Highest Break Question

[ghost121]

I don't think it's a problem as such, just the nature of the game and the pressures it brings. At least if you hit good breaks in practise you know you are on the right lines.

[atourdeforce]

It's difficult to convert practice play to match play. If i could do that, i'd be on tv by this stage :P
When the pressure is on, the cue feels heavier, legs feel lighter and the mind changes

[Csmith]

I've spent much of playing life struggling to bring my practice game to the match table. It would come in spurts, but generally I'd feel natural and comfortable on the practice table but when it came to a match situation, it felt like I was playing an entirely different sport!

I'm starting to see my practice game come out more, and it's mostly due to figuring out how the pressure affects me in a physical way. My technique stays roughly the same, with no more or less variance than there would be in practice. But the pressure causes tension in my arm, gripping the cue before impact and I would have added movement on the shot that isn't there during practice. It's still a work in progress, but my breaks are getting better and my day to day consistency is better as well. I still feel the nerves obviously, but I guess I'm just channeling it differently.

But there is also the fact that in a match we may get 5-10 good scoring opportunities (dependent on what we individually consider 'good scoring opportunities'). Whereas in a 2 hour practice session you might give yourself 30-40 good scoring opportunities. It took me a long while to figure out that if I'm making a 50-70 each practice session, that doesn't mean I will score like that consistently in match play.

[ghost121]

I've spent much of playing life struggling to bring my practice game to the match table. It would come in spurts, but generally I'd feel natural and comfortable on the practice table but when it came to a match situation, it felt like I was playing an entirely different sport!

I'm starting to see my practice game come out more, and it's mostly due to figuring out how the pressure affects me in a physical way. My technique stays roughly the same, with no more or less variance than there would be in practice. But the pressure causes tension in my arm, gripping the cue before impact and I would have added movement on the shot that isn't there during practice. It's still a work in progress, but my breaks are getting better and my day to day consistency is better as well. I still feel the nerves obviously, but I guess I'm just channeling it differently.

But there is also the fact that in a match we may get 5-10 good scoring opportunities (dependent on what we individually consider 'good scoring opportunities'). Whereas in a 2 hour practice session you might give yourself 30-40 good scoring opportunities. It took me a long while to figure out that if I'm making a 50-70 each practice session, that doesn't mean I will score like that consistently in match play.

Exactly. Which is why I always halve my practise score expectations when I think about matchplay. The difference with me is that percentage increases with more consecutive day practise sessions. I know if I can practise five days in a row, all structured the same over two hours, my game jumps about 20% in quality. The same thing doesn't happen after five practise sessions spread over, say, ten days.