Ralf Souquet Comment

TheThaiger said:
No need for me to wriggle out of anything. I've told you how it is - a country with no more than a few hundred players has produced a team of world champions. No need to "exaggerate" anything - just compare and contrast and do the math.

Now, is there anything else I can do for you? You do seem to have comprehension difficulties...
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You Sir will say anything to win your point. Because of that nothing you say holds water for me. You say that American Pool is TINY in the UK but all of the locations have put pool tables in. The Elbow Room is (5) locations specifically geared towards American Pool.

Please stay out of my thread unless you are going to be fair with your inputs.
 
TheThaiger said:
No need for me to wriggle out of anything. I've told you how it is - a country with no more than a few hundred players has produced a team of world champions. No need to "exaggerate" anything - just compare and contrast and do the math.

Now, is there anything else I can do for you? You do seem to have comprehension difficulties...
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Before I take a real strong position one way or the other I make sure I can back it up. So far all you have doen is offered your so called expert opinion.
 
Hungarian Nut said:
You Sir will say anything to win your point. Because of that nothing you say holds water for me. You say that American Pool is TINY in the UK but all of the locations have put pool tables in. The Elbow Room is (5) locations specifically geared towards American Pool.

Please stay out of my thread unless you are going to be fair with your inputs.
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:grin:

I think it is YOU 'saying anything to win your point', not me. All i did was defend the integrity of snooker, which you've backed down on, and state American pool is a minority sport here in the UK, which it quite clearly is. I strongly suggest you back down on that one too.

And wow FIVE (actually four as one has shut down) places to play in the UK. WOW!! The one in Bristol has two 8 footers. WOW!!!

:grin::grin:
 
TheThaiger said:
:grin:

I think it is YOU 'saying anything to win your point', not me. All i did was defend the integrity of snooker, which you've backed down on, and state American pool is a minority sport here in the UK, which it quite clearly is. I strongly suggest you back down on that one too.

And wow FIVE (actually four as one has shut down) places to play in the UK. WOW!! The one in Bristol has two 8 footers. WOW!!!

:grin::grin:
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You are right. I got my info about Bristol from the internet when I was searching for info on the oval table I picked up.

Please tell me how you rate the two players in this video.

Thanks,
Mark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zcedb_yEAk
 
Hungarian Nut said:
A JB reference, now that's funny. We finally agree on something. JB is coming to Houston and wants to play me some $100 / Gm in March. I am going to try to stream it..
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Please do and please beat him. I don't for one minute believe you're as bad as he is, whatever your fundamentals are like.:wink:

Just make sure you wear some headphones or ear protectors as I'll bet he talks you to death.
 
TheThaiger said:
What on earth has that got to do with anything? I've never played snooker regularly enough to score heavily.

For the record, I didn't pick up a cue from learning to cue as a youngster until a couple of years ago, when I started playing American pool quite seriously. I hadn't played snooker for 20 years until the other day, when I got an 80 break at my first visit, on a tight 12x6, with a Carom cue I'd just bought and was testing out.

I, along with 99% of Brits, cue pretty well. The youtube 'tell me how I cue' videos I see linked here make me hold my head in my hands. It's very, very hard to escape the conclusion you lot just can't cue. There are many good US players, but few good cueists, and THAT is the problem here. All the rest is just guff. I suggest America RADICALLY reconsiders its approach to pool - before it's too late.
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So whats your definition of good cueing? Why is it that the Filipinos, who have basically the opposite style of cueing as the Brits are some of the most feared players on the planet? And what about the guys from Taiwan? Some of those guys poke at the ball but they are even money against any other player in the world.

I think that you have a biased opinion of Americans. The evidence is clear that any style of cueing can produce a repeatable stroke. Look at Strickland, in his prime he was arguably the greatest 9-ball player ever but he shoots with a slight twist in his stroke. Efren and other greats were playing in many of the tournaments Earl won.

This is not a knock against any of the Brits or the Euros because you have proven that you have some of the world's best but it's not just because of fundamentals.
 
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For shot making, a snooker stance is usually better. It is more stable and has less moving parts, making it more repeatable and consistent. This works well in snooker because it is unusual that one requires a lot of cue ball movement.

In pool, especially 9-ball (or any rotation game) there is often a greater need to move the cueball around the table. A lot of people find it easier to get the necessary cueball movement by using more of their body. This is most noticed on the break shot, and also on power shots that you would seldom see in snooker.

i also think if you were able to get all the top players to live in a two state area, similar in size to england and they could play each other often that would make a big difference. Its just to spread apart over here and i know of 4 guys that could be pro players but gave up that idea because there is no money in it and just hustle here and there. Growing up i never new of anyone that had a dream of playing pool for a living, we just played for fun and wanted to be a pro athletes if we dreamed. For a country like england and its cue sports which probably holds #3 on popularity in the country, i am very surprised they have not done better in the world of cueing sports and how is it a Scotsman is the best of all time in snooker?
 
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champ2107 said:
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For shot making, a snooker stance is usually better. It is more stable and has less moving parts, making it more repeatable and consistent. This works well in snooker because it is unusual that one requires a lot of cue ball movement.

In pool, especially 9-ball (or any rotation game) there is often a greater need to move the cueball around the table. A lot of people find it easier to get the necessary cueball movement by using more of their body. This is most noticed on the break shot, and also on power shots that you would seldom see in snooker.

i also think if you were able to get all the top players to live in a two state area, similar in size to england and they could play each other often that would make a big difference. Its just to spread apart over here and i know of 4 guys that could be pro players but gave up that idea because there is no money in it and just hustle here and there. Growing up i never new of anyone that had a dream of playing pool for a living, we just played for fun and wanted to be a pro athletes if we dreamed. For a country like england and its cue sports which probably holds #3 on popularity in the country, i am very surprised they have not done better in the world of cueing sports and how is it a Scotsman is the best of all time in snooker?
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Same thing, until they lose at something, then they're definitely Scotch. :wink: Hendry was an absolute monster, however - easily the greatest cuesportsman of all time.

Cuesports are waaaay down the list of popular sports here. Quite a few play English 8 ball in pubs as an excuse to get drunk more often, but it's far from mainstream. We're very fortunate to have the BBC supporting snooker so strongly, but even then it's only 3 comps a year, i think.

I'm not sure how we could've done much better in cuesports tbh. Don't forget, American pool is seen as a game for girls, so isn't widely played. We're dominant in world snooker and English 8 ball and its other small table variants. There really aren't that many serious players here.

Your other points: I think your isolation has been detrimental to the way you've developed your fundamentals, and playing tournaments outside the US will help your players widen their game and outlook. Not sure I agree about power - you need plenty of oomph in snooker as well and the CB needs to travel further as the table's bigger. You need CONTROLLED power, and that requires good cueing. Pockets are becoming smaller in pool as well, so a replicable stroke that's deadly accurate is a must from now on.
 
TheThaiger said:
I'm a little tired of going back and forth on this one, so will throw it back to you by asking are you happy with how your elite players both play and cue?

I wouldn't be.
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My point the whole time is that it's not their cueing. They just don't get enough exposure. European pool seems to be run very well and the Europeans just naturally work very hard and become great from playing in big tournaments all the time.

There is no set cueing "style" that is required to become a great player. You criticized Rodney and Jeremy but when they are out playing all the time they are as good as anyone in the world. Their US Open wins weren't flukes.
 
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