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Post of the Month - August
This month there was almost unanimous Post-of-the-Month vote for...
I Am Going Mental!
Easy Roller - 03:36pm Aug 20, 2009 PT
GTC Grad Chicago 07, Refresher Grad Vegas 08
Hey All!
Well now with the WCC under my belt it is time to get ready for the next GTC event on my calendar........The Advanced class. I have come to the realization that I have the basic physical elements for the toss down. Is there room for improvement? Yes, but at the same time I feel I can consistently grip the dice properly and deliver them to my spot with some relative consistency. Now what? I believe for me it is the mental aspect that is keeping me from being great at this controlled throw.
I kind of came up with a little idea as far as the make up of the controlled throw. We have heard that the grip is the most important thing as far as the physical aspect is concerned. I would go so far as to estimate that the grip makes up 80% or more of the physical part of the throw. It is the starting point of all great dice controllers. With out the foundation of a solid grip everything else is irrelevant. The grip is the key to dice control…….as far as the physical aspect of the throw is concerned. Now what about the mental aspect of the throw?
I would consider that the mental aspect of the throw is more important than the physical. Once you have your gripping of the dice down to a consistent, repeatable act there is little more you can do to improve it. In fact the more you strive to "perfect" your grip the more you can mess it up. I believe this is where the mantra "trust your throw" from Frank originates. Grip the dice properly and let them go, the result is now "out of your hands" so to speak. Where I have a problem right now is with the mental aspect.
I don’t trust my throw. I am constantly tweaking or changing my grip. I will use a "c" grip to start a roll and sometimes without even noticing I will switch to a more straight fingered grip……during the same roll! During one session with the Mailman this past weekend I even started "flaring" my ring finger away from my middle finger. He asked me after the session what the hell I was doing with my grip since he could see light between my fingers as I was tossing the dice. This ultimately led to a quick discussion in the parking lot as to what I was thinking; in fact we even had dice out and started gripping and discussing our thoughts about grips. In the end I saw the error in my ways as far as the grip is concerned. I would imagine you could ask Mailman about my throw personally and he would say I have a decent toss………when I don’t f@#$ with the grip!
The question remains, why did (do) I mess with my grip, and the only answer I have is that I don’t trust my throw because deep down I think that as a dice controller that every throw should make money. I know this isn’t the case but that is the MENTAL aspect that I need to work on. When I have less than stellar results I automatically go into "tweak" mode and therefore go totally into the crapper.
It is my belief that the mental aspects of dice control are varied but can be broken down into a couple areas.
There is the trust factor which is developed in practice. If a person can consistently deliver a throw that lands in the same spot with the same spin he can begin to trust his throw. I have a good consistent throw I am just too quick to change things when the results aren’t there which leads to inconsistent results. Most of this stems from my Smart Craps results; I have very poor protest results so I sometimes think I need to change things up. This is a wrong way of thinking. If I consistently deliver the dice to my target with a good grip the results will come. I need to trust my throw.
There is the bankroll factor which involves leaving a table when you lose a set amount of your buy in or after a set number of throws. This is an area where I need a lot of discipline. During the WCC I cashed out after four sessions which at least double my buy in……….I still left Vegas with no money. Obviously I am participating in some good rolls, but more importantly I don’t know when to get out of those bad sessions quick enough.
The next mental aspect is focus. When I am in one of the throwing positions I sometimes lose focus too easily. I believe this is due to me not having a specific routine. This past weekend I started doing a little mantra in my head during the setting and releasing of the dice. It was to help me with timing and when I used it and focused on my target good things happened. I had several throws in the 20’s and a couple low 30’s and this was done when my focus was spot on. I had several bad sessions with the dice and this was when my focus was less than it should be, usually when I was getting fatigued. Probably the best template to use would be Dom’s session that I participated in last weekend. His focus was incredible and something I am working on now in my practice.
The final mental aspect for me would be not playing when conditions are not optimum. This could be related to focus in so far as it is hard to focus when you are tired. When the great GTC horde descends upon Vegas it is sometimes hard to resist playing when things aren’t optimum. I played too much when I was tired simply for that fact that I love this game and I love playing it with you all ("y’all" for my Texas Tornado buddies). For example I played until 2 am with SMC Sunday night and got up at 6 to play again………hmmm how rested do you think I was? How focused do you think I was? How well do you think I did? Yep I stunk up the joint and left Vegas with nothing to show except great memories of some great sessions.
Now it is time to get back to work and be ready for October. I am still planning on working on the grip and delivery but I am really going to focus on the mental aspect. This is where my friends come in. I need some ideas on how to do this mental training. What ways do you put mental training into your practice sessions. In what ways has this past weekend impacted your practice? What are you doing now and in the future to be the best dice controller you can be? Any and all comments are welcome.
Easy Roller
Post of Distinction
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