By Elliott West
Introduction
“I teach perspective at the end of the day, it’s a green table with some holes in it”
Noel Flannery
Introduction
Have you ever wondered how a player prepares for a tournament? With the fast approaching start of the World Championship, I spoke to Noel Flannery, a Peak Performance Mind Coach. Noel who works in the motor racing industry, has spent the last two years, working with snooker players, helping them to use their mindset and preparation to create an optimum performance for their ensuing matches.
“We don’t get what we want we only get what we are”
Flannery is currently coaching in Sheffield, working with a number of players including the up and coming Ben Hancorn, Riley Parsons and has also spent time with Mark King. Noel could be described as a fine tuner, someone who gets the best from a player. A sportsperson who already has the game but needs tweaks to their behaviour on the table, replacing negativity with positive, mental attitude.
“Each shot is a mirror image of the space you where in when you hit it”
The Plan
In order to prepare a player for the match environment, it is essential that you come up with a detailed plan. Of course this depend on the individual. The person may be carrying mind baggage before they walk out into the arena, so it is essential that the player has positive thoughts. To achieve this is not easy but it is about breaking down the game into sections.
The first thing to realise is that you can’t control the game. Snooker is guided by physics. A cue-ball is not perfectly round and one that is used in practice, will be massively different from one used at say, the World Championship. In a competition, the cue-ball will be the best one available and the rest will discarded for other uses.
“Snooker needs to be played not forced”
Consequences
If it is raining outside, you will inevitably get wet. Likewise a player doesn’t make a cue or a table, they can only use their skill to attempt their shot of choice. If they hit the cue-ball too hard, the object ball will most likely not go into the elected pocket because the pocket has decreased in size. The same shot could be attempted at a slower pace and would be potted as the pocket widens due to a pace change.
Similarly, you can’t let the result of the shot upset you. A player needs to be in the here and now and let go of the outcome. A clear example of this can be seen in the 1985 World Championship final. Both Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor were deeply affected by their shot outcomes. This was intensified by the match going down to the final back. There were multiple misses on this black but Dennis won because he used the positivity of his mother’s memory to be transferred into belief, he potted the final black because he knew that he could be World Champion. He had the hunger for success. Like a boxer, he got off the ropes, got up and fought back to victory.
“It’s about getting out of your own way”
The Optimum Performance
In order to create the optimum performance, it is important to get in the right headspace. It is all about process, in order to carry out a challenging task, you have to be at your best. Players are generally very poor at looking after themselves and so it crucial to be adequately nourished, hydrated at all times and have had enough sleep.
By talking about their current life patterns with the individual, you not only iron out these flaws but also open their eyes to their way of living. Tweaks to their lifestyle can completely alter their game and rejuvenate it from poor performance to good form. It is important to keep reinforcing the point by the use of questioning throughout the coaching. For example, did you sleep well?, have you practiced?
Your Mood is Your Drug
In order to win matches and tournaments, you have to be in a happy space. If any negativity creeps into your mind, this could make you angry or upset. The muscles in your body will accordingly react to your mood. Your mood is your drug. Confidence makes you feel good and like a mirror, it mirrors what the reflection shows. The mirror never lies!
However to feel fantastic, you have to cater to the individual. What works for one player, may not work for another. The key is about creating a tailored plan. That door is initially opened by making the person think of an experience or memory that brings them job, a job offer, the birth of a child or a fantastic holiday.
They also need to learn how to zone out, don’t let the environment affect their play. A noisy cameraman or an unpopular decision made by a referee, can completely change a mindset. It also about realising that snooker is a game, it may be work but a game is supposed to be played for fun and that is what a player must get out of it to play well.
Fine Tuning
By maintaining nutrition and hydration, the individual will be vastly improved in so many ways but it is also important to keep that person’s heartbeat up. They are then switched on at all times and in tune with their emotions.
By spending alternative days with players, the stable of sportspersons that you look after, all receive the same level of attention. Their performance, attitudes and actions, are tracked in a personal diary. By keeping a diary, errors can be easily identified and irradiated before they become a norm. A physical spotlight that is trained on the player.
The Drill
The key to a peak performance, is a militaristic drill. By bringing pressure into the practice session, the player is readily prepared for the situation. Practice shots are designed by using screenshots of actual matches, setting up the balls to reflect that event and feeding in positive attitude and temperament to produce the best performance. By making the practice session as hard as possible, it will be easier for the sportsperson to deal with situation in the actual match. There may be consequences to missing but the game plan is already in place to deal with it.
All statistics regarding play and life are recorded and reviewed at regular intervals. These are then tailored accordingly and are constantly evolved to a degree of excellence. This plan is designed to create a hunger for success and better things. The individual is set up to succeed and not to fail. However failure is not the end of the world, the player can learn from it and use it as a foundation for success.
