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Steve Davis is one of the all time snooker greates, he is up there with names like Will Thorn, Jimmy White and Joe Davis. He has had a career spanning over 4 decades, he got the nickname Steve Booring Davis from be as cool as a lollypop on every shot and reirly making a mistake, he is currently a commentator for the BBC and the Chairman of the SWA (Snooker Writters Assosiation) We caught up with Steve earlier this month to ask him a few questions.
Steve Davis Q1. Who do you practice with and for how long do you practice on average?
A1. My Father mainly but I might pay my dues a bit next season and search out some sparring with local pros.
Q2. With so many great young players out there on the pro-am circuit do you think that some of the smaller competitions should be televised to get more interest in the sport?
A2. That costs money
Q3. You have such a natural brain for analysing snooker situations from perspectives such as technique, psychology and a champion that if someone was taking notes, it would be a Haynes Manual for winning snooker matches. Have you ever thought about combining this with another autobiography?
A3. No, It's too time consuming and there is no money in it so it would have to be a labour of love and I'm too lazy for that.
Q4. Do you think that it is slightly hypocritical for beer companies to avoid the same sanctions as tobacco firms when on a global view, tobacco only causes 0.1% more deaths than alcohol?
A4. I don't think that a product that is legally sold should have sanctions. If a product needs sanctions then perhaps a government should ban it from sale.
Q5. You must feel very proud to have inspired so many young players in more than 20 years in the limelight, do you ever draw any inspiration from the knowledge that there is thousands still trying to emulate you?
A5. Not sure that I draw any inspiration from this but I think it's nice to be thought of in those terms.
A6. The end result of faster tables has not led to irregular conditions. Conditions are more uniform than ever before, it\'s just that when you approach perfection then the slightest irregularity looks massive!
Kicks are due to Chalk Dust rather than fast cloths. There have always been kicks, possibly a kick on a thin cloth is more destructive but that is not a reason to make cloths thicker and slower but a reason to look to chalkless tips.
Mike Massey believes that the green chalk is softer and therefore stays on the CueBall more. Not sure I agree but as nobody uses Blue anymore in snooker we will not find out. Also perhaps because the Pool balls are heavier then they are not so affected by a relatively small amount of chalk at the contact point.
Q7. Do you think that the governing body might ever give a leading University for example the job of investigating kicks and then a plan of how to reduce them? (Too many particles on the balls dissipates energy and increases friction easily summarises the loss of pace and angle change,but a University could take readings under controlled conditions and possibly find the cause and present the data to the WPBSA / World Snooker)
A7. You can do the study yourself. Brush and Iron a table, take a brand new set of balls and take every bit of chalk off your tip (including the ingrained stuff that is pre loaded when new. Play for a day and do not use any chalk and you will not get any kicks.
Q8. Is there anything like a Player\'s Union that all the concerns and ideas of the Pro\'s can be channelled through?
A8. There\'s a players representative on the board (Peter Ebdon I think?) Any problems are supposed to be directed to him (Don\'t quote me on this as I don\'t keep up with things) There is no players union though.
Q9. What do you think about carrying the difference in points of a frame that ends in a re-rack? (Any advantage a player earns will not be lost and the Referee will feel more confident in a happy consensus from the players if he feels a re-rack is unavoidable)
A9. Good Idea but in some circumstances it might encourage the player with a lead to not try and resolve a situation but rather try to play for a rerack. It just depends on who you think should have the onus of trying to force the issue, the player behind or in front?
(just off the top of my head under certain situations perhaps a referee could, after discussion with both players, remove or respot the problem ball and avoid the loss of time in starting the frame again.)
Steve in the Premiership Snoker League pictured with Paul COllier
(Image courtesy of Paul Collier) Q10. who would you rate as the best player of all time and why?
A10. Stephen Hendry - A winning machine and the best break builder
Q11. You have probably been asked this a million times but what did it feel like getting your first televised 147?
A11. Shock and delight but can\'t really remember too much as it was 20+ years ago now. Remember shaking on the blue big time!
Q12. What has been your favourite competition to date and why?
A12. Embassy World Championship obviously but for my own personal standard of play the UK at Preston and The Irish Benson and Hedges Masters held at Goffs which also was best Venue and Hospitality
Q13. What other sports are you interested in when you are away from the table? (One of our members would like to know if you still go fishing)
A13. Don\'t go fishing as my sons haven\'t wanted to go recently, have retired from Golf as I was getting a lower handicap (14 playing to about 12) and it was getting too time consuming, hard and frustrating, Retired from Chess as all I was doing was rearranging pieces of wood on an 8x8 board, so all that\'s left is Poker and I\'m totally addicted to it. Not the gambling side of it but the game play and the long-term accuracy of decision making that determines whether you are a winner or a loser
Q14. Do you have any tips for our young players at Jesters?
A14. Don\'t let any coach tell you that you "must do it this way otherwise you won\'t improve". For every piece of technical advice that a coach tries to set in stone I can show you a top professional that breaks that rule. There is no substitute for "TALENT". However, and it is a BIG HOWEVER, every player will probably benefit from improvements to his or her technique. Each player will have weak spots that they could improve upon and a good coach should be discovering what that player needs rather than trying to shape the player into his pet method. It is also good practice to try and upgrade your technique as you will learn about yourself in the process and under pressure a repetitive method is to some degree a crutch to lean on. The best piece of advice I could give would be to look at the top Pro\'s and try and work out what they are doing that separates them from the chasing pack. If you are not mimicking (to some degree) what you believe to be their good points, then perhaps you do not currently have a cutting edge technique.
Q15. If you could play 3 frames with any person past or present and they don\'t have to be a professional snooker player who would it be? And why?
A15. Joe Davis. Just to check out how much he understood about the game and what standard he had achieved back then.
Steve Davis pictured with Ronnie O\'Sullivan and Paul Collier
(Image courtesy of Paul Collier) Q16. You are the chairman of the SWA (Snooker Writers Association) can you give us some more information about this association and its members?
A16. Yes, it is the Association of Snooker Writers, It is the association of media that write about Snooker. The media that attend Snooker events got together and formed an association called the SWA (Snooker Writers Association) and they asked me to be their PRESIDENT (not chairman). I was delighted to accept, as they write about something that I have been very much involved in (Snooker) and also I don\'t have to do any work as a result of my title President.
Q17. What are your views on the new Hookrest?
A17. Much more useful than I first thought it would be.
Q18. Do you think (like in Rugby/Cricket) that a "2 nd eye" could be used when replacing balls after a failed snooker attempt would be good/useful?
A18. My views on the Miss rule are pretty well known, I think that all things considered, The Miss rule and perhaps more importantly how it is currently interpreted are an embarrassment to snooker. If you were inventing the game of Snooker and writing the rules tomorrow morning and could somehow be shown TV footage (of future matches!) then there is no way that you would allow this farcical problem to arise. You would consider any rule that would avoid the "Miss Rule Situation" Currently there is a catch 22 situation in operation: ie. The moment that a player knows he may get an advantage from "missing" then he will be encouraged to miss. But when he knows that there is no advantage to be gained from missing, he will be trying 100% and therefore will be penalised for fair attempts. Considering that the rule was only introduced to try and stop cheating then the current interpretation of the rule, by top referees and players alike, defeats the original purpose of the rule. The only way for the rule to be fairly applied is if Referees are encouraged to use their own judgement of each situation. The early years of this rule left the referees in no doubt that they would be criticised relentlessly by players for every questionable interpretation, so naturally they gravitated towards a policy of "everything is a miss" to avoid amongst other things, inconsistency. Players have generally accepted this Ruling and just got on with it, so I am very much in the minority of players who would want to see a change. As far as using TV to replace balls, I don\'t see a problem. Referees already have the authority to ask a member of the audience for help in determining a decision.
Steve Davis
A1. My Father mainly but I might pay my dues a bit next season and search out some sparring with local pros.
Q2. With so many great young players out there on the pro-am circuit do you think that some of the smaller competitions should be televised to get more interest in the sport?
A2. That costs money
Q3. You have such a natural brain for analysing snooker situations from perspectives such as technique, psychology and a champion that if someone was taking notes, it would be a Haynes Manual for winning snooker matches. Have you ever thought about combining this with another autobiography?
A3. No, It's too time consuming and there is no money in it so it would have to be a labour of love and I'm too lazy for that.
Q4. Do you think that it is slightly hypocritical for beer companies to avoid the same sanctions as tobacco firms when on a global view, tobacco only causes 0.1% more deaths than alcohol?
A4. I don't think that a product that is legally sold should have sanctions. If a product needs sanctions then perhaps a government should ban it from sale.
Q5. You must feel very proud to have inspired so many young players in more than 20 years in the limelight, do you ever draw any inspiration from the knowledge that there is thousands still trying to emulate you?
A5. Not sure that I draw any inspiration from this but I think it's nice to be thought of in those terms.
Steve playing pool
Q6. Why has there been a mission to make tables faster when the end result is an un-level playing field of irregular conditions and kicks sometimes deciding matches? A6. The end result of faster tables has not led to irregular conditions. Conditions are more uniform than ever before, it\'s just that when you approach perfection then the slightest irregularity looks massive!
Kicks are due to Chalk Dust rather than fast cloths. There have always been kicks, possibly a kick on a thin cloth is more destructive but that is not a reason to make cloths thicker and slower but a reason to look to chalkless tips.
Mike Massey believes that the green chalk is softer and therefore stays on the CueBall more. Not sure I agree but as nobody uses Blue anymore in snooker we will not find out. Also perhaps because the Pool balls are heavier then they are not so affected by a relatively small amount of chalk at the contact point.
Q7. Do you think that the governing body might ever give a leading University for example the job of investigating kicks and then a plan of how to reduce them? (Too many particles on the balls dissipates energy and increases friction easily summarises the loss of pace and angle change,but a University could take readings under controlled conditions and possibly find the cause and present the data to the WPBSA / World Snooker)
A7. You can do the study yourself. Brush and Iron a table, take a brand new set of balls and take every bit of chalk off your tip (including the ingrained stuff that is pre loaded when new. Play for a day and do not use any chalk and you will not get any kicks.
Q8. Is there anything like a Player\'s Union that all the concerns and ideas of the Pro\'s can be channelled through?
A8. There\'s a players representative on the board (Peter Ebdon I think?) Any problems are supposed to be directed to him (Don\'t quote me on this as I don\'t keep up with things) There is no players union though.
Q9. What do you think about carrying the difference in points of a frame that ends in a re-rack? (Any advantage a player earns will not be lost and the Referee will feel more confident in a happy consensus from the players if he feels a re-rack is unavoidable)
A9. Good Idea but in some circumstances it might encourage the player with a lead to not try and resolve a situation but rather try to play for a rerack. It just depends on who you think should have the onus of trying to force the issue, the player behind or in front?
(just off the top of my head under certain situations perhaps a referee could, after discussion with both players, remove or respot the problem ball and avoid the loss of time in starting the frame again.)
Steve in the Premiership Snoker League pictured with Paul COllier
(Image courtesy of Paul Collier)
A10. Stephen Hendry - A winning machine and the best break builder
Q11. You have probably been asked this a million times but what did it feel like getting your first televised 147?
A11. Shock and delight but can\'t really remember too much as it was 20+ years ago now. Remember shaking on the blue big time!
Q12. What has been your favourite competition to date and why?
A12. Embassy World Championship obviously but for my own personal standard of play the UK at Preston and The Irish Benson and Hedges Masters held at Goffs which also was best Venue and Hospitality
Q13. What other sports are you interested in when you are away from the table? (One of our members would like to know if you still go fishing)
A13. Don\'t go fishing as my sons haven\'t wanted to go recently, have retired from Golf as I was getting a lower handicap (14 playing to about 12) and it was getting too time consuming, hard and frustrating, Retired from Chess as all I was doing was rearranging pieces of wood on an 8x8 board, so all that\'s left is Poker and I\'m totally addicted to it. Not the gambling side of it but the game play and the long-term accuracy of decision making that determines whether you are a winner or a loser
Q14. Do you have any tips for our young players at Jesters?
A14. Don\'t let any coach tell you that you "must do it this way otherwise you won\'t improve". For every piece of technical advice that a coach tries to set in stone I can show you a top professional that breaks that rule. There is no substitute for "TALENT". However, and it is a BIG HOWEVER, every player will probably benefit from improvements to his or her technique. Each player will have weak spots that they could improve upon and a good coach should be discovering what that player needs rather than trying to shape the player into his pet method. It is also good practice to try and upgrade your technique as you will learn about yourself in the process and under pressure a repetitive method is to some degree a crutch to lean on. The best piece of advice I could give would be to look at the top Pro\'s and try and work out what they are doing that separates them from the chasing pack. If you are not mimicking (to some degree) what you believe to be their good points, then perhaps you do not currently have a cutting edge technique.
Q15. If you could play 3 frames with any person past or present and they don\'t have to be a professional snooker player who would it be? And why?
A15. Joe Davis. Just to check out how much he understood about the game and what standard he had achieved back then.
Steve Davis pictured with Ronnie O\'Sullivan and Paul Collier
(Image courtesy of Paul Collier)
A16. Yes, it is the Association of Snooker Writers, It is the association of media that write about Snooker. The media that attend Snooker events got together and formed an association called the SWA (Snooker Writers Association) and they asked me to be their PRESIDENT (not chairman). I was delighted to accept, as they write about something that I have been very much involved in (Snooker) and also I don\'t have to do any work as a result of my title President.
Q17. What are your views on the new Hookrest?
A17. Much more useful than I first thought it would be.
Q18. Do you think (like in Rugby/Cricket) that a "2 nd eye" could be used when replacing balls after a failed snooker attempt would be good/useful?
A18. My views on the Miss rule are pretty well known, I think that all things considered, The Miss rule and perhaps more importantly how it is currently interpreted are an embarrassment to snooker. If you were inventing the game of Snooker and writing the rules tomorrow morning and could somehow be shown TV footage (of future matches!) then there is no way that you would allow this farcical problem to arise. You would consider any rule that would avoid the "Miss Rule Situation" Currently there is a catch 22 situation in operation: ie. The moment that a player knows he may get an advantage from "missing" then he will be encouraged to miss. But when he knows that there is no advantage to be gained from missing, he will be trying 100% and therefore will be penalised for fair attempts. Considering that the rule was only introduced to try and stop cheating then the current interpretation of the rule, by top referees and players alike, defeats the original purpose of the rule. The only way for the rule to be fairly applied is if Referees are encouraged to use their own judgement of each situation. The early years of this rule left the referees in no doubt that they would be criticised relentlessly by players for every questionable interpretation, so naturally they gravitated towards a policy of "everything is a miss" to avoid amongst other things, inconsistency. Players have generally accepted this Ruling and just got on with it, so I am very much in the minority of players who would want to see a change. As far as using TV to replace balls, I don\'t see a problem. Referees already have the authority to ask a member of the audience for help in determining a decision.