Anthony Beeler
MENTAL GAME IMPROVEMENT
ANTHONY BEELER
For over 100 years it has been said that pool is a mental game. Grady Mathews told us long ago that the pool is at least 80% mental. Indeed, most of today’s professional players embrace sound mental game strategies.
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o if most players have already acknowledged the impact of the mental side of pool on our performance, why have many not taken the time to learn and improve this very important part of our game? Pool has become a game of carbon fiber shafts and “$20 chalk.” The billiards industry places huge emphasis on how the latest equipment will help your playing ability. But as we already know, most of these are false promises. The game has seen huge technological advancement over the past hundred years – we can hit the cue ball with side-spin and less deflection than ever before, supposedly, modern day layered tips give players more control and the latest billiard balls are almost 100 percent round. But for some unexplained reason, players aren’t much better than before. Despite all the innovation and hype about how much easier the game is, the latest cues, fast cloth and training aids, have not made much of an impact. The fact remains, there is something else that we can do instead of buying the latest equipment. Practice time with goal setting will definitely help. Also, think about taking pool lessons
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from a certified instructor who has the ability to train you on the finer points of the mental game. However, being given the physical tools alone is not enough to make us play at the professional level. We must embrace something else.
Developing the mental side of pocket billiards is the final frontier that remains unmastered to most students. One of the reasons we love pool is also one of the reasons we fail to get better. Lagging for break with no idea what to expect over the next hour or two
