Getting Back To Basics
 

So how’s your game been lately?  SRR still healthy or is it looking a bit anemic?  How about those point-seven hands; becoming more and more frequent?  Not sure what bets to make anymore!  If you answered: bad, anemic, yes, and yes to the above questions then you’re in a slump.  If you answered: bad, dead on arrival, definitely YES with capital letters, and I’m so lost a map couldn’t help me, then you better put a padlock on the piggybank because you need more fixin’ than a twenty year old lawnmower.

OK, now that we’ve identified the problem, how are YOU going to fix it?  My suggestion is simple: Get back to basics!  It doesn’t matter whether your transition from riches to rags has been an overnight thing or (more than likely) a slow, imperceptible decline.  The bottom line is that the mechanics, which you worked so hard to develop, have eroded and you need to re-establish what they were and bring them back up to snuff.

I liken this dice setting problem to my golf game. Each season starts the same way.  Hit the practice range with numerous sessions of hard work and attention on my targeting, ball position, grip, stance, backswing, and follow-thru. After my results improve, it’s time to play a few real rounds at the golf course.  Things usually go well for awhile, but then start to slowly unravel until it gets to the point that I’m actually afraid to swing at the ball!   (Sound familiar, dicesetters?)

To get myself back on track I follow my own advice.  I check the basics.   I go back to the range and start from the beginning. What I normally find is that one or more of my swing mechanics has changed to some degree from what I established on the practice range.  The ball position may have moved an inch or two further ahead in my stance causing me to “top” the ball, or my swing plane may have shifted to an “out-in” movement causing me to slice the ball.  This careful re-examination of the basics always pays benefits and gets my game back to where I want it to be.  There is no difference between this golf scenario and dice setting.

If your “game” has turned sour, the first thing you need to do is go back to the beginning and check your basics.  Look at every element of what you do to toss the dice.

One of the best tools to use in this phase of your recuperation to dice throwing fitness is to check the notes you made during all those winning practice sessions as well as your “in-casino” notes.  If you haven’t kept notes stop here and read my previous article, Notes Notes Notes.  If you’ve done your homework correctly, then you can find out what you did right before and how what you’re doing now is different (and counterproductive).  I’m willing to make a significant bet you’ll find something or things have changed! 

And don’t be surprised if it’s very minor.  Maybe the foot closest to the rail is now pointing away from the table ever so slightly where before it was parallel to the side rail when you made those two consecutive 30 roll hands. It could be that your arm is hanging straight down from your shoulder when you throw instead of being bent at the elbow!  It’s critical to realize that the slightest changes to any element of your throwing mechanics can lead to diminished results. (Read that sentence again because it is very important!)

So, if your game is in the dumps, get back to basics and answer those questions this way:

Running like a fine tuned machine / Couldn’t be better /   Point-seven? What’s a point-seven? Is that a hunting term? /  Hop the sevens for a nickel each!

May the Dice Always Bounce in Your Favor,

Mickey D.

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