#289267 - 11/03/09 06:53 PM
The mental game
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JoeW
addict
Registered: 03/23/07
Posts: 432
Loc: Leesburg, FL
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I just published an article about the mental game. It includes a discussion of concentration, subconscious control and a little about the unconscious. It is too long to publish here so here is a link.
Learning Mental Control
In conjuction with members of AZB we have written An American Pool Player's Dictionary that has a about 200 terms for those who might be interested. It is located at the URL shown below.
Pool Player's Dictionary
As always comments are appreciated.
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#289269 - 11/03/09 07:48 PM
Re: The mental game
[Re: JoeW]
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wolfdancer
Carpal \'Tunnel
Registered: 10/31/02
Posts: 10585
Loc: north to alaska
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Joe, the mental game sounds like it will be interesting. I've bought every known book, tape on Golf's Mental Game, and they all helped...Thanks for the link.!!!
Ok, just read the opening paragraph, and skimmed through the rest, I'll read it through at least twice tomorrow....but I've already picked up a good tip...on verbalization.... sometimes...often, I know I'm going to miss before I "pull the trigger" I wonder then, Is my subconscious informing me that my aim/setup is wrong? or am I giving myself, unintentionally, a directive to miss?
Most of the terms that I would have contributed to your pool lexicon, could not be printed......
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#289271 - 11/03/09 08:12 PM
Re: The mental game
[Re: wolfdancer]
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JoeW
addict
Registered: 03/23/07
Posts: 432
Loc: Leesburg, FL
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verbalizations come from consciousness. But the stimulus for the verbalization may come from the subconscious. So the answer is a definite maybe!
I would first suspect that your consciousness is interrupting the subconscious process. You don't think you can make it and set up a self fufilling prophecy.
The ability to learn to watch our subconscious operate is often a difficult task because we (men especially) have this need to control things.
---
PS Next time it happens try to become aware of nerves or jittery feelings. If you feel that shakey feeling it is probably the subconscious trying to do something that it does not think it can do.
Edited by JoeW (11/03/09 08:36 PM)
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#289276 - 11/03/09 08:57 PM
Re: The mental game
[Re: JoeW]
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wolfdancer
Carpal \'Tunnel
Registered: 10/31/02
Posts: 10585
Loc: north to alaska
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Thanks Joe, I really appreciate that answer, as I'll be "in stroke", playing good, and just one miss like that,where I am "predicting" my miss, kind of ruins the flow of that game, maybe even the match.
I once read about a famous golf pro that when his concentration was interrupted....he began his pre shot routine from the start....putting his club back into the bag beforehand. I ain't that smart, but maybe since this is the first time I have talked about it....I might find a way to deal with it... thanks again....
By the way, two of my golf mental tapes were "Nice Shot" by Chuck Hogan, with Eva's husband Mitch doing the narration, and an even older Cybervision tape that featured Al Geiberger.
No words, just Al swinging the clubs at imperceptibly different swing speeds...a little more detailed then that, each club swing sequence started out with a black screen and they had small lights attached to him that gave the illusion of a stick figure
Hard to describe....but recently after exchanging emails with a noted pool player who has taken up the game, I found that the tape is still available on the cybervision site, and used on ebay, and I am going to order it.
I also recommended the book "Extraordinary Golf" by Fred Shoemaker, on teaching the game....I've always thought his concepts could be rewritten and adapted well for pool.He bought the book and is pleased with it.
That book sells for just $10 at Amazon....
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#289283 - 11/04/09 02:31 AM
Re: The mental game
[Re: wolfdancer]
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Sid_Vicious
Carpal \'Tunnel
Registered: 02/17/02
Posts: 4527
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We old shooters allow ghosts to play into our heads. What I mean is that junior players many times tromp on us, because they don't conceive missing, and if you really think about it, that's what us old F-kers relate to as finding our zone when we do find it, not thinking. We are screwed "by time", face it, unless we have so much more added intelligence acquired over time, to be able to bury the best with massive safeties, chess plays and smarts, that's it! Realistically, we can't out play the young players with their relentless confidence. Just a fact too many times. Zones are intricately very rare for mid life players, and almost NEVER for seniors. You need to find your second childhood to get back there, or else take some serious drugs, which seldom lasts long for an aged body and mind. sid
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#289300 - 11/04/09 08:13 AM
Re: The mental game
[Re: Sid_Vicious]
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pooltchr
Carpal \'Tunnel
Registered: 04/18/03
Posts: 7967
Loc: Charlotte, NC
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Sid,
I am 57, wear glasses because my eyes are weak, my hands shake, and I have arthritus. I have beat many younger players who were better shot makers than I. I can't out-shoot them, but often I can out-play them.
The ghosts you have should be the ones from those successful shots, not the ones that tell you how to miss. I know it sounds pretty lame, but the power of positive thinking is pretty incredible.
Approach your shot using all the knowledge you have gained over the years, make your decisions, and then let all that experience take over when you drop down to shoot.
Steve
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#289322 - 11/04/09 10:50 AM
Re: The mental game
[Re: pooltchr]
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JoeW
addict
Registered: 03/23/07
Posts: 432
Loc: Leesburg, FL
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Well I am 66 Sid and have taken up serious play in the last five years or so. Before that it was more about relaxing with friends and simply kicking in what psychology has to say on the suject.
I think that we are all like flowers; we are growing or dying. In that context I took up pool when I retired from public life as a way to grow through integrating my prior experiences and my preferences for physical and social activity. It is a real good fit.
In the last six years my game keeps getting better and I have this dream about winning a tournament or two just to show myself that we old folks are as young as we feel.
While concentration was a very real part of the work I did when developing software for health providers I never used it like it is needed for playing pool. I find that it too is a new and interesting adventure that just keeps getting better in many ways.
Sure I'll never be a world beater but that is not what its about. It is about growing in new ways.
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#289338 - 11/04/09 01:25 PM
Re: The mental game
[Re: JoeW]
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bradb
old hand
Registered: 01/07/07
Posts: 795
Loc: Abbotsford BC Cananda
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Great reading here Joe both in your article and in the posts.
I have'nt read your complete article yet but plan to print it out and study it away from this damn computer screen.
I understand what Wolf means by ghosts as they tend to haunt my stroke from time to time, but somehow I'm playing almost as well now at age 65 than I was at 25 because I know some things now I did'nt know back then. That did'nt happen over night, it was a long slow process of learning and the difference is the mental part of the game.
Somewhere around my 40's or 50's I began to lose my playing ability, I no longer had the stamina to compete... I could'nt live up to my expectations and my confidence went down along with my skill, so I gave it up.
As I reached my 60's and had more free time I thought I might take pool up again, so I bought a table and started practicing, but the memory of once losing it was a ghost that was scary... would I fold up again, could I compete?
Not wanting to look like a complete ass at my age which is unforgiveable, I thought I would just go out with the attitude of making new friends and having a good time...nothing to prove... no expectations!
It all seems so easy now, but that transition takes a real mental workover. The verbalization zone mentioned is a key part of it. To NOT run over the consequences of a shot in your mind when down. To just focus without thinking of outside distractions such as "Damn, I missed this exact shot 2 games ago!... will I miss it again? When in that mindset best to get back up, shake it off and get back down. if anything creeps in other than "theres my set point, theres the aim spot"... get back up.
The other part is attitude, to always stay positive no matter the circumstances. Last night I had a break and run out in 8balI. My opponent (a younger man) stormed off. His team mate (my age) came over and congratulated me... I thought "what a classy guy." I also wondered about the other kid... how could he possibly play well now with that baggage? I also thought... God! did that used to be me?
Brad
Edited by bradb (11/04/09 01:52 PM)
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#289351 - 11/04/09 03:48 PM
Re: The mental game
[Re: JoeW]
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wolfdancer
Carpal \'Tunnel
Registered: 10/31/02
Posts: 10585
Loc: north to alaska
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Joe, we have a now, 73 yr old player up here, Don Wirteman (hope I spelled it right) that plays great pool, and wins his share of the area's "big" tournaments. There is also a 70 yr old, that won both the open 8 and 9 ball at last year's western area BCA regionals ,,,about 500 entries in each, then a week later, won either the 8 or 9 in the ACS...250 players, and believe he came in second in the other one. I may have the events and the # of entries backwards...but still a remarkable performance. And if you saw his stroke, you wouldn't make him a favorite to run 3 balls.
I was on a "mini-roll" about a year ago at age 70, but while I haven't made it to the winners circle for awhile now, I'm still competitive, and manage to at least cash in.
We're talking just 8 ft'rs though....
I credit the half ball or center to edge aiming system, for my better play now then 25 years ago, when I thought I was a hot shot bar pool player.
I'm pretty sure it was Jack Nicklaus that said he always visualized the shot before he made his swing, And, while I'm sure that you are aware of this....I read where the subconscious cannot distinguish between a positive and a negative thought, so to speak. If one has an approach shot to the green and has to carry the pond of water in front of it.....If one thinks, don't go in the water....the subconscious interprets that as go into the water? Knowing that helped my game. I've also been in the last, and sometimes the only group on the course, and it's too dark to see the the green or the trouble...and it was sometimes amazing how good the shot came off without a target or the trouble in view....Now I can't see the green in daylight, but it ain't helping none.
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