Boro Nut said:
Well I have to disagree. I think Ronnie's top gear is higher than anyone else's and I'm pretty sure every other professional thinks so too. Even Jimmy white never looked as sublime as Ronnie in full flow. But like all geniuses it comes too easy at times, and in snooker as in all sports those that are merely excellent allied to hard work will often carry off the prize at the expense of the more gifted. So far for me Hendry has been the optimum blend of talent and dedication ever, and his record proves it.
Boro Nut
I disagree. 'Natural talent' is something we have absolutely zero understanding of the science, genetics, and biology of, yet we continue to band the term about as if we understand what quantifies it. which we don't. all we end up doing is saying that players who are better looking and are 'flash' characters, and play relaxed and quite quickly around the table, have more natural talent than the players who aren't as flashy. I mean, you say Stephen Hendry has a more ideal blend of hard work and talent than Ronnie, which is a popular opinion. But this is talking as if we understand even a tiny bit of what this suppposed 'natural talent' is, and we can measure it. Basically Stephen Hendry plays a touch slower and more intense than Ronnie, and he's not as much as a flash character, so this equates to him being less talented? Doesn't make any logical sense to me, and the whole thing is just like a
halo effect. We conveniently ignore the fact that ronnie by his own admission and according to people in the game who know, practices for hours every day just like a lot of other professionals do. We like to think he is some genius maverick who is the best in the world without hardly any practice and players like hendry for example, have to slog their guts out on the practice table in order to compete with them.
Not having a go at you btw Boro Nut, this is just a gripe in general i have with the way society bands the term 'natural talent' about like there's no tomorrow, yet don't actually have a clue as to what entails it.
And i'm not having a go at Ronnie either because he is a fantastic player who plays the game to a wonderfully high standard. I just feel that there are quite a few other players who can more than match him, but who perhaps are even slightly handicapping themselves psychologically because even they buy into the belief that Ronnie is 'just more talented that them'.
