Practice MATCHES

[1lawyer]

...Alex Higgins once said the key to good match play snooker is to play to your strength's and also be aware of your opponents weakness.

I would be just as proud of keeping my head and playing 15 continuous safety shots as I would making a match wining break.
If your opponent is playing negative safety against you in a match then he clearly respects the fact that you can pot him off the table so stay calm and wait for the inevitable mistake to come.

Playing lesser players can make you lazy in that you stop taking the right shot on and you start going for everything like Roy says he does. It can be harder to keep focus and yet it can also loosen you up to the point that you feel you don't even have to try. After watching both ROS and Hendry even in exhibition totally destroy everyone (women and kids) without giving them a sniff I have to say that I now think this is important to develop the right attitude and understand you must give the game 100 per cent respect in any situation.

I would always consider a negative shot to tie up the green, yellow, blue, brown during a frame if I am playing a really really good player in a match and I have a lead. Why not?...1. you're making it harder for him to clear up if you mess up...2 It would thrash his head....3...He would do it to me too.

[atm147iwish]

If I pot a red and don't get on the black or pink then I think its OK to play safe on a baulk colour. If a red is on but no colour then I might just play safe. I don't think its fair to tie up the blue, pink or black for no reason.

.......why?

[neptar]

If it's a practice MATCH, then surely you should play the same as you would in a match. If I am just having a casual knock then I will go for some outrageous shots. But if I am having a practice match, I will generally try and play like I would in a real match, that way I can transfer things directly to a match.

[RocketRoy1983]

If it's a practice MATCH, then surely you should play the same as you would in a match. If I am just having a casual knock then I will go for some outrageous shots. But if I am having a practice match, I will generally try and play like I would in a real match, that way I can transfer things directly to a match.

erm to a degree mate yes but when it comes to a practice match the objective must surely be to try and get in and make a nice little break rather than slow yourself down as well as your opponent and therefore making the frame intolerable?

[neptar]

Depends on the level of player. I am a low level player and often come against people better than me who can really punish my mistakes. So it makes sense to frustrate them and stop them from playing their game. If I face an opponent of similiar standard or a lesser standard, then yes I will get in the balls and try and make a break. But bear in mind a break for me is a string of 4 to 6 balls.

Now you may think this is a bad way to play as you cannot improve playing this way. But I focus on improving my attacking play solo, and as I improve I will use it on more oppenents. But I find a lot of players arround my standard and below abandon the safety game, and just go for everything. Their potting will improve and so will their positional play. But when it comes to that safety shot where the ball could really do with coming back up to baulk from a difficult shot. They lack the practice.

That is just my thoughts, not the god given right answer, but what is? That is just one of the great things about the game. You can approach it in so many ways and no game is the same. You need not only skill but also mental stength, and good tactical choices.

[RocketRoy1983]

neptar what you are saying is great because you are attempting to improve your game and as you say use it against more opponents when you feel the time is right but im referring to the players who dont make ANY attempt to improve their game.

[kcohentan]

Heya roy,

Interesting thread. I play with a good mate of mine regularly and he can be really sneaky like trundling the cue ball just behind a baulk colour even if the pot is on. I used to get sooo ****ed off that he'd play a dirty safety shot even while 30 points ahead! I got so depressed over an entire weekend lol.

What some other members said is true, we all play to our strengths, and in this case my mate feels more confident moving the cue ball to where he wants it rather than putting the object ball where he wishes it (in the pocket) Of course, the game goes on forever which can be detrimental to having any flow or benefit to either players' game – we both ended up being so paranoid and safety conscious that we miss a straight sitter!

That was when I suggested having two potting games to loosen up the cue arm and get some practice in potting. While he's managed to win quite a few frames that way (got thrashed 5-0 one night, almost wanted to throttle him) through my fouls ultimately the balls need to go in at some point (well, otherwise the game wouldn't end would it?) He then started to try and go for pots too while still playing a safe game, and I had to focus on going for pots and getting up to baulk when position on a colour is tricky.

End result? My safety has improved tremendously as a casual player and his potting has become better too. In fact, talking about the games afterwards he does admit that if he saw I became frustrated he would keep going at it just to lock me down (I'm generally a better potter than he is) but that's when I realized to try and beat him at his game. Nothing stings more than getting snookered after one has played a good safety, or worse, manage a long crazy pot (well, someone has to try no?) with the cue ball tight at the cushion. So if he's the bomber I make sure it blows up in his face lol.

Having said that, it can be real annoying at the beginning playing someone like that and downright frustrating. However, since he's a mate and my regular playing partner I had to try and find some way to outwit him. So when he has his evil oh-I-am-so-gonna-shaft-you-now" look I just laugh and try to get out of it, to disgruntled cries of "you-little-jammy-bas**d!" In the end it all comes out in the wash, and I've managed to improve in a department that I'd never otherwise deign to play.

If they don't make any attempt to improve their game, then it won't. It's then up to you to up your game and give them a good hiding hope this helps mate, and good potting!

[RocketRoy1983]

kcohentan thanks for taking the time to reply and I totally understand where your coming from but so far no one has replied and made me understand why this person, and these people in general, do this. Its not helping their game as well as mine so what is it all about alfie?

[kcohentan]

hmm good question roy, but I fear it is one without a decisive answer. In the same way, one could also ask of players who like to pot why is this their preferred approach to the game? Especially since the game is after all called 'snooker' and not 'potting'

The other way to look at it is this: it is certainly "not helping their game", if by that we imply that the be-all-and-end-all of snooker is only to amass big breaks. We'd have already begged the question in that respect. True, potting is deeply satisfying and I love it, but you should see the gleeful look on my mate's face when he has truly shafted me over with one heck of a snooker. So it clearly does it for him too

Of course, I'm still crap as hell which probably doesn't help getting locked down, but my own way of dealing with it is 1) improve on my own safety play, there is a place for it and not just simply "beneath my dignity" to do so and 2) on being left a long shot with cue-ball at the baulk cushion focus focus focus and try to sink it. My long potting really improved alot because of that, and when my mate finds that leaving me long pots is not a safe enough option he has to find some other way to thwart me.

Hence we both progress in our respective skills and departments.

p.s: I still feel like cracking the cue over his head whenever he does so, but, like what he says to me (which is very true):

Don't get mad. Get even.

[RocketRoy1983]

Some good points above mate ill give you that. I'll continue playing my game I think and sticking to playing players who play the game as it should and not playing these imbiciles who play the wrong shots at the wrong times. However, your points have been noted for when I play them in competition. My temperament in matchplay is strong and I can grind out results which ill need against these types of players in competitions.

[kcohentan]

hey mate, glad my own frustrations managed to help someone else in a similar situation haha good luck with it and I hope you enjoy the game. Hmm in the meantime, I might have found another use for that hefty ebony extension lol!

GET EVEN!!