W.T.F is wrong with me?

[Strickimicki]

I,ve really been going through the ups and downs of snoooker over the last 18 months mainly downs.

It all started to pick up again over the last ten days.

I was in the club yesterday and everything was going really well during practice, over a certain amount of time it was incredible really (for about ten minutes I couldn't miss a ball. I mean really ridicules shots) I was feeling on top of the world.

Then it all fell apart, I'm back to where I have been and don't want to be anymore!

Why does that happen? I don't think I'm standing differently or cueing strange, it comes and it goes, from brilliant to s--t in an instant.

Anybody got any ideas?

No I don't want to take up bowls

[Templeton Peck]

Are you Stephen Hendry?

[Martin76]

Are you Stephen Hendry?

Brilliant!

[steveflanuk]

I,ve really been going through the ups and downs of snoooker over the last 18 months mainly downs.

It all started to pick up again over the last ten days.

I was in the club yesterday and everything was going really well during practice, over a certain amount of time it was incredible really (for about ten minutes I couldn't miss a ball. I mean really ridicules shots) I was feeling on top of the world.

Then it all fell apart, I'm back to where I have been and don't want to be anymore!

Why does that happen? I don't think I'm standing differently or cueing strange, it comes and it goes, from brilliant to s--t in an instant.

Anybody got any ideas?

No I don't want to take up bowls

Was it OK in practice and then bad in a match - or just bad at the end of your practice?

Either way it sounds as though, in your early practice, you were not worried about the outcome if you miss a ball, hence you don't think about it. You are just playing your shots and your body (including your brain) is, naturally, taking over because you are more relaxed.

Later, it's seems to be a case of either, you're in a match and maybe thinking more of not wanting to miss the ball or, if it was later in your practice, after noticing how easily you made your earlier balls, you started thinking about your technique more (or maybe even how you were sighting the ball - anything really) - resulting in the fact that you were no longer concentrating on the shot.

Usually, it works in reverse when practicing - in that early on, you're thinking about technique more and are missing balls, you become frustrated and just hit a few balls for the sake of it - thus you forget about technique, or thinking about getting on the next ball and you relax - your muscle memory kicks in and the balls start dropping - and you then revert back to thinking about your technique and TRYING to get the same feel - and thus your mind is usually trying to sort out all the thoughts in your head as well as telling your muscles how to play the shot - it gets muddled up and can't deliver the cue in the right place because it's too busy.

One thing I try to remember in these occassions is that if I don't feel right on the shot when I get down to play - stop and go through your pre-shot routine again (even several times) - trust me your form will return - maybe not as quick as you want it to - but it will do eventually.

[MikeWooldridge]

No I don't want to take up bowls

darts??

[bongo]

I believe it is all about concentration. Relaxation and concentration is the perfect combination.

[Strickimicki]

Steven Hendry (how did you guess)

I'm just letting you know that I've found one of the problems, I found it in another thread.

I would like to quote it here but I can't find it

I think I was concentrating to hard on to many goals at the same time!

1) Potting the ball.
2) Hitting the white where I was aiming.
3) cueing smoothly.
4) Getting the white where I wanted it.

That's alright I suppose

But not on the shot and all at same time!

I'm thinking about what I want to do before hand now. On the shot I'm just concentrating on potting the ball and cueing smoothly.

Ok, now I'm losing position quiet alot but I'm still at the table

I can work on the positional play when I'm practicing.

darts??

Mike do you sell darts? Just thought a tight ar--d git ( there's a rumour out there that you are) like you would be trying to flog something, while I'm having a nervous breakdown

I hope you all have great christmas and a very good new year:snooker:


Especially you Mike

All the best,

Brian.

[bongo]

In practice it is the time to make all your techniques as a habit (good techniques). Then in a game use the time before you get down to work out exactly what you want to do and where to aim so you don't have extra thoughts in your mind that you simply don't have time for.

[Strickimicki]

Hi all,

I'm back with a new , maybe interesting bit of information.

I found myself playing terribly again and tried all kinds of things to get it going again.

What I found is the more relaxed I play the more my cueing arm comes into my body!

EXPLANATION:
My arm from shoulder to elbow seems to be going out of line, see bmp.
So my whole upper arm seems to be going slightly to my left. It really is very slightly but because of this I'm cueing across the ball

How do I train myself so I notice that it's happening or how do I dispose of this problem altogether?

I have to say I don't seem to know when it's going of line until I've taken the shot

[jonashford]

I,ve really been going through the ups and downs of snoooker over the last 18 months mainly downs.

It all started to pick up again over the last ten days.

I was in the club yesterday and everything was going really well during practice, over a certain amount of time it was incredible really (for about ten minutes I couldn't miss a ball. I mean really ridicules shots) I was feeling on top of the world.

Then it all fell apart, I'm back to where I have been and don't want to be anymore!

Why does that happen? I don't think I'm standing differently or cueing strange, it comes and it goes, from brilliant to s--t in an instant.

Anybody got any ideas?

No I don't want to take up bowls

Maybe u r not very good!

[poolqjunkie]

When you were playing incredible, how incredible was that really? Like could you clear up all the balls in a line up? Could you make all the blue ball off the spot from baulk without a miss? How many black off the spot did you make without missing?
I am just wondering what your standard of incredible is?
I have found that sometimes our 'self image" of our ability and the "true image" of our ability are different, even to some drastic extend.
Like there is this player who would complain every time he missed a shot, saying, "how could I miss this!" But the fact is that I have seen him miss all sorts of shots all the time--he just did not register it in his mind.
To him, his "self image" is a player who is much better than his true self. So, he became very frustrated especially when there are people watching.
If you feel bad about your game, may be you can tell yourself everyone misses, but you will miss less and less if you practice and work on those weakness. If you do nto register those weakness, you will nto make an effort to work on them, and those will always be your weakness. I hope this makes sense.

[Strickimicki]

jonashford,

That is probably and most likely the case.

Pooljunkie thanks for your comments!

I can when everything is in place! pot all 21 balls from the blue spot, endless blacks record is 43.

Thats is normally not the problem though! I miss really easy ones in the middle of breaks after I've just got myself in a good postion after potting my way there. Normally leaving perfect postion for my opponent

But it is probably just as jonashford says, I'm just a crap (bad) player!

Thanks anyway,

Brian

[Strickimicki]

This about sums it up!

HENDRY MISSES THE RE-SPOTTED BLACK-MASTERS 1998

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=P3JJRg...eature=related


and the look on his face is about right as well!

[CoachGavin]

Hello,

Dont give up. I think by the sound of it you need to see a coach. Dont worry too much about where your arm is above your head as many players cue straight but dont have their elbow in a perfect line.

Make sure you are finding the centre of the white because many people get down slightly to the side and then cue across to correct themselves. Try cueing up and down the spots with the white. Also try cueing a pretend white on the green spot and seeing if you follow through along the baulk line - you will probably be able to see if you cue across and which way. Maybe a friend can help you by checking if you are striking centre of the white. If you are not finding the centre then you need to re-adjust.

Hope this helps

[Piston]

I've had ups and downs over the last week . Started playing really well at the weekend, then had an iffy spell, and then I probably played the best few frames of my life the other day. Balls going in all over the place, and on our match table too!

Wish I could play like that all the time