Snooker is a great game for cultivating strategic thinking, hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness. Most guides and advice offered online pertaining to improving your snooker game understandably deal with the mechanics of utilising the rest, to correcting your posture and improving your shots. Undoubtedly these are integral steps on the way to increasing your proficiency and ones you’ll see in evidence in clubs across the country. Yet there’s another important element to consider when you’re looking to improve your snooker game. In this article we will be exploring the role mental focus and attitude play in snooker and sport in general, and cover some surprising strategies that can bring your game to the next level.
Focus
Concentration is in short supply in our 21st century attention economy, yet it’s a vital component to being at the top of your game. From pole-vaulters to poker players, athletes train their concentration to optimise performance in competitive settings. Snooker is no different, in certain cases frames can last hours, such as in the 2017 World Championship qualifying showdown between David Gilbert and Fergal O’Brien that ran to 123 minutes. Unpacking the various elements that underpin effective concentration is the first step in training to improve it. Few people realise that the brain operates in cycles of focus and rest. These cycles effectively limit our ability to maintain unbroken concentration to around 90 minutes. After which, we must rest for a minimum of 15 minutes before exerting ourselves once again. In most cases this means that a whole frame can normally take place during this window.
But what if you find yourself in a predicament such as the marathon game mentioned above? In such a context, there’s no avoiding the fact your concentration will begin to deteriorate, in much the same way a long distance runner must manage progressive fatigue and factor it into their training. If you find a game is going to run long, or the timing means that you’ll be playing fatigued, it’s wise to play more conservatively and avoid unnecessary risks or overly creative shots. The more you practise the game, the better your muscle memory will be able to carry you through periods of brain fog also. If you need a leg up, glucose can give your concentration a temporary boost, but keep in mind that you’ll crash in the long run.
Attitude
Snooker, like many strategically oriented games, has a sizable psychological component. Approaching a game or tournament with the correct mental attitude can go a long way to ensuring victory. Our mental perception often works like a filter that hides from us the things we do not expect to see or experience. For example, if you were to play a game against an opponent you know is significantly more skillful than you, you may assume from the outset that you will lose. If you hold this perspective, you’re far less likely to notice openings and chances to eke out an advantage as you will have already decided such circumstances will not arise. It is for this reason that the stereotypical advice that competitors should keep a positive mental attitude is essential. Olympic athletes actively incorporate visualisation training into their preparation for events. By conditioning their mindset to recognise and identify with the feeling of victory, they are always ready to act on it when the time is right.
Of course, there is a difference between deluding yourself that you’re the next Ronnie O’ Sullivan over a casual game, and keeping an open mind to the idea you can win a frame. A good way to cultivate this faculty is through mindfulness training or meditation. This is because these practices are geared towards bringing awareness and attention to the reality of a given situation, forgoing judgement and expectations. There are a host of great platforms that offer basic mindfulness practises, such as the award winning app Headspace. By cultivating these techniques, you can tap into them to regain poise in a challenging game, and ensure you’re ready to seize the advantage when it arises.