How to enjoy the game?

[mchpddl1]

Hi,

I am a regular player and I found that i have different level of enjoyment each time i play. Especially in tournaments, one session i truely enjoyed it but on another ocassion i feel tense; leg shaking and not enjoying at all, but not due to opponent's skills.

How can one truely unleash the potential each time and truely enjoys the game ? Sometimes i am in the game i am not feeling enjoying it but rather suffering.

[Mellow Yellow]

i'm guessing you enjoy it more when your playing well?

It's possibly a confidence thing? just try to remember how good you can play.

Or it could just be that you need a break from the game, try having a few weeks off and you might regain your passion.

[Gimme Danger]

I did just this over the last month. I didn't pick up the cue for the best part of four weeks, first frame last night, dropped in a nice 48.
Sometimes you can play too much snooker and it starts to take the enjoyment out of it.

[Bruv]

i have this same problem, its like a mood thing i guess. i'm interested if anyone can answer this!

[poolqjunkie]

I have been trying to figure that out for my game. I have posted a couple threads recently about this.
For me, it is a mater of motivation--without much motivation, I could nto enjoy myself at the table. Sometimes, I woudl feel really misearable.
I have thought about this a lot. One thing I noticed was boredom from practising the same routine 3 to 5 hours a day, which kind of put my brain into a coma. I lost the sharpness when I am playing a match, because of these routines. So, I have changed my pracrised, and have palnned a nice schedule for myself--I will be working on a particular area every day of the week, except Sunday, when I take a break. I arranged my match play usually on Sat, so I can use that to gauge my practise progess. It is a great joy to see myself getting better, and this joy motivates me to keep playing and practising.
Secondly, I notcied that sometimes I was playing not to loss rather than to win; I was playing not to look bad, rather than to shine. I would also loss interest when playing someone that I think I should beat for sure, and I would lack motivation.
Now, I try to "play the table" which is easier said than done. I would forget about my opponenet, and just play the shot. I would ask myself if it is the right shot to go for, and examine the percentage of this shot, to decide if I shoudl; go for it. If I decide to go for this shot, I will give 100%, even if I am only playing ith a beginner.
What I try to achieve is to put my focus at the right place, i.e. at teh table and among the balls. Also, this helps me to build good habits of focusing well during a match and keep that focus level high.
Lastly, I was having problem winning sometimes, when I just could not focus enpugh to feel that killer instint. This usually happens when I was down, and I woudl start missing easy shots, and become very frustrated. I am still working on this problem. Basically, I need to believ that I am capable of putting together breaks that can win the frame if and when I have the chance, so I should never give up my the desire to win. I think this needs some experience of winning matches coming from behind. In all honesty, I am still lacking that kind of experience.
I try to remind myself to keep breathing and keep doing it with a certain rhythm when I am nervous. I also keep reminding myself to keep my cue level. When I tense up, I tend to raise the butt of my cue on the back swing.
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[mchpddl1]

Thank you for your sharings; my problems seem common. i will takes all your advises and hopefully my passion will be increased again.

[peggy]

Its the practising for me that i find boring and tedios then i think to myself What does Tiger Woods do when things aren’t going as well as he would like? He goes back to practicing his basic shots and cue control over and over even tho i find it boring and tedios for me. but he does it aqnd gets paid millions a year and all i am is a milkmans daughter and im stuggling to make ends meet
The good thing is i still enjoy the game a lot but Unfortunately my game has lost quite a bit of its sharpness as my eyesight has deterioted.

[CoachGavin]

I think that practice routines are important and need to be set at the right level. This is often overlooked. A good practice needs to be varied so that the player doesnt get bored. It also has to be set at exactly the right level. It has to be achievable and yet not too easy. This means that you have to put every effort in to achieve it but you know that you can do it. When i was younger my highest break was 91. In practice i set myself the target of a century at the lineup. I hit 70's and 80's quite regularly and so i knew i was close and this kept me going back. Eventually i starting breaking the 100 regularly and then i changed my targets cos i knew it was too easy. However knowing i was playing well in practice and that i was enjoying practice gave me so much confidence for my matches. It meant that i was desperate to go and play matches and show off my new skills that i had learnt. Practice is very important and leads to a lot of self confidence.

[Belloz22]

you know when you do practice routines though, do you practice the same one for a set amount of time.... or do you practice loads once????? what it is is my coach has given me 12 routines to practice, and i have to do each 5 times, then record my scores, but should i do the same one 5 times in a row, or all 12 once????