Which Pro is Most Textbook?

[jdub]

If you were teaching an absolute beginner, and could only recommend one player for them to try and emulate. Who it would be and why?


My vote would be for John Higgins. Not only is he one of the greatest players ever, I actually think his fundamentals are some of the most consistent and reliable under pressure.

[jonny66]

Definitely Higgins, consistent to the point of boredom, pure class.

[alabadi]

If there is any one to copy, for me is Ding Junhui. Perfect straight cue action

[ADR147]

Higgins for all round skills - murphy for how he hits the ball.

[jdub]

If there is any one to copy, for me is Ding Junhui. Perfect straight cue action

Can't argue with that choice.

For the record, I do think there can be a lot of correct answers to the question.

[Csmith]

Neil Robertson for me. Straight as an arrow cue action with loads of power. I put Ding as second only because copying his short cue action makes it difficult to generate power.

[Ramon]

100 procent textbook cue action ? Stephen Lee . ( A genious in the art of cueing ).

tactical play / attacking / safety / ability to deal with pressure / consistency? Stephen Hendry - John Haggins.

[the lone wolf]

Higgins.
John that is :snooker:

[winphenom]

If its only one player and based on technique only, i would select shaun murphy. He cues absolutely straight and smooth delivery as compared to the rest. Stillness is good and when all combined, he is definitely one of the best long potters in the game throughout history.

[ace man]

One theory is that simple cue actions are easiest for a novice player to replicate.
Therefore, Steve Davis or Ding Junhui. Centre chin cueing, very few moving parts, no quirks, very simple.
Who is the student? Very young novice player or an adult novice player? Big difference in my opinion.
Younger players could conquer just about any technique style, even a very complex one like that of John Higgins. Older novice players will always have more tension in their arm than younger beginners. I'm not sure anything even slightly complex is for them. At least that's what I have observed over the years.

[ghost121]

Higgins is not textbook from a technique point of view. Davis all day long. However, in the modern game, if teaching a beginner to emulate a player I would pick Ding.

[jdub]

Higgins is not textbook from a technique point of view. Davis all day long. However, in the modern game, if teaching a beginner to emulate a player I would pick Ding.

John Higgins not textbook? How so?

[Neil Taperell]

No one has mentioned Stephen Hendry , his name never seems to come up when the art of cueing is mentioned . Yet he was obviously hugely successful .

I'm not one for knowing who cues the best .

[mick farrell]

I paid for and had 2 hours coaching from the late Frank Callan about 13 years ago. We chatted for a further 2 hours (no charge for this) and among the countless questions I bombarded Frank with was this - was there a player he considered to have the perfect technique or at least, someone he considered the living embodiment to his line of thinking. I thought he would name one of his past or present "pupils" but he said - John Higgins.

[adebisi10]

Definitely Robertson and Ding, can't go wrong with those two.