Gain confidence and consistency with JTB at the Pool School!

                                            “Learned Focus”

    Someone in the crowd takes a picture with a flash, an airplane passes overhead, or maybe a player at the next table makes a spectacular shot and the audience goes wild. Any one of these scenarios could provide you with an agonizing distraction. A distraction with a built-in excuse to miss a shot, over-roll position, and possibly even lose the game. Learning how to absorb and overcome distractions that frequently occur during competition, is a learned skill. A necessary talent that can be developed and improved through practice. Just as you would practice, to improve your pre-shot/shot routine and shot making abilities, through repetition and focus, you can also develop a shield within your own mind. A blocking mechanism constantly fighting against outside interference, allowing one to persevere in such troubling situations.  

    It may simply be that you’ve never considered distractions, and furthermore the cause of them, as an area of the game in which one can master a learned defensive skill, designed to intentionally guard against them. A skill, specifically created to fend off misses. Here at JTB, this has been determined to be one of the vital components, contributing to a solid pocket billiard game. It has been shown repeatedly, that in order to consistently improve, one must acknowledge and consciously defend the mind, against all sorts of distractions. 

                                                      Ponder this:

    All of the time, work, and effort that you have invested in developing your skills, with the intent of becoming a better player, can instantly fail. The hours of practice, private lessons, studying manuals plus videos, and alike, could lose their value if you allow yourself to become distracted when it counts. In order to prevent this, you must simply train away the possibilities. In doing so, you will ultimately learn that most distractions aren’t necessarily limited to sudden movements, loud music, or unexpected noises. There are many more issues/situations that require specific attention each time you visit the table. 

    While investigating this conundrum and devising a method to overcome it, many players of all skill levels were asked for their input. At the onset, some of the received data, revealed unexpected reasons, "thought to be" distractions causing missed shots. The following are a few of the responses that were provided as “distracting excuses:"

- It’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s too humid, and too dry, my opponent played too slow and threw my rhythm off, my opponent ran around the table and played too fast, my opponent moved continuously during my shots, the lighting isn’t right, the cloth isn’t right, the pockets aren’t right, the rails don’t play right, the chalk isn’t right.- Through further examination, one should ask themselves, are these responses all actually distractions or mostly mechanical differences? Differences that should be automatically addressed upon arrival to every new venue, correct? Some of the received responses, considered as actually being distractionary and potentially providing one with an excuse to miss, are in fact distractionary but, only if you allow yourself to change focus and place attention on the particular disturbance. In other words, distractions are, more often than not, only distractions, if you allow them such value. In learning this, one should always remember, to "Play Your Own Game!"  Having this in mind, you should "Never Play the Score", "Play your Game Instead." It isn't possible to control your opponent's actions, so why place any Value-ON-Them?"

    Within the spectrum of focused thinking, there also exists a secondary challenge. Which is that of, having the ability to acknowledge and defend against, "Looming Negativity!" While progressing through the ranks, do not allow yourself to consciously subscribe to negative rumors, theories, and/or beliefs. Thoughts such as, certain players are predestined to always “Dog Shots," or that others don’t have the "Heart/Desire," to win. Negative beliefs such as these, and others similar to them, have been identified as "Negativity Builders" and found to have a detrimental effect on one's overall progress. At the studio, we instill the belief that practicing both, one's playing skills, in conjunction with dedicated focus and positive concentration, results in overcoming excuses and faults, through the development of a winning attitude. The aforementioned negative aspects, along with additional pressures, can become understood and eventually controlled, through the assimilation of the many variant levels of psychological elements, present within the game.   

    The super-stars from other sports have honed their skills and competitive techniques, through proper physical and mental training, with the emphasis on a positive, "No Quit" attitude. These methods also apply to pocket billiards, just as they do throughout the entire sports-world. In this newsletter we shall remain focused primarily on the mind and separate that from the physical fitness aspects of the game. That subject matter, regarding the necessity of physical fitness is further discussed within additional training manuals.     

    So, this particular "Pool Secret," with respect to the training rule of, 

-extreme focus- while playing and practicing, further reveals, that all aspiring players, "Must learn to practice" with the same intensity put forth in actual competition!! In time, one can/will learn to place the same amount of determination and focus, necessary to pocket each and every ball, during practice, just as accomplished in match play. While practicing, one must refuse to allow distractions to interfere with what they are working on and/or attempting to learn. For example, if the music or TV in the room are too loud, turn up your inner focus and learn to shut them out, as you continue on with your drills and practice routines. Whether the cloth is too fast or too slow, pockets are too tight, or the rails are rebounding awkwardly, learn to overcome each adversity by adjusting your travel-routes, stoke speed/aim points, and continue on shooting confidently. Simply changing your attitude by intently focusing on the shot sequence and addressing the determined mechanical issues, with adjusted aiming/stroke speed, rather than reactionarily complaining, ensures the practice time will transition into programing the positive mental side of your game. A sound element of -extreme focus-, aides in monitoring your concentration and improving your mental fortitude, through repetitively occupying your thoughts with the technical aspects of the intended shot/run-out.

                                -More specifically the 4'Ssss-

    The following guidelines are worthy of attention! “One should never-ever shoot a shot, without having a specific center of focus, solidified within their mind."  In other words, if you find yourself haphazardly banging balls around the table or winging at difficult shots without any regard for cue-ball deflection and final position, then you have broken the rule. Regardless of whether or not you possess the ability to accomplish what you are intending to do, it is crucial that you create and utilize “Specific Intent,” before, during, and following the shot. In completing your intended plan, you will have created a base in your mind, for comparison to use on the up-coming shots. You will soon discover that getting your mind into your game, practice sessions and drills, at this level of concerted planning, allows no room for error, on account of distraction during final execution. In turn, your game will become more precise, confident, and consistent. All the while, producing improvements and excelling at a much steadier and faster pace. 

Complete details are provided in the following lesson manuals, titled: 

                               -Winning with Extreme Focus- 

                                 -Embrace the Brain Clutter-

              -Analytical Practice VS. Competitive Practice-

                                     -A-1 Playing Practice-

                                      -Fitness for Duty-