heater451
11-08-2002, 01:00 PM
No, I'm not talking about the price of freedom, but of keeping one's "game" at a good level.
For the last 3 weeks or so, I've grown a little 'cool' (sort of like a slump, except I can manage to win games, but it takes me longer to do it--assuming my opponent allows it). This has led me to concentrate back on my shot-making, and worrying about the position only near the end of the game (closer to the 8 ball). If my opponent is 'on', I might as well put my cue away. . . .
So, in order to analyze the details of what I'm doing badly, I've paid more attention to my pre-shot routing, and worked on my execution consistency--the thought being: "If you're consistently doing something correct, leave it alone, if incorrect, then you should be able to troubleshoot it."
Well, I was downstairs shooting long-table shots (a weakness of mine) and although I was following the same routine each time, I was missing pretty much everything. I was getting irritated, so I stopped for a second, decided to use a different cue (just grabbed one that happened to be lighter than the one I was using), and started whacking balls around--some with the pre-shot routing, some without. Suddenly, I was making shots again!
This may make it sound like the stick made me shoot better somehow, or that breaking the routine was the trick, but I believe it was neither, yet both. Taking a bit of my brain aside, to think about what was different, I found that the lighter stick allowed me to feel what had changed--I was shooting 'looser'. While trying to strictly follow the preshot routine, I had added some rigidity to my stroke, which appeared to take affect as a tensing of my grip on the cue. I then returned to the routine, with a relaxed grip, and I was immediately pleased with the results. (As I've parroted in the past, and any of the martial artists or motorcyclists out there can attest to, "don't forget to breathe". . . .)
My point here is just to add another, nearly invisible, thing to check for, if you're suddenly "off".
In the past, I have also found that I was inconsistent with my cue-to-head/eye/chin placement, which I consider 'nearly invisible' as well.
Anyone got anything else similiar? That is, things that get easily overlooked in the diagnostics?
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For the last 3 weeks or so, I've grown a little 'cool' (sort of like a slump, except I can manage to win games, but it takes me longer to do it--assuming my opponent allows it). This has led me to concentrate back on my shot-making, and worrying about the position only near the end of the game (closer to the 8 ball). If my opponent is 'on', I might as well put my cue away. . . .
So, in order to analyze the details of what I'm doing badly, I've paid more attention to my pre-shot routing, and worked on my execution consistency--the thought being: "If you're consistently doing something correct, leave it alone, if incorrect, then you should be able to troubleshoot it."
Well, I was downstairs shooting long-table shots (a weakness of mine) and although I was following the same routine each time, I was missing pretty much everything. I was getting irritated, so I stopped for a second, decided to use a different cue (just grabbed one that happened to be lighter than the one I was using), and started whacking balls around--some with the pre-shot routing, some without. Suddenly, I was making shots again!
This may make it sound like the stick made me shoot better somehow, or that breaking the routine was the trick, but I believe it was neither, yet both. Taking a bit of my brain aside, to think about what was different, I found that the lighter stick allowed me to feel what had changed--I was shooting 'looser'. While trying to strictly follow the preshot routine, I had added some rigidity to my stroke, which appeared to take affect as a tensing of my grip on the cue. I then returned to the routine, with a relaxed grip, and I was immediately pleased with the results. (As I've parroted in the past, and any of the martial artists or motorcyclists out there can attest to, "don't forget to breathe". . . .)
My point here is just to add another, nearly invisible, thing to check for, if you're suddenly "off".
In the past, I have also found that I was inconsistent with my cue-to-head/eye/chin placement, which I consider 'nearly invisible' as well.
Anyone got anything else similiar? That is, things that get easily overlooked in the diagnostics?
====================