Play the percentages.

In the wonderful book ‘Pleasures of Small Motions: Mastering the Mental Game of Pocket Billiards’ by Dr Bob Fancher, the author brings cognitive science to the game of playing pool. It’s a very enlightening book for anyone interested in the brain and emotions, in playing any game or sport well, as well as for pool fans.

He says that a lot of players get very frustrated and disappointed with themselves because they expect to play at their best all of the time. If they can pull off a difficult shot once, then they expect to be able to do that every time. After all, they’ve seen the evidence with their own eyes.

Such players discount the element of luck involved whereby all necessary conditions come into harmony to allow the successful pot. Pool is a complex game because it requires so much bodily coordination. There are so many variables involved that getting it right every time is simply not possible.

For easier shots the margin of error is greater, so less precision is needed. For these shots a high percentage will be potted. When the cue ball is far from the object ball, when the object ball is far from the pocket, when the angles become increasingly acute, the shot gets more difficult and percentage-wise the chances of potting the ball drop off the more difficult it gets. That makes perfect sense, right?

You’ll get the pot some of the time and you’ll feel delighted, but to expect to do it all of the time from then on for similar shots is a fool’s paradise. It’s possible but highly unlikely. This is the dilemma facing most habitual procrastinators. You pull off something very difficult once or twice and then think that you should be able to do this all of the time.

Worse than this, you keep setting up, or playing, only difficult shots because you mistakenly think that you should be able to do this all of the time and that if you can’t then there’s something seriously wrong with you. Soon enough you get so conditioned to missing the pot that you train yourself to mess up on the easy shots too through carelessness, or indecision, or self-doubt and frayed nerves.

Been there, done that, right? How about a change? How about just setting up easy shots and getting the pot time after time after time? Wouldn’t that be nice? Yeah, I know, easy is for wimps, but if you’re not consistently winning in the game of life, then maybe you should introduce some alternative tactics. It’s your choice to make things extra difficult for yourself, or not. That might make you a tragic hero, but let’s agree to leave that where it belongs - in the pages of pulp fiction - and make your life a whole lot better, okay?

Position yourself and take those easy shots as often as you can manage and leave those tricky shots for when you have no choice. More than that, don’t be surprised if you don’t pot the shot. No one gets those kind of shots all of the time - not even the pros.

So if you’re not sure how to make things easy for yourself, go and buy my book. It’ll make both you and me feel a whole lot better. If you think the book stinks then I’ll give you a full refund. I’ll even let you diss me on my testimonials page. Of course by now, you’ve probably realized my cunning master plan - that offering products to procrastinators is a sure thing. If the product works then you’ll be satisfied and grateful. If it doesn’t then you’ll still be a procrastinator and you’ll never get around to asking for your money back, right? (Excuse me while I clench my fists, look up at the sky and indulge in an evil laugh, <ahem>……… Bwaah ha ha ha ha haaa! ;-))