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Jan 03, 2005 :: The Monk's Monday Lesson #4
What is your strength?
The point of power is always in the present moment. We step to the table and notice how difficult our run is going to be. We see the trouble balls right away. With a groan, we begin our run. We begin our journey towards success on the one-ball, the two-ball, and the three-ball. While, all the time we have defeat in our minds.
For us, the point of power is in the trouble ball later in the rack. We are somewhere out in the future. In this way, while we focus on the shot in front of us, our mind is concerned about potential danger. We begin with an attitude of defeat. We are not sure of our run out. Part of us does not want to begin at all. Why begin our journey when we know we will fail? We recall the many failed attempts when we faced a layout like this.
We bring to mind the heroic times we agonized over a tough run out, only to leave a hanging nine-ball in the end.
This experience can set up a mindset early in our pocket billiards development and many players today are still controlled by this type of mental attitude. In Point the Way, (which you can have as a free download) I say "with one leg in the future and one leg in the past, all we can do is piss on today."
Once we place value on a ball we have not yet reached, we have ended our chance for success. With the problem four shots away, how can we fully commit ourselves to the shot at hand? Our years of playing nine-ball have left us with a tentative spirit. 80 percent of the time we do not succeed with the completed run. And, it is this knowledge that invites inevitable defeat.
In your next match, make every effort to focus on the “shot in front of you.” Be one with the moment of contact. Get down with the cue tip and feel the contact. Did you give it your full attention? Did you become an, “I Came to Win,” player? Did you think about future shots? Did you think about past shots? Did you focus on this shot?
There is no future shot, past shot, next shot, or last shots. There is just this shot. Give it the attention it deserves.
