[Moozh]

Good post. I've definitely thought about this also. While you seem to think that it's a bad thing that you're great at theory and bad at practice, I don't think you're looking at it the right way.

While I imagine it's possible for someone to master the 'practice' without the theory, I would expect that person to be very rare. I think the addage "learn to walk before you learn to run" applies very appropriately here. You shouldn't expect to be able to immediately turn your knowledge of theory into immedate practical use.

I think learning the theory behind poker is really one step in the development of a player (yes, perhaps obvious). What I want to make clear though is that I think the ability to put this knowledge to use is a completely separate step that comes after mastery of the theory is achieved.

Thus, you shouldn't despair that you post better than you play. I imagine that a vast majority of the people here are the same way. I also think that the practical ability isn't something that is innate, but rather something that must be developed over time. There are two ways to do this.

One is by continuing to post here and to take the time outside of a game to think about hands on multiple levels. This should give you practice with the thought process required during a game.

And thus, naturally, the other step is to make sure you are trying to apply this same thought process that you are developing here to the games as you play. This shouldn't come naturally because you don't start with experience doing it.

Over time, if you make the effort to try and think about hands while you play (and not just let yourself auto-pilot), you should become more and more comfortable at approching hands on a higher level during a game.