I recently have been trying to practice and play a bit more - not a lot necessarily, and not like I used to, but more nonetheless.  Maybe 8 - 10 hours a week instead of 3 - 5.  While I've been shooting and feeling okay, especially in comfortable settings and situations, when under stress to perform I wasn't playing very well.  I guess I spent so long just dabbling at the game while sick, or playing in Masters league which is pretty comfortable for me, that I forgot how to relax and perform while under pressure or in new situations.  I second guessed my decisions, felt like I was trying to guide the cue ball into position, worried too much about missing the ball, and overall was just trying to be too precise and perfect.

I played a weekly tournament recently - my first of the year, and only 2nd tournament all year - and after my second loss I had a conversation with a very good player about my frustration.  He said a few things that helped clear my head and refocus my efforts, and since it helped (along with a few other things) I thought I would share.

My main takeaway from our conversation - rhythm.  Not stroke, aiming, hyper-focusing on fundamentals, doing drills, or even nerves - just rhythm.  He mentioned several things during the conversation that I inherently knew, and teach to others, yet it's difficult to self-diagnose at times.  Sort of like the crazy psychiatrist...  :)

So what about rhythm is so important?  I realized that I wasn't in any sort of rhythm at all, and that probably came from the lack of true competitive play.  I thought I was, and had a nice preshot routine, yet my approach into my PSR was too varied.  I would get down too quickly on simple shots, even get down too quickly on more difficult shots, and sometimes spend too much extra time during the routine before shooting on difficult shots as well.  This was probably affecting me during my limited practice as well, yet there is no penalty for missing in practice, you set up the shot again, or worse just swipe it into the pocket thinking "I would normally make that shot".  Another reason for practicing with a purpose or some sort of objective scoring, but that's a topic for another article.

I'm a very analytical person, just my nature, hardwired that way.  Words like "feeling" and "visualization" don't compute.  Yet I knew what he was talking about, so I watched some matches with my favorite players (lately the Ko brothers) and really watched how they moved around the table from shot to shot.  I started standing behind the shot for a few extra seconds when needed, air stroking my cue and really trying to feel a connection to the shot, feeling the angle and speed needed, and then once down on the shot trusting in my pre-calculated alignment and just focusing solely on cue ball speed and spin and making a smooth stroke.  I tried not to shoot until I felt truly ready for the shot, and tried as well to get up and go through my routine again if anything felt off once down.

I also did some other things along with this new focus on rhythm.  A few drills to work on smoothness and straightness.  15 - 30 reps on a few specific types of shots that always come up to improve consistency.  My favorite rail shot drill.  Spent maybe 60 - 90 minutes total, not much, but enough to make a difference.

All of the sudden - I felt it.  I was in rhythm, moving around the table effortlessly, confidence back.  That night I won my match 7-0, and that weekend I won the US Amateur qualifier after losing my first match and staying focused after a 3 hour wait and 7 more matches, winning all of them while never giving up more than 3 games, and most were 0 or 1.  I wasn't in dead stroke, at no point was I feeling the zone, but I focused on the shots and my cue ball speed and tried to "feel" the shots.  I made good decisions, I missed very few balls, allowing me to play a solid safe (most of the time) if out of position, and maintained control of the table.

I found that I can't tackle every issue by analyzing a shot or trying to fix a technical flaw, sometimes you just need to relax and feel the rhythm and let your confidence build.  If any of this resonates with you, I hope it helps you to refocus your efforts as well.

Been about a year since my last post.  I guess I'm not a very good blogger...  :)  Below is a summary of the past year, just to catch up to the present.

Since my last post, unfortunately, health issues continued.  Ended up having more tests, an intestinal infection, liver and kidney issues resulting from that, 2 rounds of antibiotics, continued issues, 2 hernias, adhesions, surgery, etc, etc.  Been a fun 18 months...  Some issues remain, but better than I was so I guess it's moving in the right direction.

On the plus side, through all of this I managed to win the second session of American Rotation, and this time I was able to make it to the national tournament at the Derby City Classic in Louisville, KY.  I finished 11th out of 22, not too bad, amidst a field of top players from around the country including Johnny Archer, Mike Davis, and Kevin West.  The latter two faced each other in the finals, you can watch the entire match here - tvmike.net/topic6907.html - scroll down toward the bottom to find the match.  You should especially check out the last few racks, a truly epic finish and well played by both players.

​I also played in the bank pool and 9 ball events at Derby.  Surprisingly I cashed in the Bank Pool division, finishing 77th - 124th out of 400+ players.  I say surprisingly because I never played bank pool before!  I learned the rules and strategies of the game along the way and should have actually gone one round further, but finally lost to Shannon Daulton, a former champion at the event, that loss was NOT a surprise...  :)  

I did well in the 9 ball event, finishing one out of the money.  I beat a few good players, and lost to Kevin West (same guy mentioned above) and then Keith Bennett, both very good and seasoned players.  Really my only disappointment of the tournament was the last loss to Keith.  I just wasn't completely focused in the match but was outplaying him for most of the match, and then just made several very silly mistakes after running out some tough racks or playing very good safes.  I learned from the loss and he was a great competitor.

Following the Derby, our Masters team went on to win our league against a tough team, somewhat of an upset.  I had the anchor spot and it felt good to run out the last rack to put it away.

Finally, recently I attended the qualifier for the US Amateur Championships.  I've tried to qualify two times before, making it to the finals the first year and last year just playing mediocre.  Well, this year I finally made it and am heading to the national finals!  I lost my first match, but came through the rest of the field with some very convincing scores - 7-0, 7-0, 7-2, 7-3, 7-2, and 11-1.  Since I rarely play tournaments, I was quite happy that I stayed focused through a very long day and came back after the first loss.  The national finals are held in the beginning of November, I will cover that tournament in a few weeks.

That's about it, back to the present and all caught up...  My next article will discuss some of the things I focused on during the week leading up to the qualifier, hopefully some of those same concepts will help you in your next league match or tournament as well.