When I concentrate I play poorly, when this frustrates me I play fast and can't miss

[vilkrang]

Slight exaggeration of course but has anyone else experienced this phenomenon?

I was practising today, taking a long time on each shot, really concentrating on pushing the cue through in a straight line, getting right through the cue ball, keeping the body still, feathering for a long time before a final slow feather and delivering the cue...

And unless it was an easy shot I couldn't pot a ball! Even the easy shots weren't going in the middle of the pocket.

I got frustrated after a while and for about 5 minutes I just got down and barely took aim before hitting the ball... And I couldn't miss, I was hitting the ball cleaner than I ever have in my life, straight down to the shot and delivering the cue barely a second after my bridge hand was on the table.

And it wasn't just easy shots, it was long reds, long blues, thin cuts, one red in the middle from an almost impossible angle (think a Mark Williams special in his prime) I just couldn't miss for a few minutes, the speed I was playing and the sweet sound of ball after ball hitting the back of pockets started to even attract views from other tables, I'd never played so well in my life, one shot I screwed back on a long yellow and got so much screw that I got back for a red at the opposite end of the table.

So after a few minutes the frustration had gone and I was happy but then ruined it by starting to think again, and as soon as I started thinking about what it was I was doing differently... Could barely pot a ball again!

Very frustrating, I appreciate that without seeing anything there's not much anyone on here can do to help but I'm wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar themselves, i.e. the less time and thought spent on the shot the better the results.


It's not the first time I've played like this, embarrassingly it once happened on a first date (although it was pool and not snooker), I didn't want to thrash the girl so thought if I just got down and hit the ball without really concentrating then I'd miss a few and it wouldn't look like I was arrogant and trying to show her up, but again I couldn't miss a ball, even long shots off the cushion, so it has the opposite effect as I was clearing up in minutes, something I never manage when I'm playing mates who I really want to beat badly.


I feel like if I could pin point what exactly it is that allows me to play this well in short spurts then I could easily make a 50 break (current highest is 40) and maybe even a century as for brief periods I can't miss and the cue ball is going exactly where I want it.

[culraven]

Sounds like you have a natural ability to pot balls but when concentrating on position etc you may be tensing up and pulling your cue off line. Are you making sure your concentrating on the object ball?

[vilkrang]

When I'm in the "zone" described above I don't even know what I'm doing, they just seem to go in, unfortunately I can't replicate that form on demand, it only tends to happen when I am frustrated and start throwing caution to the wind and play at lightning pace with minimum thought to what I'm actually doing.

When I'm playing matches and taking my time then I think I look up and down at the cue ball and object ball. Haven't given much thought to where I look though to be honest.

I'm 30 years old now, probably have a few bad habits and have never had any coaching or really looked up much online, I know the basics from playing a lot and watching a lot but I don't have an exact cue action where I perform the same procedure every shot and I feel like I probably need to nail that down if I'm to ever starting getting 50+ breaks, but if I can put in a bottle the sporadic form I sometimes show and figure out exactly what I'm doing and make that my cue action I feel like I have it in me.

Maybe a coach could help me but I'm worried at this point that they might do more harm than good, plus I live in Huntingdon, I've seen one coach advertising at my snooker club but not sure whether he'd be any good or if it would be a waste of money and maybe it's something I need to figure out on my own.

Annoyingly it's not just playing faster that helps or I'd just do that, seems to only come about when there's frustration involved as well. A friend of mine was about to beat me for the first time a few months ago, I was playing so badly and I had pretty much thrown in the towel but then suddenly started producing similar form to as I've described above and came back to beat him but it all came from being frustrated as to how poorly I was playing which made me lose my cool, but usually when people lose their cool they start playing badly but it sometimes does the opposite with me for some reason!

[toastandmarmite]

You obviously have the talent within to play very well Mr V, something like a Tony Drago character perhaps, capable of playing fantastic on autopilot but missing an easy one if the negative doubts are allowed to dominate?

The Japanese martial artists adhere to an old aphorism: when you strike take as your thought the thought of no thought.

[toastandmarmite]

I'm the same though, Mr V, my standard of play is much improved by upping the pace.

At my age, it's probably beneficial not to give the nerves and doubts about eyesight the chance to knock my confidence.

[Hello, Mr Big Shot]

My struggle: missing after I've paused for thought. 90% of my misses are because i've lost focus. Drives me mad, and I now expect it.

[focus]

My struggle: missing after I've paused for thought. 90% of my misses are because i've lost focus. Drives me mad, and I now expect it.

It will only get worse and more desperate chum! pmsl.

[culraven]

Get yourself to a coach, he'll tell you more in 5 minutes than any amount of research, alternatively stick a video up and the coaches on here can offer some critique? It could be something simple but hard to offer advice without seeing what's going wrong. You'll see a lot of debate on here about whether to concentrate on object ball or cue ball, but most agree that on striking the cue ball you should be concentrating on exactly where you want the cue ball to strike and your arm should automatically follow that line. Try to identify if this is what you are doing when you are in the zone, if all your concentrating on is the pot I suspect you will be. If you can incorporate a pause in your back swing and just purely concentrate on the OB it may help, helped me as I found it unnatural and my eyes kept flicking all over the place without realising.

[tetricky]

When I practise and have a nice rhythm, I seem to barely have enough time to think about what I'm doing, and everything comes together...i get down on line, i know where i want the white, I bring the cue through smoothly, I gt up rinse and repeat. Either side of that causes me problems..too quick and i miss the potting angles far too often, and sometimes over bang the balls and miss position. Too slow and all the prep is good, but the cue doesn't always come through smoothly...it seems dragged down by doubt, and I miss that way.

Trouble is, that pace might be slightly different every day...and is dependent on how quick my thinking is, as well as how loose and fluid my body is moving. It's a joy when I hit the zone, but I can't control it, and it's not all that often.

Most often the most overall consistent approach is to do careful prep, and make sure I focus on a smooth stroke once down. It's not the zone, but it's more reliable.....and I'm more likely to enter the zone from that side, rather than playing too quick to start with.

[Csmith]

Sounds like concentrating on the wrong things. Those are a lot of thoughts to go through the head on each shot and I understand what you are saying. If I concentrate on all my mechanics, every shot feels like a chore and as a result a 20 break feels onerous.

I like to have a stroke thought, something simple to focus on but generally speaking your concentration should be focused on shot selection and cue ball control.

[focus]

When I'm in the "zone" described above I don't even know what I'm doing, they just seem to go in, unfortunately I can't replicate that form on demand, it only tends to happen when I am frustrated and start throwing caution to the wind and play at lightning pace with minimum thought to what I'm actually doing.

When I'm playing matches and taking my time then I think I look up and down at the cue ball and object ball. Haven't given much thought to where I look though to be honest.

I'm 30 years old now, probably have a few bad habits and have never had any coaching or really looked up much online, I know the basics from playing a lot and watching a lot but I don't have an exact cue action where I perform the same procedure every shot and I feel like I probably need to nail that down if I'm to ever starting getting 50+ breaks, but if I can put in a bottle the sporadic form I sometimes show and figure out exactly what I'm doing and make that my cue action I feel like I have it in me.

Maybe a coach could help me but I'm worried at this point that they might do more harm than good, plus I live in Huntingdon, I've seen one coach advertising at my snooker club but not sure whether he'd be any good or if it would be a waste of money and maybe it's something I need to figure out on my own.

Annoyingly it's not just playing faster that helps or I'd just do that, seems to only come about when there's frustration involved as well. A friend of mine was about to beat me for the first time a few months ago, I was playing so badly and I had pretty much thrown in the towel but then suddenly started producing similar form to as I've described above and came back to beat him but it all came from being frustrated as to how poorly I was playing which made me lose my cool, but usually when people lose their cool they start playing badly but it sometimes does the opposite with me for some reason!

Here's a tip that works for a maxi breaker I know. Assess the situation, 3ft back from the table as usual, make your decision, then get down into the address position. As you begin to feather, concentrate on how you R knee feels, take the shot with this feeling in mind. Next shot, your R ankle, then your R hip, then the left side of you lower half. Then back to the R side joints. Try it, it stops you thinking about what you're not supposed to be thinking, which in your case is the monkey of DOUBT prodding you in the background.

If you can't empty your mind, then fill it with something that has no effect on the shot.

[vilkrang]

Cheers for all the advice lads, I guess I'll try a coach then, one session isn't going to ruin my game but maybe there's a few things they can tell me.

I'll post a video the next time I hit the sweet "zone" then hopefully what I'm doing right will be apparent!

And thanks for all the other advice everyone, I will give all of it a try, much appreciated responses.

[itsnoteasy]

It's not what your doing right that's important, it's what your doing wrong that needs fixed.

[focus]

Cheers for all the advice lads, I guess I'll try a coach then, one session isn't going to ruin my game but maybe there's a few things they can tell me.

I'll post a video the next time I hit the sweet "zone" then hopefully what I'm doing right will be apparent!

And thanks for all the other advice everyone, I will give all of it a try, much appreciated responses.

A coach can't put the monkey back in the cage, you have to do that. Try reading the chimp paradox; great book, and the writer is Ronnie's psychologist.

[Catch 22]

I have the exact same thing .

What I found was there are natural habits in my stroke that are unorthodox (or not textbook ) but work for me . They are things I was not aware of .

When I'm trying to do everything right , I overrule my brain and these little habits are no longer there and I struggle

Example

Playing fast ..... My cue twists on backswing a little and then twists back to starting position as I deliver cue
Concentrating ,... No twist

When I'm concentrating my cue action is pretty much txt book . But I play better when I'm not concentrating

Bear in mind I'm not a good player though lol

I've spoken to a top coach about this on the phone and I'm going to go see him soon .