[Big_Bad_Bern]

These article have been previously posted on Poolchat, I just wanted to post them to my section and I will add more as I write them.

Bern

The secret of success is to do the common things uncommonly well.

John D. Rockefeller



EXPERIENCE TELLS US WHAT TO DO…CONFIDENCE ALLOWS US TO DO IT...

I have come to learn over many years that there are two areas controlling people as they strive to improve. The first is EXPERIENCE. Experience is the combination of two basic things knowledge and skills. The more knowledge a player gains the easier it will be to make the correct decision in every situation they face on the table. This leaves us at skills, which is the physical ability to execute the knowledge a player has accumulated. This is the major difference between players and teachers, players must be able to execute their knowledge and teachers on the other hand need not be able to execute his knowledge but he must be capable of conveying that knowledge to a student in a way they can understand and utilize.
So the major way for any player to improve is to expand either their knowledge or their skills. For brief periods one will jump ahead of the other but in order for continued improvement to occur they must level out, so that one can jump ahead again this is the cycle of improvement. If you execute above your knowledge or have more knowledge than you can execute, your game reaches the dreaded plateau and improvement ceases. There are many great ways to stimulate knowledge or skills, professional instruction, books or videos, if you search for an answer you will find it.

The second is CONFIDENCE. Confidence is the ability to have complete trust in your skills under pressure. Thus the elusive zone is only reached when all three factors are present at their highest levels. The sharper you hone your knowledge and skills in practice and competition the more your confidence will grow and the better a game you will play. So take stock of your game to find out where your improvement needs to take place.

Remember experience tells us what to do and confidence allows us to do it.

Bernie Collins
BCA Instructor
VNEA Referee
Brunswick Certified Table Mechanic



FIND A SWING THOUGHT OR MANTRA
________________________________________

I believe the use of a swing thought or mantra would greatly help most players.
I remember reading and article in which a golfer I read about that uses the word "oily" during his swing and several tennis books recommend using terminology like "back - hit" on their swings.

The way I like to describe this is that the conscious mind tries to control the stroke and shot process and if you try to block it out it will jump up and bite you when you least expect it. But if you give it a job to do (swing thought or mantra) it can be lulled to sleep because it believes that it is controlling the situation.

You start out repeating your swing thought on every shot and the more you shoot your conscious mind relaxes and you fall easily into dead stroke (the swing thought fades away naturally). Every time you emerge from dead stroke you have a reliable way to put yourself back into the zone, whether you are coming from your chair to the table cold or are faced with a tough shot you simply repeat your mantra allowing you to feel comfortable and confident in the situation.

Two last thoughts, one, players spend alot of time and focus aligning their bodies to the shot the same consistent way every time, a swing thought or mantra aligns the mind to the shot the same way every time.

Secondly ever since we were children we have had swing thought engrained in us. when you were a child running a foot race it was started with the mantra 1, 2, 3, GO!, this allowed you to align your body and mind with the task at hand, you had a mental picture of what was required to run the race and at GO! you executed your mental imagery.

Think of how many whistles, buzzers, bells and other sounds we have been conditioned to react to in our lives and create your own pool swing thought or mantra. Control your own mind.


Bernie Collins
BCA Instructor
VNEA Referee
Brunswick Certified Table Mechanic





[ Edited by Big_Bad_Bern on 2007/3/12 0:01 ]

[ Edited by Big_Bad_Bern on 2007/3/18 11:39 ]

[IROCK]

Bernie, when would a mantra or swing thought be used? Prior to the stroke like a pre shot routine or during the stroke? Could you walk us through a game situation and step by step what someone using a swing thought would do?

[ Edited by IROCK on 2007/3/13 13:01 ]

[Big_Bad_Bern]

Hi IROCK, I teach people to use a swing thought when they are down on the shot.

A typical situation would go like this : step into the shot and swing down : count 1 on the first warm up stroke 2 on the second 3 on the third, pause at the cueball while focusing your eyes on the objectball, slow back swing to a natural pause and then GO on the forward swing with your arm comming to your natural finish through the cueball. This whole process should take about five seconds.

This helps to create a natural rythm and timing that is repeatable on every stroke for the rest of your life, it will also let you know when you are rushing or taking to long on shots as you won't feel right and will know to get up and start again. It also takes your mind out of the shot by giving it a job.

Experiment with different words or numbers until you find some that match your personal timing for example "short, short, long" works better for some people than numbers and also reminds you to keep your back swings short and follow through long.

hope this helps

Bern

The secret of success is to do the common things uncommonly well.
John D. Rochefeller

[IROCK]

Very interesting Bern, I,ii give it a try tonight.

[onebigred51]

This sounds like you have listened to the Monk. Or did he get it from you. This thread mirrors what the Monk says in many of his tapes and books.

[Big_Bad_Bern]

Hi onebigred51, although I am familiar with some of the monks early works ( the 8ball book, point the way and the lesson) I actually was taught this by a local top snooker player when i was just starting in the game.

Thanks for the interest in my section and if you have any other questions feel free to ask.

Bern

[HannibalChris]

' date='Mar 11 2007, 09:00 PM said:

FIND A SWING THOUGHT OR MANTRA
________________________________________

I believe the use of a swing thought or mantra would greatly help most players.
I remember reading and article in which a golfer I read about that uses the word "oily" during his swing and several tennis books recommend using terminology like "back - hit" on their swings.

The way I like to describe this is that the conscious mind tries to control the stroke and shot process and if you try to block it out it will jump up and bite you when you least expect it. But if you give it a job to do (swing thought or mantra) it can be lulled to sleep because it believes that it is controlling the situation.

You start out repeating your swing thought on every shot and the more you shoot your conscious mind relaxes and you fall easily into dead stroke (the swing thought fades away naturally). Every time you emerge from dead stroke you have a reliable way to put yourself back into the zone, whether you are coming from your chair to the table cold or are faced with a tough shot you simply repeat your mantra allowing you to feel comfortable and confident in the situation.

Two last thoughts, one, players spend alot of time and focus aligning their bodies to the shot the same consistent way every time, a swing thought or mantra aligns the mind to the shot the same way every time.

Secondly ever since we were children we have had swing thought engrained in us. when you were a child running a foot race it was started with the mantra 1, 2, 3, GO!, this allowed you to align your body and mind with the task at hand, you had a mental picture of what was required to run the race and at GO! you executed your mental imagery.

Think of how many whistles, buzzers, bells and other sounds we have been conditioned to react to in our lives and create your own pool swing thought or mantra. Control your own mind.


Bernie Collins
BCA Instructor
VNEA Referee
Brunswick Certified Table Mechanic





[ Edited by Big_Bad_Bern on 2007/3/12 0:01 ]

[ Edited by Big_Bad_Bern on 2007/3/18 11:39 ]

God I LOVE THIS SITE!!!!!!!!
I was reading through earlier posts for something to improve my game and this was it. Seldom has something so simple had such a massive impact on my game. I didn't realize how much my game had gotten out of wack until I forced myself to slow down, count out each shot and let my brain get out of the way. I combined this with your post about smoothness at the table and used both of these while doing your "run 100 drill". I'm on fire again and really enjoying the game. Between you and Fast Larry I've learned more in the last couple weeks than in the last 2 years. Thanks so much and keep these tips coming.

My league starts up again next month and papa's got a brand new bag!
Chris

[Big_Bad_Bern]

HannibalChris, on Dec 20 2008, 02:17 AM, said:

God I LOVE THIS SITE!!!!!!!!
I was reading through earlier posts for something to improve my game and this was it. Seldom has something so simple had such a massive impact on my game. I didn't realize how much my game had gotten out of wack until I forced myself to slow down, count out each shot and let my brain get out of the way. I combined this with your post about smoothness at the table and used both of these while doing your "run 100 drill". I'm on fire again and really enjoying the game. Between you and Fast Larry I've learned more in the last couple weeks than in the last 2 years. Thanks so much and keep these tips coming.

My league starts up again next month and papa's got a brand new bag!
Chris

Hi HannibalChris, I am glad you found this information helpful, if you have any questions or topics you would like me to cover please feel free to let me know. Welcome to the pool chat family.

Bern

[Pin]

I take it you've been using the mantra for a long time, and it's worked well for you consistently?

I'm a little afraid to try this. My approach to the mental game is about quieting the conscious and handing control to the subconscious, so I'd be nervous about reactivating myself. However, as you say, surpressing the conscious doesn't always work.


Not sure whether it's worth risking trying.

[Big_Bad_Bern]

Hi Pin, actually it works quite the opposite of what you think. Instead of trying to "quite" the mind, which can be very difficult to accomplish, my system focus' the mind on a specific job (always the same job) there by freeing the subconcious mind to perform the visualized task with no mental interference.

I hope this clears this up, if you have any other questions please ask.

Bern