Should I start entering tournaments?

[JRobbins]

Hi all,
I'm 15 and have been playing snooker for about 2 and a half months and am starting to get hungry for competitions. I was looking at the EASB Regional Junior Tour however i've just missed the entry deadline as well as the fact i hadnt yet become a member of the EASB therefore was illegible for entry anyway. However i am looking at this competition hosted by Rileys snooker clubs:
http://www.rileys.co.uk/ronnie
and am considering whether i should go for it.
One part of me says 'go for it, even if you dont progress it will be a learning curve and you will come out of it with more than you went in with' but the other part of me says 'you will look a fool and your lack of experience will cause embarressment and humiliation, wait another few months until you have improved even more'
I'm really stuck as to whether i should enter or not, any advice would be most appreciated
so you have some background info about me, i play 4 hours a week and my highest break in a practice match is 64, however i get 40+ breaks pretty often. I am using a Riley cue, but i have a Mastercraft Eclipse that is estimated for delivery on Friday March 9th.
Thanks in advance,
JRobbins.

[BoBnoGG!n]

2.5 months or years? if your high break is that high in 2.5 months, than that is ridiculously impressive! =]

i say go for it, best way to learn is sometimes to jump in the deep end of the pool :P

dont feel like a fool, u wont look like 1. ppl will b impressed youre 15 and play that well. i am =]

best experience is against the best IMO and learning to play under real pressure is something you should develop young if your that keen on snooker. keep up the fantastic work =] hope u get as far as u want in the sport and never stop working at it!

[Freddie Ng]

What's there to hold you back ??????? You get 40++ quite often and only 2months plus..
That's a yes for me.. go for it.. and experience is what you need in your age to built up your confident

[warren132]

It will only build up your confidence if your winning all the time...just dont expect to much to soon..then you wont get let down when you get beat ! Deffo go in for all competitions thats all you can do..good luck.

[ADR147]

if you really want to get better you need to play 4 hours a day not 4 hours a week.

[magicman]

If your highest break is 64 after geniunely playing for only a couple of months then you're doing very well. If you want to feel the buzz of competitive play by all means enter some tournaments. Be aware, however, that in EASB comps you'll be, in all probability, battered by more experienced players who even at 15 will have made centuries, total clearances, and some of them even maximums. If you think you can live with that and learn from it and not get massively disheartened then crack on. Otherwise, look for local comps for now, join your local league and enter their comps.

[1lawyer]

if you really want to get better you need to play 4 hours a day not 4 hours a week.

Listen to this advice.....and good luck:snooker:

[JRobbins]

if you really want to get better you need to play 4 hours a day not 4 hours a week.

with all due respect ADR
1) playing 4 hours a day is not practical, obviously.
2) if you're talking about the level of improvement that i need to go professional, then fair enough, however i only ever want snooker to be a hobbie, a competitive one at the most. The reason i want to enter tournaments is to see how good i actually am, as playing against my dad who knows pretty much nothing about snooker is starting to bore me and isnt an accurate representation of improvement, at least IMO.
and 3) i actually disagree with your comment, i've definitely made significant improvements in the last few month after only playing 4 hours a week.

maybe a comment thats a bit more constructive wouldnt go a miss next time? thanks


also thanks to everybody else for your comments, am about to sign up! the application asks for a nickname, wondered if you guys might be able to help me think of one? as you can probably tell my first name starts with J and last name is Robbins... see what you can come up with, everything is appreciated! cheers

[RGCirencester]

with all due respect ADR
1) playing 4 hours a day is not practical, obviously.
2) if you're talking about the level of improvement that i need to go professional, then fair enough, however i only ever want snooker to be a hobbie, a competitive one at the most. The reason i want to enter tournaments is to see how good i actually am, as playing against my dad who knows pretty much nothing about snooker is starting to bore me and isnt an accurate representation of improvement, at least IMO.
and 3) i actually disagree with your comment, i've definitely made significant improvements in the last few month after only playing 4 hours a week.

maybe a comment thats a bit more constructive wouldnt go a miss next time? thanks

I think what ADR meant is that its all well and good hitting the 50 mark (well done btw) but if you want to continue and make centuries etc. you will need to spend more time. Snooker is a sport where you really need to put the effort in to reap the rewards. Unless of course you are extremely talented in which case you really should be putting the time in and turning pro!

Have you tried asking the better players down your club for a frame? Or joining local tournaments?

[hotpot]

To make a 64 after only two and a half months just playing a few hours a week is a great achievement . Seems you have a natural talent .

Personally i would be practising as much as possible for a good few months and see how much you improve . Adr is correct if you really want to fulfill your potential then try and play as much as possible , even if it,s on your own . Thats the only way you are going to make significant steps .

[JRobbins]

Have you tried asking the better players down your club for a frame? Or joining local tournaments?

no i havent actually, i may ask one of them some time however as i play at a Rileys not many people that go are actually serious about their snooker, its usually just something for them to do while they have an after-work drink i think.
and i've looked into local tournaments, however apart from the EASB Junior Regional Tour, which i've narrowly missed the entry date for, there doesnt seem to be many, if any tournaments in Birmingham
Thanks

[JRobbins]

thanks hotpot, in the next couple of months i'm going to see if i can persuade the owner of a local snooker club which have a pretty decent league team to let me go down after school/when its not so busy and play. Its closer so i'd be able to go more often, cheaper, the tables are better than at Rileys and theres a decent chance when i turn 16 they may let me sign up for their league team

[snookerdad]

Definitely sign up for the EASB Regional Junior Tour next season. Most players who knock in centuries will have already been promoted to the EASB Premier Junior Tour.

Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)

[JRobbins]

Definitely sign up for the EASB Regional Junior Tour next season. Most players who knock in centuries will have already been promoted to the EASB Premier Junior Tour.

Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)

oh right will do, i've set myself a target of hitting an 85 break by the end of the year, with regular and frequent breaks above 60 everytime i get a good chance amongst the balls. if i could fulfill this, do you think i'd have a decent chance of perhaps not winning lots of matches, but at least not looking like an idiot in the Regional Tour?
thanks alot

[RGCirencester]

Hows your safety play? Do you practice safety as well as going for the breaks?