What rating would you give yourself on improving your pool game? Do you have a systematic plan for increasing your overall ability?
The best pool players in the world know what it takes to motivate themselves, maintain focus and drive forward to the achieve their vision and dreams.
Imagine if you could quickly recover from losses, mental setbacks, bad luck, or anything else that can stand in your way from playing at your optimal speed. Top players begin the process by carefully noting what is and what is not in their control. They then only focus on those things over which they have control and let go of those things which are out of their control. If you list all the things you must accomplish during a tournament and all the roadblocks that might fall in your way, you will quickly realize that the only thing you have true control over is yourself.
So to improve your playing ability, begin by focusing on yourself. Focus on your attitude, your thoughts, how you feel, how you react to problems, how you prepare yourself, how you review your performance and how go about achieving your goals. Let’s look at a professional players tips for improving personal performance:
1 Review your goals daily. Use this as a springboard for heightening motivation and for building focus that can carry you through each practice session.
2 Plan your performance, then work your plan. You must know where you want to go before you get there. Be clear about what you want to accomplish before your next tournament or before your next match and then execute your plan.
3 Remember, “Mile by mile it’s a trial, but inch by inch, it’s a cinch”. If you look at everything you must do it can seem overwhelming, but if you break down each aspect into parts or bite-size portions, you will be amazed at how quickly the little things combine to complete major tasks. Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves.
4 Ask yourself, “Will this matter?” If you get sidetracked by things that «feel good” to complete, but are “off-task”, then ask if what you are doing will have any impact on your future goals. This will keep you focused on what is truly important. In other words, if you are weak in defense practicing ball running probably isn’t your best option even though it may be the “fun thing” to do.
5 Set deadlines and make timetables for executing each objective. It is amazing how future due dates drive improvement. Good records give you proof that you are making progress. Having a deadline creates some urgency to complete your goals. If you want to continually improve you need to keep pressure on yourself to perform. Setting goals will do this!
6 Ask yourself, “What were the top 3 things I accomplished today?”. This makes you accountable to yourself and helps you measure how well you stayed focused on your pool playing priorities. It will also help you set-up your short-term goals for your next practice session.
7 Celebrate your successes. We often go through days or weeks and barely acknowledge our accomplishments. We tend to only focus on what we lack or on what we haven’t completed. Give yourself credit for the things you have accomplished in practice. If you complete a drill for the very first time, it’s time to celebrate!
8 Practice continuous improvement. This is one of the true secrets professional players often exhibit. They continually set higher goals after each old goal is met. They endlessly create new goals to fuel the fires of motivation and to take themselves to an even higher level of performance.
The best pool players in the world know what it takes to motivate themselves, maintain focus and drive forward to the achieve their goals and dreams. Top professionals, maintain self-awareness, adjust and execute their goals to perfection. This is the formula that separates armatures from professionals. Practice it to perfection and your game will improve by leaps and bounds.
