is snooker dying out in uk?

[golferson123]

Interesting that the notion that snooker could wane because of participation, this forum for instance contains snooker players who concern themselves about snooker and certain factions only want to know what cue x plays with or what tip y plays with. If tv was full of snooker comps and millions watched but no one played would that mean it was florishing or dead? Look at f1 whats the participation level there? We need to seperate the game we see on the screen and the game we indulge in. Its not all about young lads taking up the game and becoming superstars its about reasonable prices small clubs good leagues thats what built snooker in the first place. Rileys went. Because they deserved to go. They had no interest in snooker at all. They just chased the money till it blew up in their face

[Kieran m]

I see snooker as similar to golf- in that to be good at it you must first have high natural ability. If you have high natural ability you must then put in hour after hour of practice to hone the skills you have and make shot after shot repeatable. The money you have to spend to do that is quite high.

If you don't play snooker or golf to a high level it inevitably becomes boring, you spend more time looking for your ball in the rough than enjoying the game.

My solution to bring more youngsters in to the game would be to have clubs with many more 3/4 or even smaller tables- this would enable people who can cue decent enough but don't want/can't put the time in, to enjoy the odd game a hell of a lot more.

[ADR147]

Interesting that the notion that snooker could wane because of participation, this forum for instance contains snooker players who concern themselves about snooker and certain factions only want to know what cue x plays with or what tip y plays with. If tv was full of snooker comps and millions watched but no one played would that mean it was florishing or dead? Look at f1 whats the participation level there? We need to seperate the game we see on the screen and the game we indulge in. Its not all about young lads taking up the game and becoming superstars its about reasonable prices small clubs good leagues thats what built snooker in the first place. Rileys went. Because they deserved to go. They had no interest in snooker at all. They just chased the money till it blew up in their face

a very good post - the game should be enjoyed by people playing who can't make a 20 break as well as watching top pros.

[itsnoteasy]

Interesting that the notion that snooker could wane because of participation, this forum for instance contains snooker players who concern themselves about snooker and certain factions only want to know what cue x plays with or what tip y plays with. If tv was full of snooker comps and millions watched but no one played would that mean it was florishing or dead? Look at f1 whats the participation level there? We need to seperate the game we see on the screen and the game we indulge in. Its not all about young lads taking up the game and becoming superstars its about reasonable prices small clubs good leagues thats what built snooker in the first place. Rileys went. Because they deserved to go. They had no interest in snooker at all. They just chased the money till it blew up in their face

Excellent post, it would be interesting to know the percentage of people who actually play and love playing snooker, compared with the watchers and lovers of all things snooker but don't really play, I have never thought about where that leaves the game, but in the end you need players coming through to give the audience the next generation to support and you need the watchers to give the players a living,(no audience no sponsors) so they are probably each as important.
Our clubs dead as a dodo, I don't know how it's still open. Four teams including mine have pulled out the league because we couldn't get players.

[ADW147CUEMAN]

Well i started in the 80s and it was working mens clubs ect ie beer and smoking and socializing + games leagues on the Tuesdays and Wednesdays when slow going through the week on a home and away basis snooker and billiards ,and very popular friday saturday sunday monday , nearly every day of the week , not everyone was tv standard but it showed more people to the game and that was a massive chunk of people trying the game out and lots of interest as it was a big subject to talk about even if you just watched the lads playing and up and coming player getting better!! , and were did you go to have tea and biscuits to have a good time enjoying playing snooker sucking on a rich tea biscuit haha , smoking ban and closure of pubs pool game? and clubs snooker/billiards game suffered and getting worse as nearly all the pubs now are paint shops and all the clubs are carpet shops haha dwindling fast , government dont like us socializing in that way anymore. con clubs liberal clubs working mens clubs ect snooker centers were all heaving , the government are changing the way we used to live by lots of people drinking at home amongst other things, look at big Bill Werbunuik 20 pints before a game and all the snooker players on the tv drank alcohol and smoked there heads off advertising the embassy world championships say no more , now its sipping water ect:snooker: more people went out to enjoy themselves and the snooker table and beer and smoking was the way to do it and it didnt cost the earth like it would now , thats my 2 pence worth :biggrin-new: give that man a cigar lol

[mg222]

I think the strict drink drive laws ve been a serious cause. Then beer prices in clubs ve gone way up while supermkt prices ve held down, to compare, did not help. Xbox & PS addictiveness dont help. I got my biggest 'Highs / Fix' in Life from Tennis; Profuse sweating combined with high adrenaline and 'man to man' combat? Tennis being one of the toughest sports to master to a high level.

Thanks to bad knees, I am now a Snooker addict, and loving and enjoying the Challenge every bit. Very important [if not the most] part of my Life today. Yes, its a serious worry that our youngsters are not in the SnookerHalls. We had a similar problem in Tennis and the UK Tennis authorities took pro-active actions. They put a lot money where their mouth was to assist in the resurgence.

Those who ve done very well from Snooker, please stand up... and give back to the sport that gave you everything :

Barry Hearn, you ve done a good job with all the Tournaments, Promotions, big prize money etc. Now, please turn your attention to revival of Snooker at Home [UK]

All the Snooker Pros that made more than a couple of million : Please, own and or manage a snooker club.... At least have a stake in a club, coach promising youngsters, take one or two under your wing.... Calling Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, Jimmy White, Mark Williams, John Parrot, Ken Doherty, Peter Ebdon, Alan McManus...

This is not to take anything away from those that may already be doing their bit.... Some may be happy to work hard for Snooker and not feel / want to advertise to the world.

:snooker: :snooker:

[dieselman147]

It has been the case for quite some time now that younger people are just not getting into snooker. I'm in my 30s and have been at the top of the game in my area for around 15 years now and there is very little challenge from anyone new! The guys who were the top players when I was younger are still up there now and they're in there 40s and 50s now! This is the reason I believe that in the professional game the older players are still in charge and someone like ROS could be winning titles into his 50s (if he wants to)!

[snookerpoolman]

Well i started in the 80s and it was working mens clubs ect ie beer and smoking and socializing + games leagues on the Tuesdays and Wednesdays when slow going through the week on a home and away basis snooker and billiards ,and very popular friday saturday sunday monday , nearly every day of the week , not everyone was tv standard but it showed more people to the game and that was a massive chunk of people trying the game out and lots of interest as it was a big subject to talk about even if you just watched the lads playing and up and coming player getting better!! , and were did you go to have tea and biscuits to have a good time enjoying playing snooker sucking on a rich tea biscuit haha , smoking ban and closure of pubs pool game? and clubs snooker/billiards game suffered and getting worse as nearly all the pubs now are paint shops and all the clubs are carpet shops haha dwindling fast , government dont like us socializing in that way anymore. con clubs liberal clubs working mens clubs ect snooker centers were all heaving , the government are changing the way we used to live by lots of people drinking at home amongst other things, look at big Bill Werbunuik 20 pints before a game and all the snooker players on the tv drank alcohol and smoked there heads off advertising the embassy world championships say no more , now its sipping water ect:snooker: more people went out to enjoy themselves and the snooker table and beer and smoking was the way to do it and it didnt cost the earth like it would now , thats my 2 pence worth :biggrin-new: give that man a cigar lol

I too started playing snooker in the 80's. The problems facing snooker on the participation levels are manifold: The Smoking Ban coupled with excessively high beer prices has virtually killed the pub trade, with an inevitable knock-on effect to clubs. English pool seems to be thriving, but mostly in large multi-table environments, although pub participation is still good in certain places. Certainly the home market for tables is bouyant.

I don't think it's fair to put the blame at Barry Hearn's door - look at the snooker for schools initiatives and great work done by WS, Steve Davis, Chris Lovell and co on the new coaching schemes etc.. Barry's main focus, rightly IMO, should be the professional game, and that is thriving Worldwide, with loads of events and prize money on offer. He's also vowed to keep the WC at The Crucible. If you want jazzed up snooker with loads of atmosphere, the there's the Snooker Shoot-out.. not really my cup of tea, but some people like and watch it..

The TV coverage is still good, and ITV4's continued and growing support for snooker will help keep it in the public's conscience.

Decent places to play and at a reasonable price is the key for me. Round Chesterfield, loads of clubs have closed or are closing, so there are less places to play. Our club is a bit of an exception with 21 lovely Riley tables - a full restaurant, bar etc, so it's not your usual offering. Our league has dwindled from it's hey-day in the late 80's of 10 divisions, and 120 teams in total, to only four divisions now and probably around 40 or so teams.

I agree there's a million other options for kids nowadays - Playstations, I-phones, etc. etc. If we can encourage em to get hooked on snooker through local coaching schemes, then that may help bring new players on board. Also, as snooker has helped English pool to grow, the same in reverse may happen, when half decent pool players want a new challenge.

My glass is half full...

[vmax4steve]

Modern playing conditions have made snooker too easy for the top pros and snooker has been done to death. Centuries and 147's all the time have killed it as a spectator sport for those who don't realise how hard the game is and just what exactly they are witnessing.

At grass roots level we now see what taking failure in education away from children does when they come up against something as difficult as snooker, they simply walk away from it and twiddle their thumbs on a playstation instead and get instant gratification.

[golferson123]

Modern playing conditions have made snooker too easy for the top pros and snooker has been done to death. Centuries and 147's all the time have killed it as a spectator sport for those who don't realise how hard the game is and just what exactly they are witnessing.

At grass roots level we now see what taking failure in education away from children does when they come up against something as difficult as snooker, they simply walk away from it and twiddle their thumbs on a playstation instead and get instant gratification.

.. Spot on.. And there's the xfactor factor all young people want is instant fame or instant success with no hard work, you can sense it on here sometimes with all the questions everyone wanting shortcuts instead of getting their heads down.how on earth did we manage without this interweb thing

[SouthPaw]

Yup, and unfortunately Barry does not care.

Exactly! All he's interested in is money... and who would blame him

[golferson123]

yep all this focus on china, tell me what have china contributed to world sport, ping pong, gymnastics. but of course we have numbers, population,money,democracy not,money,as in the words of blazing saddles money I like money

[DeanH]

yep all this focus on china, tell me what have china contributed to world sport, ping pong, gymnastics. but of course we have numbers, population,money,democracy not,money,as in the words of blazing saddles money I like money

wasn't gymastics from the ancient Greeks?

[golferson123]

point taken

[DeanH]

interesting comments across all posts and a very difficult situation to try to reverse

Barry Hearn - I would think his position is (and he has said some of the following) - chase the money, get the prize fund up, get the sponsors, get new tournaments in the season, get the TV coverage - then with that the interest could be sparked and people start going to the clubs.
there is no quick answer - sadly