Ronnies got it right

Slasher

Slasher

KE = 0.5 • m • v2
Silver Member
A quote from Ronnie about slow players being the death of the game.
He's absolutely right imo, people don't wanna watch paint dry and the game don't owe them a living, it's entertainment, so entertain !


"O'Sullivan said he has had enough of long matches that he believes are driving away the public.


I'm in the business of entertainment, and that's what I want to do

Ronnie O'Sullivan

"I'm going to play like that all the time," he said. "Playing like that has given me the enthusiasm to play. I want to make a difference and help to make snooker a big sport again.

"I don't want to be the person blamed for bringing snooker down. Something needs to be done so that people don't want to turn their TVs off.""

The whole article here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/snooker/5266720.stm
 
I always find Ronnie entertaining, but I don't know how you can go about what he wants. There will always be slow players playing the game.

Shortening the matches allows weaker players to compete and win which would make a mockery of the sport.

I remember Ronnie said once that he would like a 15 second shot clock put in effect. That would be insane. Even when I play slow I'm fairly fast, but I don't think I would be able to keep up with that.

But he is right, slow play makes people turn the channel. That is why I firmly believe that tournaments should be broadcasted like golf. Watch a rack or two from one match, then switch to another match. You can keep people updated on the entire tournament as it plays out. And best of all people will not be tuning in and find themselves watching a player taking 5 minutes on his/her pre shot routine.
 
There are slow players and there are slow players, it should be some rules against people who drag a match out to infinity. As a pretty fast players it makes me play poorer when i play a really slow player, it makes me loose my rhythm. And i switch channels when a match comes up and the one of the players is a known slow player, it just bothers me to watch them walk around the table and watch and watch and watch and watch the balls... It.s Ok to take your time on some shots, but not on all shots all the time.
 
Shot clocks

30 second shot clock is good, and the one extension is okay too, and I think even at the very amateurish levels, that taking more than 2 minutes should be loss of the current game.

Although not directly related, when I was younger I could never quite make up my mind on what particular stroke to break the balls, I always stroked them till 'it felt right'. The problem was I felt different at different times, so the hit stroke on my break was erratic, plus at times, I balked (going to hit and pulled up), and it left me unsettled for playing out the game. So, I decided I had to 'cuire' that once and for all, so I practiced a prebreak routine I implemented, 4 'rough' strokes, 5 'smooth' strokes, and then break.
To this day, it has become 'second nature' to me now, and I get in position, and begin my prebreak routine before breaking. It has worked out well for me.

My point is, that these slow players have to develop preshot routines that they can live with, and that are within reasonable time limits for playing.
Some people would NEVER truly make their mind about some shots if left to their own devices, and therefore should have limits determined by the sport to be maximum limits allowed.

If a player is painstakingly slow, to me, their mental approach to analyzing the table layout, and how to shoot the shot is WRONG. The basics of Pool are NOT THAT HARD to grasp, and english is NOT THAT MYSTERIOUS. If beginning players would just grasp that english on the cue ball is almost like a sterring wheel on a car, the concept is not difficult to master.l

As I have stated previously, many people would benefit their Pool game from taking a 'logic' course rather than just playing. It would give them the right tools to correctly analyze the table layout, and decide on the proper course of action.
 
"Slow Play"

Most sports psychologists would probably that say that a person should play as quick as is possible for their personality. In a sport very similar to pool - golf - the consensus of PGA players and their instructors is that you should do all your thinking and visualization before you set up to the ball. Once your set up is complete and comfortable - fire away!

In other words - no thinking allowed once your pre-shot routine is finished.

There are a few golf tour pros that are known to be extremely slow. Most other folks don't even want to play with them at all!!! Even watching them on TV is a bit uncomfortable.

"Sanpshot" is right on in his comments about "logic" and the "preshot routine"!
 
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slow is painful

Last year, at one of our Fast Eddies tournaments, we had a player from Oklahoma who plays very well, but, at times can be pretty slow. I have never thought it to be a form of stalling or sharking, just slow.
He was in a tight match with an up and coming youngster and the score was tied at about 4 (race to 9) and it was Okies break. He got down and stroked the ball a ridiculous number of times. So many that the crowd was starting to rock back and forth anticipating the hit. Suddenly he stood up and walked away and then approached the table again. This time, John Hager and I started counting. We counted something like 58 strokes and suddenly he stood up again. This time, being the TD I walked over to him and asked what the problem was. He said he didn't know, he just couldn't let go. I knew you were going to come over and say something though. I said well, why don't you let go instead of worrying about what I'm thinking? He agreed, got down and took about a dozen swings, let go, made 3 balls on the break and ran out. John and I almost cracked up.
About a year later, we held a one pocket event, and the Okie entered. This time I was watching and waiting.
He was playing a certain Canadian (race to 4) and they got off to a bad start 1st game. This time I didn't hesitate and put them on a 45 second clock.
It still took almost 2 hours. Timing them with my wristwatch was the most brutal thing, as a TD, I have ever done. He won the Tournament which ended 9 AM.
Afterwards, he came to me and said, you know, I think I play a little better when I step up my tempo.
 
Pace for me is A#1 most important. Too slow, and theres too much mechanical thinking, too fast (which is rare), and there's too many mistakes. Playing quickly helps me dog proof it. Most people who watch me say I play real fast.

I read a book about our brains processing speed, and the different ways we analyze what we see. I had a 4x speed by this books description and tests, which is really fast, and I figure thats why I play fast. The book also had a cool test for spacial awareness, which I tested real well on also. Put them together on the pool table, and I play fast!:D

I used to get slow played while gambling, because everyone knew I couldn't stand slow play. So, I started to take/read my notes when people played slow to keep my mind busy. It worked great, and wasn't distracting to the other guy, but if they were going to play games, I needed to do something!:D

Gerry
 
When I was taking acting classes in New York one of the teachers would constantly say "nobody pays to watch boring". Don't think that he was entirely right though, look at baseball, or James Dean, or even Marlon Brando at times. I think anyone will pay for greatness and greatness is sometimes slow as hell.
 
I agree with Ronnie on the fact that something has to be done to improve the quality of matches. A 15 second shot clock is ridiculous IMO, but something along the lines of a 30 second shot clock with an extension per rack would be more fit, but reguardless something has to be done about the players that take five minutes to figure out a three ball pattern.
 
Comments ....

KCarson said:
Most sports psychologists would probably that say that a person should play as quick as is possible for their personality. In a sport very similar to pool - golf - the consensus of PGA players and their instructors is that you should do all your thinking and visualization before you set up to the ball. Once your set up is complete and comfortable - fire away!

In other words - no thinking allowed once your pre-shot routine is finished.

There are a few golf tour pros that are known to be extremely slow. Most other folks don't even want to play with them at all!!! Even watching them on TV is a bit uncomfortable.

"Sanpshot" is right on in his comments about "logic" and the "preshot routine"!
Click to expand...

I miss Chi Chi Rodriquez!!! ..... ROFL ... lol :D
 
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