Makes ya wanna quit the game and go bowling

[3andstop]

The past few nights, I've gone onto youtube and watched some snooker matches. Now, of course I've watched them a bit here and there in the past, but, again, in the last few nights I really sat down and watched full matches that went on for hrs.

Great high definition video by the way.

Some of the things that came to mind that I thought I'd share for all your thoughts and comments are as follows.

1. We labor over super custom cues and these guys play with one piece house cues with big wide grain blotches and metal ferrules that look like squeeze clamps. Not to mention tips that look like Elkmasters that have been shaped with a rasp.

2. They pocket balls like super human machines on tables so big that it makes the ones we play on look like kiddie amusement toys. Not to mention they shoot these shots consistently ( and I mean consistently) into thimble size pockets with rounded cushions that reject anything other than perfection.

3. It's no wonder they command the audience and interest they do. The game they play and the way they play it is beyond words. Amazing doesn't do it justice.

4. How in the world is it that when they play on our puny 9' tables they don't run away with world championships more often.

5. On a lighter note ... Wow, they sure mess up some terms. LOL. I think they may have heard our terms incorrectly and morphed them into something else. Like a player making a good shot, they say ... "Top Drawer". Isn't that "Top Shelf" . Or... if the cue ball hits the object ball and then hits another ball, they call it a "Cannon". Isn't that "Carom" . So many more that they say with a straight face. I found their terminology funny.

Anyway, back to the main thoughts here ... These guys are totally amazing and if there is anything to the snooker stance that enhances that outstanding ability to deliver the CB on target from such great distances, I'm gotta look into their way of playing a bit closer.

My humbled applause to these amazing artists. In my personal opinion, they make our best pool players look average. :clapping: ...... :bow-down::yeah:

 

[Black-Balled]

The past few nights, I've gone onto youtube and watched some snooker matches. Now, of course I've watched them a bit here and there in the past, but, again, in the last few nights I really sat down and watched full matches that went on for hrs.

Great high definition video by the way.

Some of the things that came to mind that I thought I'd share for all your thoughts and comments are as follows.

1. We labor over super custom cues and these guys play with one piece house cues with big wide grain blotches and metal ferrules that look like squeeze clamps. Not to mention tips that look like Elkmasters that have been shaped with a rasp.

2. They pocket balls like super human machines on tables so big that it makes the ones we play on look like kiddie amusement toys. Not to mention they shoot these shots consistently ( and I mean consistently) into thimble size pockets with rounded cushions that reject anything other than perfection.

3. It's no wonder they command the audience and interest they do. The game they play and the way they play it is beyond words. Amazing doesn't do it justice.

4. How in the world is it that when they play on our puny 9' tables they don't run away with world championships more often.

5. On a lighter note ... Wow, they sure mess up some terms. LOL. I think they may have heard our terms incorrectly and morphed them into something else. Like a player making a good shot, they say ... "Top Drawer". Isn't that "Top Shelf" . Or... if the cue ball hits the object ball and then hits another ball, they call it a "Cannon". Isn't that "Carom" . So many more that they say with a straight face. I found their terminology funny.

Anyway, back to the main thoughts here ... These guys are totally amazing and if there is anything to the snooker stance that enhances that outstanding ability to deliver the CB on target from such great distances, I'm gotta look into their way of playing a bit closer.

My humbled applause to these amazing artists. In my personal opinion, they make our best pool players look average. :clapping: ...... :bow-down::yeah:

In videos, you are watching the best...so it isn't a fair comparison to compare them to anyone but the best pool players. Who, btw...run out like water.

And as to why the snooker greats don't rob the pool tournaments? Pool ain't that easy.

 

[Ghosst]

1. We labor over super custom cues and these guys play with one piece house cues with big wide grain blotches and metal ferrules that look like squeeze clamps. Not to mention tips that look like Elkmasters that have been shaped with a rasp.

3. It's no wonder they command the audience and interest they do. The game they play and the way they play it is beyond words. Amazing doesn't do it justice.

4. How in the world is it that when they play on our puny 9' tables they don't run away with world championships more often.

5. Or... if the cue ball hits the object ball and then hits another ball, they call it a "Cannon". Isn't that "Carom" . So many more that they say with a straight face. I found their terminology funny.

1. They are Elkmasters shaped with a rasp...

3. They command an audience because they play to the kind of perfection most can only dream of, in a society that has very different values than the west. They don't have to break a cue to get people to watch.

4. Those puny 9' tables have gigantic boulders that are very hard to move.

5. A cannon is not a plant, nor is it something that's potted as in a carom. Different shots.

5b) Their English is older than ours, the west made it go pear-shaped. (A little English terminology for you).

Vitamin .... not vite-a-min, but Vit ... a .... min
Aluminium .... sound it out ... Alu ... min ... ium...
Snooker is not Schnokar! anymore than Snoo is Schno.

 

[krupa]

But in England, bowling lanes are narrower, with bigger gutters, and a teeny-tiny ball...

 

[ShootingArts]

well, a few things to consider

The past few nights, I've gone onto youtube and watched some snooker matches. Now, of course I've watched them a bit here and there in the past, but, again, in the last few nights I really sat down and watched full matches that went on for hrs.

Great high definition video by the way.

Some of the things that came to mind that I thought I'd share for all your thoughts and comments are as follows.

1. We labor over super custom cues and these guys play with one piece house cues with big wide grain blotches and metal ferrules that look like squeeze clamps. Not to mention tips that look like Elkmasters that have been shaped with a rasp.

2. They pocket balls like super human machines on tables so big that it makes the ones we play on look like kiddie amusement toys. Not to mention they shoot these shots consistently ( and I mean consistently) into thimble size pockets with rounded cushions that reject anything other than perfection.

3. It's no wonder they command the audience and interest they do. The game they play and the way they play it is beyond words. Amazing doesn't do it justice.

4. How in the world is it that when they play on our puny 9' tables they don't run away with world championships more often.

5. On a lighter note ... Wow, they sure mess up some terms. LOL. I think they may have heard our terms incorrectly and morphed them into something else. Like a player making a good shot, they say ... "Top Drawer". Isn't that "Top Shelf" . Or... if the cue ball hits the object ball and then hits another ball, they call it a "Cannon". Isn't that "Carom" . So many more that they say with a straight face. I found their terminology funny.

Anyway, back to the main thoughts here ... These guys are totally amazing and if there is anything to the snooker stance that enhances that outstanding ability to deliver the CB on target from such great distances, I'm gotta look into their way of playing a bit closer.

My humbled applause to these amazing artists. In my personal opinion, they make our best pool players look average. :clapping: ...... :bow-down::yeah:

First let me say I love snooker and wish every pool hall had at least one snooker table.

1. They are playing with super custom cues too. If they are jointed the joint is usually in a different place and they do use some one piece cues. One piece cues are often better than two piece cues and I'd rather play with a nice house cue than a jointed cue anytime. The joint makes a cue easy to tote and there is something to be said for playing with the same cue set up to suit you all the time. Back to snooker cues, damned if I know why they use metal ferrules and why they often prefer a badly mushroomed tip is one of life's little mysteries.

2. The game played right is played on what is effectively a six foot table, smaller than anything commonly played on in the US. In addition the last six balls are usually in the same place making it a drill that every pro snooker player has shot countless times.

4. We play the whole table nine foot tables plus it is a much different game, apples and oranges to a large degree.

Snooker is a more difficult game to play than pool. When a pool player first tries snooker it seems vastly harder because of the differences in how the tables play. Once someone learns how to play snooker and how to play the table, I think they will find out that it isn't vastly harder to play, just different.

Hu

 

[Neil]

................

 

[itsfroze]

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.

Really ask Allison Fischer and Karen Corr about that.

 

[BasementDweller]

I tend to agree with the OP's sentiments.

3andstop: Play around with that snooker stance. There are definitely a lot of positives to it. I've converted over to it for the most part. I can't quite get all the way there.

I love the technique that involves 4 points of contact that the cue stick has with your body (grip, chest, chin, & bridge). If you use this technique it sort of creates a nice channel for your cue to glide in. This keeps the cue very straight and gives you immediate feedback when you go offline. I think most people think getting your chin down on the cue is solely for aiming, but I think this is more useful as a cue alignment aid.

Check out some of Sean's (sfleinen) posts regarding the snooker stance. There's some great stuff to be read.

I'm really amazed how straight pool players can shoot without using the snooker stance, especially the older guys that played standing nearly straight up. There's just not as much feedback when you shoot this way, in my opinion. But I guess with pool you just don't need the level of precision that snooker players do.

I think if during the course of the snooker player’s development they just spend a bit of time learning how to break the balls the American way they would be able to more easily compete with the pool players on the big stage. Unfortunately for them, the break is just too big of an obstacle for them to overcome, that's not even mentioning the patterns and safety play. I think they could much more easily learn the patterns and safety play aspect but I haven't really seen too many of them be able to break the balls that well for some reason.

Just my random thoughts.

 

[sfleinen]

1. They are Elkmasters shaped with a rasp...

3. They command an audience because they play to the kind of perfection most can only dream of, in a society that has very different values than the west. They don't have to break a cue to get people to watch.

Very true. Although, one need only to look at the Mosconi Cup, and see that the European audience can give the west the orange crush in their desire for drama in the matches. Earl is absolutely loved and despised at the same time -- by the European audience, no less!

4. Those puny 9' tables have gigantic boulders that are very hard to move.

5. A cannon is not a plant, nor is it something that's potted as in a carom. Different shots.

Also true. Here in the west, we refer to it as "bumping into" a ball. This is especially talked about in the sport of 14.1 (straight pool), since a common and respected technique is to bump (or "cannon") a ball into a subsequent key-ball or break-ball position.

5b) Their English is older than ours, the west made it go pear-shaped. (A little English terminology for you).

Vitamin .... not vite-a-min, but Vit ... a .... min
Aluminium .... sound it out ... Alu ... min ... ium...
Snooker is not Schnokar! anymore than Snoo is Schno.

Some more oddities to add to the list:

• "Double" -- that's when the object ball rebounds off a cushion before being pocketed (potted). Here, we call that a bank shot, because in the old days, the cushions were referred to as the "banks" on the table (in the same way we say the shores of a river are the "banks" of the river).
  
• "Top hat" -- this is a two-cushion bank shot, because the path the object ball takes is "shaped like a gentleman's top hat."
  
• "Fish" -- this is a 3-cushion bank shot, because the path the object ball takes resembles the rudimentary shape of a fish: ><>
  
• "Plant" -- this is what Brits call a combination shot. In snooker, this is accomplished exclusively with the red balls, since any involvement with a color ball is a foul.
  
• "Potted Plant" -- this is the outcome of a successfully executed combination shot. (Ok, ok, I made that one up -- darn it, I couldn't resist!)

Interesting questions:
1. What term would Brits coin for a two-cushion bank shot that doesn't resemble a gentleman's top hat in shape? (E.g.: a two-cushion cross-side bank shot, or sometimes called "cross-side, twice.") Would that be a "triple"? Or "double double"?

2. What term would Brits coin for a carom-combination (sometimes happens when going into the reds aggressively, and here in the U.S., is an exploited shot in 14.1)? Would that be a "cannoned plant"? (Sounds like someone trimmed a geranium with a Howitzer. )

3. How about tickies and carom shots? (I smile at the possibilities. )

P.S.: folks may find the following etymology of the words "aluminium" (British) and "aluminum" (American) very interesting reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum#Etymology


-Sean

 

[Black-Balled]

Really ask Allison Fischer and Karen Corr about that.

Please seek your answer from Jasmin and GYK. Or Steve Davis.

 

[Ghosst]

Very true. Although, one need only to look at the Mosconi Cup, and see that the European audience can give the west the orange crush in their desire for drama in the matches. Earl is absolutely loved and despised at the same time -- by the European audience, no less!

Yes, but the Mosconi cup is more of a footie match than a gentleman's sport. And hooligans gravitate toward their own.

• "Plant" -- this is what Brits call a combination shot. In snooker, this is accomplished exclusively with the red balls, since any involvement with a color ball is a foul.

A plant is usually when the two (or more) balls are frozen though. It's rare to see a true "combination" played with intent.

Would that be a "triple"? Or "double double"?

I've heard it called a "Treble", never a "Triple".

3. How about tickies and carom shots? (I smile at the possibilities. )

I've yet to see either played intentionally. I'm sure it's happened somewhere. I'd be interested to hear what that would be called.

P.S.: folks may find the following etymology of the words "aluminium" (British) and "aluminum" (American) very interesting reading

My spell-checker is American, and I can't stand to see that wavy red line under my proper spelling of colour and flavour so I often revert to crips'n'bloods yo, to satisfy the innarwebz.

PS: Thanks for the laughs ... it will make my morning meeting more bearable to hear "Oh, and that's a bad miss!" playing through my head while we discuss sales figures...

 

[Black-Balled]

..My spell-checker is American, and I can't stand to see that wavy red line under my proper spelling of colour and flavour so I often revert to crips'n'bloods yo, to satisfy the innarwebz.

PS: Thanks for the laughs ... it will make my morning meeting more bearable to hear "Oh, and that's a bad miss!" playing through my head while we discuss sales figures...

That's wack, yo. Word. Yo... wack...playstation.

 

[BobTfromIL]

Isn't draw called "screw"?

Snooker is similar to pool and where I play most of the players
are really playing pool as opposed to snooker. By that I mean they take
wild shots you'd never or very rarely see in a top snooker match.
Of course we only have a 5x10 table so maybe it isn't quite the same as a 6X12.

 

[Ghosst]

That's wack, yo. Word. Yo... wack...playstation.

'brellas are fo dwizzle!

Isn't draw called "screw"?

spot-on ol' chap.

Of course we only have a 5x10 table so maybe it isn't quite the same as a 6X12.

5'x10' is the beer-box of snooka.

 

[FastManners]

Please seek your answer from Jasmin and GYK. Or Steve Davis.

Erm.... didn't Allison Fisher dominate women's pool for the best part of a decade?
Steve Davis never played much pool, as quite frankly there is no money in it. I am not saying he would have had the same affect on pool as he did snooker, but there has never been an incentive for any top snooker player to switch to pool full time, because of the lack of earnings.

Top twenty snooker earnings for the money list (over two years) up to 2/19/12, below (in GBP): -
1 John Higgins 6 £454,388
2 Judd Trump 3 £380,397
3 Mark Williams 2 £276,914
4 Mark Selby 1 £276,763
5 Neil Robertson 5 £225,738
6 Shaun Murphy 4 £214,510
7 Ding Junhui 7 £188,028
8 Ronnie O'Sullivan 14 £185,456
9 Stephen Maguire 8 £159,539
10 Mark Allen 10 £148,076
11 Allister Carter 13 £142,583
12 Stuart Bingham 16 £129,625
13 Martin Gould 11 £129,237
14 Graeme Dott 9 £119,027
15 Matthew Stevens 15 £117,154
16 Stephen Lee 12 £110,132
17 Ricky Walden 18 £107,811
18 Peter Ebdon 26 £90,987
19 Marco Fu 21 £90,710
20 Jamie Cope 23 £89,465

 

[Underclocked]

When I watch the major snooker tournaments, it simply makes me want to play snooker. Very little opportunity to play nowadays. The 6x12 tables are as rare as hen's teeth in the US and 5x10 versions (that used to be in nearly every midwest town) and are all but a thing of the past.

Would love to see a resurgence of the game in the US. Energy and floor space costs pretty much rule that out, I'm afraid.

There are some things about the international rules that bother me a bit as they seem to stifle the pace of the game. No rail required, the frozen ball rule, the free ball... those things are foreign to this ol' hillbilly snooker player. But I could adapt.

 

[jamesroberts]

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

 

[hang-the-9]

Really ask Allison Fischer and Karen Corr about that.

Women vs. Men, different game.

 

[RunoutJJ]

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

The only thing I find dreadfully boring about snooker is the safety play. At least in 9a ball it can be really exciting with the return kick safes

The exciting parts of snooker is when one player is on huge break or burst!!! Watching them spread out the reds and fire the colors in the pockets is well exciting!! The precise angles and postional play is top rate to play like this and a pleasure to watch. The Rocket is bar far my favorite snooker player in the world. The man is truly a legend!!

When the WSC is on over 4 or 5 million UK residents are watching it!! It must be pretty exciting to get an audience of that size!!

 

[TheThaiger]

The only thing I find dreadfully boring about snooker is the safety play. At least in 9a ball it can be really exciting with the return kick safes

The exciting parts of snooker is when one player is on huge break or burst!!! Watching them spread out the reds and fire the colors in the pockets is well exciting!! The precise angles and postional play is top rate to play like this and a pleasure to watch. The Rocket is bar far my favorite snooker player in the world. The man is truly a legend!!

When the WSC is on over 4 or 5 million UK residents are watching it!! It must be pretty exciting to get an audience of that size!!

To be fair, there's sod all else on.