Bringing the discipline when practice to match table.

[tofushop193]

I have been practicing the line up for the past 2 months or so. Generally, i would train for 3 hrs once per week. The first 5 mins potting straight balls for warm up then continue to play the line up for 2 hrs. And the rest of the time i would throw 4 to 5 balls on the table and try to clear them all.

I feel the line up helps me improve a lot and recently, I am able to achieve 40 - 50 break in a line up. Not always but I will try to make it once every session.

But the thing is during match with my friends, i couldnt get the discipline i have during practicing. My cueing isnt straight, the cue did not follow through most of the time and the final stroke did not end at the chest but all this i can do during practicing.

How do you bring simple discipline from the practice table to the match table. It is not like i am under a lot of pressure but why.

[ghost121]

Bringing practise form to match time is extremely difficult. When we practise it's relatively easy to concentrate on form. When we play a match, even one with no pressure amongst friends, the need to win takes over and this change of focus destroys any form that isn't totally hard wired and intuitive. So that's what you have to do - practise and practise and then practise some more until correct technique is hard wired into your game without having to think about it. Even then it will be hard to duplicate on match days, but at least that gives you the best chance. And unless you are naturally super talented, that takes a hell of a long time to achieve, years rather than months.

[blinker]

Try to bring the right mood to match session instead instead of "form"

Thinking of replicating form from practice might add pressure to yourself and it causes easy stumble at times when things doesn't go your way...

If you bring the "confidence" and "positive" kind of high mood into the match without any expectation of form, it might gives you better result...

[tofushop193]

Hi blinker. I tried and it works a bit.

[Csmith]

The idea is to use practice to develop habits that result in efficient play. When you compete, you are supposed to focus on decision making and not worry about the specifics of what you are doing. Essentially allowing yourself to rely on motor memory for execution, which where you will be most effective.

That said, are you having a warm up before matching up with friends? That could be a missing ingredient if you are used to warming up before practice sessions. Personally, I'm less likely to play at my best unless I've had 20 minutes to knock the balls about.

[tetricky]

I'm generally a slow starter, but can turn it around against people of a similar standard after a a bit of play (it's not unusual for me to be three or four frames behind, and come back to win)....but most people of my standard are losing their form by then. I'd benefit from practice before play, but we just tend to rock up, and get playing. No time for practice when we're meeting for a game.

[blinker]

I'm generally a slow starter, but can turn it around against people of a similar standard after a a bit of play (it's not unusual for me to be three or four frames behind, and come back to win)....but most people of my standard are losing their form by then. I'd benefit from practice before play, but we just tend to rock up, and get playing. No time for practice when we're meeting for a game.

I always thought i am the only one lol.... Most of players at the club will always start well but form will fade off gradually. For me i just start rusty even if i played the day before but gets better and better and much sharper as frame goes on

[ghost121]

I always thought i am the only one lol.... Most of players at the club will always start well but form will fade off gradually. For me i just start rusty even if i played the day before but gets better and better and much sharper as frame goes on

These days I start rough and stay rough. I can't get my game anywhere near my practise form. Hoping that if I stick at it, the two will gradually come together. After ten years or more out, I knew I would be bad, just not this bad.

[blinker]

These days I start rough and stay rough. I can't get my game anywhere near my practise form. Hoping that if I stick at it, the two will gradually come together. After ten years or more out, I knew I would be bad, just not this bad.

Can totally understand this frustration, just like you I do face the issue but just less often now. It is always technique related, during matches there's always tendency to snatch on delivery and end up turning the wrist, gripping cue too early after the shot or not performing a proper follow through. This always happen because in our mind we keep telling ourselves not to miss but in practice u simply aim get down and let go naturally without any concerns so the delivery tend to be more smooth.

Try cueing along the baulk line back n forth and holding it there 3-5 secs at the end of the stroke when u are having a bad form and see if it helps... Usually it will sort of straighten my cue action out and just need that one confidence shot to return back to normal.

[Master Blaster]

Can totally understand this frustration, just like you I do face the issue but just less often now. It is always technique related, during matches there's always tendency to snatch on delivery and end up turning the wrist, gripping cue too early after the shot or not performing a proper follow through. This always happen because in our mind we keep telling ourselves not to miss but in practice u simply aim get down and let go naturally without any concerns so the delivery tend to be more smooth.

Try cueing along the baulk line back n forth and holding it there 3-5 secs at the end of the stroke when u are having a bad form and see if it helps... Usually it will sort of straighten my cue action out and just need that one confidence shot to return back to normal.

Good habits help form in practice and matches. Most folk tend to stop thinking or go too quickly in matches or go too slowly and lose rhythm. If people are snatching the cue, try putting this in your practice routine. Get down, don't feather. Look at the cue ball, the object ball, the pocket, the cue ball, the object ball, the pocket again. During this brief second or two think; does this angle look correct, could I pot the ball with my eyes? If it looks 10/10, ok. If it doesn't, get up and make an adjustment. This is called the forward pause. By putting a fwd pause into your game, you slow things down a bit and relax yourself; it will help your rear pause (because your rhythm is better and you're now feeling a lot more confident about the angles and potential pot) and stop you snatching. People snatch out of stress/fear/pressure. Obviously, a nice rear pause is now needed, after a couple of feathers. The rear pause is essential, anything like 1/4-1/2 second is ideal, not too long such that the cue arm gets tense. I've noticed that when I put in a longer front pause, my feathers are shorter and fewer in number. Subconsciously, I believe in the shot and I'm not overfeathering nervelessly out of fear. My mind is in a good place. When Ronnie is on fire, he barely feathers, he sees that ball huge and he really believes deep down that he's seeing the correct angles. Another trick to stop snatching is to also 'feel' the inside of the thumb and forefinger contact points on the cue before you take the cue back and deliver it. The inside points should feel symmetrical on the cue, not leaning over, but both feeling vertical. When you take the cue back (in practice) try and feel and maintain this 'vertical' feel on these contact points and allow your hand to open the fingers naturally to maintain this feel. If you now drive the cue forward without a pause, at least you've got more chance of delivering the cue straight even if you do snatch. If you have a rear pause, your ability to deliver the cue straight should be maximised. Developing this feel will also aid you in how much weight you add to the cue ball, improving positioning.

[alabadi]

I am always better at practice than in a match. even if its just a game with a mate, its not nerves or anything like that, it's just the fact you want to win, so it changes everything.

in practice you can take your time, you decide where you want the white to end up , so you decide on the power the height , grip ,stance ...etc. you are not under any pressure at all, if you miss you can repeat the shot.

in a game you feel you have less time, you might still decide where you want the white to end up for your next shot, however I find that I rarely decide what height and strength to play the shot, I just get down and let instinct take over. its strange because after the shot I find I'm talking to myself saying pick the height and strength.

however a few shots later again I'm doing the same thing. I feel in a game I have less time and don't want to make the game boring and slow by doing all the things I do in practice.

I am hoping that by doing it so many times in practice it becomes natural and part of my game without having to think about it. I realise now it takes thousands of hours doing the same thing over and over until it does become ingrained.

the unfortunate thing for us mere mortals we don't have the time or in other words it will take years and years to get to that consistency , other life things restrict the time we can put in to practice , the pros have all the time they want because its their job.

there is one area of my game that I have been trying to nail down now for the last six months and that is to stop my index figure gripping the cue too early. it makes the cue veer to the left every time I do this. (I'm a right handed player) it took me years to find out this is why I was putting unintentional left hand side on the cueball.

I still find myself doing this, as it has been a bad habit for so long. so I start each solo session cueing over the baulk line to get the rhythm and the feel of the shot right. I'm not 100% there yet however I'm slowly getting there.

[Master Blaster]

The difference between players who win more matches than those of similar ability is clear thinking and not wilting under pressure. You don't play worse because you want to win, you play worse because you fear your won't play as well as you can (given past experiences under pressure). The only way to change this is to start winning and improve confidence. Confidence comes from belief in your technique holding up and not giving in to bad habits (and not even realising it) during matches. People say they should not be self-aware during matches but play naturally. This of course is nonsense. Pros spend a fair bit of time in their seats thinking about why they missed or played badly or chose the wrong shot and how to correct those mistakes for the next frame. If they didn't, they'd be hammered whenever they hit a bad spot of form. But they don't, the good pros turn it around. You'll see them deliberately taking more time and getting basics right. Sometimes it works and sometimes not but carrying on with a flaw is guaranteed to fail.

You must play to win but not care about losing. And I mean genuinely understand why losing doesn't matter and agree with the reasons. As Advani says, play for pleasure and not to win. Winning is a bonus but the first pleasure is playing to your ability, playing well, enjoying your free time, having inner fun and smiling. We're all gonna die one day and we can't take our games with us. It's just a game afterall, the game and the whole of life. Be free of your demons and play freely, stuff winning at all costs. If you play only to win, have you really imprisoned your inner player; are you free?

Ronnie now knows this and is happier (post-Peters). He says he really doesn't care about Hendry's records and I really believe him. Records are nice, but enjoying life is the real prize.

[alabadi]

As Advani says, play for pleasure and not to win. Winning is a bonus but the first pleasure is playing to your ability, playing well, enjoying your free time, having inner fun and smiling..

This is the problem, though. I win most of the matches I play in , unless the opponent is miles better than me ability wise.

however although I love the game, I sometimes don't get the pleasure from winning because I didn't play to my ability. I get satisfaction of winning, but not pleasure.

last night I played 3 frames 2 against one player and another against someone else. to be fair I am a better player than both of them and dually won all 3 frames. however 2 of the frames against the first opponent were pretty close and came down to the colours before I secured the frame.

there is no way this playing should have got close , no disrespect to him but he can barely get a 15 break. this is what frustrates me so much.
I will always love the game and can't wait to play again, but for me the pleasure comes from playing well not winning. I would swap a lot of my wins for playing well.

I don't fear losing, but in the same breath don't like it. I enjoy playing no matter what. and will enjoy it until the day I die. I just want to play well.

[vmax4steve]

I am always better at practice than in a match. even if its just a game with a mate, its not nerves or anything like that, it's just the fact you want to win, so it changes everything.

Actually it is nerves, which is why everything changes, you lose the focus you have when practising because when you're practising you can't lose.
Lose the fear of losing and you will be better able to remember the things you do in practise.

But to be honest it's about time that what you do in practise is now second nature to you, unless of course you keep changing things.

[alabadi]

Actually it is nerves, which is why everything changes, you lose the focus you have when practising because when you're practising you can't lose.
Lose the fear of losing and you will be better able to remember the things you do in practise.

But to be honest it's about time that what you do in practise is now second nature to you, unless of course you keep changing things.

for me to be nervous, is when you get butterflies in your stomach, you might be shaky when playing as sometimes I am in league matches.

when I play mates I have non of that at all. I am relaxed joyful we have a laugh...etc. what I would agree with you is the focus. in practice its always there because I am trying to learn an angle or pace ..etc. in a match I can lose this, so this is what I need to improve on.

with regards to total improvement, don't get me wrong I am much better now , areas I was weak on have improved a lot. however its the total package putting all of them together.