Having played both my take on the snooker vs. pool thing is that snooker players are in fact superb at pocketing and playing shape and at safety play. Not necessarily better than pool players but certainly very accurate.
I would say that comparing top players and comparing amateurs to each other is going to be vastly different. There is no reason why the world's best snooker player has to win in pool against the world's best pool player. There IS a reason why the world's best pool player SHOULD not win against the world's best snooker player in snooker. And that reason is simply shot options. The world's best pool player has less shot options on a snooker table. There is no running the object ball down the rail and swinging the cue ball three rails for shape on a snooker table. There is no hitting the rail above the pocket and drawing the cueball two rails into a six inch zone.
You can watch the snooker players run out the colors which have to be done in rotation and they can run them out as well as a 9/10 ball player does it. Snooker players can spin the ball just as well as a pool player. But there are things on the pool table that snooker players don't know how to do simply because the way their game is played it hardly comes up and this includes knowing how and when to cheat the pocket.
Watch Efren, he is the MASTER of cheating the pocket for position.
Personally I think players can adapt to any table. I mean Shane ran a 7 pack on the TAR table with the 4 1/8th" pockets.
BUT
Again to me it's about how well the table plays and on the TAR table everyone agreed that it would take balls down the rail that were hit accurately. IF a table isn't set right then that's where it gets awkward to me.
That said I watched Chang Jun Lin run out on this table giving me fits so I know it can be done. But I didn't really observe his patterns in reference to the table to see if he was deliberately making different choices.
Anyway, my new goal is to focus on not playing scared and allow my stroke to be fluid (which itself is a problem these days on any table). I don't want to have to duck anyone at the pool room based on the table.
I would say that comparing top players and comparing amateurs to each other is going to be vastly different. There is no reason why the world's best snooker player has to win in pool against the world's best pool player. There IS a reason why the world's best pool player SHOULD not win against the world's best snooker player in snooker. And that reason is simply shot options. The world's best pool player has less shot options on a snooker table. There is no running the object ball down the rail and swinging the cue ball three rails for shape on a snooker table. There is no hitting the rail above the pocket and drawing the cueball two rails into a six inch zone.
You can watch the snooker players run out the colors which have to be done in rotation and they can run them out as well as a 9/10 ball player does it. Snooker players can spin the ball just as well as a pool player. But there are things on the pool table that snooker players don't know how to do simply because the way their game is played it hardly comes up and this includes knowing how and when to cheat the pocket.
Watch Efren, he is the MASTER of cheating the pocket for position.
Personally I think players can adapt to any table. I mean Shane ran a 7 pack on the TAR table with the 4 1/8th" pockets.
BUT
Again to me it's about how well the table plays and on the TAR table everyone agreed that it would take balls down the rail that were hit accurately. IF a table isn't set right then that's where it gets awkward to me.
That said I watched Chang Jun Lin run out on this table giving me fits so I know it can be done. But I didn't really observe his patterns in reference to the table to see if he was deliberately making different choices.
Anyway, my new goal is to focus on not playing scared and allow my stroke to be fluid (which itself is a problem these days on any table). I don't want to have to duck anyone at the pool room based on the table.
