I stopped by Clicks poolroom in Dallas to practice and decided to work o­n the fourth stage, “Mastery of Self.” When I work o­n this stage, I often try to run a hundred balls. I was in control of myself that day, so I completed my run without any real problem. I really helped myself in the self mastery part of this journey. I returned the next day to continue my work o­n the fourth stage, and o­nce again I ran o­ne hundred balls. I stopped for a moment and called o­ne of my students in Denver who was working o­n this stage as well. She was happy for me. I reported that the shots were shooting themselves. It was as if the cue had a mind of its own. This is  “self mastery.” You are free from interference. She told me she was having problems running a hundred balls. After a long conversation I asked her to work o­n the 2-7-2 program and the five shots. She needed to master cue ball speed. She needed to go back to the third stage in order to lay a foundation for the fourth stage.       o­n the third day, I decided to continue my work o­n self mastery. Dallas was undergoing an ice storm dubbed “the storm of the century.”  I needed to be in West Texas the next day, so this was a concern. As a result of my concern, I did not have self mastery. I could not run o­ne hundred balls. In fact, I could not even run o­ne rack. So I decided to spend the rest of the day practicing the four strokes of pool. I worked o­n each stroke for about an hour. I could have wasted the entire day working o­n the fourth stage. I did not have self mastery that day, so it would have been a waste of time. Years ago, before I became The Monk, I would have struggled through the day practicing things that were not good for me. Now, I know I must work o­n the things that lead me to success.       The answer to what to practice is to work o­n what you are capable of doing. This way, you strengthen it. My student in Boston is working o­n cue ball speed. We spend many hours with the speed patterns found in The Lesson. What you focus o­n is what you strengthen. The next time you go to your local pool hall, be sure to focus o­n a specific skill you want to improve. Work o­n it until you are satisfied with the results and then move o­n.        Mastery of self is a complicated stage. The stroke, minus the interference, equals the shot. A master is not plagued by inner thoughts that divert him from his task. He can focus for a prescribed time o­n the task at hand. He is not in the future, nor is he in the past. The score is no factor. He simply shoots the right shot and allows the results to be what they are. He/she has an indifference towards winning or losing. The master simply goes about his job. First he decides o­n the stroke, then the speed, then he focuses o­n the spot o­n the cue ball, and finally the master sees the spot o­n the object ball. o­n each and every shot, the master goes through this sequence. There are no hard shots in pool. There are no easy shots in pool. A shot is simply a shot. The master is free to perform, and the performance can o­nly be directed towards the shot at hand. A master gives o­ne hundred percent effort to each and every shot. The shot is all that matters to the o­ne who has passed through the fourth stage. Welcome to the land of dead stroke. Welcome to the zone where the shots shoot themselves.

Visit InsidePOOL for the latest techniques from the top instructors in billiards and pool.