Top Five Ways To Improve Your Mindset—By Anthony Beeler
- Kathryn Day
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read

Sharpening Your Mental Game in Pool
When people think about the “mental game” in pool, they often picture themselves sitting in a chair, visualizing the moment they pocket the final 9-ball to win the U.S. Open. While visualization and controlled breathing are valuable tools, the foundation of mental strength is built through preparation and practice. Many players mistakenly believe that simply spending more time at the table will lead to greater consistency. However, the key isn’t how much time you invest—it’s how you use that time.
You need discipline and focus in your training to develop a strong mental game. Here are five strategies to sharpen your mental approach to pool.
5. Ditch the Headphones
Music can be a great motivator, making practice more enjoyable. But is the goal to get better or just to have fun? Too often, players rely on music to help them focus, always practicing with headphones on. While it might seem beneficial, listening to music during practice does not prepare you for the concentration required in a real match. You won’t have your favorite playlist to drown out distractions during a tournament. Keep the music on in the car if you enjoy it, but when it’s time to practice, train yourself to focus without it.
4. Don’t Repeat the Same Shot More Than 15 Times
Many players perform better in practice than in matches. Why? Because practice lacks pressure and variability. Repeating the same shot over and over grooves your stroke, but it doesn’t prepare you for real match conditions, where every shot is different. Think about strength training—doing the same exercise every session won’t lead to the best results. The same applies to pool. Instead of mindlessly hitting the same shot 20 or 30 times, focus intensely on each attempt and rotate between different shots. If you find yourself losing focus, move on. Keeping your practice dynamic will enhance your ability to adapt and perform under pressure.
3. Turn Practice into a Competition
Pressure is something you feel when you’re uncomfortable. The best way to prepare for match play is to simulate pressure situations during practice. Set goals that challenge you—whether it’s completing a drill within a time limit or running a certain number of racks without missing. When you get close to achieving these goals, you’ll start feeling pressure, just like in a real match. Learning to perform under these conditions strengthens your mental game, making it easier to handle tournament pressure when it matters most.
2. Avoid Dwelling on Mistakes
After missing a key shot, do you immediately turn to a friend to talk about it? If so, you might be reinforcing negativity rather than moving forward. Mental toughness comes from letting go of mistakes and staying focused on the next shot. Dwelling on errors chips away at confidence and keeps your mind stuck in the past. Instead, train yourself to shake off mistakes and reset your focus. In a match, bad shots will happen—it’s how quickly you move on that defines your success.
1. Make 10 Perfect Strokes in a Row
One of my favorite mental training drills is executing 10 perfect strokes in a row while talking through the mechanics of each shot. This drill mimics real-game distractions and forces you to maintain precision under pressure. Talking through the process divides your focus, but it also strengthens your ability to execute under less-than-ideal conditions. When you train yourself to stroke the ball correctly despite distractions, you gain a skill that will serve you well in competitive play.
Final Thoughts
Improving your mental game isn’t just about visualization and breathing exercises—it’s about training your mind to handle adversity, pressure, and distractions. By practicing with purpose, embracing challenges, and learning to move past mistakes, you’ll develop the mental resilience needed to perform your best when it counts. Ultimately, becoming mentally strong in pool isn’t about being perfect—it’s about learning to trust yourself and your process.
A very interesting and accurate article. I like process as the key to mental improvement. Dwelling on or concentrating on results is not a clear path toward improvement. Development and consistently improve your process. Results will take place no matter what happens. Concentrating on your results afford you to take responsibility for what happens. If you maintain your process that is the measuring tool to use for your success. If you perform your best that is winning. Learn to treat winning as an internal process rather than an exterior goal