Johnny Henson, Professor Pool
Improving your mental attitude can greatly improve your game. I was inspired to write this article due to the fact that recently while competing I fell victim to a poor attitude in the middle of a match that negatively affected my play. Having a positive attitude can equal a positive outcome in a game or match. Likewise, having a poor or negative attitude can have a negative effect. Learning how to control your emotions can definitely help you and also your teammates play better and win more.
Over the years I have been a top league player, and also have won over 500 tournaments. Things don’t always go the way I would like them to go in every game, match or tournament. I felt what separated winning from losing many times was my positive mental attitude. A top player told me years ago after I lost to him: “Johnny it isn’t what happens so much as how you react to what happens. You could have won this match but you failed to check your emotions at the door when you walked in.”
I will give a couple of examples:
I was playing in a tournament in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1988. It was a race to five games. With alternating breaks, I found myself down 4 to 0. I had dry breaked once and missed 1 shot. My opponent ran out every time he got to the table. I could have thrown in the towel, but I told myself one ball at a time, one game at a time. By using both offense and defense I fought back to win the match 5 to 4. I also went on to win the tournament. I will never forget that match, because I feel that that was one of the greatest victories of my career.
I was playing in a match for first place on a four-person league team around 2010 in Montana, and we were down 7 to 2 in a race to 10. My team thought the match was over. I called a huddle and told my team, one shot at a time, and one game at a time. We fought back to a 9 to 9 tie and I won the tiebreaker on a defensive shot forcing my opponent to accidentally scratch on the eight ball.
Sometimes it is hard to never give up or throw in the towel. It really is never over until it is over. Over the years I can’t tell you how many times players would be down to me just 1 or 2 games and they had already given up. Not me. I have been down 2 to 0 in a race to 3 at least 50 times in tournaments and came back to win the match 3 to 2.
The next time you find yourself down in the league or tournament match tell yourself and your teammates that the hardest game for your opponent to win is the last game. If you will always keep a positive mental attitude you will be surprised at how you not giving up puts fear and doubt into your opponents. When ahead, I play very aggressively. When behind I will tend to play a little more defense, if I don’t see a run out. Check your emotions at the door when you walk in, and keep your head in the game and you will win more often. I hope this inspires you to do better when you are behind on the score.
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