On the issue of playing reasonably respectable pool during - TopicsExpress

On the issue of playing reasonably respectable pool during practice or when I’m partnered with my man in a tournament, and then devolving into a driveling idiot in competition like the Women’s Singles Tournament at the provincials in Surrey, I am determined to find my own custom solution to choking so dramatically under pressure. I have a lot of great memories of nannying my niece and nephew when they were really young. Im going to think of Mikayla with bulging athletic breast-sucking cheeks, a natural Mohawk hairstyle and a stormy expression, waddling around in a diaper at one. Or Tyler at three. When the unsuspecting grandmotherly clerk in the clothing store leans down with her hands on her knees and asks him sweetly, “Can you count to ten?” His eyebrows shoot up and he grins widely. “I can count to a HUNDRED!” he shouts. And then proceeds to do it. Her smile turns to cement and her eyes start to glaze as he announces “Thirty-eight! Thirty-nine! Forty!” and keeps on trucking. She keeps glancing at me as if to say, “Well, aren’t you going to stop him now?” I am killing myself laughing INSIDE as I think: “Not on your life, lady! He is SO super hyped and proud.” I am DYING at her tragi-comedic distress… “Ninety-nine!” he shouts, his voice trembling with excitement. “One hundred!” My instinct is to think really cheerful thought like these. That make me really happy. And by association, calm. From what I can glean of the sports psychology on the subject, a major key is getting myself into a relaxed state. To allow myself to settle into the here and now of this moment and banish paranoid thoughts of impending doom. Memories like these of the children as toddlers by default remind me of the things in life that really matter, which helps put the game in proper perspective. After all, no one’s going to die if I miss that next shot. Not even me.