Newbie & Can I become professional at my age?

[thedynamite]

im afraid you need something more than just practice to make it. You need to be gifted with the game to give you that extra head start. Anyone can play 4hrs a day and 2-3 years down the line become a very good AMATEUR player that can play all shots a make breaks like myself but never will i progress to pro status. I practised with mark gray who turned pro back in the late 90s he beat jimmy white in the British open 1998, we all thought thats it he will go on from there but he never did. in practice he was awsome, i remember him getting 3 147's in one day the bloke was a machine, in one session best of 7 i had 5 shots!!! makes my game look like a beginner. The difference between me and him is the diffence between him and higgins or any of the top 16, massive difference. Just enjoy the game.

[Inoffthered]

I practised with mark gray who turned pro back in the late 90s he beat jimmy white in the British open 1998, we all thought thats it he will go on from there but he never did. in practice he was awsome, i remember him getting 3 147's in one day the bloke was a machine, in one session best of 7 i had 5 shots!!! makes my game look like a beginner. The difference between me and him is the diffence between him and higgins or any of the top 16, massive difference. Just enjoy the game.

Yeah, I remember Mark Gray. Great player. Thing is, SO MANY good players don't make it. Not for lack of ability, but the mental strength to believe in their own ability to get the results. Either way, a lot of ppl end up cancelling each other out.

Still comes back to this. If you think you're 'ard enough have a crack. Just be realistic enough to know chances are, no matter how dedicated you try to prove the majority of opinion wrong, you'll prob. end up failing. Good luck tho!

[thedynamite]

Yeah, I remember Mark Gray. Great player. Thing is, SO MANY good players don't make it. Not for lack of ability, but the mental strength to believe in their own ability to get the results. Either way, a lot of ppl end up cancelling each other out.

Still comes back to this. If you think you're 'ard enough have a crack. Just be realistic enough to know chances are, no matter how dedicated you try to prove the majority of opinion wrong, you'll prob. end up failing. Good luck tho!

Youve hit the nail right on the head with last quote " Thing is, SO MANY good players don't make it. Not for lack of ability, but the mental strength to believe in their own ability to get the results" thats what most of the players fail on

[KashifK]

It was a different time but Ray Reardon only started playing in his 30s and we know what he achieved.

So 26 is certainly not too late. It is about having the time to practice, belief in yourself and handling the pressure of a match situation. If you have this as well as be able to make high breaks when you see the chance, then anything is possible

[magicman]

Ray Reardon started playing PROFESSIONALLY in his thirties, he'd been playing all his life. As thedynamite pointed out there are so many players who are exceptionally gifted right now and yet struggle to even get pro status, let alone talking about a 26 year old with a high break of 64 eventually making it. I can understand the rational behind peoples positivity and trying to show support for others, but encouraging people to waste years of their life pursuing a pipe-dream is actually far from friendly.

[nrage]

Ray Reardon started playing PROFESSIONALLY in his thirties, he'd been playing all his life. As thedynamite pointed out there are so many players who are exceptionally gifted right now and yet struggle to even get pro status, let alone talking about a 26 year old with a high break of 64 eventually making it. I can understand the rational behind peoples positivity and trying to show support for others, but encouraging people to waste years of their life pursuing a pipe-dream is actually far from friendly.

It really depends on whether he would see the time invested as 'wasted' if he failed to make it as a pro. I personally invest a fair amount of time, but it's never 'wasted' as there is nothing else I'd rather do with it, at the minute. So, if he has the time, money, and drive/desire to do it AND he is ok with 'wasting' all that time, there there really is no reason not to give it a shot.

Suggestions (many suggested already):
- get a good quality cue
- find some better players to play, play them as often as possible
- find some competitions to play in, enter as many as you can.
- find a good coach and see them regularly i.e. once a month (minimum) to start with.
- practice as much as you can, ideally on your own 'pro' quality table.
- find someone who is willing to pick balls out of pockets for you, so more of your time is spent actually potting/playing the game.

[BaconLad]

This is what your up against http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PWZX...eature=related

[SBL]

If it's looked at logically then you won't make it to pro level The reason I say this is because forgetting everything else, it's probably 0.0001% that do and is no different to golf, football etc. (I was given lessons at golf from a man who had a handicap of +6, if you don't know what that means, he plays the round and then has to add 6 to his score for his final score, he didn't make it as a pro golfer)
On top of that, I'd imagine that most pro's these days were shooting the scores you do when they were 12 and so have 14 years head start on you. With tallent like that they'll have had a lot of attention from a very early age where as you'll still be booking a table for a couple of hours in the local club.

All that said, if you have the tallent and are prepared to dedicate yourself to this game then who knows. There's always one that comes good later in life.
Play the game and enjoy it, practice and enjoy it and see what comes of it.

[Inoffthered]

It was a different time but Ray Reardon only started playing in his 30s and we know what he achieved.

Thing is... he was playing in the 70's.

[AndrewB]

My advice (as a completely incompetent player, so take it with a pinch of salt) would be not to think so far ahead, and to aim for short-term, achievable goals.

There is a theory (again FWIW) that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert, which at 8 hours per week would mean 25 years.

[jrc750]

.....There is a theory (again FWIW) that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert, which at 8 hours per week would mean 25 years.

Maybe thats why they play 8 hours a day then, dedication to the extreme is whats required

[Gorfendor]

To be honest, I think at this stage you should be looking to just enjoy the game rather than look at taking it up professionally. I know I'll never make pro because to me snooker is a social occassion. I'll go down the club with a few friends and we'll play each other for fun for a few hours (Drinks optional )

I think if you want to turn pro, you maybe should have started a little earlier. Remember the majority of players in Q school will have been playing since they were like 8 years old!!

[Jools]

Incidentally, how old are:

Mark Davis
Marcus Campbell
Mark King
Dominic Dale
Joe Perry
?

All top 32 currently. Surely if none of these aren't already 40 they aren't far away and what about Nigel Bond and Steve Davis? They've both been top 32 during their forties haven't they?

[cally]

Incidentally, how old are:

Mark Davis
Marcus Campbell
Mark King
Dominic Dale
Joe Perry
?

38, 38, 37, 39, 36....

[Terry Davidson]

jools:

I think the question should be when did they start. I don't know about the others but I remember Marcus Campbell as a 12-yr-old coming into Reardon's in Glasgow along with John Higgins too!

If a player starts at 10years old and trains to become a pro he might make it by 20yrs old, but if a 30yr old starts training I think it would take him probably at least 20years to reach pro level, assuming he was capable as it would be very tough.

Terry