Nic Barrow's The Snooker Gym ... "We Train Frustrated Amateurs, To Beat Their Highest Break"

How can I get out of a rut?

how to improve your snooker Jul 12, 2017

Many players ask me how to get out of a snooker rut.
One of the most frustrating experiences in the game, I have a couple of standard responses that have helped people over the years.

Think about what you want, not about what you don't want. Your inner dialogue must be TOWARDS a target eg 'I want to cue straight and stay down on the shot and feel calm' NOT 'why am I such an idiot who doesn't even deserve to walk the face of the earth etc etc etc ' and those type of helpful things that cue sportists minds come up with.

Also, your relationship to a rut should not be one of resistance, but rather of curiosity and getting to know what the rut wants to show you about your own game. Adopt the mind set that getting out of a rut is to be done 100 times before you are the player you dream of being - which is probably about right as an estimate. This way, you view a rut as something to overcome like a set shot that you are practicing. Then, this rut won't hold power over you in the future and you will get better and quicker at escaping ruts in the future.