As I was driving from NYC to Columbus, Ohio I had a lot of time to think about what my next article should be.  Aside from all the fundamentals, strategies, and stories, the one thing that affects every pool player, no matter their level, is the mental game.  What I thought I would do is give you a training program for developing your pool mind.  Now the one bad thing about starting on a mental training program is that it takes time and effort, but if you are willing to do the work, the rewards will amaze you!

The first step to getting your pool mind right is improving your self-talk.  Pool is an extremely demanding game and you will make mistakes.  No one is perfect! But how you look at your errors and what you say to yourself is critical to learning from your errors and improving or just staying where you are. 

Get a small note book and write down everything you say to yourself for a week!  Write it all down. Put it away for a week and then read it.  Would you say those things to a big stranger in a dark alley?  If the answer is no, why are you saying them to yourself?  So step one in your mental training program is to stop saying bad things to yourself.  When you miss ask yourself if it was a cueing error, an aiming error or a table error.  With the answer you have learned something.  Getting mad and calling yourself an idiot teaches you nothing.

Next on our list is breathing.  It's very difficult to be nervous and tense if you are breathing deeply.  Breathing is something else you can practice.  Here is one practice routine to develop breathing skills.  Breathe in for a count of 4, hold for a count of 6, and then breathe out for a count of 8.  When you breathe out, release the tension in your shoulders.  You will find you start to feel calmer and more relaxed.  The idea here is to do this breathing exercise ten or more times a day so it becomes a habit.  Then when you are faced with a key shot, you can take one calming breathe and settle yourself down.

The last thing I want to look at is your eyes.  Your mind follows what your body does.  If your eyes are darting back and forth on a shot, you are overwhelming your mind with data.  Your brain gets stressed out and you will not perform at your best.  We say in Pool School to look at less, more.  A practical way to do this is to not take your eyes off the table when you are in competition!  This is hard to do but doing this will develop iron clad concentration!

There you have it, monitor your self-talk, learn to breathe and keep your eyes still.  I can't guarantee that you will not lose or make any mistakes, but you will enjoy pool more, improve faster, and win more games! 

Good luck and see you on the road.