[FASTLARRY]

CAN CONTROLLING THE MIND MAKE YOU A WINNER????

EMOTIONS Controlling them are the door to championship play
page 1 of 6 5-1-04

BE HAPPY, IT IS THAT SIMPLE.

Ya mon, I tink I sing you song, et is called, be happy mon.

Here is a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don’t worry, be happy
In every life we have some problems
Don’t worry be happy mon
It will pass no matter what it is
Bob Marley

We all remember that silly little song, yes simple, silly, but so powerful in its message which was the key to a happy life and how many of us reacted to it or under stood it and missed it’s powerful teaching.

Abraham Lincoln said we are all about as happy and we wish to be. His point was if you wish to be happy you are. If you wish to be UN happy you are. He was happy, his wife was miserable. It is up to you, your own point of view. Most living inside mansions are very unhappy. You can be living under a bridge in a cardboard box and be happy. Just will your self to be happy and you now are. You do not need a prescription or a liquor store to achieve total happiness.

If you watch me when I entertain at a show there is a big smile on my face all day long. I whistle while I work like the 7 dwarfs. I am so happy just to be there and to be able to play pool for a living and get paid well for that. How could I not have a smile on my face? Earl has a different attitude about this, how many smiles do you see on his face. How many do you see on Efrens. Efren chooses to be happy, Earl chooses to be UN happy, and that is simply the difference between them.

Image Andy Griffin walking down the road at Mayberry RFD, did you ever see him with out a big smile? Does Barney smile? One is happy; one is not, all in their attitudes.

Be like Lefty playing in the final of the Masters golf tourney in 04 at Augusta, they said he had that same goofy big smile on all day long. It bothered a lot of people because it is not normal to do that. It is not normal to be very happy, that is very UN normal. People do not like you doing this; they want you to be UN happy like them. Ever seen Tom Kennedy play pool, he runs around grinning like the Cheshire cat, it is sort of nerdy and goofy also, but Tom is very happy and he has the power of the Lord shinning in side him which lights him up.

Try it for your self for one week and then see how you feel at the end of 7 days of non stop 24/7 happy. Smile at every person you encounter, smile so big it hurts, and radiate love out to them.
Keep smiling until your jaws and teeth ache. Do not stop. It won’t kill you to give me one week of this. It can and may totally change your life. The majority will glace away or reject these smiles as they are unhappy and very happy people make them feel even more unhappy and confused. If you smile at 100 people and all 100 flip you the bird just keep smiling. Sticks and stones dude. Get used to seeing the Italian salute coming at you. Less than 10% will be able to react back to you in a positive fashion and some will return your smile and love to you just as warmly as you gave it to them. The main teaching of Jesus is to love your fellow man. Just go out and do exactly that for 7 days.

All agree that at the upper levels the game is now 90% mental. If you do not have control of your emotions you are then a loser. Being happy is vital to that control. Some are in constant turmoil with them selves in practice, gambling or in league play. You get angry you missed that shot or the other jerk is sharking you. You get so angry, you begin to shake. You are a 3 and you are playing a 7, you are so scared of him you begin to shake. You are toast, you just released adrenalin which is a very powerful drug and when it drops your pool playing ability just went into the toilet and you are now going to lose badly. It ain’t gonna be pretty.

Play a lot of pool over a long period of time and keep dropping adrenalin off and on all day long and many in the medical community feel this can eventually destroy your health just like taking speed every day will destroy you as well. You see some hall of famers now when they pull the cue back they shake and that is what it is caused from, one of the two, if not both usually. You turn your Neurological
system into mush and one day you simply fall apart. It impacts a lot of players around 45 to 50. You run a car at 7000 rpm all day long and the engine wears out faster than normal driving. That is how many pool players destroy their bodies at this game. Burn the candle at both ends and think they will escape this fate.

Walk in the door of the joint with this huge goofy grin and never let it leave your face. Just keep saying over and over, I am happy. Keep saying it and soon you con your self into actually being happy. You reprogram your cpu out of UN happy and install a new program called happy. It is that simple to do. It is simple self brain washing. It is amazing, you had the key to this all along, and all you had to do was turn the key. You miss a simple shot you should have made, you do not grimace and slam your cue butt down, and you smile and sit down. You make a great shot, you smile. You dog the next shot, you smile. You put your emotions on this flat plane and they never are allowed to rise above or below that happy plane. They remain level and unchanging.

Adrenalin then never drops on you because you send no signals to the brain to release it. Inside you are totally peaceful, calm, in a lovely warm state of grace.

Do this for one week and then somewhere in the 2nd week you will report back to me you had your high run of your life, because you finally got out of the way of you. In pool, normally all you have to do is go into the can and look into the mirror, that is your enemy, you. You have finally met the enemy and it is indeed you bubba. Take a good long look at that guy, he you must control or you are doomed.

Ya mon, be happy. Play happy. Win or lose happy. Just be happy to be there. For me that is easy, at my age I am happy to be anywhere. I am happy to be able to walk in the front door of the joint.

A very recent survey of 30 years of psychology publications counted 46,000 papers on depression and a piddling 400 on joy. They do not teach happy.
They sell a happy pill which gets you stoned and now you are happy. 20 Years ago they had millions of women stoned on valiums. At the turn of the century they had them on cocaine cocktails that got them really stoned. That is how the soft drink coco cola came about, it was such a cocaine liquid drug in the beginning for women who could not go into bars and get smashed on whiskey, so they went into soda shops and got stoned on cocaine.

As Martin Seligman, a University of Pennsylvania professor and former president of the American Psychological Association, put it in 1998: “Social science now finds itself in almost total darkness about the qualities that make life most worth living. “ End of quote.

That’s great, go to your doctor or shrinks and now you know, they do not have a fargin clue. Every thing they think they know is wrong. They are totally going in the wrong direction. They react to the boil, stick a band aide on it, treat it with cream, they never take the time to find out what caused this to occur, they only treat the thing in front of them and never find the root cause. The boil could have been caused by the mind which is very unhappy which can bring on even serious disease and death. Yes being unhappy can kill you. If you are unhappy and depressed they will medicate you up with legal drugs then you walk around stoned all day long and they tell you that you are now happy. Shoot me up with Morphine and hell, I don’t know if I am happy or not, I’ve been on that stuff in the Hospital before and you are so out of it you don’t give a she yit any more. You really do not have a clue. How do you know if you are happy if you do not know your zip code.

Ask Bob Marley, the cure was free all along, just be happy mon. Just do it.

Your main thought should be that your life purpose, in living or playing pool, should be to seek and obtain total happiness. Every pool practice session or match should end with you in total happiness win or lose. The very motion of your life should be towards this goal. Be a positive thinker and doer. Fill a glass half up with water, it can be good that it is half full, or bad that it is half empty; you can think happy and positive or think negative and UN happy and see only the down side of every thing. You now have the power to change how your brain thinks and reacts. You can totally control and sway your thoughts and emotions just by ordering them to be or do this or that. Download Marleys song on Kazaa, Don’t worry, be happy. Play it every day and soon the message will sink in. You must hear any new data 7 times for the brain to accept it so you must play the song for 8 days in a row.

The key to happiness lies in ones ability to control what is called the monkey mind. This is undisciplined consciousness that scrambles from thought to thought, impelled by negative emotions and impulsive desires. Learning to meditate and clear the mind is a thing to learn and master. You find that in Zen.

You can never be a great pool player until you learn how to shut off the monkey brain when you are playing pool. Give that inner voice a name, mine is Fred. I order him out. I go Fred, I know you are trying to help me, but Fred, I am now playing pool, go to sleep and do not talk to me until you see me break down my cue and when it goes in my case you may come back.

When I play pool I want a total empty mind with nothing going on in it. Some tell me that for me that is a given as I do not have anything going on up there in the first place. There is some truth to this, very dull dumb people seem to exceed at many sports like pool and golf because of this. This is why the PHD’s can’t run 3 friggen balls, they can’t shut it all off. The higher intelligence and IQ of a player the more difficult it is for him to play at a high level. I have a IQ of 152 and I cannot play pool at all unless I totally turn off my monkey brain or it will drive me literally crazy with its dirahhea mouth non stop babbling dribble. Until I put a sock in Freds pie hole and duck tape his mouth shut I am doomed.

There are two sides of the brain, you can only play with one on, let both run at the same time total conflict and confusion occurs. I then play by total feel and allow my brain and cpu to run and manage my game. It is a leap of faith, just turn it off and turn it over to them and go out and free wheel and let it rip. You will be amazed at what occurs when you get out of the way of you. Let the good times roll, you will be in fat city. Just play fast and loose, dead punch will fall in and when it does, oh baby, how sweet, it is. You become a ball running machine. If you then fall into the zone, Katy, bar the door. You are now unbeatable.

The mind is an expression of a consciousness that is very deep and one you know nothing about, but that knowledge is there to help you. It will guide you if you seek happiness and allow you to achieve fulfillment, reach enlightenment and reach your karmic destiny. Just retrain your mind, give it very clear directions and tell it what it is to do. Tell it, I shall now be totally happy, make that happen now. It is now so.

Freud believed the only happiness people could achieve was the meager satisfaction of deliverance from the deluded hopes and grandiose fantasies: in his famous phrase, the tepid relief of transforming hysteria into uncommon unhappiness. They do not believe you can be happy normally so they write you a prescription to go get stoned. These people are barbarians.

Alan Wallace, president of the Santa Barbara Institute for the Interdisciplinary study of consciousness, said at the time, “the pursuit of knowledge in Buddhism is inextricably relegated to the pursuit of virtue, and the pursuit of virtue is inextricably relegated to the pursuit of happiness.” Western science makes no such connection. It can as easily weaponize smallpox as cure it. All their money and time is being spent to come up with drugs so they can alter unhappiness and associate what they make with well-being levels of serotonin, dopamine and other neurotransmitters. They can then run ads on TV, have the doctors which are nothing but legal drug pushers write the prescriptions which then get them their free vacations to Vale. The big drug companies then make billions on this new drug to make you happy. It is all about money, not curing you or selling you happiness, there is no money to be made in that which is why only Buddhist are giving it away free. Medical science wants no part of this. You walk in unhappy, they give you a pill, you get stoned, you are happy now. That is the Stone Age level these people are now at and they call them selves doctors.

Parts of Buddhism can change behaviors that now cause you to suffer. It can alter your mind to achieve happiness and make you content. You can achieve genuine happiness. There is no church you have to go to. You do have to tide 10% of your loot. You have nothing to buy, no drugs to take. It is all free. Fast Larry is a Christian and a Catholic, but is deep into the study of Zen and Buddhist concepts and teachings. He teaches to play sober as a judge and use the powers of the mind to play in the zone through the teachings of Zen. He is the only person to discover how to go in and out of the Zone at will. His findings and teachings on this will soon be published and revealed for all to go to new levels on in pool. He is a Zen Master.

Where does this concept come from, you can make your self happy, just by now willing your self into a happy mind, is this more of FL’s ramblings. No, this has been now taught for 500 years before the birth of the Christ.

The main person now teaching this is called by his real name which is Tenzin Gyatso. He has been teaching this for all of his 68 years here on Earth. His people call him Kundun or the presence. He shows you the path to happiness, joy and contentment. He runs around with this huge smile and constantly laughing and bubbling with enthusiasm. You feel good around him, happiness will wear off on you and it is contagious. Like Jesus, and Ghandi his only possession is the robe around his body.

Some call him the enlightened one.

Some call him, his Holiness. He is know as the 14th manifestation of the Buddha of Compassion and a Nobel Peace Prize Winner and exiled leader of Tibet.

He is the leader of a 2,500 year old religion.

He is, the Dali Lama.

May God bless and peace be with you. May the wind be always on your back and
all 9 balls fall. VENI VIDI VICI, OMNIA VINCIT AMOR. “Fastus Maximus. “ Latin for “I came, I saw, I conquered, love conquerors all. Yes I really did do it all and you can believe it, or not. If you don’t believe it, C’est La Vie. A prophet is not recognized in his own land. Rack em sausage, Go play fast and loose. In time, it’s all dust in the wind anyway. Email fastlarry@bellsouth.net The Power Source Traveling Pool School. To see my web page come alive click http://www.fastlarrypool.com “Fast Larry” Guninger
:-o :-D :-P

[ Edited by FASTLARRY on 2004/5/1 20:05 ]

[billiardspoolnet]

Very powerful. Interesting concept. I am running around with a big smile on my face now.

[aboutGT]

FL,

This is one of your better posts. I am very interested in obtaining a copy of your ZEN teachings and how "to put a sock in Fred", when you publish it. One of the most difficult things for me to do is shut off the internal babbling. I have noticed that when I miss a shot it is usualy because my mind wandered; it only takes a microsecond for this to happen.

Go Jackets!!!

[ThePoolHustler]

When you approach a shot just think..."object ball in pocket...object ball in pocket..." and smile real big while doing it.

Maybe that will help keep your mind on the game.

[Pin]

Hmm.

Recently I've being reading a book about controlling the mind to optimise sporting performance.

Ultimately, the objective is an empty mind while playing - Any inner voice reducing ability to perform.

In my local league last week I had it down pretty well.
Tonight I was playing reasonably well attempting the same techniques, but fell a little short as I found myself consciously aiming.
Even though I managed to cut out the inner *voice*, the conscious thought processes still inhibited my game.

I figure it comes down to faith in my ability to play without consciously aiming - if I can trust myself to do that (and assuming it does work of course) then I should be able to play at my best.


At the moment I have 3 psychological skills to apply to my game:

1. Make sure I'm aiming to play my best (and thus give myself the best chance of winning), rather than aiming to win. (I'm actually finding it a bit difficult when the teams are keeping score of frames won. Especially when I was trying to run out at 3-3 :-) ).

2. Remind myself to have faith in my ability to play at a high standard.

The above 2 are, to use Fast's metaphore, designed to quiet Fred, and allow me to play to my potential.

3. After deciding on my shot, clear my mind of conscious thought for the process of 'aiming' and shooting. And keep it clear until I'm done!


I always like learning new skills, the improvement is much quicker and more obvious than the slower results from working on an already developed skill. As I see it, controlling the mind is just that - a skill and a part of the game.

[Pin]

New thoughts after playing today:

I've been struggling with the mental game a bit today.
Maybe Fast can offer some advice?

I try to clear my mind at some time after consciously analysing the table, but before approaching the shot.

I don't consciously aim, but I do focus on where I want to send the ob, and look between the ob and target position to get a feel for the shot.

If I clear my mind before I line up the shot (as above) then it brings me closer to 'the zone', and presumably allows me to perform the 'aiming' process better.

But if I clear my mind after lining up the shot it gives me more conscious control over the aiming system, which means I have a better idea of when I'm ready to shoot.

And I do sometimes find that if I 'aim' with a clear mind I sometimes won't shoot well, as if maybe I've not given it enough time to 'feel' the shot.


So, clear the mind before or after aiming?

[FASTLARRY]

Pin, I am a Zen master, and as such, we now go into Zen. Zen can not be taught is the current understand by the oriental mind. I try to get around that as the western person is not going to sit in a corner going hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 2 hrs a day in order to clear his mind. I try to bridge that gap. To these Zen Masters I am a whorie. To pool players here, I am their Mesia. Yes I do sit in a lotus position and meditate, but I do not expect you to.

I try to show you the path. I cannot walk down that path with you. Grasshopper, once you learn the way and get on the path, it then has many forks. You must take many and find out which one works best for you. That is why Zen cannot be taught, you must discover Zen for your self.

To do this, you need my direction and then soon you are off on your own. Grasshopper, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. The greatest compliment you can give me is to learn more than I know or exceed all that I have done. Then I know, I have suceeded as a teacher.

Here is what I want you to do in practice and then later take it into actual competition. Turn Fred off, turn off your Monkey mind, play with a total silent empty mind with no conscious thought.

Now, say to your cpu, mind, FL says this is nothing but a total leap of faith. If I turn my game completely over to you that you will run it and make all decisions for me automatically for me where I just go along for the ride and I am not running the cho cho no mo. What the hell, I am game, I'll go for it, this is so nuts it just might work. Just go freewheel and let's see cpu what you got. You got game, lay it down. I'll get the hell out of your way. I'll allow you to plant my hand and line up every shot automatically. You aim and make the shot and calculate how to get shape on the next ball. Let's go, let's play now like FL says to, Fast and Loose. Do it totally by feel, you have the com.
:-o :-D :-P :-D :-D :-D

[paco1076]

FL,

I tell you what... It is great to hear you actually put words to something I have been trying to get my team to understand for almost 4 years now! It is something that I have been working on continuously for years, and it is so hard to discribe it... Thank you again for your knowledge.

What I try to do when shooting is to ignore everything and everyone else in the room except for the table and my opponent. When I reach that state of mind I know that I will win. I know that the other guy is sweating through his socks cause no matter how many balls he runs out or how many games he wins, I am still just sitting there as cool as a cat. Waiting for my chance to pounce. It drives them nuts. They can't figure out why you aren't pacing around the room or playing with your cue, anything to show them you are nervous. The key is to not be nervous. It doesn't get you anywhere anyway. It is just a game, you aren't going to end the world if you lose. Play the game and have fun. If you really want to shake your opponent, smile at him/her right after they make a great shot.

At the same time, if I don't reach that state of mind and inner peace. If I can't tell "Fred" to shut up, it will be a long struggle for me to win. I won't have that confidence and I won't be sure that I will win. That lack of confidence will just build upon it self and it is hard to break through once it has started. I know that I will have to keep working on that for myself.

Remember... The surgeon general never said anything about smoking the competition...

[Pin]

Whew!

Keeping the mind clear is not easy :-)


I was trying today, and I just couldn't stop myself from thinking about.. something.
I get the feeling it's not something you can switch on and off so easily (or quickly), but you need to take a little time to clear the head before you play.

Some days it's easier than others, but the problem on the tougher days seems to be that the process of making an effort to clear the mind actually introduces distractions and sets the monkey off.

Reading back over Fast's original post though, it seems that being happy and feeling at peace, then accepting what happens when you play, will help put you in a position where you can effectively silence the monkey.

Still, it's not easy...


Fast, in the past I've helped that listening to a particular tune (or 'playing' it in my head) helps me keep a clear mind.
I think maybe it occupies, rather than silences, the monkey.

Do you think it's worth using this as a technique to improve play? Perhaps if silencing the monkey doesn't seem to be working?
Or should I forget about this as another distraction and simply focus on clearing the mind properly?

Thanks,
Pin

[FASTLARRY]

Ah so grasshopper, you are getting out in front of fast dude, dude. That is not easy to do. What you ask is already explained in my new book I am writing. As you can imagine this subject is quite complex. You now realize to shut up Fred and stuff a sock in his pie hole is a major task. This monkey does not want to go away and sneaks back on you. I do go into this and give exact directions how to in the book. It is a entire chapter, no room for that now.

Grasshopper, you guessed one of the secrets, keys to open the door to the zone and one of them is music. I carry a walkman and play with in practice in my back pocket. Can play a tape in my hotel room or car prior to a match. The Song I use is somewhere in time, from the movie. Stayed at the Grand Hotel many times and have so many connections to this special place of great peace and tranquality. I hum the song in my mind over and over, my cpu is set upon hearing it to open the door to the zone and allow me to now drift into self hypnosis and into an altered state. Keep probing me and this is going to get deeper than whale she yit. :-o :-D :-P

[paco1076]

FINALLY! It sounds like I am on to the same thing Pin is... I "play" tunes in my head the whole time I am shooting and actually shoot best when I whistle while I am playing. I don't while the other guy is shooting, but everytime I am at the table I try to whistle and settle myself into to peaceful place.

It is interesting that the songs that calm me down are also the same songs that I listen to while working on my jeep... Seems to me that what ever music you can associate with something else in your life that has special meaning to you is the music that you should "play" in your head. :-o

FL, are we on the same path? Or are we running off and not helping ourselves anymore? Also, I would love to read your book when you get finished. Be sure to let us know when it is done!

[FASTLARRY]

Ah so grasshopper, you are on correct path to the zone. :-P

[9BallroadPro]

Yes, I do agree, mental control like fl said, is the key to it all.

[Pin]

Using the music to trigger getting into the zone... a very interesting idea.
Does this go beyond simply letting the music affect you 'normally', and so bring you into the zone (as it does for me now) - it can also be used as a prompt for the mind to adjust itself to be in the zone?

(I hope I expained that clearly enough)

If so, is there anything I should be doing to promote this effect, or will simply using the music to get into the zone help develope the connection?

I had toyed with the prospect of playing while listening to a walkman before, but I figured I wouldn't be able to in competition, and it'd be a bit rude when practicing with other people...



While we're on the subject of using music, would you recommend trying to find a few songs that have the same effect? And if so is this just a case of trial and error?

Paco, I'm not sure about your theory on using 'special' music that you connect with. I see you use music that you listened to anyway, perhaps that's simply because you're bound to choose songs you like to get you into the zone, and you listen to them at other times for the same reasons.
I could be completely wrong though, of course :-)

My song is 'Basket Case' by Green Day - I found it completely by accident, it would come up on the jukebox at my local at least once every couple of weeks, and I fairly quickly realised that I played supurbly whenever it was on!

It was only after that I bought my first Green Day album, just to ensure I had a copy of the track for myself.
But I'm a little concerned that just one fairly short song might be a little repetetive, or could just stop working, to get me into the zone. If I could find other tracks then I'd have a bit of insurance :-)

I figure (from Fast's posts regarding adrenaline) that I don't want any music that's got too quick a beat, as it could set my adrenaline off.
But beyond that I'm not really sure where (or whether!) to start looking.




Regarding mental control generally:
Today I had a few frames of pool during my lunch break. For a little while the monkey was silent, everything was working, and I was playing great pool.
That started to flag towards the end - now that I'm thinking about mental discipline, I find my monkey analysing how clear my mind is - and in the process he stops it being clear.
But overall I was very happy with my standard.

I also played a few frames just after work.
I found that peak form for about 3 shots, the rest of the time I was.. well, fairly average by my old standards, but with the improvements I've seen recently it felt much worse!
I found myself getting frustrated that I wasn't playing to my potential, which distracted me from the table and also caused me to 'try' to clear the mind - which itself occupied the mind, making it less clear.


Actually, it's only now that I've written all this out that I see how the pieces fit together, and how trying to achieve a clear mind and analysing myself during play causes so many distractions.

It looks like it'll be a difficult hurdle to get over, but now that I see the problem I should be better able to avoid it.


Another problem I found was in aiming.
Sometimes it came easily, but sometimes.. I don't think I can pin the problem down exactly, but the process of aiming felt more difficult, less natural.

I'm not sure whether/how this was affecting the 'clear mind', or for that matter whether it was because I already had a less clear mind while I was aiming.
Maybe I should stop worrying about it, but then how do I work to correct the problem?

Can you make any sense of this Fast?




Also, maybe I can help you for a change :-D

You'll be publishing a book on this subject?
May I recommend you take a look at a book on sports psychology I've been reading (I mentioned it earlier in this thread).
It's called 'Psyched To Win', by Robert M. Nideffer (that is the right spelling, I just checked it on my copy of the book!)

I've read several books on, or with chapters on, the right mindsets for sports, this is the only one I've found which looks at how the brain actually works, and bases its teachings on scientific knowledge and reason. And it's definitely unique in its quality and thoroughness.

For the most part, I'd say you and the book come to very similar conclusions, though you seem to have got there in very different ways.

Perhaps the scientific information and alternative techniques to achieve the same ends (a clear mind) in there will be of use to you. I get the impression they would complement your knowledge well.

It is pretty old (my copy is dated 1992! I don't know if there have been later editions), but I should think you could order a copy form amazon or somewhere...

[Pin]

Quote

Plato17 wrote:
FL likes soft elevator music to trigger you into the zone but also teaches you to develop specific commands to open the door and teaches now to install and insert those into your cpu.

Hmm, does he teach how to train yourself to react to a chosen song to move into the zone, rather than depending on finding a song first, then using it?

Quote

Trying to play with a clear and empty mind sounds so easy, but in reality with out help and coaching it will be impossible to achieve.

You're telling me! :-)

I was trying again today, again both during my lunch break and after work.
I think I'm improving with practice, I can usually get into something closer to the zone than normal, for very short spells while playing.

(I say 'closer to the zone' as that book I was reading has explained a definition of the zone as one where you experience relatively very few internal distractions, but that it's not a question of 'in the zone or out of it', rather it's shades of grey, the fewer internal distractions you have the more 'in the zone' you are. After reading the science side of the book I accept this as accurate.)

However, I have trouble staying in that place consistantly. I'm not sure whether it's because I find myself trying to analyse both my play and how 'in the zone' I am, or because I'm just not that good at quieting Fred yet, maybe it's a bit of both.

But I think I've refined my shooting technique to accommodate the zone more easily.

I believe need to use some conscious thought while playing - English 8-ball pool at a high level becomes very tactical. I'm not sure how it compares to US 8-ball, as the 2 games have significantly different rules, and I've not played the latter at such a great level yet. But I need to give some thought to my tactical play in order to compete with great opponents.
Also, when going for a finish, with many balls still on the table, I make better decisions on how to clear the table if I give it some though.

However, my book helped me learn some 'ideomotor cues' to aid getting into the zone. ('Cues' as in prompts, not pool cues!)
I used to select a shot, aim, then use the cues, then shoot.
Then I changed to selecting a shot, partly aiming before using the cues, use the cues, 'confirm' the aim, then shoot.
I think that method was interrupting my 'flow' at the table, and contributing to making Fred question my aim. Also, it made aiming take longer, stopping me achieving that 'fast and loose' feeling of playing in the zone (I can't believe how perfectly that phrase describes it!).

So now I pick my shot, then use my cues, then aim and shoot, fast and loose (hopefully!)
I figure I've got it right now, so hopefully I can develop the faith in my game to use it efficiently and without Fred questioning it.

Quote

Aiming is the most weird thing he teaches, he says, it is a leap of faith. just turn it over to your cpu, plant and fire, your cpu will do it all for you. He trains us to do this with our eyes closed, then shoot with our eyes closed. You plant, line up, close eyes and pull the trigger. On your hand plant 99% of the time the cpu will achieve a perfect alignment for you and you should not question this. Rarely is any adjustment ever required after your hand hits the table. You order your cpu to plant and aim you perfectly, he says that is the method.

Heh. I used to try shooting with my eyes closed to help build a confident stroke - the idea was that it would prove that I could line up my shot correctly, and that then it would just be a question of hitting it as planned, and I'd pot the ball.

The only problem was I could usually only tell I'd made the shot by the absence of the ball on the table. It'd have been nice to see it go in!

[FASTLARRY]

Heh. I used to try shooting with my eyes closed to help build a confident stroke - the idea was that it would prove that I could line up my shot correctly, and that then it would just be a question of hitting it as planned, and I'd pot the ball.

The only problem was I could usually only tell I'd made the shot by the absence of the ball on the table. It'd have been nice to see it go in!


FL RESPONDS, AH SO GRASSHOPPER, YOU WERE ON THE PATH LONG AGO AND DID NOT KNOW IT.
Toss out 15 balls and evenly divide them around the table so the shots are all easy. Now pot a ball and play shape on the next one. On each pot, all 15, plant, eyes up and down, up and down, what ever your routine is, then on your final pull back close your eyes, feel impact, then listen for the ball to fall. You can hear it fall, if you listen.

In the TV show, Kung Fu, the young boy asked, Master,how is it that you can hear the grasshopper?
The Master replied, how is it, that you cannot?

After you make 3 or 4 pots like that, after you feel impact, just open your eyes to see the ball pot. It is important to see how well it potted, center of the pocket or badly slopped in off of the rail, it will tell you the purity of your stroke. You only do this in practice, but it does prove to you, if you are lined up perfectly, have a perfect stroke you can trust, it no longer matters if your eyes are now open or closed at impact.

Learn to trust your stroke. Get your self an aim trainer, I have some in stock and I swear by them. The greatest invention ever made, every one of my students now must train on it during every lesson they take. I make then do 100 follow throughs or about 12 minutes on it. In the last 6 months every single student also swears by it also. It is a run away hit with my people.

:-D :-o :-P :-D :-D

[Pin]

Back to mental control anc concentration while shooting (how specifically it works):

I recently realised that while I was trying hard to keep my mind clear, and my monkey silent, I realised I'd lost track of exactly what I should be doing with my mind instead.

My book distinguishes between internal and external focus - when the monkey is talking, that's a form of internal focus - your concentration is on the thoughts inside your head.

The book says that playing in the zone is achieved with strong external focus (concentrating on the table, the balls).

I think that while trying to clear my mind of internal focus, I've been trying to play with no conscious focus at all - letting the subconscious take care of everything.
It feels difficult to tell as external focus and no focus both quiet the inner monkey and leave the stroke mechanics up to the subconscious.


Fast,
Do you consider there to be a difference between external focus and no focus, or is the state of 'no focus' actually just an external focus that is mistaken for no focus because there is no conscious thought in the head?

If there is a difference, do you advocate no focus above external focus?

And how about some more help getting there? Please? :-D


Cheers, Pin

[FASTLARRY]

Concentration, focus, all the same stuff. Yes there are different levels of it and you think of them as level basement, where you are now in front of your cpu, lst floor, 2nd floor, 3rd floor and penthouse, which is zeep inside the zone. I actually drift from one up to another like my mind is riding an elevator or lift to heaven, for when it reaches the penhouse and the doors to the zone open, yes you are in pool playing heaven, just ask any ones who has been there.

How deep you get into concentration depends on what you went through that day. If the match is important, go into a dark bedroom, nap and then mentally meditate before you drive to the pool room. When you arrive, plan for 5 or 10 minutes in your car to close your eyes and meditate once more clearing your head. Then go in and now you can achieve greater levels of focus and concentration.

The zone is a virtual trance, an altered state, technically you allow your self to enter self hypnosis.

[paco1076]

Fast,

Just for clarification, what types of things do you allow to enter your mind while you are meditating? What do you focus on to keep your mind clear and ready to shoot? Do you listen to music while you are meditating? If so, what music do you listen to?

I think I understand, in a non-specific sense, what you are telling us. I think I haphazardly do it already. It is almost as if I am trying to reach a point in my mind where all I have going on in my mind is the pool table and my opponent.