under pressure

[missneworleans]

In this situation I'm maximum concetrated, play slowly and properly, get well ready for every next shot, try to think about good thing, like "even If i lose I played well and have done my best" and so on, try not to worry about match result and think about pleasure of the game, all good things about it, be always happy, and say to yourself "you can do it".

Well I hope any tips of written above helped you

[toupihiggins]

well it helped me a lot thx guys

i've been today to another best of 19 at pool and this time i didn't lose myself as i got closer to win the match.

thx 4 all the replies....

[Rane]

always when i'm playing snooker or pool i get several frames ahead and then suddenly when i'm getting closer to win the match i lose myself..i lose one frame after another...
i was once leading 9-6 and lost 10-9
the same thing happened again a few days ago..when i was leading 4-0 and lost 5-4....
the problem is that if i lose one frame i get nervous and then frame after frame ...and in the final the pressure is so much that my shots aren't right.and those are only matches with my friends i'm not talking about tournament or stuff like that.i get involved too much in the game...probably because i love it soo much



any advise you can give me?

No. But you are not the only one. I guess thats what made the greatest difference between Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White. Hendry could close the match. Jimmy couldn´t.

[toupihiggins]

No. But you are not the only one. I guess thats what made the greatest difference between Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White. Hendry could close the match. Jimmy couldn´t.

well said Rane

tough...it's not easy to reach 6 world championship final and lose all of them.
in my opinion Jimmy should had won at least one of them...it's a great player and
he surely deserved to be world champion once...but that's the way things go.

[ADR147]

yes hendry could close and jimmy couldn't other wise jimmy would have won in 82 and 94.

[poolqjunkie]

First of all, being 4-0 and lose 5-4 is not really a big deal although I know you certainly would feel that way, an dit is normal. A lot fo pros have lost a match being up, it is just what happens sometimes. it may not really be your fault either. May be your opponent just started to play really well, had a lot of luck, or whatever.
It is the same way to lose a frame after having a 50+ break. But it happens, and sometimes there really isn't much you could have done.
I think your mind knows that you are one step away from the finish line. To deceive it to think you are at 0-0 is a bit tricky.
I would try to keep my same rhythm, rather than rushing my shot because I think I am going to win and just want to get it over with. I find tt easier said than done. It is very easy to rush your shot when you are done or when you re up by a lot, because you want to get it over wth. You need to stay calm, and keep your cool.
I would try not to think about anything else but the shot at hand, knowing that I could still lose from here and I need to stay focus.
At the end of the day, try to rememer you alway learn from a match that you lost. When you have won, sometimes you will be too overwhelmed with your victory to forget all the mistake you have made in the game.

[miscuehamburg]

A lot of good advice here already. What I'd like to add is something I read recently on mental thoughness. It was all about staying relaxed and focused.

Never mind the scoreboard, even if it is important to know the exact score before the choice of any shot. The simple advice is: keep focused on You and Now. Do not bother with things you cannot change (unconvertibles: your opponent, the score, the audience and so on), nor things that lay in the past (i.e. earlier mistakes) or future (i.e. the outcoming of the match). It is just you and the shot on

The article can be found at:

http://www.competitivedge.com/newsletter/sep-oct07.html