9-Ball
Topic: Serious Advice needed - Player in distress

Hi all. I was hoping for some good constructive advice about my game and improving. I have only been playing 9 ball seriously for about 9 mths to a year.

Having played a few tournaments (Solihull Open, Nottingham Open, APN National Finals and Solihull weekly knockout) I am getting to know a lot of the players on tour and they are getting to know me and my game.

Recently I changed a few aspects of my game as I felt that in order to improve I would need to become more consistent. The fundamentals (Grip, stance etc.) have not changed. However I have changed my tempo.

Previously I used to play very fast which stemmed from my snooker days. I felt though that part of my consistency problems were down to the fact I wasn't taking enough time over shots and therefore missing simple shots or going out of position. So now I try to take more care over shots. Work out the correct position for the next shot or two. I have also slowed down my tempo on the shot. More slow and deliberate stroke with a pause prior to the follow through.

At first the changes made a dramatic effect. I was running more racks and felt a renewed confidence in the game. I exceeded my expectations in the Solihull Open and APN National and was hopeful that I could continue the improvement and had high aspirations for next years tour (Challenge). I realise there are going to be many experienced and quality players in the Challenge Tour, but still had confidence that I could mix it with them.

I have even started to practice a lot more and with the help and advice from other players have developed some good routines to improve my potting and positional play.

However, in recent weeks I have gone into a slump and feel that my game has deteriorated so much that I am now a worse played than before I made the change.

At the moment my head just does not seem to be right and I do not seem to be able to play fluently. Every shot I play I am thinking about the changes and trying to force each shot to ensure all the changes are included.

With the new tour up and coming I need some serious advice from anyone on a way forward. Also if anyone else has changed their game and suffered similar results then assurance would be great that things will get better.

Mainly I am wondering whether to go back to my old style, continue with the slower more thoughtful approach or just give up. Tonight I played two and a half hours of practice and ran about three racks and cleared the table on line ups etc about 2 times.

Sorry to have waffled on, but I am seriously questioning my future in a game that I love. But I used to love Snooker too and had similar problems and decided to give that up and do not wish the same to happen with pool.

Any serious help and advice would be greatfully appreciated.

Craig

PS On a happy note my break off shot was working lovely tonight with the cue ball stopping in the centre of the table and at last a corner ball being pocketed every time.

Hey Craig

I wouldnt say im an experianced player but i have been in the same boat as you about wanting to improve my game and some things not working, especially consistency.

Normally when i change something the same thing happens, i play really well for a few weeks then it drops back down a little, i wouldnt go as far as worse but it can feel like it.

You do have bad days/weeks sometimes and it is the way we pull through it that makes us the players we are.

Back to the question, I have read articles on the internet from a guy named David Sapolis about being in the Zone when you play, Alex Lely also covered this in the WPC.

When you practice and try to force shots you do and will make mistakes, this is what practice is for, to learn from these mistakes so they dont occur in tournament/match time.

There are many things people say such as practice how you play ect, but the only 1 thing i know is for sure is that if you get into the zone (this is where nothing else around you affects you at all, where you probably wouldnt even realise if some1 slapped you with a wet fish) you normally play better.

Look at Daryl in the WPC, he was so focused on all of his matches and he was in the zone so the croud didnt affect him at all.

My last point is not to go giving up, im sure all of us have had this thought but you will pull through it and your game will go back on the up hill.

Hope this post helped

Adam

If you are mastering the break, then you will have a distinct advantage over many players. Changes and tweaks are what keeps you feeling fresh in the game.

Maybe you are just trying too hard. You can obviously pot a ball so just try throwing your arm at it for a while when you are practising and it will come good. Changes are good but they must become second nature or you risk paralysis by analysis.

It's obviously doing your head in and it will do. But don't despair, everyone picks a cue up sometimes and just cannot do it for whatever reason.

It is probably worth taking a few days off. I sometimes find that I work too hard and it kills my game. But then I just run a few racks with nothing on my mind and it comes back.

Cheers

On 2007-11-19 23:59 , chirst147 Wrote:

You may have answered your own question without knowing it. Effective (and constructive) practice requires one approach; effective play another. Seperating the two, especially whilst trying to make changes in technique, is not easy.

We can chat tomorrow at Solihull if you want.

I used to have the exact same problem one week i would be on fire the next really rubbish,i now have a better B game when i'm not on my A game i would go from only running a few racks in 3 hours and choking alot to running 10 out of 18 racks and not missing on an open table and felt unstoppable, this game is all between the ears when the know how to play all the shots. It all about confidence and trying to stay confident.

It's hard to explain how to stop this you just gotta play through it..taking a couple of days off will help, just think of the basics keep your head still follow through and have fun, don't beat yourself up so much if you try too hard it ain't gonna work.

Cheers guys some good advice that I will take on board. Jon, not going tomorrow. Having a complete rest for at least 3 days as need a break and have a sore muscle in my shoulder (probably from being too tense when playing). Will speak in week and maybe have game on weekend if free.

On 2007-11-20 17:12 , chirst147 Wrote:

Are these the technical changes you were meaning?

you tube linky

that guy is amazing