Past Experience Influences Performance

 Have you ever leaned into your shot and out of the blue, you knew you were going to miss?  We have missed it before and that experience suddenly comes back into our mind.  We operate in the mindset that has been established during our development. If we miss a certain shot more than once, our mind simply logs in the report that this is a shot we miss.

When you are confronted with past experience stop right there and go through your pre shot routine. Break the mold. Do not shoot the shot if you are infected with thoughts of missing.  

If you think of a shot as being the “right shot” and this is considered truth, you must then measure it to past experience. If past experience tells you it is a miss able shot, then you must take that fact and measure it to your intuition to go for the shot. In order to master the one shot at a time routine, you must develop your intuitive skills.  

You must be able to eliminate the right or wrong of an action based upon past experience. You must take the intellectual evaluation out of it. Our past experience operates in the intellectual mind. So you must move to the intuitive mind. See the shot, know the stroke, and shoot the shot.  

I was playing in a comp the other night against some of the top players in New Zealand. Two masters were there. I leaned into a long tough shot and my mind told me I was going to miss. I announced I will be “Matt” for this shot. He drills these types of shots without effort. Then I proceeded to slam the ball into the pocket just like Matt would. I won the small tournament. I broke the mold. I would not consider shooting a shot I could miss.  

There is no right or wrong on something that has not happened.  The game of pocket billiards is an instinctual game and the sooner you begin to develop your instincts the better you will perform.

You should not be thinking about a run out. You should be going through your instinctual desires. In effect, you are floating through a run. Stand in front of a shot and develop keen interest in the shot.  

Sometimes I was surprised by the way I completed my run. Wow, it turned out this way. It was during those intuitive moments I ran the most racks.  

The failed run outs almost always ended on a missed shot. A shot I could make.  I was never hooked behind another ball. I normally failed when I measured the shot from past experiences.  

There is a difference between intuition and emotion. Don’t get emotional about a performance or a match. Emotion has no discipline. It runs with the wind. Learn to harness your emotion and you will run more racks.  

Bring Your Game To Its Highest Level

You Can Always Practice

Practice in your head.

Sometimes at night, I will lay in bed and visualize a shot. I will hear it in my minds ear. I will see it in my minds eye. I will listen to the sound of the balls coming together. I will see the object ball fall into the pocket. I will do this a thousand times.

What you can conceive you can achieve. You are at the practice table every minute of your life. 

The Four Strokes Now On DVD

You need to master The Four Strokes of Pool, and here is your chance to learn this valuable information from a DVD.

Once we master the four strokes of pocket billiards, we will find ourselves adding a little of one stroke with another. For instance, there are
times when you add a little punch with your force follow, a snip draw with your punch. It is important however that you become the master
of the four strokes of pool. You must reach a point where you will not be using one when you intend to use another.

Decide right now that you will master each stroke. Put yourself into action to make that happen by learning more about this New

Four Strokes of Pool DVD Set

The Monk Takes Over

Next issue I will be dong this newsletter by myself. I have decided to relieve Reg from all the hard work he is doing. 

Reg has worked on this newsletter for three years. He has managed both of my web sites for over six years now. He also has his own web site www.billiardscrossing.com so I decided to give him a break. I hope you will like my new format. I will feature some new and exciting things each issue. I look forward to your feedback next issue.

May All The Rolls Go Your Way

The Monk