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Anybody here play snooker?

I'm a pretty good pool player... but as others have said, snooker is sooooo much more difficult than pool. I reckon they should increase the pocket size for amateurs, to get more people interested... it would be a great game if you felt you had a good chance with each shot, but you find yourself thinking "there's no flippin way this will go in..."
Again, sounds like Chich.
 
Just watched Ronnie in the UK final, he was amazingly good this evening. One of my favourite sportsmen to watch when he is on top of his game. Hope he plays for many years yet.

The Hoddle of the baize could’ve been a Lilywhite I see!

Last Weekend: Ronnie O'Sullivan in London | Football | Guardian

“I always fancied myself as a bit of a footballer when I was a kid. I even got myself (with the help of my dad) a trial at Spurs - I did all right, but then didn't turn up for three weeks because I was playing snooker, so I blew it really with the Spurs.”
 
I'm a pretty good pool player... but as others have said, snooker is sooooo much more difficult than pool. I reckon they should increase the pocket size for amateurs, to get more people interested... it would be a great game if you felt you had a good chance with each shot, but you find yourself thinking "there's no flippin way this will go in..."

They already do, sort of. It's easier to pot balls on a typical club table than a pro-spec table.

With pool. almost anyone can play it to a degree, because you don't need a good cue action to pot balls on a pool table. The ball travels very short distances, so if you cue action is off, you will get away with it. Once you start playing people really good at pool, they also have good cue actions and hardly miss and then there's a different tactical side to pool compared to snooker. So at a high level, it's a tough game to win, but at a lower level, almost anyone can play and pot some balls.

Snooker, the ball travels much further, so if your cue action is no good, then you won't pot too many.

I haven't played for a few months now, as the guy I was playing against has changed his shifts, so we don't get the time off at the same time. But I seem to reach the 40-break standard quite quickly when I start playing again, which allows me to enjoy the game without being that good at it.

IMO, it's not too difficult to get to a decent standard of potting, it just requires a bit of practice and a little bit of attention to your technique. The hard part, for me anyway, is consistently keeping control of the white. There are only so many tricky pots you can make before you miss. If you watch Ronnie at his best, he will have the cue-ball on a string and keep it under control, always able to screw it back off the cushion with side when he's around the reds and black spot. That's something I'm not good enough to be able to do. It requires even better cueing and the ability to pot balls with lots of side spin (when you play with lots of side, the potting angles change).

You'd be surprised how many good club players there are. Most clubs I've ever played at have had at least a couple of players who could make century breaks. The leap from there is the ability to then do that under pressure against players who are even better. And then the the next step up is to be able to do that under the pressure of competition, then as a pro trying to qualify for tournaments, then infront of TV cameras etc. It just shows how good Ronnie is when you see him on TV making a work of art out of clearing the table at the very highest level.
 
The Hoddle of the baize could’ve been a Lilywhite I see!

Last Weekend: Ronnie O'Sullivan in London | Football | Guardian

“I always fancied myself as a bit of a footballer when I was a kid. I even got myself (with the help of my dad) a trial at Spurs - I did all right, but then didn't turn up for three weeks because I was playing snooker, so I blew it really with the Spurs.”

He's a gooner I think though, isn't he? Kind of kept me from becoming too big of a fan of his when I was really into snooker in the early 00's...
 
He's a gooner I think though, isn't he? Kind of kept me from becoming too big of a fan of his when I was really into snooker in the early 00's...

Probably one of the only sports where you can say the man is as big as the sport and without him, would be detrimental.

The only negative is he’s a gooner.
 
I haven't played for a few months now, as the guy I was playing against has changed his shifts, so we don't get the time off at the same time. But I seem to reach the 40-break standard quite quickly when I start playing again, which allows me to enjoy the game without being that good at it.

IMO, it's not too difficult to get to a decent standard of potting, it just requires a bit of practice and a little bit of attention to your technique. The hard part, for me anyway, is consistently keeping control of the white. There are only so many tricky pots you can make before you miss. If you watch Ronnie at his best, he will have the cue-ball on a string and keep it under control, always able to screw it back off the cushion with side when he's around the reds and black spot. That's something I'm not good enough to be able to do. It requires even better cueing and the ability to pot balls with lots of side spin (when you play with lots of side, the potting angles change).

Out of interest what was that you did that enabled you to go from your first post (of being v poor) to regular 40+ breaks since you restarted?

I play once a week - usually get a couple of mid-20 breaks. I've had 4 x 30+ breaks this year and highest is 40 (5-reds/5-blacks).
I tend to put spin on a fair bit of the time - normally top spin or screw (you have to really if you want to stay in position in my opinion) - mostly I try to make the next shot as easy as possible, sometimes at the risk of missing the current shot.
 
They already do, sort of. It's easier to pot balls on a typical club table than a pro-spec table.

With pool. almost anyone can play it to a degree, because you don't need a good cue action to pot balls on a pool table. The ball travels very short distances, so if you cue action is off, you will get away with it. Once you start playing people really good at pool, they also have good cue actions and hardly miss and then there's a different tactical side to pool compared to snooker. So at a high level, it's a tough game to win, but at a lower level, almost anyone can play and pot some balls.

Snooker, the ball travels much further, so if your cue action is no good, then you won't pot too many.

I haven't played for a few months now, as the guy I was playing against has changed his shifts, so we don't get the time off at the same time. But I seem to reach the 40-break standard quite quickly when I start playing again, which allows me to enjoy the game without being that good at it.

IMO, it's not too difficult to get to a decent standard of potting, it just requires a bit of practice and a little bit of attention to your technique. The hard part, for me anyway, is consistently keeping control of the white. There are only so many tricky pots you can make before you miss. If you watch Ronnie at his best, he will have the cue-ball on a string and keep it under control, always able to screw it back off the cushion with side when he's around the reds and black spot. That's something I'm not good enough to be able to do. It requires even better cueing and the ability to pot balls with lots of side spin (when you play with lots of side, the potting angles change).

You'd be surprised how many good club players there are. Most clubs I've ever played at have had at least a couple of players who could make century breaks. The leap from there is the ability to then do that under pressure against players who are even better. And then the the next step up is to be able to do that under the pressure of competition, then as a pro trying to qualify for tournaments, then infront of TV cameras etc. It just shows how good Ronnie is when you see him on TV making a work of art out of clearing the table at the very highest level.
Yes, I know all that. I still think more people would enjoy it if they made it slightly easier. At present most people get frustrated and drift away. I'm adept at spin, side, swerve, cueing action etc but still find it too difficult in general... would be more encouraging if you could really build breaks regularly rather than once in a lot of attempts
 
Yes, I know all that. I still think more people would enjoy it if they made it slightly easier. At present most people get frustrated and drift away. I'm adept at spin, side, swerve, cueing action etc but still find it too difficult in general... would be more encouraging if you could really build breaks regularly rather than once in a lot of attempts

I dunno, I wouldn't like them to change it. It's a bit like golf I suppose, you go round the same course as the good players, you just have different expectations of what you score (and obviously you play off a handicap in golf, though in snooker you'd normally play with a 'start' if you were playing against someone much better than you). I get what you are saying, maybe people would like it. For me though, I'd rather play the proper game.
 
Whats the key to a good cue action?

My highest break is 67, so I'm not really qualified to say! I suppose the short answer is whatever allows you to push the cue through in a straight line. They used to say about keeping perfectly still on the shot, which I guess is a good thing to abide by, but then you have Selby who sways all over the place as he cues up!

Roy had a couple of tips near the start of the thread, he's much better than me as his highest break is a century.
 
What a privilege of a match to watch.
Couldn't say the same about the post-match press conference though I had no idea Williams was tattooed so much!
 
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Epic final, turned into a great World Championship really, coz I thought it might be a bit crap with Selby and Ronnie going out early. Brilliant to have a final between 2 legends of the game.
 
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