The limits we place on our minds
On 6 May 1954, a twenty-five-year-old medical student, Roger Bannister, achieved something nobody had officially accomplished before. He ran a mile in 3 minutes and...
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George Sarmas · Training for Results
Article archive
Thoughts on practice, competition and the mental game of pool.
27 articles · Greek and English
The Mental Game of Pool
Our response is prepared before the match
A ball you usually pot is missed. A position shot you make most of the time does not work out. Your opponent seems lucky, and the table plays differently from what y...
Read article →You can play well even when you feel nervous
You start the match and can hear your heart beating. You wait for the nerves to settle so you can start playing the way you know you can. But you might reach the las...
Read article →Some thoughts before and during the match
Some thoughts before the match / during the match — #1
Most athletes and players focus on what they are going to play. Few focus on how they enter the game. Yet those first few minutes before a match determine much more...
Read article →Some thoughts before the match / during the match — #2
Most players believe the game is lost at the table. In reality, many games are lost in the chair. Not because you are sitting. But because that is where you let your...
Read article →When you have a big lead
There is a point at which the game often starts to fall apart, yet most players do not notice it: when you are well ahead. You are leading. The game is going well. A...
Read article →When you fall behind early and the match goes wrong from the start
You start poorly, or your opponent starts very well. You fall behind early, and suddenly the match is not what you expected. The table is the same, but something has...
Read article →Some thoughts before and during the match — #5
You have just played a very good, difficult shot. You know it was right and required concentration and control. On the very next ball, one you usually pot and expect...
Read article →When your eyes have not yet adapted to the lighting
You arrive at the venue shortly before the match starts. Outside there is daylight; inside there is artificial lighting. The table is ready, the balls look the same,...
Read article →High performance in pool and everyday life
One of the most common patterns I see in pool, regardless of level, is this: most players do not reach their ceiling because of technique, but because of their abili...
Read article →When sugar lifts you up and then drains you during back-to-back matches
It is not your first match of the day. It is your third or fourth. There has been tension, concentration, waiting, then more play. Somewhere in between, you drink a...
Read article →Concentration exercise #1
Why we do it: The foundation of performance at any level is the ability to bring your attention back when it drifts. Not to prevent it from ever drifting, which is u...
Read article →Concentration exercise #2
Why we do it: In a match, the problem is not the existence of thoughts, but being carried away by them without noticing. The ability you need is not calmness, but co...
Read article →Concentration exercise #3
The most crucial exercise for pool. The problem in pool: Pool has three particular characteristics: Long gaps between actions (shots). When a situation ends, there i...
Read article →When you are playing well but the result is not coming
There is a particular moment in pool that confuses even experienced players: you are playing correctly, you feel clear, you are doing what you should, but the result...
Read article →Reviewing a tournament afterwards
The tournament is over. Whatever the result: you did well, you were average, or it did not go as you wanted. You are not playing now. So you need neither intensity n...
Read article →Some thoughts before and during the match — #15
The greatest enemy of concentration today is not your opponent. In most cases, it is in your pocket or the palm of your hand. Social media have become so embedded in...
Read article →Some thoughts before and during the match — #16
Most people have a particular picture of practice in their minds. To play better, more seriously and more consistently, they believe they must devote many hours. The...
Read article →Some thoughts before and during the match — #17
Sometimes everything is as you want it. A good venue, the right table, quiet and the right mood. And sometimes nothing is ideal. Noise. Delays. A venue you dislike....
Read article →Some thoughts before and during the match — #18
If there is one common mistake we make repeatedly in pool and in life more broadly, it is an obsession with the outcome. We want to play better, win and reach a high...
Read article →Managing anxiety in a match or a head-to-head game for prize money
I have been asked the same question several times: “Is what you write only for professionals?” No. It is for anyone entering a situation where something matters. An...
Read article →When practice does not carry over into competition
Almost every player has had this experience. You play well in practice. You pot the balls. Your position play works. The game flows properly. There is rhythm. Then t...
Read article →A restart routine after a long break
At the recent European Open in Sarajevo, match viewers repeatedly saw the same scene. A player starts the game and, under the winner-breaks format, can run consecuti...
Read article →When a big win is followed by a loss to a supposedly weaker opponent
You played an excellent match. You beat a better player or won a match in which you were not the favourite. A little later, you play again. The next game is not the...
Read article →When you enter a tournament and cannot tell whether you played well
The match ends and you do not know what to take from it. You won or lost, but you do not know whether you played to your ability. Most players judge their performanc...
Read article →Worn out from practice, underperforming in the tournament
You have played for hours. You have potted plenty of balls. You feel ready. Yet in the tournament, your cueing does not feel the same. The ease is missing. Continuit...
Read article →Confidence is not psychology
When, on the crucial shot, you cannot pot the ball you make in practice. In a match, you miss a ball you usually pot. You know you can make it. Yet at that moment it...
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