Playing better players than yourself

[Burnpark]

As I try and improve my game I continuously look to play better players than myself. The problem I have is if I play a really good player I tend to give them too much respect and struggle to play to my best. I know the more I play better players this will improve but any suggestions on how to tackle this? Also when I play players not as good as me, I get bored and lose focus. Any tips on how to keep motivated against weaker opponents?

[bolton-cueman]

Look at it as free coaching - watch their shot selection and how they play.... getting tanked is a good way to improve your game, perverse as it may sound.

When I feel I'm stagnating or in a rut I normally text one of the best players in my club to arrange a best of 7 or whatever and he duly beats me up, but it sharpens my game up tremendously.

I also think that playing against a weaker player is the time to experiment with shots, in a game setting.

Ultimately, if you lose you lose. It's not the end of the world. As long as you get something positive from your sessions....

[_Harry_Potter_]

Also when I play players not as good as me, I get bored and lose focus. Any tips on how to keep motivated against weaker opponents?

Surprising as it may sound, I found that playing against weaker players also has its pros. These players usually play either soft shots, thus putting the cue ball almost everytime near the cushion or play the power shots with usually flawed aim/cue action thus putting me in snookes every now and then.
I agree they will not play the game as tactically as a better players but they will definitely improve how to play shots near the cushions and how you continue your break by position play as they will give you some position play chances in almost every frame. IMHO.

[Burnpark]

Surprising as it may sound, I found that playing against weaker players also has its pros. These players usually play either soft shots, thus putting the cue ball almost everytime near the cushion or play the power shots with usually flawed aim/cue action thus putting me in snookes every now and then.
I agree they will not play the game as tactically as a better players but they will definitely improve how to play shots near the cushions and how you continue your break by position play as they will give you some position play chances in almost every frame. IMHO.

Just read Stephen Hendry masterclass ( bit dated but principles remain valid) there is an excellent section on philosophy and Hendry states that you should treat all players the same, I,e if they are better or poorer players you should still go for or play safe depending on your ability as opposed to your opponents. I'll definitely start doing this and it may bring more consistency to my game. He also talks about poor form and he said some players take a week or so off to freshen up (which I normally do) but he prefers to hit the practice room and iron out his problems whilst they are evident.

[MrRottweiler]

Just read Stephen Hendry masterclass

I read this about 20 years ago and it has been my Snooker Bible ever since. As the title suggests it's not a beginner book but is one that must be read eventually. The technical chapters like break building and shot selection all cover the same stuff as your standard books but it's the chapter on mental approach that makes this book so good. It's a great window in to mind of Hendry and I learnt a lot from reading about how he views the game and other players. He is such a legend in break building it's a must read.

Always playing better players was a tip an old mate gave me once and he had made 147s and was a pro for a while in the 80s. The best he made against me was a 136 total clearance and he made it look so easy. I used to play him a lot and other ex pros who could wipe the floor with me but I could also give them a good game if I was on form. Playing someone better can help when you look at how they are playing the game and the stories and tips they share but the one downside apart from losing a lot of frames which can affect your motivation is you are going to be spending a lot of time respotting balls for them which isn't teaching you a great deal. You could argue that it's better to spend more time doing solo practice than playing an opponent and when I worked in a snooker club and could play for free I would practice on my own for 6+ hours at a time every day and try to reduce the amount of times I played in a match especially a match against someone who was drinking and not really interested in trying to beat me. I want my opponent to have a desire to beat me up so I can show them it's not happening.

[MrRottweiler]

I think I still have the VHS tape of when John Higgins won his first world title and one statement he makes during the post match presentation has always stuck with me.

[Referring to practicing against Hendry] "even though I was getting whacked 19-1, 19-2 I knew it was doing me the world of good".

This is the night when he became world champion and world number one in the same evening after making a record number of centuries so this sentence carries some weight.

[robertmac]

I agree that better players help me learn more and
keep me more focused on the game. Lesser players
do provide me with many easier shots which can help
me with my break building. Either way it doesnt matter
if I win or lose its about me improving.

[trains]

I think I still have the VHS tape of when John Higgins won his first world title and one statement he makes during the post match presentation has always stuck with me.

[Referring to practicing against Hendry] "even though I was getting whacked 19-1, 19-2 I knew it was doing me the world of good".

This is the night when he became world champion and world number one in the same evening after making a record number of centuries so this sentence carries some weight.

I heard somewhere that John Higgins never made a 147 in competitive play or even in practice at that time he won his first World Championship,surprising when you see how prolific he was from about 94 onwards.