good start of the season

[marek]

Hi people!
Its been quite a looong time since my last post. First of all I have to say that I changed my training routine completelly. I used to train 4-5 times a week 2-3 hours a day. But this routine didnt worked well last season as I had trouble with fatigue during competitions which leaded to bad results. After nationals (march) I decided to work on my biggest weakness which is fitness and I wanted to turn this into my strenght. So I started to exercise my legs on bike or better to say on „spinning“ machine. After 6 months I lost about 20 lbs + I have much greater endurance. My usual training routine during the week consists of 3 pool hall sessions (mon.,wed.,fri.) and 2 spinning sessions (tue.,thur.). Also I try to sleep more. On Saturdays there are the tournaments.
And results? Quite good I must admit! /ccboard/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I have played in 6 ranking tournaments since the start of the season and I have reached the finals 4 times winning on two ocassions. There are two main tours here right now: so called „Extraleague“ and „Becherovka Tour“. Extraleague is the tour of 9 qualifying tournaments through which you can qualify to nationals + you can qualify for national team. I have won the second tournament + I took 9th place on the first tournament making it third place overall so far. Becherovka tour is all about money – it is a tour of 6 qualifying events through which the best 16 players advance to the final BIG tournament. And there is a HUGE (well...surely for our country...) prize fund of 8000$ added. There have been 4 tournaments so far and I reached finals on 3 occasions winning one. This gives me second place overall. /ccboard/images/graemlins/wink.gif
So I can say that the beginning of the season was really good for me. But I have to admit that without help of the new acquired stamina + modified training routine + changed technique (stance) + never-give-up approach + „Speed 8“ energy drink + HUGE amount of luck I wouldnt be able to make it so far... /ccboard/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ccboard/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I hope my next post will be as optimistic as this one... /ccboard/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Rich R.]

Marek, it is always good to hear from you. You are an inspiration to us all. /ccboard/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Keep up the good work and keep us posted.

[marek]

Sure Rich! /ccboard/images/graemlins/smile.gif
There is one funny thing about those tournaments: it seems that I tend to play "average" pool at the start of the tournaments and after few matches I flip the switch and my A-game appears. The problem is that I am "beatable" during those early matches so I have to fight quite hard to win as I tend to do more mistakes early in the tournaments. As it gets later (like 3-4pm) my brain starts to work better, my concentration sharpens and my stroke execution becomes nearly flawless. It seems to me that my whole body wakes up rather later no matter how early I go to sleep the night before competition. Do you have any suggestion for me on this topic? As I really dont like that feeling of being vulnerable... /ccboard/images/graemlins/confused.gif I want to be a real killer no matter the hour of the day or night... /ccboard/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Rich R.]

Marek, I don't know what you can do to help. My suggestion would be to get to the tournament early and spend a little more time warming up.
I'm not sure it will help. I know some players who say that too much warm up is not good, but, I believe, everyone is different.
It is worth a try. /ccboard/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[yegon]

Congrats Marek, I have seen the results of the last Becharovka turney.

You forgot to mention that you are second only to DA BIG MAN himself who has won the last country championships in all pool disciplines and is also getting into the finals of major european tournaments.

I guess you will beat him soon if your practice is as commited as it seems.

Did you notice some improvement in your game that you can track to your training with the instructor you wrote about some time ago? Who was it anyway? You did not answer when I asked the last time :-)

[marek]

Hey! You are slovakian! I didnt realized that before.. /ccboard/images/graemlins/grin.gif But I will reply in english as it wouldnt be very courteous to the people here... /ccboard/images/graemlins/blush.gif Actually I DID beat Michal Gavenciak in the third Becherovka tournament in the quarterfinals 6:4 and then I proceeded to win the whole thing... /ccboard/images/graemlins/wink.gif And HELL yes, Michal is really BIG /ccboard/images/graemlins/grin.gif as one of my friend has said: "Every player has to step on his toes to play a jump shot, Michal has to bend his back.." /ccboard/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ccboard/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ccboard/images/graemlins/grin.gif
And my instructor really helped me a lot as he found many flaws in my technique which I try to correct. I am not there yet but the confidence in my technique grows all the time. The name of my instructor is Milan Stojka...we had only 3 sessions together but it helped me tremendously. /ccboard/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[marek]

Yes, it is a good thing to get to the tournament early but this is not the case, its not a problem of the warm-up routine, it is a problem of waking up!!! /ccboard/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ccboard/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ccboard/images/graemlins/tongue.gif And I am not sure if there is a cure to that.... /ccboard/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Brian in VA]

marek,
For what it's worth, you've created some wonderful new habits with your workout routine. You can do the same for waking up. Begin a pattern of going to bed an hour earlier if you can and waking up an hour earlier. If you can do this for 3 weeks, it will become a habit. You'll still get the same amount of sleep and you'll be awake an hour earlier. I've also found it helps to wake up at the same time every day no mater what time I've gone to bed. Caffeine, or more caffeine is not the answer, it's a matter of habits.

Good luck and well done!

Brian in VA

[marek]

Thx for your input Brian! /ccboard/images/graemlins/smile.gif It sounds like a good idea...