Bad Habit #7: Limited shotmaking ability.
Shotmaking is essential. I don't care how good of a position expert you are,
sooner or later you will be faced with a tester and have to come through with
your best shotmaking. We would all like to be straight in on every shot, but
that is not always the case, therefore we must prepare ourselves by knowing how
to make the tough rail biters and bank shots. This could either be your Waterloo
or your ace in the hole.
Bad Habit #8: Losing control of the cue ball.
A mental as well as physical error which is mainly the fault of having your
brain concentrating on one task (making the object ball) as opposed to
concentrating on both shotmaking and cue ball position. Cue ball control is
essential. Contrary to popular belief, the cue ball will not do anything that
you don't tell it to do. Cue ball mastery is much easier to achieve than mental
mastery. This is a prime example of how the brain likes to do it's own thing
when placed in pressure situations. Our mind and body must work in unison if we
are to perform our best under pressure. More about this under Bad Habit #10.
Bad Habit #9: Overconfidence.
This bad habit comes from a basic lack of respect for the complexity of the
game of pool. We all know that the balls roll funny for everybody. The main
problem with being "overconfident" is that we tend to trash talk while being in
that state of mind. Nothing disgusts me more than an arrogant player who has no
respect for the complexity of the game. Being overconfident can cause its share
of problems. We tend to rely more on our arrogance than on our abilities. We
begin to make flashy shots and position routes. We lose our mental focus and
believe we are in "Dead Stroke" when all we are doing is being a pompous ass.
Carelessness is the substance of overconfidence. Remember that, above anything
else.
Bad Habit #10: Choking.
Choking occurs when the mind is so flustered that it can no longer
effectively communicate with the body, therefore altering our normal motor
functions. Our brain becomes overloaded due to increased excitement or pressure,
and we do exactly what we don't want to do, we choke. Shooting the nine ball
into the corner pocket is a task external of the mind. When we are in "dead
Stroke" our focus is almost completely external. That is why it hard for us to
remember what was going on when we were running rack after rack. That is why we
say that a player is playing "out of his head". When we choke, we are playing
inside our head. The wires become overloaded and too much information is being
passed from our brain to shooting arm. The wires start smoking and we choke.
