I've searched everywhere for help with this, and I seem to have finally found it!

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releas...-pressure.aspx

Cliff Notes: all those negative, self-sabotaging "don't choke!" thoughts, come from the left side of your brain. All the confidence-building "I've made this shot a million times! Piece of cake!" thoughts, come from the right side of your brain.

So when it's time to shoot the money ball, squeeze a tennis in your left hand a few times, or at least clench that left fist a few times, to activate the right side of your brain.

I've been doing it for two days now, and the results have been amazing! Those negative thoughts that I have spent three unsuccessful decades trying to tune out, simply vanish! I don't NEED to overcome them, because they are no longer there! I don't need to take a deep breath to calm my nerves while approaching the money ball, because, "what nerves? Nothing to be nervous about here! Feels like the first shot of the inning!"

Placebo effect? Certainly possible, but the study cited above allowed for that chance, and ruled it out. Its only one page, go ahead and read it.

This has been a game changer for me. This has destroyed the biggest flaw in my game.

I do a run-out drill where I break the striped balls and the 8, then give myself BIH and try to run out. I'd guess I was successful 30-40% of the time. Today I ran three straight for the first time ever!

I'd love it someone who suffers from this would post here after trying this.

...and 24 hours later, I just ran EIGHT straight racks!

I wanted to leave the table and get a glass of water after three, but thought it would be crazy to abandon the heater. After 8,I got my water, but The Zone had abandoned me.

I don't even need to do the fist thing any more. This experience has given me so much confidence, I'm far more comfortable at the end of racks.

Nice job running 8, Ill have to try this trick.

So you clench your left hand or squeeze ball on your left hand a couple times right before every serve? Sorry if I'm repeating. I'm just making sure I'm not lost in translation here.

Not every serve. Just those key points where you usually choke. When you feel the pressure, you're agitated by the situation, your heart is pounding, you feel the need to take a deep breath and settle down, etc.

Link says this only works for right-handed people, tho. A Lefty's brain defies the comprehension of scientists, I guess.

That's awesome! Keep it up and once you can consistently run out this drill 7 or 8 times out of 10 you should bump up the difficulty. In 10 tries you should give yourself 2 or 3 eff ups. But if you can do it consistently 70% of the time, you will not improve if you don't make it harder.

Maybe you rack it up with 10 balls so there are 2 solids in your way or ramp it up to even 12 balls so you have 4 solids to work around. Or even just not giving yourself ball in hand will make it considerably more difficult.

I do your drill except I use all 15 balls and don't give myself ball in hand. I get one chance to run out or start over. My goal is to run out 50% or more of the time. Or I rack 9 ball and give myself ball in hand and run them in order and my goal is 70%.

You're on the right track and its great to see improvement!!

<---- lefty ;/ doggin em for life

I used to do a race to five with the ghost. Upon Suit's suggestion, I now do sets of ten.

After a few sets, I'm back to exactly 30%, going 3-7 each time. But I'm almost never dogging gimmes any more. The game is SO much more enjoyable now!

I'm still frustrated by getting tense near the end of long run-outs. I don't mind missing tough shots, but I can't stand missing routine shots because of yips, and they only come when I'm near the end of a long run-out.

A friend offered a suggestion: close your eyes and shoot! Seriously. Get down over the ball, take your practice strokes, and after the last practice stroke, close your eyes just before you pull the trigger.

I have made shots with my eyes closed in the past, to show off, but they were simple shots. I've never tried it with, say, a six-foot cut shot. Next time, I'll try it.

I also decided I should look into a book on sports psychology. I downloaded the Kindle app, and chose a book called, "The Art of Mental Training". The user reviews were glowing, and they promised it was a quick, light read. I've only read about 20 pages of it, but I'm really enjoying it. It talks about visualizing success before the match starts, and how to banish those negative, self-sabotaging thoughts that flood into your head just as you choke the game away.

The next time I went out to play, I started with my usual warm-up: roll out three balls, BIH, run 'em out in order. I missed the third ball. Maybe because I was cold, off the street. Or maybe I yipped? We'll never know.

Roll out three more balls. Make the first two. Last shot, OB is just off the rail, about 2.5 diamonds, and the cue ball is center of the table. I get down over the ball...and I'm not comfortable AT ALL with this shot. I don't want to flub this exercise twice in a row, and this isn't a shot I make every single time, 1000 things can go wrong here....

So I say, "**** it, gonna try that Eyes Closed thing, right here and now." Moderate speed, a touch of bottom to ensure against scratching, final backswing, eyes shut...

...and something TREMENDOUS happened at that moment. I could FEEL all the tension in my body float away! In an instant, I went from tense to completely relaxed. I was completely trusting my hands to do this job, my brain had been relieved of duty, so it stopped worrying about the outcome of this shot.

And the ball went in the pocket.

I did that three-ball warm-up a few more times. Each time, I closed my eyes on the final shot. I never missed it. But it was so liberating to feel so relaxed while hitting the money ball!

After the warmup, Imoved on to other drills. Now, I was able to replicate that relaxed feeling WITHOUT closing my eyes. Confidence soared, tension/worry disappeared. I shot like King Kong.

The next night was the final night of my pool team's season. I won my first three racks, I missed a total of two shots. I was making shots that I *never* make, like cutting a ball from the center of the table into the corner (I visualized the ball starting to roll down the line toward the pocket, and my subconscious brain knew where to hit it, without my conscious brain ever picking a spot on the object ball to aim for!).

The third rack was the ERO. I went back to my seat after that, and told my girlfriend, "It feels totally different now."

"I can tell!", she blurted.

Finished that book, btw. Highly recommend it, whether you have the yips or not. To be a champion, you need to think like a champion.

thanks, ill check it out

I don't play much any more. Went to hit some balls the other night. Some kid approached me, asked me if I wanted to play. I thought it would be fun to let him hustle me, so I said OK.

He asked if I prefer 8-ball or 9-ball. I chose 9, even though I don't play it, just so we wouldn't have any arguments about the rules. I racked 'em, and invited him to break. Surprisingly, he broke without mentioning a wager.

We took turns winning racks by running 3-4 balls at a time. He never played a single safety. I decided that if this was anywhere near his true speed, I'd be a favorite if we started keeping score.

I didn't have all day to hang out, so I wanted to wrap this up. I asked him if he'd be interested to play a race to five, loser pays the table time. He turned pale, and it became clear he had no money. He pointed back to the group of friends he was with at another table, and said they're covering his time (this place charges each player by the hour, and his meter was still running on the other table, it did not affect my bill).

I told him that's fine, this was fun too--but I'm keeping score starting now, and going home after a race to five.

I was then very impressed with my own shooting. I got out from the 2-ball once, and the 3-ball another time. I was making shots that I *never* make. But above all, I didn't dog a single shot. I was so relaxed over the 7-8-9, I didn't approach those shots fearful of screwing up.

I took a 3-1 lead. He tied it at three (I left a 9 hanging for him, I wouldn't say I dogged it, as it wasn't an easy shot), then I put him away. That felt good.

Took another step forward in this battle. This one, I didn't read anywhere or hear about--it was all me.

Watching pool vids on YouTube, I stumbled over a video of "Machine Gun" Lou Butera vs Larry "Boston Shorty" Johnson playing 9-ball. "Hey, I *know* Boston Shorty! I mean, I stood in the same room as him a few times. Even played him once in a cheap 3-cushion handicap tourney! I gotta watch this!"

There was a Shorty I knew, so this video must've been 30 years old, I doubt either guy is still alive. I'd never seen Shorty play pool, when he came to our local room, it was to play 3-cushion.

You can't get a more divisive contrast in styles as Lou vs Shorty. Lou lived up to his Machine Gun name: Bang, bang, bang! Shorty hit the balls so SOFTLY, like he was trying to drop eggs into the pockets without breaking them! I shook hands with Shorty after our 3C match, he had the softest hands I ever felt. I mean, cartoonishly soft, Pillsbury Doughboy soft, I-wonder-if-there-are-bones-in-there soft. And he played soft pool with those soft hands.

At my next practice, I found myself playing softer, as well. It felt different mentally, as well. Instead of imposing my will over these balls, and meeting resistance from them--this was like SEDUCING the balls! Sweetly weakening their resistance, working WITH them instead of against them.

And I was running out like nobody's business. Try this sometime.