Your last miss has nothing to do with this moment!

You may shoot a shot that looks perfect and feels perfect – only to see the object ball rattle out of the jaws of the pocket. The next time you are aiming for that pocket, or that ball, or just your next time at the table, the thought of that previous shot may come up.

This in itself is okay, it’s human nature. We learn through instant recollection of our mistakes. If we did not remember the things that went wrong, we would have no reference for getting it right in the future.

What matters most is how you deal with that thought mentally. You have a decision to make at the very moment the thought comes up. You can let that thought lead you to disaster, or you can just as easily use it to fuel a higher confidence of the execution of this shot – at this moment.

Don’t beat yourself up over your misses — recognize the power you have to learn from a miss, isolate the mistake, and work on ensuring that it does not happen again.

Comments are closed.