what do you do about a slump?

[Chaos]

horrible things, slumps.
They can occur pretty much at any time for any reason, and its up to you to take them down or get out of the game.
Of course, not playing Go isn't a real option
So, I want to know how you guys get over them.

For me, I try to play very complicated games, where reading ahead means more than territory. And I try not to back down from anything.
If I'm in a slump and play for territory, I think it makes it worse.

There's also something to be said for solidifying my fighting spirit when I'm not feeling confident. If I can do that, I can even bring a half slumped game close to the acceptable range.

[EdLee]

Very popular question. Among others.

It depends on what Go means to you. For most of us amateurs,
we are playing "for fun" -- still, there are different groups:

• those who have little or no desire to improve;
• those who have a strong desire to improve;
• and the continuum in between.

Where are you in this continuum ?

If you have little or no desire to improve -- and just want to "enjoy" the game,
enjoy watching other people's games, and enjoy other aspects of it, not concerned about improving --
then what is the meaning of your question ? What's so horrible about slumps ?

If you just continue to play, even without any work or study, eventually
you'll settle to where you'll win-lose 50/50. Slump over.

If you have some desire to improve, then how strong is the desire ?
Is it strong enough that you will study regularly, maybe even find a good teacher at some point ?
Often, going back to the basics is important.

• What does Go mean to you ?
• How much effort have you put into Go ? How much effort will you put into it ?
• If you are "stuck" for a long time, are you going to seek external help (say, look for a good teacher) ? Or, will you continue to work at it by yourself ?

Another continuum:

• Maybe you're very close to a breakthrough. Maybe all you need is someone to open a door or two for you, and you can get out of your current "slump".
• Maybe you're nowhere near a breakthrough.
• And again, the continuum in between.

Where are you in this continuum? Do you think you can figure out on your own where you stand in this continuum?
Or do you think you need external help (say, a good teacher) to help you figure it out?

If you happen to find a good teacher (or 2, 3, or more) and they look at your games
and your moves, and they think you need a ton of work on your basics, and that
it may take a year (or 2, 3, or more) just to unlearn your biggest bad habits,
just to fix your most basic fundamentals,
will you commit to the regular lessons for a year (or 2, 3, or more) ?

If Go is long term for you, and you're committed to long-term improvement,
then what's so horrible about slumps ?

What does Go mean to you ?

[Chaos]

Really great answer, I'm impressed by all the time you must have put into it. ^^
As for me, I'm a player that aspires to constantly improve.
Go has gotten more and more fun with each rank I've gained. (well, the rank isn't what matters. But with each nuance of the game I've started understanding) And so I want to keep moving up, and find even more fun, and even more depth. I'm determined to work through any slumps I might come upon.
As long as I study every day I'll certainly move forward.
Admitted when I do hit one, inevitable or not, it totally bothers the crap out of me.

[daal]

A slump is usually not caused by one thing, but is a coincidental concentration of regular reasonable reasons for losing games. Unfortunately, this tends to have the side effect of creating a psychological factor of doubt and insecurity as to one's ability. This alone can perpetuate the slump. The main thing I do in such a situation is try to start the next game when I'm feeling fresh, perhaps after drawing some inspiration from somewhere or other, and do my best to win it. It only takes one game to end the slump.

[Ortho]

I try to make different mistakes from the ones I am currently making.

[SoDesuNe]

Just do the same as before. If the slump takes more than a month then I would think about my study regime and if I could tweak it.

Most of the times it's just stuff like having too many other things on my mind to really focus.

[wineandgolover]

Embrace the math. Accept that slumps can and do happen randomly. Assuming you are correctly ranked, after you lose a single game, the odds of your slump hitting five games are one in sixteen. It happens.

Likewise and sadly, winning streaks don't mean you are suddenly brilliant either.

So don't worry too much. Take a break if your mental state is wrong. Your next game is fifty-fifty.

[EdLee]

As long as I study every day I'll certainly move forward.

Yes, mostly. ( If you study in some ways, it's also possible to not improve, unfortunately. )

( Just like paddling against the current: not only is it possible to stay stagnant,
but in some cases, you may actually regress. -- ancient Chinese saying. )

[Boidhre]

Embrace the math. Accept that slumps can and do happen randomly. Assuming you are correctly ranked, after you lose a single game, the odds of your slump hitting five games are one in sixteen. It happens.

Likewise and sadly, winning streaks don't mean you are suddenly brilliant either.

So don't worry too much. Take a break if your mental state is wrong. Your next game is fifty-fifty.

It's even more than that. Two 3 kyus aren't the same strength, they're just within a stone of one another (I not even sure it means this). Someone's rank is a guesstimate of their average play level, depending on how this is worked out and the strength we're talking about the variance could be rather large. Play when you're tired, upset, drunk or whatever and most people won't play at their real strength. This could be affecting you in losing run or your opponents in a winning streak. Finally most people don't have even strengths, five very aggressive players in a row could mean an increased chance of a win streak, five very solid players an increased chance of a losing one. Varying from person to person.

I think the chance of someone having a five game losing streak would be much greater than 1/16. Especially if those games were played in quick succession on the same day.


I repeat the above to myself as a matra over and over during the bad weeks.

[Chew Terr]

Something that helps me sometimes... Make yourself a goal (beyond winning the game) or pick something to work on. For example, try a new joseki and see how it affects the game as it proceeds. Or just focus on your timing for invasions/reductions. That way, not only are you working on learning/practicing one specific thing, you have smaller goals to focus on so you may stress less about winning or losing. Just something that can help me sometimes.

[often]

start a new KGS account
play your way up to your old accounts strength
if you don't make it, you'll feel indignant and want to play more to prove you can get there
once you get there, you're playing a lot so playing some more isn't a big issue

[Chaos]

start a new KGS account
play your way up to your old accounts strength
if you don't make it, you'll feel indignant and want to play more to prove you can get there
once you get there, you're playing a lot so playing some more isn't a big issue

I like doing this whenever I've had a lot of matches and it starts taking a long time to rank up even when I'm winning a lot.
But, I also really hate peoples hesitation to play a ?kyu. =(

[SmoothOper]

I think it is important to identify the source of the slump first. Perceived, inferior play can happen for a number of reasons.

1) Overall health, not getting proper nutrition or exercise, not feeling well stress, allergies etc.
2) Trying new ideas.
--> a)I haven't got the hang of the new idea.
--> b)The new idea isn't compatible with my overall strategy.
3) Outside distractions, some times I just have better things to do.
4) Getting better ... and opponents are tougher.
5) Not practicing enough, playing too much...


As you can see, most of these causes, I wouldn't consider a serious problem, except overall health. Generally, I don't buy the randomness idea, since it doesn't take into account certain known effects on play.

[emeraldemon]

One other thing to consider: when we lose several games in a row, it can feel like a slump, something that needs correcting. But often it's just that humans tend to perceive streaks trends where there aren't any. Let's say someone plays 20 games over a month and the record is like this:

LLWWLWLWLLLLLWWLLWLL

The player might despair after 5 losses in a row, and even after 20 games the win rate is only 35%. But flipping a coin 20 times will often give you results like this. (In this particular case I used a computer to generate this sequece because I'm too lazy to flip a coin 20 times...) The most likely scenario is that nothing in particular has changed with this player's abilities, they just lost a few more than they won this month.

[Bantari]

One other thing to consider: when we lose several games in a row, it can feel like a slump, something that needs correcting. But often it's just that humans tend to perceive streaks trends where there aren't any. Let's say someone plays 20 games over a month and the record is like this:

LLWWLWLWLLLLLWWLLWLL

The player might despair after 5 losses in a row, and even after 20 games the win rate is only 35%. But flipping a coin 20 times will often give you results like this. (In this particular case I used a computer to generate this sequece because I'm too lazy to flip a coin 20 times...) The most likely scenario is that nothing in particular has changed with this player's abilities, they just lost a few more than they won this month.

Speaking of trends....
If your 'normal' is to have, say, 60% or even 70% win rate over any given month, and then one month comes with 35% - is that a slump, or even significant? I mean, I know about coins, but you can't really flip humans like coins - most are too heavy and it might be against the law.