The One Simple Change That Took Me to the Semi-Finals of the Doubles Tournament at Oxshott

It felt risky. Unnatural, even.

In my second-round doubles match, I forced myself to do one thing on every single shot:

Keep my head absolutely still and stay down.

Not focus on potting balls.

Not focus on positioning.

But on staying still and delivering the cue – and keeping everything as still as possible.

It’s risky – in a match, but, it’s also a worthwhile test.

Because…

It teaches you if you can do it under pressure – then your brain will be triggered, and it will mean it will become automatic.

No matter what.

There’s always that temptation in a match — especially in doubles — to guide the cue, to “help” the shot, to make last-second adjustments. But this time, I took that out of the equation completely. I gave myself one job and committed to it.

And something interesting happened…

The game slowed down.

Instead of overthinking every shot, my focus narrowed. My cueing felt cleaner. The tension dropped. I wasn’t trying to control everything anymore — just one thing.

Stay still.

We won the match and made it through to the semi-finals. But more importantly, I’ve found something I can take into every frame going forward – – stay down no matter what the outcome of the shot.

If there’s one thing to try in your next match, make it this:

Don’t think about potting. Don’t think about position.

Just give yourself one job — stay still on the shot.

Win or lose, every frame is a chance to learn something about your game.

Last night, I didn’t just win another match. I won a test…

I found a way to trust my cue under pressure.