👋 Hi Kevin. I am currently struggling with direction when shooting. Mostly I tend to miss shots on the left side. My Stand were always skewed to the right a little bit. When I skew my feed even a few cm more to the right it corrects that issue. I do this in tournaments as a „quick fix“ but it lasts only for that day, so this time at the training game I refused to correct my stance and just record myself. I feel like there is something wrong at the release part. Maybe something with my shoulder or timing of release. Usually I have that feeling that my hand snaps into the right position so I know immendiatly if my ball is straight or not. That feeling is totally gone. Would appreciate any feedback.

Reflection and hindsight is often a great viewpoint and taking the time to decompress after a difficult loss is where the greatest lessons often hide. Starting with the difficult loss. I was playing in the triples and we lost semi final to the current UK world championship squad. We went ahead and were in control but I missed 4 shots in the middle to let them slowly get back into the game. My pointing, normally a great and solid part of my game was lacking on such difficult terrains which exposed us more and led to a lack of belief in my ability to perform. I struggled with the communication issues and the fact that I thrive on positive communication and encouragement but this isn’t part of the French way. So my No.1 lesson is I have to be my own cheerleader and not get discouraged if I’m not getting the appropriate support I am used to. I also have to work on my lob and believe that I am capable of playing that shot as when I executed under duress I did play good points. Today’s singles was a different matter as singles can be an evil game. I won against the young Manche shooter who is like a machine and topped the league with 3 wins. I went into the main and played a 95% perfect game with every shot a perfect carreau and sublime pointing. Win that game 13/1 to go into the last 8. Then got out on the most difficult piste against a former partner from Algeria and an outstanding player. I lost to the terrain first and then the player. This is where my game needs LOTS of work to be able to compete on awful terrain and with confidence. In general I was happy but there are always lessons and to go from playing world class boule to a huge disappointment and loss is difficult and will need work.

Today I flubbed a point that didn’t look all that difficult. But… it was the game winner, in the finals, against a team we were not favored to beat. My partner and I had started a great end, and the opponents unexpectedly missed a couple, and suddenly we were holding 4 with only me to play. Wow! Make this throw and go home undefeated! In my excitement I managed to knock the opponent’s ball up, giving them 1 point on that end, and they eventually beat us. As I play more tournaments and my skills improve, I find myself in higher stakes situations more often. Semis and finals against quality competition are less uncommon. Sometimes now I’m in the shooting role or milieu, meaning that something might already be wrong when I step up to play. And when I mess up in those roles, the consequences can seem much worse because you do something that is actively terrible… instead of maybe going a bit short and failing to get the point, now I’m the guy who gives away the game by shooting the wrong ball or pushing the jack to the opponents. I didn’t completely fall apart after today’s f***-up, we did win the next two ends before they put us away. My partner was extremely gracious about it. And thanks to the rest of the team, we won the overall on points differential. But it’s not the first time I’ve failed on an important ball… and it seems hard to train under those mental conditions. I could certainly use your tips and tricks on performing as well on the game-winner as I would in a practice session.

How do I know I have correct boule size? If I compare all manufacturers suggestions and some suppliers my ball perfect size vary from 72-75 mm. (Handlength and longfinger size guides) I have then considered OBUT is the biggest manufacturer so they have probably some experience, and then it should be 73 mm, but in the lower end handsize 82-86 mm -> 73 mm. (I saw a list where many good male player had size and weight listed , and most had 71-73 680-690) Due to my handshape I think I could gain with 72 but how do I know if that is correct size ? Is there any exercise practice to do to decide with size is the correct one or is it only based on feeling ? I started with OBUT Match 73/690 my first ball in my short career, works ok, but when do a high lob or plombing it releases to early, is it size or technique? Then I tested OBUT RCC 72/690 a used ball, but very slippery, ok when hi loob and slippery when plomb, but shooting miss left, size or technique? Now I got MS Master Inox 72/690 to test, it is a used boule so the surface have good grip. Any suggestions how to decide correct size quickly, so I can drop that mental thought and focus on playing better.

I wrote this back in 2008 and all the stuff I was preaching then is pretty relevant now with lots of extras. Maybe I should redo it and publish with video content