January 03, 2006
In this Issue:
Launching A New Year
Summertime Fun For The Monk
Master Tour.Com
Some Sides are Better Than Others
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I believe we deal with a special group of players. Our mailing list numbers several thousand yet not all readers open this newsletter. But I believe a special group does. And it is to these wonderful friends, I share my strengths, hopes and experiences. |
Set Your Own 2006 Goals
Now we begin a new year. While you are at it, you might want to set some goals for yourself. I have a unique way of setting my new years resolutions. I simply get in touch with what I desire. I look within, find out what my dream is, write it down, understand why I want it, and then move towards that goal. To often, we dream up lofty goals we are not even interested in and then stand by while they fizzle with time. Get in touch with yourself. You have a dream, you have innermost desires. Put them on paper. Then match up your experience with that desire.While you are at it, consider the value of the following exercises. The Masters are working on a unique training program. I am sharing it with you. If we are to improve, we must be training. Skills do not come with study. They come with work.
If you succeed with a discipline ten times, try to do it fifty times. Then move to a hundred times. It is through discipline we gain our greatest skills. Consider the six following exercises. They can be found in my book The Lesson.
The 12 ball exercise is designed to develop your stance, stroke and trust skills. Every time you set up to do the 12 ball exercise, you have the opportunity to strengthen those skills. You must trust yourself when you get into your stance. You must trust that you have followed your pre shot routine and are ready to deliver the fine stroke this shot calls for. Learning to trust your stroke is vital to a winning performance. The 12 ball exercise trains you to deal with a "money" ball. It happens so often that the nine ball or the eight ball or a key ball is a 12 ball exercise shot.
The 13 ball exercise helps you develop great stroke and cue ball control. You have seven balls against the rail and each one has to be shot precisely. You learn the concept of 'shoot soft and shoot softer'. Fabulous exercise that teaches concentration as well.
The 4 ball exercise teaches discipline. After the first shot, you rarely have an easy shot, yet you must deliver the quality stroke this shot calls for. After a while in this exercise, you learn not be preoccupied with results.
Pile Rocks teaches you pattern play. You will use all the strokes in this great exercise and have the opportunity to spend quality time with this game. We all should pile rocks. This is a great time to work on the PSR.
The Stop Shot Exercise teach you the "set, pause and finish". This is the time to get in touch with exactly what the shot looks like, feels like and sounds like. Never, never never take this exercise lightly. Experience each shot. Remember a pool player shoots shots. A master experiences shots.
Touch No Rails is a brain washing exercise. If you do this enough, you seem to forget about everything and just make balls. This exercise is fabulous. It teaches you pattern play and stroke control and speed control. You must learn how to 'throw a ball, kill a ball, roll a ball'.
Summer time fun for The Monk
New Zealand is summer time now. The air is warm, the south pacific breeze coming off the ocean is cool and the sun is shining. This is paradise, one of the worlds best kept secrets. I am really enjoying New Zealand. I have produced seven DVD's so far. Six, for my Masters of Art in Pocket Billiards series and a new one "Bring Your Game to Its Highest Level. Check it out, by loading this link into your browser:http://www.themonk.com/Products/Dvds/bring-your-game-dvd.htm
I hope you will click on this link and take a good look at it. This is some of my finest work. I am currently working on The Four Strokes of Pool. It is just about completed. Then we go up to a holiday town called Nelson. I will be doing some filming there for the final six sessions of The Masters series. My new book is just about complete. I am sending it to Australia for final editing. My guy in Australia is doing some classic graphics for that book. This new project will come out in E-Book form. I should have it ready for you by February. The title of my new book is "My Student from Hell". It is a serious study of lessons and training. I share my trials and tribulations teaching this grand game for the past twenty years.
I am also filming the The Monk 101 Masters Teaching Series. This is a home training program to certify teachers. As Monk graduates you will be skilled in teaching all aspect of this game. We will promote your protected territory and make sure you realize a good healthy income from your work. That program should be ready by late March. Randy Goettlicher is joining me in New Zealand to share his incredible teaching system. Nothing will be left out in The Monk 101 Masters Teachings series.
So it is a busy time here in the "Land of the Long White Cloud". Did I mention I was training? I am working out every day. My game has a long way to go. I took four years off and now it really shows. But The Masters program is doing wonders for me. I plan on playing the Seniors in The BCA Nationals. Several of my masters are going to be there to compete in the Open so I thought, since I just turned sixty, I would compete with my friends of days gone buy. I hope you will drop by my booth to say hello.
themasterstour.com
I am also putting together TheMonkMastersTour.com. This is a bus tour across the states beginning in October. Six players from my Masters program will be on tour with me. We will stop at twenty six pool halls and compete with the best players in the house. The winner at the end of the tour will receive ten thousand dollars and a full year sponsorship on the pro tour. I do have one spot on the bus left. If you are interested, the cost is six thousand dollars. I will send you more info if you realize this is a chance of a lifetime. We plan to showcase our players in front of over two million people on this tour. Included in this tour are three workshops. One in Chicago. One in Cleveland and one in Texas. These workshops are limited and will have over twelve master teachers on hand to help you with your game. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to spend two days with The Monk, Randy Goetlicher, Six World Class players and several Master Teachers. This is a day you will never forget. 2006 will be my final year of hard work. I plan a semi retirement after TheMonkMastersTour.com which comes to an end in November.Some Sides are Better Than Others
We talk about dominate eye. We discuss right handed vs Left handed. But which way is the best for you to walk around the table? Try this experiment. Walk around the table clockwise three times. Close you eyes while you are walking. Feel your body gliding around the table. Then do the same thing counterclockwise. Close your eyes while you are walking and feel the movement of your body. Determine for yourself which way is the smoothest for you. I need to keep my left leg on the outside. Right now, I am training myself to walk with my left leg on the outside. In all areas of this game, we are seeking the smoothest method of playing.