Run of the ball

[coomsey76]

Unfortunately flukes are part of our beloved game, sometimes they go your way and sometimes they don't...... But trouble is you only tend to remember the ones that don't!!

I used to get totally hacked off when my opponent had a fluke, but the trouble was the more annoyed I got the worse my game got. So I've learnt to laugh it as so to speak and carry on with my game......

As many have said keep going martj and don't give cause competive frames bring your game on so much.....

[martj]

Run of the ball

Thanks for all the replies guys, after sleeping on it i do feel a bit better. I understand ppl say luck evens itself out but i definitely have a tremendous amount go against me compared to what i get, i don't want luck tbh i just don't want it against me lol. Last night was hard to take as i was in total control then he had around 6-7 massive bits of good fortune which won him the frame, and cost us massive as we lost 3-2 to them and they are 2nd in league with us 3rd. Keep trying i guess.

Tedisbill - i play division 2, recently played that landywood team.

[guernseygooner]

I've got the title of World's Unluckiest Player anyway! Seriously though I used to think like you. If I got a fluke it would be a red at the start of the frame and no bearing on the outcome and the opponent would always seem to fluke a snooker near the end or fluke a frame ball. I don't get many anyway as i don't twat the balls around and you tend to find the people that hit every shot hard usually get a few. I actually gave up for a while as I couldn't enjoy it.

It's easier said than done but you really need to change your attitude. If you go into every match tense and thinking you are going to get ripped then invariably it will happen. Every tiny bit of luck will be magnified to you.

Go into a match knowing you are the better player so it relaxes you and accept the other player needs some run at some point as he isn't as good! If you are relaxed and playing well you will find yourself getting some nice kisses and run of the ball.

[Byrom]

Why kick yourself because the opponent won on a fluke? It happens! Doesn't mean anything about your play does it? I feel a bit bad when I win by a fluke as I would much rather pot a good long black to win. But I don't feel bad when they fluke it to win. Treat it as a chance to learn mind control. If you can overcome this you will win more games. After all snooker is as much a mental game as it is a physical one. Nerves and frustration will lose you a lot of games. Overcome this and you will be a much better player! Not easy and it takes time but it is part of the challenge of snooker.

A player at the club always says "bring it on" when the other player flukes a snooker. He has the right attitude I reckon!

great post

[martj]

Run of the ball

Some excellent posts guys really appreciate the replies they have helped me massively and i do feel a hell of a lot better about it today. Sometimes it's good to get it off your chest and to hear from others who have gone through similar experiences, well at least i know it isn't just me. Cheers

[luke-h]

It does even it's self out over the course of a match, try keep relaxed maybe practice solo so your more confident in your ability.
A foot note to this, yesterday i was playing a mate who's a ton player, he broke in a frame left a red out i made a very decent 60 missed an easy red and he cleared to the black beating me by 7 1 point....very frustrating but thats what keeps us coming back for more

[denja]

I have been within tasting distance of getting into the final of my Tournament many times but as yet I cant get over the line, but I keep trying why ! because something inside me keeps telling me "You can win it" I think if I ever stopped thinking this I would give up I know it can be soul destroying when your opponent keeps getting fluke pots and worst of all snookers ! but just keep plugging away. Practise sometimes you feel you are not getting anywhere but improvement does not appear to follow a regular learning curve you get spikes and troughs ! I get feelings of doubt but suddenly out of nowhere comes a few 30 breaks ok nothing spectacular but good position and thinking about the next shot and I think it was worth the practise, My thinking is "Who wants to win a frame on FLUKES" like many players I have won on a flukes and lucky snookers but to be honest it gave me no pleasure, It gives me more pleasure to lose knowing I played well and let my opponent know I am a force to be reckoned with and not a walk over, even if he is. a superior player If you play someone who you know is of a higher standard than you, get the mindset ok ! you may win but I am going to make you work hard for every single point be bloody minded. "You never know you could win"

[magicman]

Some great replies on here, and the truth is - the vast majority of players bemoan their luck. The odd one or two are famous locally for being 'lucky', but almost everyone else reckon they get no run.

You accepted that you may not be mentally strong enough, and that's a positive admission. Work on being calmer, thinking clearer. For instance the pink your opponent missed that covered the yellow pocket - would you have preferred he potted the pink? He missed and got a bit lucky but you were back at the table with an opportunity to play a good shot - much better than the alternative - him still being at the table having potted the pink and in position on the yellow.

[mythman69]

I played yesterday to a hack and he fluked a wicked snooker from his terrible break not once but twice in a best of three frames. He was smiling but I got out of both an won easy. I didn't let it get to me. Just laughed inside my head. He was beaming until I got out of both of them.

[marriott]

First of all, luck or flukes have absolutely nothing to do with either player. If it was controlled by the human it wouldn't be luck. So it really isn't their fault when the luck happens - you might as well blame them for not winning the lottery or a hurricane in a different country (they didn't have anything to do with that either).

What needs to be accepted is the standard that you personally play at. I would hazard an educated guess that in a frame where you have bemoaned some luck or run of the ball that you've had at least one or in fact multiple opportunities to make a decisive contribution but for an easy miss, poor positional shot or poor shot selection you broke down. I am a century break player but if there is one chance and I have not taken it then I accept that I have opened the door to a poor run of the ball or flukes and that it is just another part of the game. The lower the standard of a player, the more that element comes into play ultimately.

In my opinion you really cannot bemoan luck if you've had at least one decent opportunity in a frame. Snooker is an opportunists game and it is all about making the opportunities count.

[mythman69]

I do think it is important to 'put your hand up' when you have fluked a snooker or pot. Also tapping the table when the opponent plays a good shot. This helps keep things civil and the respect of each other high.

[martj]

Run of the ball

Magicman i never thought of it like that, if he had of potted the pink i would of never of come back to the table. From now on i'm gonna work on changing my thinking and try and see the positives, like you say he missed pink so at least i was at the table with a chance to play a safety. Instead i was bemoaning my luck and convincing myself it just wasn't my day.

[martj]

Run of the ball

Marriot, very true that.I had a couple of chances where i should of made more although the one i got a kick that Jackie Chan would be proud of lol. So yeah thats another way of changing my thinking and attitude, if i had made more from those chances the flukes wouldn't of happened.

Thanks again for the replies really appreciate them, as mentioned earlier i don't believe i am mentally strong enough at the minute but i will try and change that.

[Shockerz]

Great thread guys.
Two seasons ago I was convinced the snooker Gods were against me and could name a game changing fluke in every league game I lost.

My Dad asked me if I had missed any colours early in each frame or taken on any wild shots that I shouldn't have and in each frame I could rememer a missed black or an ambitious pot (and I only mean a couple).

Since then I have tightened up, focussed early in each frame and worked hard on a blank mindset rather then a 'Why me' mindset at the crucial points. I took some lessons with Tim Dunkley (Chandlers Ford) and have won a fair few gongs on the local league since.

It's hard as I had a recent league game sewn up until the guy fluked two snookers and scored small game changing breaks off each. I lost on the black but when I looked back (after calming down), I missed a black at the beginning and went for a couple of wild reds, still got to work on tactics!!

Stick at it.

[shredder]

Mythman i've been trying to think like that for the last 2 and a bit years but it comes to a point where you just can't take anymore. A lot of people probably say this bit i rarely get the rub of the green with this game, everybody i play with or have played with says they can't believe how much bad run i get or how much players seem to get against me. All this and suffering with nerves just takes the enjoyment out of it. Maybe i'm just not mentally strong enough for this game.

Don't lose faith mate, think of it as what it is - a numbers game. If you play enough, skills will take over and work in your favor. Your opponent can't keep winning with flukes and luck, it's simple statistics.

I've played my fair share of poker, and it's exactly the same. You can't beat yourself up about losing to a sh!t hand when you played yours perfectly. Some dudes will just go all in with deuce 7 and catch the full house, no getting around it. All you can do is ignore the luck-outs, because they WON'T serve them well over the long haul.