I Need Help.

[Oldgit]

Oh dear.........I need help although I think I am probably a Lost Cause!

Right, I have been playing snooker for 40+ years, can play to a reasonable standard, have a cue that I love but I have a problem.........

Put me in an important match, or even an unimportant match, and if there are people watching then I am absolute rubbish!!

I play for a team on a wednesday night and no matter whether I am feeling ultra confident or not then as soon as my match begins then I can't play normal snooker for me as I go to pieces!!

Help!! Should I just give up and take up another sport or can anyone out there give me any constructive advice?

For the last three out of four years I have reached the snooker singles final in the local snooker league and in each final I have lost by playing rubbish snooker due to nerves. In last seasons final my wife was sitting watching and she just kept shaking her head and in between frames told me that I was 'snatching' and not playing smoothly......and she knows almost nothing about snooker...........

HELP

Oldgit

[Watford]

I have been prone to the odd attack of nerves my self. I was in a cup final last season and couldn't pot a ball. I'm having a bad spell at moment and that makes the nerves grow.
I've not got the answer but a couple of comments.

Put the practice in know you've done what you should have. That will give you something to think positively about and should help to stop silly mistakes. Don't listen to people chipping in from crowd it's never helpful IMO.

Try and play all games the same (I don't do this)
You can find stuff about breathing and positive thinking on the interweb.
Booze and beta blockers is the way forward though!
Anyone got some beta blockers for sale?

[archalf1471]

Oh dear.........I need help although I think I am probably a Lost Cause!

Right, I have been playing snooker for 40+ years, can play to a reasonable standard, have a cue that I love but I have a problem.........

Put me in an important match, or even an unimportant match, and if there are people watching then I am absolute rubbish!!

I play for a team on a wednesday night and no matter whether I am feeling ultra confident or not then as soon as my match begins then I can't play normal snooker for me as I go to pieces!!

Help!! Should I just give up and take up another sport or can anyone out there give me any constructive advice?

For the last three out of four years I have reached the snooker singles final in the local snooker league and in each final I have lost by playing rubbish snooker due to nerves. In last seasons final my wife was sitting watching and she just kept shaking her head and in between frames told me that I was 'snatching' and not playing smoothly......and she knows almost nothing about snooker...........

HELP

Oldgit

firstly your wife is right to sit there shaking her head you heaped embarrasment and public humiliation upon her and clearly she found this hard to take.....

Getting to the final of the singles is in fact an inditement on the poor standard of the league and not a reflection on your ability..

A roll as non -playing captain is preferable. Failing this...........

Yes you should take up another sport certainly, possibly hangliding, Abseiling, or white water rafting?? Anything that means you can send me your playing cue....

[Oldgit]

firstly your wife is right to sit there shaking her head you heaped embarrasment and public humiliation upon her and clearly she found this hard to take.....

Getting to the final of the singles is in fact an inditement on the poor standard of the league and not a reflection on your ability..

A roll as non -playing captain is preferable. Failing this...........

Yes you should take up another sport certainly, possibly hangliding, Abseiling, or white water rafting?? Anything that means you can send me your playing cue....

Why do you need a cue? Are there any snooker tables in North Devon?

No, I like Watfords idea.......beta blockers washed down with copious amounts of booze should certainly make me play better, at least I can't play worse!

Hrmmm....maybe the solution would be to actually sell up and move to North Devon and then I could finally win a Snooker final:snooker:

[archalf1471]

Touche! My little monkey hanger!!

[CoachGavin]

Dont despair. A lot of very very good players suffer the same thing. I know of some brilliant players who dont miss a ball but put them in a match that they think matters or people are watching then they fall apart. There are a few ways that might help.

Firstly you need to play these type of matches more so that they dont become as big thing - people who avoid playing in league matches due to nerves will only find they get worse when they do eventually have to play in front of people. Also you need to try to forget about the people watching and concentrate on whats happening on the table. Try to get your mind involved on the match as quickly as possible. Walk round the table a few times on your first safety and check out some shots and angles. Think about where you are leaving the cue ball. all this will help your mind think about the match rather than outside events. Most people who get nervous are afraid if they miss people will laugh and they will get embarrassed. The trick is to think positive. Think of it as an opportunity to show off your skills. I uesd to pretend i was jimmy white when i was younger even to the point of doing exhibition shots at the end of matches - it worked though because i thought positive and was showing people what i could do. If you put the practice in you know how good you can play and so all you have to do is show people.

Also try talking to your opponent before the match a little if this does not affect your killer instinct. I find that i can have a good joke with someone before a match and this helps me to relax. However i can still be ruthless when it comes to the match! Try and enjoy it too. Just see it as your chance to be famous )

[noel]

Should I just give up and take up another sport Oldgit

I'm sure most of us have felt that way from time to time Mike. I certainly have!
All I can say is that if you really do want to chuck it in favour of a new sport,
and you are a "If at first you don't succeed"-type... please, please do not take up bungee-jumping!

=o)


Noel

[kevy62]

Dont despair. A lot of very very good players suffer the same thing. I know of some brilliant players who dont miss a ball but put them in a match that they think matters or people are watching then they fall apart. There are a few ways that might help.

Firstly you need to play these type of matches more so that they dont become as big thing - people who avoid playing in league matches due to nerves will only find they get worse when they do eventually have to play in front of people. Also you need to try to forget about the people watching and concentrate on whats happening on the table. Try to get your mind involved on the match as quickly as possible. Walk round the table a few times on your first safety and check out some shots and angles. Think about where you are leaving the cue ball. all this will help your mind think about the match rather than outside events. Most people who get nervous are afraid if they miss people will laugh and they will get embarrassed. The trick is to think positive. Think of it as an opportunity to show off your skills. I uesd to pretend i was jimmy white when i was younger even to the point of doing exhibition shots at the end of matches - it worked though because i thought positive and was showing people what i could do. If you put the practice in you know how good you can play and so all you have to do is show people.

Also try talking to your opponent before the match a little if this does not affect your killer instinct. I find that i can have a good joke with someone before a match and this helps me to relax. However i can still be ruthless when it comes to the match! Try and enjoy it too. Just see it as your chance to be famous )

the information above is just about spot on!
i would like to add though, if i may, that you should only play the balls & not your opponent, try to imagine yourself on the table by yourself in a match .
(you need to take your practice game onto the match table) not leave your best game "on" the practice table, by trying to over prepare for the match.

(might i suggest you try to relax before the match also) perhaps take a power nap a couple of hours before you leave home? (just 10 minutes) this can help to keep you relaxed during the match, i know this is not always possible, but even just "chillin out" in a quiet place for 10 minutes could help with your focus, & during a frame consentrate on playing the right shot, even while your opponent is at the table don't be tempted to look around the room, or stare at your shoes etc , keep all your focus on the one task , & play your best snooker.

[Oldgit]

Yes, I'd just like to thank everyone who has given me advice. Hopefully I can take on board and start to play like I know I can in matches. The only way I can describe the feeling is that someone else has control of my cue arm!! Everything else seems to be like it should........my bridge is firm, my stance is as it should be, I keep still on the shot.......line everything up BUT my cue arm doesn't do what I want it to!!
I still cringe with embarrassment over a snooker final that I played back in the late 1970s. It was a Teesside snooker final and my club (in Hartlepool) hired a bus to take everyone to the final which was at a big club in Middlesboro. When we got there, with my crowd and my opponents crowd there must have been well over 100 in the audience..........and even though it was about 30 years ago I probably have never played a worse match in my life. I couldn't do anything due to nerves. I got plenty of chances but missed shots that an absolute beginner would have got. I lost the match 4-0!!
Last wednesday night in my local snooker league with about 6 people watching, the same thing happened. Our first two players had both won and I needed to win to make sure that our team won and nerves ruined the night for me. Again I got plenty of chances and again it was like someone else had control of my cue arm!!
I cannot imagine what it must be like to play somewhere like The Crucible in front of a large crowd and knowing that millions are watching on tv!!
Oldgit

[kevy62]

Yes, I'd just like to thank everyone who has given me advice. Hopefully I can take on board and start to play like I know I can in matches. The only way I can describe the feeling is that someone else has control of my cue arm!! Everything else seems to be like it should........my bridge is firm, my stance is as it should be, I keep still on the shot.......line everything up BUT my cue arm doesn't do what I want it to!!
I still cringe with embarrassment over a snooker final that I played back in the late 1970s. It was a Teesside snooker final and my club (in Hartlepool) hired a bus to take everyone to the final which was at a big club in Middlesboro. When we got there, with my crowd and my opponents crowd there must have been well over 100 in the audience..........and even though it was about 30 years ago I probably have never played a worse match in my life. I couldn't do anything due to nerves. I got plenty of chances but missed shots that an absolute beginner would have got. I lost the match 4-0!!
Last wednesday night in my local snooker league with about 6 people watching, the same thing happened. Our first two players had both won and I needed to win to make sure that our team won and nerves ruined the night for me. Again I got plenty of chances and again it was like someone else had control of my cue arm!!
I cannot imagine what it must be like to play somewhere like The Crucible in front of a large crowd and knowing that millions are watching on tv!!
Oldgit

it makes no difference how many years you've played, everyone get's the "collywobbles" at some point, i remember being told to just be cool & stay off the "side" ??? (right) that'll work, (not).. I was told every ball is easy & always play for choices & make the most of every chance you get!

What happened ?....I shook like a leaf & couldn't hit a barn door..LOL

[trevs1]

I think you'll find that 'nerves' or 'tension' or whatever you like to call it, NEVER leaves you when you play in a situation that 'REALLY' matters.

These feelings never go completely, it's more of a case of learning to take them along for the ride, and so, learning to deal with, and play with those feelings.

Personally, I think the first thing you need to do is to realise that you are very likely to feel stressed and tense before, and even during, a match of some consequence. The sooner you get your head around that, the better you will be for it. It will not come as a big shock or surprise when you get on the table and start to fight for the win, it will be no more than you expected to feel, so it should be less of an issue to contend with once you are aware of it being on top of you.

Secondly, it might do you some good to learn to defeat the defeatist in your head.

YOU are possibly the biggest adversary you have, not the opponent you play against.
If you can develop a way to focus more on concentrating and lose yourself in making an enormous effort until the match is over, you might find you are all the more difficult to beat for it.

As soon as you allow the thoughts of "I knew this would happen" into your head, you're done for....again.

Get working on getting rid of the negativity and give it everything you have.

If you get beat, you've only lost a game of snooker, there will be other matches.

[poolqjunkie]

Thank you Kevy, Trev, and Gavin. Tehse are some very useful and helpful advice.
I was playing a tournament and there were lots of players there watching. I was kind of the favorite(at least in my mind LOL) and I played really poorly. Fortunately, I came through. Then I had to wait for my next match so I started thinking about what went wrong. I realized i was playing not to lose, rather than to win. I was focusing on the bad outcome if I lose, and I was being too nervous so I cannot even see the angle and think properly.
I told myself to enjoy the competition, rather than trying to make something special out of it.
I told myself I know what i am capable of in practice and i should just do that in my match.
I went on my next match trying to enjoy potting balls, getting my position, and so on, without focusing on the people that are watching, or the consequence of losing.
I won that tournament without losing a game. I was pretty happy about that--not so much about winning, but about the lesson I learn on playing one shot at a time, winning one game at a time, and just enjoying the game even when something is on the line.
I feel that for me when I enjoy playing, I get into the zone easier, and I am much more relaxed and yet focused.
Thank you for starting this thread.

[RocketRoy1983]

I have hit a 62 break in practice yet in a match i cant seem to get past 25 or so. I dont feel any added pressure my problem is i take the wrong shots on at times as i want to impress ppl watching with exhibition type shots whereas in practice i play the right shots and regularly get 30/40 breaks.