What Should You Be Thinking Before The Shot And During The Shot?

[Daniel Westhead 147]

Excellent analogy poolqjunkie. When i'd first passed my driving test, driving to work through city centre rush hour traffic was horrific and I was concentrating hard on every aspect of driving the car. Now, years later i get to work and have almost forgotten the drive in.

This is the 'blankness' you talk about. In snooker this comes with nothing but practice and experience. You need to separate the practice mind from the match one.

Practice should be used for fine tuning your game, working on technique and working on specific problems. For example if its the deep screw you are stuggling with you will need to practice it hard and at this time concentrating on aspects of technique is important. After repeating the shot as many times as it takes it will start to become automatic and the cue ball will start to come flying back every time. When its becomes automatic and not mechanical its time to take it to a match.

If Im thinking in practice mode during a match I get hammered every time! A lot of players far better than me swear by this approach and only consider object ball angle and cue ball striking during a game.

poolqjunkie as saddler79 said that is a very good analogy. The message I got from what you where saying about driving is that you a doing something in repetition without even realising it whilst becoming more consistent each and everytime you do it. I could see if you applied a similar method to snooker as driving you could become a decent player :P.

[matoski]

Recently, our national champion said to me that even though i play very well, i may improve my game even more if i make some corrections on my bridge hand. Since then i often think of my bridge during cueing, and i miss a lot because of that.
Also, on important shots one thought comes often on my mind:
"If someone calls me on my cell phone during this shot, i'll kill him"

[Daniel Westhead 147]

Recently, our national champion said to me that even though i play very well, i may improve my game even more if i make some corrections on my bridge hand. Since then i often think of my bridge during cueing, and i miss a lot because of that.
Also, on important shots one thought comes often on my mind:
"If someone calls me on my cell phone during this shot, i'll kill him"

Who is your national champion?

[matoski]

Who is your national champion?

You've never heard for him definitely. His name is Dejan Sipkovski.

[marshoush]

I think Mushin method sounds good

[bkpaul]

Well to answer the question:

All the work regarding the shot is done before you even get down on it, before you get down know EXACTLY what you want to do and be 100% happy with your decision on the shot and be 100% clear as to how you want to achieve it.

Once down on your shot don't think about anything else except

1. Do I feel right (if not get up and start again)
2. Keep calm (if not get up)
3. Do I feel smooth (if not get up)
4. Concentrate on the striking point on the white (if concentration is broken get up)
5. Play the shot

Notice I never mentioned.

oh that bacon sandwich I can smell is nice
what time is my next bus
if I pot this I win
If I don't pot this I will lose
I don't care if I pot this or not
shall I choose a different angle
shall I use back spin instead of middle
shall I have a bacon sandwich
Im 30 pts up
Im 30 pts behind

etc etc etc

I'm sure you get my drift

after all that I'm hungry now.... bacon sarnie time

[KeithinFrance]

Think differently.

Mushin (無心; Chinese wúxīn; English translation "no-mindedness" ) is a mental state into which very highly trained martial artists are said to enter during combat. The term is shortened from mushin no shin (無心の心), a Zen expression meaning "mind of no mind".
That is, a mind not fixed or occupied by thought or emotion and thus open to everything.

Mushin is achieved when a person feels no anger, fear or ego during combat. There is an absence of discursive thought and judgment, so the person is totally free to act and react towards an opponent without hesitation. At this point, a person relies not on what they think should be the next move, but what is felt intuitively. It is not a state of relaxed, near-sleepfulness, however. The mind could be said to be working at a very high speed, but with no intentions, plans or direction.

A martial artist would likely have to train for many years to be capable of mushin. This allows time for combinations of movements and exchanges of techniques to be practised repetitively many thousands of times, until they can be performed spontaneously, without conscious thought. If he is capable of truly listening to his teacher, however, he could attain this level in only a few years. Some masters believe that mushin is the state where a person finally understands the uselessness of techniques and becomes truly free to move. In fact, that person will no longer even consider themselves as "fighters" but merely living beings moving through space

The legendary Zen master Takuan Sōhō:

The mind must always be in the state of 'flowing,' for when it stops anywhere that means the flow is interrupted and it is this interruption that is injurious to the well-being of the mind. In the case of the swordsman, it means death. When the swordsman stands against his opponent, he is not to think of the opponent, nor of himself, nor of his enemy's sword movements. He just stands there with his sword which, forgetful of all technique, is ready only to follow the dictates of the subconscious. The man has effaced himself as the wielder of the sword. When he strikes, it is not the man but the sword in the hand of the man's subconscious that strikes.

You cannot see mushin directly... only the reflection of it.

Below the calligraphic representation of "mushin" by the Zen Master Fukushima Keido Roshi.
It's on my neck.



=o)

Noel

Hey Noel,

Nice post, by the way - I like it very much. I've heard of this mind-no mind state as well, but it was called zanshin where I read it. Is it the same thing or is somebody playing semantics?

[KeithinFrance]

This is what master coach Frank Callan has to say:

"To be in control of everything at snooker, there must be a method; a routine for each shot. I call this the "DRILL".

The drill breaks down into four parts.

Before getting down to play a shot, look at the situation on the table and decide what is the best shot toplay. This is very important.

Then comes what I call the 95 per cent. Having looked at the pocket and decided the spot on the object ball that must be hit, address the cue ball where you intend to hit it.

It is no good getting down before you have decided what to do. If your brain has not a clear message, how can it possibly send directions to your cue hand?

You should now be 95 per cent certain of potting the ball. You begin your waggle trying to 'feel' the shot you are about to play.

You have made up your mind whether to play with topspin, sidespin or backspin, and how hard you are going to hit the cue ball.
This takes care of the second part of the shot, which is the positioning of the cue ball.

Your waggles should be short, medium or long according to the type of shot you are about to play. For example, if you are playing a deep screw shot and have reached the last waggles, the cue has to go back several inches if power is to be obtained on the follow-through.

If you address the cue ball with, say, no more than a two inch (5 cm) waggle before playing the shot itself, you will have to judge the pace, power and feel of the shot with one last movement.

This is asking a lot of your brain and takes concentration away from the pot, which, after all is the main priority. The waggles should be an aid to aiming only to a very small extent.

You should have assessed the angle before you even start them. The primary purpose of the waggles is to 'feel' the positional side of the shot.

By getting the right movement from the start, you have more chance of achieving the shot successfully because you will have more feel for it beforehand.
On finishing the waggles, address the cue ball for the last time and take a final look at the cue ball to make certain it is going to be hit in the right place. Get your eyes back onto the object ball before coming through with the cue.

This is what I call the 5 per cent. Without observing the last 5 per cent of the drill, you will not be giving the shot 100 per cent effort.

How many times have you seen professional players miss simple shots and wondered why? This is usually because they have neglected the 5 per cent, that is, getting the eyes back on the object ball.

How many times have you seen professional players get down for a shot and then get up, stand back and start his preparation again?

This is because he/she has realized that his 95 per cent was wrong because, in his opinion, he was aiming at the object ball either too thick or too thin.

I don't claim that 95 per cent and 5 per cent are mathematically accurate, but the terms are there for you to relate to.

Each shot, in my opinion, consists of the thrust forward of the cue from the pause at the end of the last back swing, to the completion of the follow-through.

Everything else is preparation - albeit very important preparation."

[bkpaul]

So I was 95% right then Keith

[KeithinFrance]

So I was 95% right then Keith

How was the bacon sarnie, then?

[bkpaul]

Yum Yum

[poolqjunkie]

What is a bacon sarnie?

[bkpaul]

A bacon sandwich (sarnie being sandwich over here )

[Casuals]

I don't think during the shot. I just take it quick and smooth. That's why my playing partner always says I'm going too fast. The good thing about taking the shot quick is that you won't think and thus definitely won't "overthink" and hesitate during the shot.