No avoiding the long shot
You should be very willing to shoot the long shot down into the far corner pocket. This will help you run more racks. This shot fits our personal concept. You look at the long tough shot and tell yourself, you are shooting this shot because “You came to win”. As long as you remain true to who you are, you will gain. When you reinforce a skill, you improve it. Any time you focus on a skill, you strengthen it. When you avoid this skill, you weaken it. “I came to win” is a skill.
The biggest obstacle in eight ball is a cluster. You begin your run, knowing full well, you cannot run out. Or at the very least you are going to try a tough break shot on a cluster. If you notice a clump of balls, and you miss your shot before you get to this clump, make a special note of it. “I did not take my medicine” “I did not play to win” “I did not play for a roll.” It is amazing how one obstacle can destroy the very essence of who we are. A cluster is a red flag for me. I cannot even get to the cluster, let alone break it up. They scare me. I hate that when there is a cluster that needs to be broken up. Now my run out is left to chance. I don’t like that. The first thing I do is delete the “Take my medicine” and put on pause the, “I came to win” mode. And this always results in a failed run out. With my “I Came To Win” T-shirt, I hope for a difficult cluster. This will make the victory sweet. If I pull off a dramatic break shot, my opponent will fall into “hopeless” stage. I love to put my opponent in the “hopeless” stage. He sees me with a tough shot. He has hope. When I make it, he has less hope. “He is hopeless”. I’ve reversed banked many an eight ball to give my opponent a “hopeless” feeling. Your match is a test. It is only a test. Can you perform with the “I came to win” attitude. Can you perform with the “Playing for a roll” attitude and can you “take your medicine”. In each effort are you strengthening these qualities. If you shy away from them, you are weakening these qualities.
