Will playing Snooker make me a better pool player?

M

MuchoBurrito

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I recently played a little snooker for the first time, and I loved it.

However, snooker in my area isn't cheap to play, whereas pool is quite cheap for me. So regardless, I probably won't end up playing lots of snooker.

I did notice however, that when I went back from the snooker table to the 9' to play 9b, it felt like a bar box. I couldn't miss.

Was this just a novelty effect? Or will playing occasional snooker make me a better pool player on 9' tables?
 
Absolutely.
Playing on a table the size of a football field, then moving down to a nine-footer, would make anyone better.
The same principle applies when you go from a tournament size to a bar table. You can make everything in sight. :smile:
 
Playing on a snooker table will mostly make you a better snooker player.

Yes, it will get your potting dialed in a little better, but you will lose out in other
parts of the game.

Mostly, if you want to get better on say a 9-foot pool table practice hard and
dedicated on a 9-foot pool table.

Regards, Dave
 
Snooker will help develop better mechanics and aiming (well for those size balls at least) but will not help you with position.
 
hang-the-9 said:
Snooker will help develop better mechanics and aiming (well for those size balls at least) but will not help you with position.
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Yes, I noticed after playing snooker when I went to play 8 ball on the bar tables, that my position play was terrible. I decided never to go from the snooker table to the bar table in the same day ever again.
 
It all goes in the same pot

Or will playing occasional snooker make me a better pool player on 9' tables?[/QUOTE]

All games compliment the other games. I asked Efren about this in Galveston Texas and he told me that there will be things that come up in every game that some other game helps you figure out.

He is the greatest player in the history of Pool and the best all around player ever, I'm going with what he said.
 
King T said:
All games compliment the other games. I asked Efren about this in Galveston Texas and he told me that there will be things that come up in every game that some other game helps you figure out.

He is the greatest player in the history of Pool and the best all around player ever, I'm going with what he said.
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Yeah, this is also why I want to start playing a little 1p and 14.1 from time to time. Right now I really only play 8b and 9b.
 
I play all the games, except 3 Cushion Billiards. I'd play that, but there aren't any tables around. Playing all the games can help ROUND YOU OUT, as they are a little different.

I also play Golf on a Snooker table with Pool Balls. Golf is a tough game, especially when your 5 opponents knock your ball away from the hole.

When I was young, I mostly played Snooker, great game. When I moved to Pool, the problem I had was no Break Shot... that's no good.
 
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R U Kiddin...?

We have a beautiful Kling Snooker Table, but it has full ball rolloffs from one to the other & they couldn't care less..
 
MuchoBurrito said:
Yes, I noticed after playing snooker when I went to play 8 ball on the bar tables, that my position play was terrible. I decided never to go from the snooker table to the bar table in the same day ever again.
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I think that you will find when you have gone back and forth a few times the transition is much easier. When I was first learning to play I was lucky to have all three kinds of tables were available and I played a variety of games on each table.
 
MuchoBurrito said:
I recently played a little snooker for the first time, and I loved it.

However, snooker in my area isn't cheap to play, whereas pool is quite cheap for me. So regardless, I probably won't end up playing lots of snooker.

I did notice however, that when I went back from the snooker table to the 9' to play 9b, it felt like a bar box. I couldn't miss.

Was this just a novelty effect? Or will playing occasional snooker make me a better pool player on 9' tables?
Click to expand...

Absolutely, though to get the full benefit you may have to work on your stroke a bit. At least I definitely did.

As already mentioned, it won't help your cue ball too much since the patterns and positional routes are completely different on a snooker table. But one thing that made a big difference for me, was simply becoming accustomed to shooting more difficult shots on a regular basis. After a while, the shots that bothered me on the pool table, weren't all that bad anymore. You still can't take anything granted playing pool though.
 
Snooker will help certain kids of shots and should make you a very, VERY accurate long distance shooter.

I wouldn't say it hurts position play for pool, it's just that you get used to certain types of positional shots on a snooker table whereas you need to exploit options in pool that aren't available in snooker. Also when you're new to snooker and the different mechanics of those small balls on a different type of cloth, you tend to play looser position until you understand it, and a snooker table has plenty of room for you to give yourself that margin of error and still build decent breaks.

You use far less sidespin in snooker and tend to want to leave yourself straighter than you'd be comfortable with in pool, relying far more on near-stun to manufacture angles than in pool.

When you get back to the pool table, don't immediately rack up 9-ball. Try some 10-ball or 15-ball rotation to force yourself to execute more of the positional shots that aren't routinely tested in snooker and to reorient yourself to the mechanics of those larger balls.

I use a snooker stance at the pool table and it does give me an edge on 90% of shots but in pool you will be elevating your cue and reaching over obstacles far more often and the snooker stance can be goofy with those shots, so I have to remember to make some adjustments to my grip when I'm reaching over a ball to still get the cue through cleanly. Also don't forget to practice long thin cuts, in pool you often have to take on cut angles that you can leave until later in snooker (or play safe back up to balk).

I think snooker will strengthen certain parts of your pool game but you still have to do a lot of work on the pool table that you can't do on a snooker table to develop the finer points of CB control, if I've spent a week doing primarily snooker I need a few hours on a pool table to get back into the full swing of things.
 
Gorramjayne said:
Snooker will help certain kids of shots and should make you a very, VERY accurate long distance shooter.

I wouldn't say it hurts position play for pool, it's just that you get used to certain types of positional shots on a snooker table whereas you need to exploit options in pool that aren't available in snooker. Also when you're new to snooker and the different mechanics of those small balls on a different type of cloth, you tend to play looser position until you understand it, and a snooker table has plenty of room for you to give yourself that margin of error and still build decent breaks.

You use far less sidespin in snooker and tend to want to leave yourself straighter than you'd be comfortable with in pool, relying far more on near-stun to manufacture angles than in pool.

When you get back to the pool table, don't immediately rack up 9-ball. Try some 10-ball or 15-ball rotation to force yourself to execute more of the positional shots that aren't routinely tested in snooker and to reorient yourself to the mechanics of those larger balls.

I use a snooker stance at the pool table and it does give me an edge on 90% of shots but in pool you will be elevating your cue and reaching over obstacles far more often and the snooker stance can be goofy with those shots, so I have to remember to make some adjustments to my grip when I'm reaching over a ball to still get the cue through cleanly. Also don't forget to practice long thin cuts, in pool you often have to take on cut angles that you can leave until later in snooker (or play safe back up to balk).

I think snooker will strengthen certain parts of your pool game but you still have to do a lot of work on the pool table that you can't do on a snooker table to develop the finer points of CB control, if I've spent a week doing primarily snooker I need a few hours on a pool table to get back into the full swing of things.
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Agree, with these observations. Both snooker and pool players have tried to play both games. But none have been especially good at playing both games at the top level. Alex's attempt to earn his snooker ticket comes to mind.
 
I had a 12 foot snooker table for 15 years and a Gold Crown as well.

Snooker and pool are entirely different games.

You play position in each game in a different way. An example would be a shot close to the rail in a corner pocket. In snooker the best you can do is pot the ball and get a few inches off the rail. You get used to shooting this type of shot this way.

A similar shot in pool often requires you to move the cue ball one rail or more.

Snooker affects the way you shoot this type of shot a lot when you play pool.

There are many other shots that are completely different on each table.

Only a very talented player like Alex can make the transition.

For most players it is a bad idea.

Pick one table and stick with it.

Bill S.
 
Double-Dave said:
Playing on a snooker table will mostly make you a better snooker player.

Yes, it will get your potting dialed in a little better, but you will lose out in other
parts of the game.

Mostly, if you want to get better on say a 9-foot pool table practice hard and
dedicated on a 9-foot pool table.

Regards, Dave
Click to expand...
I agree with Double Dave, I used to play on a snooker table for an hour before my league match on a 9 ft tables. My theory was I was going to dial in my stroke and and kick some ass. I did this a few times and every time I did it I lost baldly in my league match. I don't know what happened but I quess missing easy shots for an hour befor your match is not a good way to prepare.
 
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