Level of Opponent!

[wootton05]

How important is the level of your opponent?

Some people say you have to play people better than you to improve... but if you are better than your friends does this mean you really need to find others to practice with?

[Neil Taperell]

Find 3 levels of players

1- Worse than yourself

2- The same as yourself

3- Better than yourself


I find if you can play against these type of opponents / levels it does improve your game .

[wootton05]

Thanks, I suppose I am one of those idiots that has played in lower leagues for a few years and found it is nice winning but I am not gaining anything from it; think its time I go and get spanked a bit, after all not wanting to pick balls out is the best motivation to concentrate and not miss that pot.

[shafter]

How important is the level of your opponent?

Some people say you have to play people better than you to improve... but if you are better than your friends does this mean you really need to find others to practice with?

I find playing with much better players than myself just knocks my confidence, i know it shouldn't but it does and it pisses me right off!
knowing that if i miss ill be picking balls out for their 50 plus break or more makes me miss balls i would never usually miss!
i know its 90% in my head but how do you practice for that?!?

[wootton05]

I find playing with much better players than myself just knocks my confidence, i know it shouldn't but it does and it pisses me right off!
knowing that if i miss ill be picking balls out for their 50 plus break or more makes me miss balls i would never usually miss!
i know its 90% in my head but how do you practice for that?!?

That makes me want to miss less; I also enjoy watching their breaks because I think, "see the game can be easy".... this is what makes me love this game so much; I once saw a guy make back to back 147's and it was so special. When I see someone play that way it makes me want a chance because immediately I get added confidence and think it will be that easy for me.... rarely works out that way though.

[audiandy]

I think it depends on how you let it effect you in your own head!
I practice with a friend one day every week having around 12 frames and have been doing for a few years now. He is a better player than me and some days we would have a session that he would get 6+ 100 plus breaks then the rest would be 50 plus breaks. At first I would be a bit bored pulling balls out but I found out my game improved over a few months and I was starting getting some close games with my safety improving quite a bit and I was getting more 50+ breaks. This side of it was great, I played well and wasn't to bothered about loosing to a very good player....But when I was going through a bad spell and didn't play well and was loosing to people who I should be giving 40 start too this is when it hit me hard, I over thought things that I was doing wrong and had months before I slowly dug myself out of the pit, being honest still not fully out as I haven't got back to many breaks over 40. It also hurts more loosing to my weekly partner as not him playing well but me playing bad. It is now like I expect to loose feeling rather than try and beat him. Not to waffle on for too long it was playing lesser players and loosing that did me a lot more harm than getting good kickings off a very good player!
If this makes any sense:snooker:

[wootton05]

It does; thank you for the response.

[LucLex3119]

When you play against people worse than yourself you will always go for more risky shots because you know if you miss you won't get punished. His helps your attacking game a lot. And obviously playing someone much better than you will make you concentrate on your safety game because like you say you don't want to be picking balls out all day. It's just finding that happy balance between the two.

[MrRottweiler]

I like playing better players because it's more of a challenge but I don't mind playing less skillful players. All that matters to me regardless of skill level is that they are interested in playing. If I'm playing someone who is checking their phone after every shot or taking on foolish pots I'll quickly get fed up.

[Byrom]

Ronnie O Sullivan was a ball picker for someone once upon a time

(wait for it wait for it)

Just being around good players makes you better, you feed off them pick bits up and go away and practice like mad determined not to get beat up as much.
I hate getting beat like everyone - but I learn - and it motivates me - depends if you do or not.

I agree with Andiandy really as well. I play this old guy and give him 80 start for a bit of fun but I cant play the same game the colours always end up getting messed up and don't think its doing me any good but as Neil says you should play a variety of players and keep challenging yourself with better and better players otherwise you stay at a level. Unless of course you love solo play and can dedicate yourself to improve.

[Bobbyruss2010]

I think the level of your opponent is important with all sports if you are trying to improve.

Playing with a better players is good because you can learn from them.

However I also believe in playing with confidence. I sometimes practise with a guy who makes 147's. It's great because I learn from him and I get to see his thought process and compare it to mine. However while playing him in a match situation I play awful because I'm not playing with much confidence - fearful that if I miss it is game over!

So I think it is good to have practise partners of all abilities.

[lesedwards]

I think playing with all three types is good. When I play with Floyd I might as well put my white gloves on but he explains why he is choosing a certain shot and how he is going to play it. He also really boosts my confidence as he is very encouraging, I wish TD lived closer as I have never beat him but I have come close a couple times. I really enjoy our games as he coaches me through shot selections. Then I play against my son where I I give him thirty a game and if he wins it goes down 10 but if I win it goes up 10. Deffinatly more offensive game.

[The Statman]

Yeah I think you definitely have to play against stronger as well as weaker players.

I think it's also a good idea to handicap it - 7 up, 7 down. So every frame, if you win you give 7 points more start next frame (or receive 7 less) and vice versa.

That way, the better player will still have something to play for at the end of the frame (i.e. won't be going for everything just because you won't be punished), and likewise the poorer player will still have a chance to cause trouble and not just lose, lose, lose.

I once played a friend over several years, where I was the better player by a reasonable amount. We found that by handicapping it, we both then gained from the practice, rather than neither of us gaining.

[Burnpark]

When you play against people worse than yourself you will always go for more risky shots because you know if you miss you won't get punished. His helps your attacking game a lot. And obviously playing someone much better than you will make you concentrate on your safety game because like you say you don't want to be picking balls out all day. It's just finding that happy balance between the two.

I remember Stephen Hendry saying in his book 'masterclass' that he play the shot rather than a player. If he thought he could put one, it wouldn't matter if it was against a top player or someone he should be winning easy against. We all do it, which is why we may get beat by players below out standards (take on tougher shots than we would normally pot) and not beat players who are slightly better (don't take shots we of normally pot)

[Csmith]

I would agree that you need to play against all levels of competition. The majority of us play Amateur/Club snooker so you encounter all levels of players and it's useful to get used to playing the different styles of these players. It reduces the upsets. As already mentioned, lower level players will get the colours and balls messed up pretty quick, so it's a completely different game to playing the higher level players. I also see it as a good opportunity to practice scoring in scrappy frames since the lower level players won't really punish you, so you have the opportunity to practice developing the balls in a low pressure environment.

When playing better players than yourself, since they don't give you many chances you should eventually learn to make the most of every opportunity. Making a 50+ against someone who will only give you 0-2 chances per frame is a much more difficult proposition than achieving the same level of break against a someone who leaves you 5-20 chances per frame. I played our rooms best player for a year before I finally won a frame and about another year or two beyond that before I won a session. It was mostly picking balls out and playing off the rail until then.