Newbie & Can I become professional at my age?

[jo3buddha]

Hi all, I am a newbie to these forums and decided to join to extract some advice from experienced players. I have only been playing on a full size table for 5 months (used to play on 3/4 when I was 13) and my highest break is 64, I havent had any coaching and tend to practice by myself for average of 8hrs per week at a local snooker club. My age is 26 though and Ive read a lot about people being to old. But I have only played snooker for 5 months doing only 8hrs per week. Is it possible to have a chance to become professional if I practice more? I only learnt by watching snooker and following tips from televised snooker. Any advice would be helpful. THX

[jrc750]

Get yourself practicing even more, get to a standard where century's come fairly easy to you, then enter the relevant competitions and of course you have a chance.
But practicing by yourself is not the same as against an opponent in a match........no pressure at all by yourself lol
Join local leagues/enter competitions etc to get match practice....its a whole new ball game !

[cally]

The answer to your question is basically... No.

[jrc750]

The answer to your question is basically... No.....

Lol your so cruel

[jo3buddha]

I would like to know why you said No, without any clear explanation. Is there a rule saying over 25's cannot become professional?? I only wanted to know if there was anything stopping me from trying to become professional, but it seems there isnt except other people underestimating your own ability. Note I only play 8hrs a week and havent played snooker since the age of 13 and only for 5months on a full size table. I am fully competent in all spins except playing with side which I dont have to play a lot cause my positioning is good. I would have a larger break but in practice I will always attempt hard shots that I never see professional players attempt so I know the limit of what I can attempt.
It would be great if someone can give me a reason for "No" being an answer. Then maybe I wont waste so much money and time practising if it ends nowhere.

[Gerry Armstrong]

There is no reason why you can't but the odds of you "making it" and extremely slim i.e. 99.99999999% chance that no matter what you do you will never become a professional because you're not good enough.

If you want to pursue your dream, here are a few simple steps you should take immediately:

- Start playing other players who are better than you now.
- Find out what tournaments there are in your area and enter all of them.
- Get in touch with the NGB for snooker in the country where you live and enter any tournaments that they run.
- Get a coach who can help you work on your technique and knowledge.
- Start practicing every day.

There's no point just practicing on your own as you don't play snooker on your own, you play against an opponent. And there is also no point practicing the wrong things or with a bad technique as practice does NOT make perfect, it makes permanent. If you have a fault, practicing it over and over again will only make it more difficult when you discover it later on.

[Terry Davidson]

buddha:

The simple answer to you question is the odds are VERY long you will be able to reach the standard of even a lower ranked professional.

The reason is simple...most pros have been full-time players from their earlier teens or even earlier in some cases and have been playing other top players in competitions.

If you really want to turn pro you would have to have a means of support since you would need to practice at least 8hrs per day, 7 days a week and you can't hold down a job but of course you still have to eat and pay the rent.

If you work 8hrs per day in order to support yourself then you are going for your 8hrs practice tired after a full day's work and not in the right mental state to practice. It takes hard, hard work to reach the standard of even a lower ranked professional and they have all put in their time and had (usually) their parents supporting them so they could play full time.

The other thing going against you is a 13-year-old will learn much faster than a 25-year-old so you are already 12 years behind the top players plus you would have to take even more time to train and get coaching.

So, you need a sponsor or independent means to cover your living expenses, plus pay for your table time and coaching and all of that isn't cheap. Also of course there would be tournament entry fees plus somewhere around £500 for a decent cue. I estimate it would take at least £30K per year to keep yourself going for somewhere around 10 years, and that is if you have good motivation, discipline and dedication to becoming a professional.

Snooker is no different than any other ball sport. For instance, how many golfing pros qualify for the circuit in their 30's. It's not many as most now start in high school and are under 16. It's exactly the same story for snooker, golf, tennis, cricket, baseball and any other ball sport. You may see a very good 35-year-old, (like Ronnie O'Sullivan or John Higgins) but they have both been playing top snooker since they were 15 years old.

Terry

[jo3buddha]

Thx for the info Gerry, I was not trying to say I want to become professional now. I set myself a target when I started on a full size for 2-3 years. I was trying to find out if anything was stopping me except my own ability. Now I know it is worthwhile to carry on practising as when I first started 5 months ago I couldnt even pot a black off the spot and straight aswell lol. Now I have a fast fluid cue action and obviously need to practice a lot more.

[Gerry Armstrong]

There is nothing stopping you but my personal opinion is it's not worth it as you won't make it.

And it's definitely not worthwhile to carry on with what you're doing, knocking balls around on your own will get you nowhere.

P.S. A fast cue action is not a good cue action.

[jo3buddha]

Thx for your answer as well Terry, I know it will be hard. Financially is not a problem as I own my own business. Dedication is not really a problem either as I already drive 45 mins just to practice. I guess the chances of becoming are very low but not impossible.

[jo3buddha]

I dont just knock balls about, I specifically do potting exercises and break building exercises. Then do a few frames to work on my break building in developing the reds of the colours. I have watched a lot of coaching videos to make sure I am doing things in the right way. I played with a my friend a few weeks ago but it wasnt worthwhile as he could only manage breaks of 20 odd and I was potting too heavily to make it fun for him not really competitive enough.

[sunny3909]

Thx for the info Gerry, I was not trying to say I want to become professional now. I set myself a target when I started on a full size for 2-3 years. I was trying to find out if anything was stopping me except my own ability. Now I know it is worthwhile to carry on practising as when I first started 5 months ago I couldnt even pot a black off the spot and straight aswell lol. Now I have a fast fluid cue action and obviously need to practice a lot more.

As for now don't think about becoming professional just try practicing with a better palyer and take some professional coaching.
Try improving your game.
When you start making regular single frame winning visits like 70's and 80's in matchplay then you should think of joining tournies like the Q school and several other amatuer events.
But reaching this level would take you atleast 3 years of total dedication towards the game.

Don't worry about centuries it's just a number if you start making regular 60's & 70's breaks you are on course.

[sunny3909]

Graeme Dott's highest break in the finals of the world championships which he won was in the mid 60's.
You need to have a strong all round game to succeed.
Good safety, mental toughness, having a good long game are also very important.

[gtjohnnymac1965]

Really don't want to p**s on your fire kid but...absolutely no chance whatsoever! That is the most honest I can be...sorry!

[magicman]

People will always try and be friendly and as non-judgemental as possible, but the cold hard truth is that you haven't even a remote chance of becoming a pro. Just practice to get better, to enjoy having cue-ball control, to beat better opponents, to love playing the game. Forget turning professional as there are ten year olds better than you.