The importance of focus

I have mentioned before that I play pool in the APA league. The APA is a friendly, but competitive league that has matches every week. Pool itself is a challenging game that is much tougher than it feels that it should be. When a competitive system is added to pool, then it becomes a difficult game to play at the best of times. Don't let anybody tell you differently, pool is not easy to play competitively.

The main reason for this is that there is very little margin for error. One millimeter off the mark, and then a game-winning shot could easily turn into a losing shot. On top of this, to win matches requires strategy. It is not enough to have a good stroke, dead aim, and a perfect stop-shot. If you cannot string shots together into a run, then it is not likely to win very many matches.

During the normal weekly matches that I play I can feel this pressure, and I know that it is important to ignore those feelings and focus on the game at hand. In particular I know that I need to focus on the next shot that I'm going to take.

The focusing part is the key. If I don't focus enough, then the pressure can get to me. Unfortunately the pressure can affect the mind and the body in different ways. It can be like a voice in the back of the mind about how I'm going to miss that important shot. It can also make me think about what I'm going to do for dinner.

The key to focusing is simple, and yet very difficult to employ. And unfortunately the key will be different for each person. My only suggestion is to do your best, and use reflection to determine what went wrong, what went right, and what you can do better next time.