My New BCE Westbury

[lesedwards]

When you practice there is zero pressure, when you play somebody there is, simple as that

Your 100% correct. Floyd says some how I must tense up. I don't feel it. I am not nervous I feel totaly relaxed chatting away with my opponent. I know what pressure is from the golf days but there has to be something going on.

[mythman69]

When you practice there is zero pressure, when you play somebody there is, simple as that.

When you play someone for money the pressure increases. We often play for a 'sheep-station' i.e. a beer.

Nothing better than getting home from the club half tanked on free beers.

[jrc750]

Your 100% correct. Floyd says some how I must tense up. I don't feel it. I am not nervous I feel totaly relaxed chatting away with my opponent. I know what pressure is from the golf days but there has to be something going on.

You shouldn't be chatting during play

[Leo]

You shouldn't be chatting during play

Not sure then Les where you are going wrong,statistically you are getting enough hours on the table to improve yet you still ain't quite moved to that next level so to speak. there must be something you are doing wrong,have you thought about completely changing your entire game?

[lesedwards]

You shouldn't be chatting during play

I was talking before play. I don't sit in the corner shaking in my boots. I am busy visiting many of the players.

Not sure then Les where you are going wrong,statistically you are getting enough hours on the table to improve yet you still ain't quite moved to that next level so to speak. there must be something you are doing wrong,have you thought about completely changing your entire game?

No if you seen me practicing by myself you would not understand what is wrong. Like Cliff says there is no reason you are not wining lots of games. I have narrowed it down to all the mental side of the game, Bad thoughts on loosing, doubt, fear of missing. I think it will just take time.

[itsnoteasy]

But you have made a fifty break in a match so it can't be because you are playing someone , if you can make a fifty, even when playing poorly the odd twenty to thirty should pop out. I am at the same standard as you and even on those days where nothing seems to go right a forty or so will pop up out of the blue, then back to the usual rubbish.Are the folk you are playing really punishing you for missing or are you getting plenty of chances but not making anything from them.
Another thing Les, if you can play well In front of Cliff, you won't get any more pressure than that, so you can do it.

[hotpot]

I was talking before play. I don't sit in the corner shaking in my boots. I am busy visiting many of the players.


No if you seen me practicing by myself you would not understand what is wrong. Like Cliff says there is no reason you are not wining lots of games. I have narrowed it down to all the mental side of the game, Bad thoughts on loosing, doubt, fear of missing. I think it will just take time.

Think you hit the nail on the head , its on youre mind now , anxiety , eagerness , lack of self belief , doubting your ability , im making myself look a fool , technique etc all stem from a negative mind . even the very best of players suffer from this at one stage . Its not easy to overcome , not sure what youre practice routines are , but perhaps you need to vary them a bit .

[lesedwards]

But you have made a fifty break in a match so it can't be because you are playing someone , if you can make a fifty, even when playing poorly the odd twenty to thirty should pop out. I am at the same standard as you and even on those days where nothing seems to go right a forty or so will pop up out of the blue, then back to the usual rubbish.Are the folk you are playing really punishing you for missing or are you getting plenty of chances but not making anything from them.
Another thing Les, if you can play well In front of Cliff, you won't get any more pressure than that, so you can do it.

My thoughts exactly, I have had the odd glimmer of brilliance and one that keeps comming back to me. I was invited to play at this guys home and had no clue how good he was, he won the first two games and I won the next 4 easily making great shots with almost perfect positional play then I found out he is one of the top players at the local legion. As Cliff keeps saying there is something holding me back and when I tackle that you will be on your way but like Floyd says he can't put his finger on it. Yes yesterday I was getting punished badly but still had lots of chances but 7 breaks really does not do much damage....LOL

Think you hit the nail on the head , its on youre mind now , anxiety , eagerness , lack of self belief , doubting your ability , im making myself look a fool , technique etc all stem from a negative mind . even the very best of players suffer from this at one stage . Its not easy to overcome , not sure what youre practice routines are , but perhaps you need to vary them a bit .

All of the above is absolutely correct. DOUBT a big word in my game. time to get out my Snooker Gym Hypnosis Snooker CD. It can't hurt.

[Terry Davidson]

I know it's rather obvious, but Les actually changes his technique when he plays in a match. I believe this is due to a couple of things, the most being lack of confidence with the 'what if I miss this shot' attitude and the other is in his grip where once he changes his technique his grip is not natural and doesn't help him get past the lack of confidence.

I will be working with Les on both of these items the next time he comes up to my place.

Terry

[Leo]

Are you back to standard 3.5" corners Les?

[lesedwards]

Are you back to standard 3.5" corners Les?

I would say just a tad lRger but a tad smaller then Terry's

[Leo]

I would say just a tad lRger but a tad smaller then Terry's

Yep Terry's are too big IMHO

[Terry Davidson]

I would say just a tad lRger but a tad smaller then Terry's

It seemed to play very similar to my table but I figure you might be correct that your corner pockets are about 1/8" smaller than mine. I had mine done that way not only for my own confidence but also for my students as if I had a table like your B&W they wouldn't be able to pot a ball.

With the IBSF templates I have about 1/8" on each side for the corners which places them very near the pro templates, maybe a bit larger as I only have the drawings and not the actual WPBSA templates, just the IBSF originals done by Wiraka which have since been changed by Shender.

Terry

[lesedwards]

As I said to both Terry and Floyd I come after the qualifier throw 6 reds on the table and pot them all without missing mean while I ran a high break of 7 at the qualifier. Thus is what Floyd text me.

I told you it was mental. In golf you see the shot you do it. Here you see the shot you panic. No confidence in making it. This game somebody is shooting back if you miss. Keep thinking about making the ball. It will come if you believe it will.
Dont. Think your alone. A lot of players have the same problem. Self belief is hard to susstain . One day its there then its gone. Try to enjoy the game. When you are able to make transition you will enjoy game more because you will see results and gain confidence.
One thing I cannot blame is the table, it is perfect.

[itsnoteasy]

From what I can tell from here Les is you have to get into a club and play more lads Mano e mano, excuse the spelling. You have to get used to playing folk who are trying to stop you scoring, playing your pals in bounce games , it's not worth a scoobie.