Would Snooker Players Be Much Cop at Straight Pool

Boro Nut

Boro Nut

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I'd always thought that snooker players would find straight pool a relatively easy pool discipline given their skills at pecking away at the pack. This is pure conjecture though, and there's little incentive for any of them to try as far as I can see. But I just thought there were more nuances to learn and tactical potholes for them to fall into in the other disciplines, whereas straight pool is just doing what they're already good at. Am I talking bollocks?

Of course not. I'm typing.

Boro Nut
 
Boro Nut said:
I'd always thought that snooker players would find straight pool a relatively easy pool discipline given their skills at pecking away at the pack. This is pure conjecture though, and there's little incentive for any of them to try as far as I can see. But I just thought there were more nuances to learn and tactical potholes for them to fall into in the other disciplines, whereas straight pool is just doing what they're already good at. Am I talking bollocks?

Of course not. I'm typing.

Boro Nut
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Not sure about snooker players, but Darren Appleton entered the Derby City 14.1 and seemed to play good patterns. I suspect he hadn't played much 14.1 recently and he missed the cut.

The one snooker player I know who plays 14.1 seems to frequently run into the same problem: does not get the cue ball away from the rack on break shots. This is balanced by the fact that he rarely misses a pot he can see.
 
14.1 is very very different to 9ball, position zones are much tighter. Like snooker, luck factor is virtually none. Slightly longer shots that are considered normal 9ball shots, suddenly become difficult at 14.1. Nobody knows why, I guess it's just our minds playing tricks with us. And there are virtually no usable 'shots to nothing'.

You make 40 or so easy shots from very short range, playing great position, but...all of the sudden you leave yourself longer pot which would be considered as nothing special at 9ball. Doubts start creeping in your mind. Most of not so good 14.1 players mentally crack here.

Pressure is very high when you play good 14.1 player. If you miss, you will not be punished by only one frame or rack, you will most likely be forced to sit for well over an hour in your chair. And when you do get back to the table, the layout won't be pretty and your shooting arm will be stone cold.

That could be a shocker to them. To sit in the chair for over an hour. Not stroking a single ball, just watching the opponent.
 
I believe the games aren't really as complimentary as they seem. There are only a few ways that snooker players generally go into the reds to break them free, and you have to position the balls a whole lot less because they are smaller so there is generally more room between balls to sneak a ball through.

I do think they have a better background than a pure 9-baller would, but straight pool requires a lot more skill in every aspect but pocketing.
 
You might recall my "I think I can run a 100 balls in my first week" tongue in cheek challenge a year or so ago. I really didn't think it would be that hard to run 100 balls on a pool table so I did it for a bit of fun. The situation was this:

1) I hadn't played any cue sport more than a couple of hours a week for the past ten years (5 years Uni + 5 years working in IT)

2) I quit my job and played about 2-4 hours a days in Asia.

3) I had never seen straight pool played by anyone in my life on TV or in person.

I didn't make it but I had several runs in the 90's. I said at the time if a hack like I was at the time could do that somebody with the touch and cb of Ronnie could easily make a 200 ball run within his first week (IMO).

Although I have since learnt much in straight pool and realise there is much more to learn I think there are many many things similar to snooker.

Given the fact that very few pool players have ever made 200 bals I think this speaks volumes.
 
TheOne said:
Although I have since learnt much in straight pool and realise there is much more to learn I think there are many many things similar to snooker.
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I think so, too. Cluster management and short position play are integral to both games. Short, controlled strokes, rather than power strokes, are the norm in both games, and a very high level of concentration must be maintained to succeed at either. Further, the break that opens the game of straight pool and the break that opens a frame of snooker, though important, are defense oriented.
 
TheOne said:
I said at the time if a hack like I was at the time could do that somebody with the touch and cb of Ronnie could easily make a 200 ball run within his first week (IMO).
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I remember this hack beat Earl Strickland...

He is not a regular everyday hack, if indeed he was a hack.:)
 
TheOne said:
You might recall my "I think I can run a 100 balls in my first week" tongue in cheek challenge a year or so ago. I really didn't think it would be that hard to run 100 balls on a pool table so I did it for a bit of fun. The situation was this:

1) I hadn't played any cue sport more than a couple of hours a week for the past ten years (5 years Uni + 5 years working in IT)

2) I quit my job and played about 2-4 hours a days in Asia.

3) I had never seen straight pool played by anyone in my life on TV or in person.

I didn't make it but I had several runs in the 90's. I said at the time if a hack like I was at the time could do that somebody with the touch and cb of Ronnie could easily make a 200 ball run within his first week (IMO).

Although I have since learnt much in straight pool and realise there is much more to learn I think there are many many things similar to snooker.

Given the fact that very few pool players have ever made 200 bals I think this speaks volumes.
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I say we should listen to this hack regarding this subject.
 
thoffen said:
I believe the games aren't really as complimentary as they seem. There are only a few ways that snooker players generally go into the reds to break them free
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While that may be true you shouldn't doubt their ability to pick exactly which individual ball they want to hit and where exactly they want to hit it. I can do it and I'm only a pleb. You should see some early Hendry or O'Sullivan for how to aggressively break a pack open. They pot a black off the spot and banana into the side of the pack. The cue ball has so much spin it sticks to the side of the pack and bulldozes them apart.

and you have to position the balls a whole lot less because they are smaller so there is generally more room between balls to sneak a ball through.
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So you just have to hit them a bit harder surely. I'll admit my experiences are limited, but I found the heavier balls seemed to stick together more than snooker balls, but that's just a case of getting used to it. You need less oomph and a bit more finesse with the snooker balls. In my experience it's always easier to start clagging balls harder than normal than it is to feather shots with more finesse than you're used to.

I do think they have a better background than a pure 9-baller would, but straight pool requires a lot more skill in every aspect but pocketing.
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You may well be right. You just haven't convinced me what those skills are yet.

From what I've seen the trick seems to be identifying the last two balls and leaving the correct angle to guarantee a good break, and then doing it. But that's more about knowledge and tactics than skill. A raw snooker player might be inclined to just bladder the pack all over the place on the assumption that there isn't a hard shot on the table, because the bit in between breaks looks like falling off a bike. I'm sure it's not that simple, but how long do you think it would take them to change tack?

Boro Nut
 
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Snooker player playing Straight pool? Absolutely, but Im sure they would have to adjust to 2 1/4" balls and BIG pockets. I do think the average Snooker player would be an average Straight pool player.


SPINDOKTOR
 
snooker is like advanced striaght and then some, the snooker player will most likely win in straight.thats my opinion
 
a nine ball pro is still light years ahead of a snooker player in terms of starting a straight pool career
 
I watched Brady Gollan, who is a highly respected snooker player in Canada who has played and beaten many of the greats, play one pocket with no experience with the game whatsoever and run 8 and out for $100 against a guy who had played every day for years. I suspect he would have little or no problem with 14.1 as he is talented at everything he tries. The guy runs centuries in snooker which is one of the most difficult things to do on any table.
 
14.1 vs snooker

I have played 14.1 for most of my 30 years when I practice. I have some very good runs and when I was young and foolish I played some 50 no count. When I began playing much snooker, I tried to play like they did. It was difficult to play "their" patterns of just chipping off a few reds and playing the black ball . I realised that my 14.1 version of breaking open the reds and running out worked much better.
My "breaks" jumped up quickley to the 60-80 points areas. I now put the pressure on them to get it going. They also DO NOT shoot bank shots so I put many reds on the rails and ...> no more big runs for them. Now I have a good fighting chance to win against many very good players. Once some of my friends started doing this "Yankee" version of snooker I could see that their game improve. I then had a much more difficult time playing 14.1 also. Most of the snooker players really began to like Straight Pool.
 
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