Concentration, Hunger, Desire.

[Mellow Yellow]

I played in a local 8 ball tournament this week that i have been looking forward to now for a few weeks.

On the night i cruised through the last 16, battled through the quarters and into the semis.

However upon reaching the semi's i just totally lost interest, i knew i could easily beat my opponent and get into the final but, to be blunt i just couldn't be bothered and started taking on stupid pots and exibition like shots. In the end i gave away an easy chance and lost.

I've put it down to a few possibilities, too much to drink (free beers all night), my pals had all been knocked out and where elsewhere having a laugh, supper was put out mid game (home made curry, my favourite). or complacentcy (sp?).

Which ever of the above it was i really had no interest in the game what so ever, but ever since i've been kicking myself coz i could have won the whole tourny.

What can i do to stay focussed and have that hunger for victory all night long? As I now regret not concentrating and playing as well as i could.

[sunny3909]

Well Mate! All I can say is that you shouldn't forget this defeat.It will help u in staying focussed in future when a similar situation arrives.

Never compare yourself to your opponent.Concentrate in your own game.
Respect your Hard work ,Ability,Talent and ABOVE ALL RESPECT YOURSELF!
BEST OF LUCK!
Regards,
Sunny.

[CoachGavin]

interesting this one. This may not be you but sometimes when a player has pressure on them to win and knows that they are expected to win they sometimes react in a way similar to this. I have seen players do it in similar situations. Sub consciously they make excuses for losing so they dont feel as bad if they lose to an opponent beneath them. You sort of tell yourself that you are not bothered if you lose and that takes the pressure off the situation. However, this can lead to loss of interest in the match and taking on too many shots etc like you explain. Even if this isnt you i am sure others have done this.

I would advise you to follow the good advice above and also dont drink during a tournament cos it will effect you. You should also think of winning and playing your best and not trying not to lose (this often happens when you play a lesser opponent). By this i mean play the same game you would play normally and not to 'play it safe'. Sometimes if you are playing a lesser opponent give yourself a target of how much you want to win by and that often focuses the mind positvely on winning.

hope this helps

[Littlesense]

I played in a local 8 ball tournament this week that i have been looking forward to now for a few weeks.

On the night i cruised through the last 16, battled through the quarters and into the semis.

However upon reaching the semi's i just totally lost interest, i knew i could easily beat my opponent and get into the final but, to be blunt i just couldn't be bothered and started taking on stupid pots and exibition like shots. In the end i gave away an easy chance and lost.

I've put it down to a few possibilities, too much to drink (free beers all night), my pals had all been knocked out and where elsewhere having a laugh, supper was put out mid game (home made curry, my favourite). or complacentcy (sp?).

Which ever of the above it was i really had no interest in the game what so ever, but ever since i've been kicking myself coz i could have won the whole tourny.

What can i do to stay focussed and have that hunger for victory all night long? As I now regret not concentrating and playing as well as i could.

What you mentioned here is fairly easy to work out and you will also know what you have done wrong yourself as you have pointed out a couple of mistakes or miss-judgements already.

When playing someone that you see as a lesser opponent you need to re-focus and set yourself new personal targets. eg. "im going to win by so many frames" or "im going to show how proffesional i can play" If you are looking at being a winner in what ever tournament you enter you need to approach the way you play in a business type way, and think to yourself that you are going to work.
If you look at anyone going to there normal day time job, say working in an office and when at work the person is focused and studies what their role is 99 times out of 100 that person will progress further. If on the other hand they are distracted by what is going on around them and get pulled into the people that dont want to concentrate, then more often than not the job wont get done.
Like you have said your friends had all got knocked out , if you look at the reasons why they had lost there matches can you see a conection between their commitment to their games and them loosing ?

Drinking while playing isnt a great idea as this effects your decision making and thought process and will help you to take more risks , which im sure youll know about any way.
You obviously know now what could have been and that you stood a great chance of winning the tournament which then you could have celebrated a good job done with your friends after you had completed it. Ive seen this as Gavin has said with the best of players who loose concentration when it matters mainly because they think something better is going on else where or that they think that they have got an easy ride into the next round.
Unfortunatly this normally ends in a group of players sitting around talking about how they all lost there matches and how bad the tables played.

A good way to focus on this is before the match prepare yourself to be differant, prepare as though you are going to work to show people on how proffesional you are at work and think about how you are going to be the one who is differant at the end of the evening when you can talk to your friends as a winner.

and when you come to those games where you think they are going to be easy, set yourself new personal tagets and see if you can achieve them.

[LWB]

Only you know how important it was to you to win the tournament. If it was a big deal to you then there's lot's off possibilities there, very interesting what coachgavin said. I've often seen good players give good reason why they didn't perform when really at the route of it all was either a belief that you weren't going to win anyway or that if you lose and at least didn't seem interested during you could just brush it off. People do this probably very often without even knowing it at all.

The mental side is far harder to master, but if you can get that along with technique and time to practice you can win a shed load of trophies in pool.

I could go on and on with this subject, extremely interesting.

[bongo]

I think you would have lost awreness, the best tip is just not to lose the awareness!, I know that we all want the best bit of latest secrets but this is no secret, I could tell you lost of Snooker secrets, but now all that you need to do here, If friends are distracting you, just ask them to let you play and say that you will talk to them after the match, I would drink water to let me concentrate, and I do that, In a 5 frame league match this week, I drank 2 pints of water, and guess what, I won 5-0, and i'm not joking! Just keep awareness on what you are doing and how you are concentrating and imagine yourself before hand, maybe the day before, not being distrated by anything, if you concentrate enough when doing this 'mental movie process' the day before when you are relaxed, it can seem like you've already played in the tournament!

Good Luck! :snooker:

[Jlaix]

the new secret to snooker - water! lol

[Littlesense]

Hyland spring of course

[Mellow Yellow]

Thanks guys, some very good advice there.

its always good to hear a non biased opinion. I think coach gavin has summed it up really.

I'll ket you know how the next tourny goes!

ps. i'd feel a bit tight just drinking water, think i might opt for J2O instead in future!

[LWB]

Thanks guys, some very good advice there.

its always good to hear a non biased opinion. I think coach gavin has summed it up really.

I'll ket you know how the next tourny goes!

ps. i'd feel a bit tight just drinking water, think i might opt for J2O instead in future!

Yes drinking water might be ok at the world championship but it doesn't go down too well at local pool tournaments! J2O may be a good idea, it's quite expensive so if the owner is there they won't snarl at you for not drinking booze. You mates may have other ideas though, depends if it's just a day out or a serious thing. I know guys that don't drink but play pub pool league, I know other guys that find the idea of that horrible.

[Watford]

Are you all Methodists?
A couple of drinks won’t kill you, just don’t go mad!

Unless it’s a very important game and in that case it’s best to practice in less important match when sober. The booze can take the edge of your nerves can be different feeling.

I once played a summer league sober, I won games but didn’t really enjoy myself. Team games different of course.

I’ve done exactly the same as you in the past. I just don’t care when playing for myself and go all out. In a team game I’m a right hardheaded fudger! It’s funny I don’t want to let the lads down so am always on top of my game.

Got a mate, a county player who’s the other way around. He can’t buy a game in the league but singles or county qualifiers he stuffs everybody!

Funny old world!

[Robert602]

I'm certainly no 'methodist' but I prefer not to drink during tournaments I care about winning (which is all of them to be honest). It's hard enough keeping concentration levels high for hours on end. One frame league matches are a bit different.

That said, I do know a guy who used to play for the uni who always had a beer in hand and his tournament record was better than most, he said it helped with his nerves. Works for some. If we're talking pool I also think fudgers can get away with it more - as long as they're not too drunk to think they generally play shots where the execution/cueing isn't too demanding.

About losing motivation - I've found that can sometimes happen as soon as you feel you've done the hard part. You said you had a tough quarter final but then fancied your chances. I played a couple of tournaments this season where I beat the top seed in the semis playing out of my skin, but then almost lost in the finals because I got a bit complacent. Happens to the best - Ronnie was fired up for Hendry but went a bit flat in the final once he was massive odds on.