using snooker to improve pool game
- Thread starter berlowmj
- Start date
Go for it.
The only way to find out is to give it a try. I've warmed up on snooker tables (w snooker balls) before 9-ball matches, and it seems to help my game. It makes a 9' table feel like a bar box.
The best 9-ball tournament performance I ever turned out was the morning after I had spent about 3 hours practicing on a snooker table. It wasn't really intentional - it was a busy Friday night and the snooker table was the only table available. My first match on Saturday morning, I opened with a 3 pack on a guy that had been torturing me in weekly tournaments for a few months. Partial credit must be given to reading a couple of chapters of "Playing off the Rail" before I went to sleep, and two cans of Lipton Lemon Iced Tea that I drank on the way to the tournament.
Ken
berlowmj said:
The only way to find out is to give it a try. I've warmed up on snooker tables (w snooker balls) before 9-ball matches, and it seems to help my game. It makes a 9' table feel like a bar box.
The best 9-ball tournament performance I ever turned out was the morning after I had spent about 3 hours practicing on a snooker table. It wasn't really intentional - it was a busy Friday night and the snooker table was the only table available. My first match on Saturday morning, I opened with a 3 pack on a guy that had been torturing me in weekly tournaments for a few months. Partial credit must be given to reading a couple of chapters of "Playing off the Rail" before I went to sleep, and two cans of Lipton Lemon Iced Tea that I drank on the way to the tournament.
Ken
berlowmj said:
True, but it's a great read, and I always found it inspirational. Back then, I was continually learning and improving. I did manage to glean a few tips from the book along the way. What made it more interesting was the fact that I was familiar with a lot of the characters and pool rooms depicted in the book.
Ken
My experience has been that playing Snooker does wonders for your Pool game. Going from a Snooker table to a 9 foot table is like going from a 9 footer to a bar table. Play a few hours of Snooker. Then go play some pool. The balls will look huge, and the pockets will look like buckets.
i dont like pool balls on the snooker table, they dont bank properly, useing the snooker balls is fine and yes it should help your pool game, it will teach you to take your time and aim and not take anything for granted. Just play regular snooker with snooker rules and that's all you need. I like snooker more than pool anyways.
How true...snooker will expose every flaw in your game....Fatboy said:
Like everyone else I agree that snooker helps your pool game. One of my best win streaks in pool was after I came back from a trip to Australia where I played snooker for a couple of weeks. The pool table pockets looked like basketball hoops for about a month. But more importantly, Snooker will improve your mechanics immensely.
i play snooker every sunday afternoon at this pool hall, and then they have a pool tournament that evening. it really does help you iron out your stroke, and the 9' table looks tiny, the pockets huge, and shots are much easier. i've played great pool after playing snooker for a couple hours. i find that this effect only lasts for a couple of hours though, too bad!
It's 25 cents per person (loser pays) for a game where I live.predator said:By playing a little bit of snooker I've learned that I can't hit centre of the cueball with any consistency.
I'm sure that would change with more exposure to the game. But table time for snooker is so expensive where I live...
I partly disagree with Fatboy.
I practice on snooker tables mostly with pool balls and it is even more helpful in all areas of my game. I am not that concerned with how accurate the bank shots are on it. I do everything from drills to simply pocketing ball to sharpen my aim. I roll out a rack of balls and keep all of them at least 6 inches off the rails and try to run the rack then roll them out again. I do straight shots also of all different lengths. I try to do 2 hour sessions. I don't have a lot of free time and stopped playing pool for about 4 years and snooker with snooker or pool balls has quickened the time to get my ball pocketing skills back.
I actually would like to hear if any has had any bad results since I have only ever heard good things about it.
I practice on snooker tables mostly with pool balls and it is even more helpful in all areas of my game. I am not that concerned with how accurate the bank shots are on it. I do everything from drills to simply pocketing ball to sharpen my aim. I roll out a rack of balls and keep all of them at least 6 inches off the rails and try to run the rack then roll them out again. I do straight shots also of all different lengths. I try to do 2 hour sessions. I don't have a lot of free time and stopped playing pool for about 4 years and snooker with snooker or pool balls has quickened the time to get my ball pocketing skills back.
I actually would like to hear if any has had any bad results since I have only ever heard good things about it.
I think that it can sharpen your pocketing skills, but you need to be careful what you aim at. Do you pick a specific point in the pocket? The pockets are shaped quite differently.VKJ said:
The other major difference I can think of is that if you are using side spin, the reaction you get on the cloth -- swerve and loss of spin with distance -- is going to be somewhat different on snooker cloth.
I can think of three differences, one being the cut of the side pocket, which allows for very steep side pocket cuts to be made on a snooker take, while on a 9 foot, the sharp corner of the jaw makes this shot impossible.
The second difference is the angle off the cushion, along and away from the nap, being quite different than on a 9 foot. The edges of the cushions are flat, and the cushions are backed by a steel block(on most high quality tables), on snooker tables.
Shot selection is different as well. Snooker players usually take shots into the closest pockets. They pot a lot of side pockets shots. 9 Ball players would shoot the ball into a far corner rather than a closer side pocket.
I think practising on a snooker table will definitely benefit one's potting power, but there are more shots on 9 foot.
It you use an ash shaft for snooker, but a maple cue for 9 ball, you may also find the "feel" to be a bit different.
Lastly, snooker tables are higher than 9 foot, so the body line up of a player might have to be adjusted going from one to another.
Richard
The second difference is the angle off the cushion, along and away from the nap, being quite different than on a 9 foot. The edges of the cushions are flat, and the cushions are backed by a steel block(on most high quality tables), on snooker tables.
Shot selection is different as well. Snooker players usually take shots into the closest pockets. They pot a lot of side pockets shots. 9 Ball players would shoot the ball into a far corner rather than a closer side pocket.
I think practising on a snooker table will definitely benefit one's potting power, but there are more shots on 9 foot.
It you use an ash shaft for snooker, but a maple cue for 9 ball, you may also find the "feel" to be a bit different.
Lastly, snooker tables are higher than 9 foot, so the body line up of a player might have to be adjusted going from one to another.
Richard
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The height factor is a big difference! Some pool tables sit way lower than a snooker table & me being tall & long waisted is torture to get dow low on the cue on a pool table. I find a slight upright stace in pool allows a more powerful stroke w/ less effort.