Something tells me that you are not a snooker player
One of the most phenomenal shots I've ever seen in snooker
- Thread starter Straightpool_99
- Start date
I'm not a player period. I do pool and also try to eliminate trifling impedance to improvement in whatever the skills involved. Bad psychology in this case. You know the jock mythology. Strive, strive, overcome an inch, strive, strive... etc... There shouldn't be a struggle. The top half of the field can demolish the lower half no sweat. No magic necessary. They got better independently of the grind.Something tells me that you are not a snooker player
You'd be correct in assuming I'm not a <fan> of snooker or pool "jousting" for that matter. There's a reason for Filler and Gorst's prominance. They know their shit, have the chops and ensuing headroom. Quite an accomplishment and good enough for _now_. I look at competition and see hordes of practitioners on their level best - to not lose when their best and perhaps only chance is to not miss - or at the very least miss less. This means everything you shoot should lay as intended; standard shots, safeties, bait, etc...
I know there are countless warriors who've all run into people they can't beat. Play the best they got; only to lose. That's the history if they let it go at that. The guys who beat 'em obviously have ways. Ramble, ramble...
But back to the basics. That shot. Still wondering?
Sorry, I don't follow you (I can be a bit slow at times). What do you mean by bad psychology & jock mythology?
Re the shot, no not wondering. A question put to me by Bob Jewett made me look again and reappraise. Looking at it again, I don't think it likely that the shot as played was exactly what was intended. In that position, you would not attempt to play the shot that thin. It is so, so difficult and the risk/reward equation means that you would aiming it thicker every time. You would try to get the cue ball around the area of the corner pocket, as that is a difficult area for your opponent to play from, and you know that the the green is there and might cut off some options. You also always try to weight to shot so as to finish as close to the balk rail as poss, again on the basis that the closer you are to the rail, the more difficult the lay will be for your opponent. In the event, he hit it thinner than he intended, the cb went the wrong side of the green, more pace was left on the cb after contact and it bounced off the rail. He lucked the final position right behind the green.
Re the shot, no not wondering. A question put to me by Bob Jewett made me look again and reappraise. Looking at it again, I don't think it likely that the shot as played was exactly what was intended. In that position, you would not attempt to play the shot that thin. It is so, so difficult and the risk/reward equation means that you would aiming it thicker every time. You would try to get the cue ball around the area of the corner pocket, as that is a difficult area for your opponent to play from, and you know that the the green is there and might cut off some options. You also always try to weight to shot so as to finish as close to the balk rail as poss, again on the basis that the closer you are to the rail, the more difficult the lay will be for your opponent. In the event, he hit it thinner than he intended, the cb went the wrong side of the green, more pace was left on the cb after contact and it bounced off the rail. He lucked the final position right behind the green.
George the Greek
Well-known member
I'll give him props for not fouling being over the ball but the thin hit and ending behind the green was a fluke.
Bad psych in this case; aggrandizing a natural cue ball path; exaggerating the difficulty, and generally contributing to the mental blockage in sports. For instance, there is very little risk of injury in pool yet people play like there is. There becomes a normalizing of incomplete preparation that depends on the errors of others. This is also tied into jock mythology - does jock wisdom make any sense? It's the same thing.
Yes the shot could be some or all luck - only his hairdresser knows for sure. Half the time in pool you have to dismiss perfect rolls as luck. As far as thinning a ball at 11 feet, no sweat except for the equipment. Jacked up is a challenge but shouldn't be for pros. He did take the shot with all the mythical risks and on that note, he only had to hit the yellow to leave it hooked.
'natural' and 'easy' are quite different things
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There are plenty of positional shots that not natural, but which give competent players no trouble at all. For example the break-off shot. You have to hit the end red of the triangle with strong outside english to get the cb back to the balk rail without hitting the blue. But nobody gives it t a second thought.
On the other hand, there are shots that require no english, just a natural roll, but which are very difficult. The subject of this thread is a good example. Very difficult. No exaggeration
Nobody misses shots because someone else has told them it is difficult. That is not how the mind works in sports. You learn to be frightened of shots missing (the lesson being turbocharged when the miss is important to you, for example in a competition).
For example, when a snooker player first gets on a pool table, he thinks that the pockets are huge and pocketing balls is laughably easy. But that feeling does not last. Once the player has missed a few, has a few battle scars, the shots start to look missable.
It also goes the other way. When a pool player gets onto a snooker table he is fearless in playing balls down the rail, playing them confidently and able to pot them with pace. But after a few wobble in the pocket and stay out, he learns to be as wary of them as regular snooker players are.
As CJ Wiley always says, the game is the teacher.
Agree. This is an evolutionary maladaption. If it is psychologically important to you to play well then fear of missing can trigger a response in the brain response similar to that produced by the perception of physical injury. But that is not specific to pool - it is the same in all competitive sports (golf, darts, whatever).
Not sure I understand you here.
I think we will have to agree to disagree regarding how tough that shot was
@ Siz this a traffic stop? 
I'm just citing concepts. You wanna search the trunk. lol
AGAIN:
The mindset in pool is inadequate. They miss to the point they won't even consider certain shots - pft whole genre of shots.
I'm just citing concepts. You wanna search the trunk. lol
AGAIN:
The mindset in pool is inadequate. They miss to the point they won't even consider certain shots - pft whole genre of shots.