Match Mind Set

I'm alway thinking about this game and how it affects me as a pool player. The other day I was playing in a tournament and I had played and stayed at the pool hall for 15 hours. And as the night went on I grew tired and weak minded. All I thought about was getting some sleep at that point. The next day I reflected on how the tournament went for me and all I thought about was my mental state during a particular match. I had started out in a race to seven and I was shooting good. I was up 3-2 so far and was feeling pretty comfortable. I think thats pretty important to feel comfortable and settled into your environment even before you play an event. Maybe go there for a day or two before and play for awhile.
Before I knew it! It was 3-3 and my thoughts were "here we go a hill hill match". So I took a break and washed my hands to break my opponents momentum. It seemed to work so I though and before I knew it was 5-3 his favor. All I could think about was negative thoughts like shaking my opponents hands and saying things to myself like "not sure if I can catch up". Now it's 6-3 his favor and its getting worse. He's on the hill now and ready to win. But then he missed a simple shot. And I ran out the rest of the rack. Sometimes that's just enough to shift the match in my direction. I started to gain my confidence back with the next break as I made 4 balls. Then the table was mine to win. Now the score was 6-5 and I noticed my mind set had shifted to positive thoughts on winning. I think a combination of good safety play and positive mind set I was able to win that match 7-6.
The match took a total of two hours to play and to say the least it was a grind. So reason I wanted to share this story of my match with you. Is because the next time your in a match go into it as if your gonna win. Keep positive throughout the entire match even if your behind and never give up. I think that's how champion players come back and win their matches. I was recently watching the world nine ball championships in Dubai. And Darren Appleton was playing a player from tiawan on day three. His race was to nine, finding himself down 7-1 in an impossible come back. Well he did just that! Like a true champion and here is the link where you can read about it.
http://thepoolscene.com/international-pool-and-billiards/day-3-report-2014-world-9-ball/
It's pretty inspiring what you can do if you believe in yourself.


- Posted by John Ferguson