interesting things, and can be powerful psychological tools for stopping every type of psychological hijacking we suffer (Dr. Steve Peter's talks about this with Ronnie) and also as a cure to many things such as insomnia/stress/etc. They are more understood in Asia and in their ultimate form by wise Bhudist monks. Very interesting stuff. But please tell me why 'back of ball' (BOB) was chosen? Does it mean stop thinking of negativity and focus on back of ball or something different?

Dear Master Blaster,

In order to discuss this I would not generalise the discussion but be specific with my example given that everyone has their own thing. My story is a bit different. I have Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) and hence my brain needs to blame something when I miss. I have been in this jungle for a long long time. My brain can't accept that I am human and an amateur player whose highest break is 67 with another few 50 odd breaks in life and I would miss. I normally don't get the time to solo so that adds to it. Although I understand that I would miss every now and then yet my brain tends to put the blame on something in order to satisfy itself. For example, if I miss an easy pot I would think that I missed it because my grip tightened or my elbow dropped early or I followed through more than required, or the twisting of the grip hand, or the finger action whilst re-clutching etc etc and hence I would try to tweak that thing or the other during the game and hence my missing would continue because in the process I start subconsciously focusing on an element of technique rather than focusing on BOB for having potting consistency.

This used to happen to me for years without a break. Snooker became hard for me and I went down from 40 odd average to may be even under 20 odd average. But now that I have in a way learnt a lot about technique and have finally developed a decent reliable technique, I still miss and my brain says woah! It was the grip so I have to shrug it off and repeat my mantra of BOB cocoon so that I teach my mind that I took my eyes off the pot and hence missed and there is nothing wrong with my technique.

As for your question in general terms, everybody should have a mantra or better still as Terry puts it, one sweet thought in mind while down on shot as it helps you put other thoughts out of mind. For instance one sweet thought that really helps is to play as if you are going to hit the OB with the tip and CB is just a bubble of soap- this helps in better follow through and reduces the jerky action. One needs to first find his/her biggest technique flaw and then learn how to correct it and the way one corrects it is something similar to which one can create a mantra for oneself My biggest problem is taking eyes off the pot due to other thoughts like the Grip being wrong etc (itsnoteasy knows where I am coming from) so Steve (vmaxforsteve) helped me in this mantra thing and I hence decided to have BoB cocoon as my thing it is working really fine for me.

Terry Davidson is my coach here and Vmaxforsteve is my Steve Peters

[Terry Davidson]

Sidd:

Sorry, I didn't realize you were already the CEO. Well, since a lot of CEO's practice their putting on their office carpet then maybe you could install a snooker table in your office? Just joking

[Sidd]

Sidd:

Sorry, I didn't realize you were already the CEO. Well, since a lot of CEO's practice their putting on their office carpet then maybe you could install a snooker table in your office? Just joking

Well said. Yes indeed that is the case I hope I can attain that level some day who knows. for the time being I am a struggling CEO who aspires to put up his NGO in Pakistan's top 10 before going international. Quite a target yeah Well I am thankful to the Lord given that I have been able to acquire partner status with the Australian High Commission and UNHCR (UN refugee agency) and our annual turnover has reached just about half a million pounds per annum but this is crazy being honest in this field is tough. I still can't afford a full month of relaxation as my income is too less. I can't charge my salary to the donors being CEO and hence only some overheads and management fee is charged. Hence I have to resort to teaching and training and consulting etc but I am committed that this sacrifice shall bear fruit

But I am determined to get down to the snooker table more often.

Last night I played really relaxed and fine and made a decent mortal break of 31 after a long time I was able to put two and two together and snooker seemed like an easy game