Topic: A melt Down

[Steve]

When things seem to fall apart in a game how do you regroup with 2 out of 3 bracket is there time When I have lost it I start shooting different shots and just melt down I have seen the top players never give up on there shot. whats your take on this if any. 

[EDGEER]

Remember.

Don't let it happen in the first place.
Don't practice during a match.  Do it before or after but not during. The point is to score the next point!
Remember it is not a beauty contest.  It is a Foosball contest, there are no bonuses for pretty shots!

[gitablok]

 I seem to remember discussions about a tool for just these situations. It is a rarely used tool that many have no clue about. Ever heard of a timeout? Use it to stop the flow of bad energy. Step back and evaluate what's going on, good and bad and make adjustments accordingly.

This may sound weird to you but when you don't win in a melt down, you "lose" your match, you didn't get "beat". There is a difference.

When you lose, you are not putting your best game on the table. How do expect to win by putting your second or third best product on the table? More importantly, how can you learn and progress your game if you have not put what you know is your best game forward. You don't know what adjustment to make.

When you get beat, you have put your best game forward and you stick to your guns because you know that is your best game. You don't lose, you get beat. This is why the pros play the game you see. Now because you have put forth your best effort and got "beat", you "learn" what you need to work on to get better or what to do different the next time in a given situation. This is where the "progression" comes into play.

I'll sum it up for you with a question. In your melt down, what did you "learn" that will "progress" your game? ALWAYS, ALWAYS put only your best game on the table. There are no exceptions.



ICEMAN

[Steve]

Thanks Thats it in a nut shell Im just trying to get past the little shakes (like Buck fever)I get so excited to play . But Ill get that under control some breathing ex.might help
Thanks for all this help even when you Know what to do hearing it from someone else always helps.see ya in the finals.


Mr.Steve

[Old Meister]

The mental game in competition is what you are talking about. If there is any game that is about getting into the head of your opponent, foosball is it. Fakes, dinks, monster longs, back cuts, every thing is to out wit your opponent and demoralize him. If you watch the pro's you will notice that they hardly seem to notice a shot scoring on them but rather go right for the next point, in other words it's water under the bridge. The way to get your mind "right" in competition starts at practice. That feeling of "lost footing" shouldn't ever happen because you worked on a very specific set of skills during practice with specific positions and triggers. These things practiced are what you take to the match and you execute those skills with 100% concentration. Cause the specific positions and use the triggers just as practiced so that as they work you gain confidence and solid footing. You can't change how another person plays, just yourself. There are a whole bunch of books on the mental game and some are better than others but it always boils down to confidence due to thinking right by executing right because of practicing right and repeating good shots consciously enough that they then become muscle memory and can be shot subconsciously free of conscious control which IS confidence in a nut shell.

[Steve]

I like the just let it happen game when your brain buts out and your skills take over you do pass without thinking shots without thinking Life is good when you can get in that state of mine .You are still thinking just correctly.

[Old Meister]

You got it! There's tricks that are used to go subconscious even though people don't realize that they use them. Little quirks moves like straightening your cap, pushing your glasses up and a million others that are done without any real reason but seem to be habitually done to give you a familiar starting point. Then you go forward with the sequence. Analytical people can be plagued by conscious control when things get dicey. Your conscious is the conductor of the symphony and your subconscious plays the violin. The conductor knows when a wrong note is played but if he were to try to play the violin himself then the rest of the music would fall apart. Better to correct the violin after the show. There is a mental state called "peak performance state" which is magical, pure subconscious control without any conscious intervention. Different sports have names for it like in pool it is called "dead stroke" and it is sometimes referred to as "brain dead" and a lot of other terms. The way to get there is through practicing specific movements until a great amount of control is learned and turned over to the subconscious. Then using this skill in competitive situations enough so that you can comfortably perform. Then one day everything comes together and for what ever reason it seems effortless and you almost feel like you are watching someone else perform. It seems effortless and control is complete. If you could can it and use it everytime you play you could beat anyone.
  When applying this thinking to foosball, like I said, it starts with practice, conscious practice that is broken down into its components and put together piece by piece, ie; visualization,stance, position, breathing(?), timing, explosion, follow through.  Each part should be identifiable through practice so that the step by step breakdown can be used should you get that "lost" feeling. A,"go back to the basics" way of dealing with control. When practicing like this you can find something that gives you "controls" such as specific foot position, now you know the shot is starting right, maybe a recognized hand pressure or elbow position. Maybe once you are set you visualize what the shot will look like, feel like or maybe the desired final position after the shot explosion. Maybe you take a breath in and let it out, or two, or shoot on the inhale, controls you can use to make your shot have a dependable outcome because you practice them until it is second nature.

[gitablok]

Not to crash your parade, well, I guess I am, but that's not how a pro thinks. We always go into a match with a "plan". Sometimes in the execution of that plan, things go really well and may seem we are just letting things happen without thought but this cannot be farther from the truth. You have to appproach a match with the mindset of establishing something be it large or small.

I promise you, have a plan to implement when playing a match instead of hoping to get into a flow and your game will no doubt improve.


ICEMAN

[Old Meister]

Iceman, the "conductor" part is in control of the plan. That is the conscious. The subconscious is in control of the million little signals that make up the complex movement of the shot. That is what I'm saying. When the perception is that you aren't in control and try to make it happen, that is when the melt down occurs. But if you have familiar controls to fall back on and use to cause a shot to feel right, then your getting back on track. I thought I would get a little discussion on this and welcome it. I think the best players are the ones who have most effectively divided the roles played by the subconscious and conscious and don't overlap them in tournament situations. Negative emotions are a sure sign of a breakdown in this relationship.

[Steve]

I think a good plan is watch your opponent
I watched a guy I knew I would be playing next I did make a plan and gave him a good beating my plan was good my mind was right my plans dont always work but getting into game on mode is always avalable just do it ..make them think a good trick is say you have a nice stroke are you doing some thing different with your hand grip, watch them start to miss...

[chance37]

Meister hit the nail on the head.....U can still have a gameplan and play "consciously unconcious" There have been books written on the learning process in sports and the different stages of play.  Roger Federer and other masters of their sports like Rico etc..etc.. all play at this highest level of play its were as Meister put it the movements and actions aren't thought about but performed with perfect precision.  If i could make a suggestion read The Inner Game of Tennis by gallawey.....the best *** out there on this subject...

[gitablok]

Hey OM,
 
I don't have a problem with your conductor theory. My crash the parade statement was directed at Steve's statement about letting it flow. Considering he was the one who started the thread with the statement about losing his cool when things go a little bad. In other words, be it physical or mental, his conscious game is not yet good enough to go unconscious. I made that statement because that level of player needs to be careful about "just letting it flow" because the proverbial wall is just around the corner. Read Steve's first statement, the wall is staring him in the face and now he's looking for ways to get over it. I commend him because most players would just look for excuses for not winning, however he has recognized the problem and is asking for help which is the first step in climbing the wall to becoming a better player. I'm also a pool player. I am an A level player in the BCA league. One thing I know is that before you can ever get to a point where you get into a dead stroke state of mind, you better have a good stroke to start with. So Steve needs to get his conscious state in order before he tries to go unconscious because the wall takes no prisoners and will hold you captive until you figure it out.

I only have one knock on your conductor theory OM. Let me first say I have been a pro level player some 15 years now. And at one time, let's say between '93 to '98, I was considered to be in the top 20 goalies playing at the time. I am one of only 4 goalies that use the push series at the pro level with any success. The others being Dana Marr, David Radack, and Gena Murray. The problem is your theory doesn't fully cover the constant changes of competition. When I play a wrong note when playing, I better recognize it right away and you know what, I better be able to fix it right then, right there. There is no waiting till a match is over to fix the note. In that anology the conductor will be semi pro forever. This game is about constant adjustments and making them on the fly, not waiting after the fact. At the pro level, playing the game like the conductor will produce a very short symphony.

My man Chance,
Thanks for the advice, but is not needed. I have never read the book and never will. It has nothing for me. Why? A little history. In 1976 in a racist town called Shreveport La., I was the no. 2 ranked tennis player in the city. I'm sorry, forgot to mention I am of the African American persuasion. I was my high school's no. 1 ranked player 3 years running. I would have tried to play in college but I was calling myself an engineering major at the time so I figured I didn't have time. I was a multiple sport athlete growing up, but my passion for tennis was unmatched. I was the inner game of tennis. There is no idea in this I don't already know, I lived it. I'm built like a linebacker or fullback so when I talk to people they usually say after watching me play sometimes it looks like you have read the book because I played some serious mind games with my opponent. I chuckle and tell them, "Nope, never read it, and don't need to" as I walk away with a smile on my face saying "If they only knew".


ICEMAN.

[Old Meister]

Iceman, the conductor example is just a word picture used to show the division of conscious vs subconscious tasks that go on normally and get screwed up during a meltdown. Take driving a car, you drive it but how much do you think about it yet you stay on the road and stop at stop signs without even giving it a thought. A new driver will think about everything they do and make all kinds of mistakes. Reading about the mental game is for those who need it and it's amazing how the different types of people approach competition.I used to shoot competition archery and quickly got pretty good. After around 3 years I found myself ranked 3 or 4 in the satate. The a well intentioned young pro offered to help me get over the hump, the hump meaning scoring better than the 295 to 297 out of 300 that I was doing at the time. So in one short practice I went from a high scoring contender to a complete mess that actually missed the bale at times. I had to relearn everything from the ground up to ever shoot anywhere near what I had and I had to learn, yes some through books, the mental aspects of performing sports requiring  fine motor skills. It took years to come to the simple conclusion that the division of tasks between conscious and subconsious is what devide the greats from the not so great. The stable from the unstable. There was a top pro that they called, "The Iceman" and he was well known to be cool under pressure. I would have to guess that you  have great ability to trust your subconscious to perform tasks as the sports you do well in require it. And I doubt it would help you very little to get into what controls what. I say that while thinking of this golfer years ago that was a phenom. He won everything around just like Tiger Woods. After winning a major tournament someone asked him to write a book bout how he played. The poor guy had never thought about it before and when he did he started paying attention consciously to his game. He had a total meltdown and never won a majors again. Your statement to Steve about learning on the conscious level is right on because that is the ground work needed to build a stable platform. When he has confidence the subconscious will be doing it's job as that is where confidence comes from when performing. I guess my statement about not fixing the violin was more about not dwelling on a perceived problem and making it bigger while in competition.

[grandmaster]

It's a steal world and livin' with the ball is the way to be.
Any questions?
GM

[gitablok]

Yeah,

Can I have some of what you're drinking,lol.