Makes ya wanna quit the game and go bowling

jamesroberts said:
Isnt the reason snooker is popular is because it is wagered on like football or golf? I dont think its nearly as exciting as pool
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Snooker is popular in Europe, as it is a game that is easily accessible to the general public, everyone can play it to some degree, it is a game that anyone can get decent at and it is widely televised in Europe. The gambling aspect has nothing to do with its popularity in Europe.
On top of that there is one governing body, this has helped television and sponsorship negotiation and given it a prestige to be a professional. A professional is recognized by the governing body as being a professional. Where as in pool it is a complete grey area as to who can legitimately call themselves a professional.
Kids growing up, also know that if they practice every day they could grow up and be like one of the pro snooker players they see on TV, who are idolized as well as making a very nice living.

Pool has a different range of creative shots, so is in itself a difficult game to become exceptional at, however as it is extremely easy to pot balls at pool, it is not easy to see how skilled you really have to be to be a pool great. I think this one of many reasons why pool is not seen as a big ratings grabber.
Snooker people are not fooled in to thinking it is easy.
Also, TV coverage of snooker does a great job of introducing the players to the public (prime time TV appearances, sections of snooker coverage following the players, etc), this makes the public care who wins and loses.
The general public don't give a monkeys who wins and loses a pool match.

I am a fan of both games and i may be completely off kilter with my observations, but i think these are the reasons why the two games are revered completely differently.
 
Neil said:
A lot of people make the same mistake you did. They think that just because it's a pool table and has balls that the games are the same. They aren't. There are similarities, but a lot of differences. If you don't think so, then by your reasoning, the snooker stars should be able to come over here and wipe the floor with our best pool players.

Well, they tried that, and found out differently.;)
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Please elaborate on who "They" were.

Thanks
 
Neil said:
A lot of people make the same mistake you did. They think that just because it's a pool table and has balls that the games are the same. They aren't. There are similarities, but a lot of differences. If you don't think so, then by your reasoning, the snooker stars should be able to come over here and wipe the floor with our best pool players.

Well, they tried that, and found out differently.;)
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Hi Neil.

I am pretty sure a pro snooker player would be way more successful playing pool than a pro pool player would be playing snooker.

To follow your tone, some of them tried, and they couldn't pot a single red in 54537 attempts.

Cheers.
 
TheThaiger said:
To be fair, there's sod all else on.
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Ahahaha well at least people of that magnitude watch at all is far greater than NONE here in the states. Would love nothing more than gettting pissed with the mates and watch the game. who knows may even chat up a bird or two aswell :lol:
 
Neil said:
Ronnie O'Sullivan and Steve Davis gave it the 'ol college try. While Steve did o.k., they both found out what my point was that seems to have gotten lost. They are two totally different games with different requirements for each one. They do not necessarily translate to each other just because you are still shooting balls into pockets on a table.

If you are a pool player, and feel the need to copy someone, you would be better off to copy a pool player, not a snooker player, and vice-versa.
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Both Davis's and O'sullivans foray into to pool were hardly from the heart big efforts to become great pool players. Davis played more to help promote match room events and Ronnies effort was more of a lark than a full blooded effort.
From your sweeping statement it appeared you were saying half the snooker world came to the US and failed.
The only real attempt I have seen is Drago and he has never been considered a real force in snooker with his attacking inconsistent style he only had minor success back in the 90's and although he has not done to bad on his return getting back to 48 I think, he is still finding it tough to get out of the qualifiers. He won the 10 ball event in Vegas a few years back and has a pretty good record in other pro events so I think he could be considered a crossover success.

The real issue with snooker players although they may not go on record saying it is firstly they for most part consider pool a micky mouse game with silly big pockets and secondly there is no money anyway so why would they put their heart and soul into learning it.
 
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I know the feeling you got 3andStop. I remember the same awe the first time I decided "What the hell" and youtube'd a maximum break.

I didn't get to actually try the game until recently. When I saw the videos, I thought "omg, that looks hard, the tables are so f'ing big, the pockets are so small, it's ridiculous."

When I actually played I realized "holy shit, I was wrong, this is so much harder than hard. Hard is a long thin cut on the 9 while frozen to the rail. But this is super hard. I'm not gonna run 3 balls the whole night. Rail cuts don't even exist. I can probably miss a kick ten times in a row if you snooker me good. You need a bridge if you leave the ball in the middle of the table. You need a bridge the size of a javelin. You need a bridge for your bridge.

It's an amazing game, blows my mind to see it. But, it's too much sometimes.

It's like... I enjoy spicy food but I'm not gonna tell the waiter "4 stars, and load it up. I want to leave an in ambulance." I can live with mildy spicy and medium difficulty.
 
RunoutJJ said:
Ahahaha well at least people of that magnitude watch at all is far greater than NONE here in the states. Would love nothing more than gettting pissed with the mates and watch the game. who knows may even chat up a bird or two aswell :lol:
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You'd have to be absolutely shit-faced to chat up the women over here. :frown:
 
Neil said:
If you are a pool player, and feel the need to copy someone, you would be better off to copy a pool player, not a snooker player, and vice-versa.
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To certain extent I agree.
It is very hard trying to copy technique of a good snooker player, let alone a top one. Much harder to copy than "pool style" if there ever was one.
Square stance can be learned very quickly, but pool table is quite low, maybe it won't be comfortable for everyone. Not every snooker player stands fully square anyway. But long backswing where grip opens up and elbow drops slightly to keep the cue on a plane, front pause, back pause, very low number of practice strokes, cue definitely NOT going up and down as with most pool players, that's real deal with snooker technique, the hard part. To really and I mean really play using the chin, not just touching your cue with it from time to time just because you saw it on tv. Very very difficult to make that natural. But if you ever could conquer that, why not?

I would advise against snooker style for one reason only. It takes a lot of time to master, because it is anything but natural and very very hard. Could be counter productive. But then again, if one is willing to put in a time, why not?

I think players who keep their cues from rising on the backswing and are good at it have at least a slight advantage in accuracy. Take a look at 2011 Mosconi Cup. Chris Melling was a snooker pro, just not a top one. I have a feeling that on pure accuracy and shotmaking alone, he beats all players brom both Europe and US Mosconi squads.
 
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predator said:
To certain extent I agree.
It is very hard trying to copy technique of a good snooker player, let alone a top one. Much harder to copy than "pool style" if there ever was one.
Square stance can be learned very quickly, but pool table is quite low, maybe it won't be comfortable for everyone. Not every snooker player stands fully square anyway. But long backswing where grip opens up and elbow drops slightly to keep the cue on a plane, front pause, back pause, very low number of practice strokes, cue definitely NOT going up and down as with most pool players, that's real deal with snooker technique, the hard part. To really and I mean really play using the chin, not just touching your cue with it from time to time just because you saw it on tv. Very very difficult to make that natural. But if you ever could conquer that, why not?

I would advise against snooker style for one reason only. It takes a lot of time to master, because it is anything but natural and very very hard. Could be counter productive. But then again, if one is willing to put in a time, why not?

I think players who keep their cues from rising on the backswing and are good at it have at least a slight advantage in accuracy. Take a look at 2011 Mosconi Cup. Chris Melling was a snooker pro, just not a top one. I have a feeling that on pure accuracy and shotmaking alone, he beats all players brom both Europe and US Mosconi squads.
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Although I strongly advocate snooker fundamentals and stance, I would advise it ONLY for beginners and kids. It is natural.

I see well-intentioned, and gratefully received, advice given on here that is, frankly, terrible for the long-term health of the game.

Too many enthusiastic amateurs. Too little coordinated, unambiguous advice.
 
There is no ONE stance that fits all even in snooker. You can even play the game without wearing a bow tie.
 
Ghosst said:
But, without a bow tie people will jeer, "Right, who let the bloody yank into the hall?" :D
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"Ah, but see, us Yanks don't need a bow tie to 'indicate' that we are a gentleman. You Brits and Canucks need 'em, just like those 'Hi! My name is...' name tags."

See? It's all marketing...

:p :D
 
Whenever I had to wear a nametag I always used something seriously lame on purpose just to get people talking.

Hi, My Name is: Single
Hi, My Name is: Not Important when the lights are out
Hi, My Name is: Way cooler than yours
Hi, My Name is: seedrjkfsdbj kdfg
Hi, My Name is: U Proved It Works - Advertise Here
Hi, My Name is: ROFLCOPTERLOLLERBLADES
Hi, My Name is: Made ya look!

Stuff like that.
 
Ghosst said:
Whenever I had to wear a nametag I always used something seriously lame on purpose just to get people talking.

Hi, My Name is: Single
Hi, My Name is: Not Important when the lights are out
Hi, My Name is: Way cooler than yours
Hi, My Name is: seedrjkfsdbj kdfg
Hi, My Name is: U Proved It Works - Advertise Here
Hi, My Name is: ROFLCOPTERLOLLERBLADES
Hi, My Name is: Made ya look!

Stuff like that.
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LOL -- I do that too!! In fact, I'll write something completely backwards (including the letters themselves) so that one would need a mirror to read it.

Some others:

Hi, My Name is: whatever you'd like it to be
Hi, My Name is: :si emaN yM ,iH
Hi, My Name is: !xobile (see: http://youtube.com/watch?v=LtJozAbC5SY)

:p
 
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