Dave Harold, annoying to watch?

[felipecocco]

I haven't been able to watch a lot of snooker outside of the historic matches that people eventually post on youtube, and this NI trophy is in fact the first tournament which I've managed to watch live. I like seeing the different styles that pro players bring as it serves as a good reminder that there isn't such a thing as a right way or a wrong way. I thought that until I saw Dave Harold play.

His lack of feathering is certainly unusual, but not criminal - and given where he is right now I'm sure it's working for him just fine. But for people watching him play - and perhaps his opponents as well - his pace of play is absolutely RIDICULOUSLY SLOW. This man takes ages to play even the most straightforward shot imaginable... and then he walks around the table... then chalks his cue... the steps into the shot.... but then steps out again... and paces some more... and then chalks his cue............

I'm not saying one shouldn't do that. Players average out around 20secs or so per shot, if I'm not mistaken. But keep in mind that this also takes into account those difficult safety shots which require quite a bit of thinking and thus a long time to hit... so on your run-of-the-mill shot, most people take them within 20secs, just about enough time to walk to it, see what you've got to do, and go for it. But Dave takes waaayyy too long on all of these shots. And that made that match really frustrating to watch.

Am I alone on this? I'm sure that I have a partial bias since I certainly wanted to see a higgins/o'sullivan final, but I can't imagine that this accounts for all of my present dislike of Dave's play. Anyone else notice his slow play or is my perception a bit skewed?

[oselifer]

He may be to slow,but there is no rule about the time a player must play...

Truth is that he is very boring to watch but its not his fault...

As for his technique i tried it myself and it gives you better aimming..

[Monique]

I don't think Harold is really THAT slow. It's more that his relative immobility gives you the impression the frame "freezes" at times ... or certainly that's what comes to your mind when watching in streaming
But looking at the duration of his matches in this tournie there was nothing obviously excessive there. And personally I found his match against Maguire very interesting to watch because of the clash of styles, personalities and Harold's extreme dedication.

[Ekphantos]

It's more that his relative immobility gives you the impression the frame "freezes" at times ... or certainly that's what comes to your mind when watching in streaming

Same here, every now and then I thought my connection hat stopped

In general I don't mind watching him though, he doesn't seem too slow. I guess there are statistics on this though. Maybe not from this tournament, but surely from older ones, maybe someone knows ??

[trigger666]

As for his technique i tried it myself and it gives you better aimming..

i agree , i tried this technique and it worked well as i find feathering to much leads to bad cueing:snooker:

[Maija]

I don't think Harold is really THAT slow. It's more that his relative immobility gives you the impression the frame "freezes" at times ... or certainly that's what comes to your mind when watching in streaming

I agree with you Mon, he's probably not all that slow, but there's the good old saying of "time flies when you're having fun"... I'm not going to finish that sentence, but I'm sure y'all understand. I refreshed my stream a couple of times only to find that Harold was just doing his 'mental feathering'.

Harold's grip on his cue is also well worth a good stare. I just don't understand how he can play some shots the way he holds his cue. It shouldn't really be possible.


@trigger66: Well, there's feathering too much and then there's just standing still and suddenly stabbing the ball. A certain middle road should work for most

[pekmez]

i dont understand people who hates slow snooker, for me, slow playing is specific snooker caracteristic and for me watching slow players like ebdon (my fav) is relaxing

[Templeton Peck]

It's just his technique that is slow, like Chris Small was, it's not like he take ages to decide which shot he's going to play a'la Ebdon and Selby. I actually quite like Dave Harold, he's a bit of a pretty boy which probably inspires a bit of jealousy in other players, but he always goes out and fights and never gives up!

[Snookeraddict147]

I think Harold is not nice to watch!!! You can`t look at him coz his elbow is standing so far out so you have to be frightened that you you copy that...

Selby changed his style he isn`t slow as Harold is - I think!!!

[spike]

I agree that Dave Harold is not the most attractive player to watch but he gets the job done. It's the way he's always played and it obviously works for him. I've never had a problem watching players like a Dave Harold a Cliff Thorburn or an Eddie Charlton. I think we could be in for a classic final today with both players playing well and with the contrast in styles and personality's make's it an interesting final.
I think Ronnie O Sullivan should be called Ronnie Houdini with the way he's got himself out of some really tight spots during the last few days! Well done to Dave getting to the final which hopefully will give other players of around his age hope that if he can reach a ranking final they can too.

[davidhawkes]

Yes, my connection was fine!

Dave has got to the final with his unusual technique. So it works for him.

It is boring to watch though. Yes, it is important to take your time deciding which shot to play, but sometimes it is obvious especially when in a break.

The idea of feathering is to mentally prepare yourself for the shot.
If Dave feels ok without doing this, that is upto him.

One potential problem is that it might lead to a jabby action, particularly on power shots like deep screws.

Perhaps Dave can win today by putting Ronnie to sleep?

[Ellena]

His lack of feathering is certainly unusual, but not criminal - and given where he is right now I'm sure it's working for him just fine. But for people watching him play - and perhaps his opponents as well - his pace of play is absolutely RIDICULOUSLY SLOW. This man takes ages to play even the most straightforward shot imaginable... and then he walks around the table... then chalks his cue... the steps into the shot.... but then steps out again... and paces some more... and then chalks his cue............

Well ya're not alone in this. To be completely honest Dave is top in my list of "boring players".. or lets say "players not so entertaining to watch".
From where i stand he is slow, very slow . Dunno much about technique so i wont talk about that , i just want to give my opinion as a simple spectator. Ebdon is also categorized as slow, but i find him 100 times more entertaining to watch than Harold. I cant appreciate the technique of a player, i mean the way he aims or the way he steps on a shot or the way he takes that shot...its stuff i know nutting ab, what i appreciate at a snooker player is the way he builds his break , his ingenuousness in tactics, the shot selection , skills, spectacular shots..., fluency in playing the game.. and a bit of rhythm to say so, not thinking ages for a shot no matter how difficult it is. Watching Dave playing, I had never been impressed by any of those mentioned up... guess thats why hes not among my fav.
Fcourse he has my respect for what he achieved this week and not only,obviously hes doin perfectly fine with his style even if i find it slow and boring ..so best of luck to him for the future.

[davidhawkes]

what i appreciate at a snooker player is the way he builds his break , his ingenuousness in tactics, the shot selection , skills, spectacular shots..., fluency in playing the game.. and a bit of rhythm to say so, not thinking ages for a shot no matter how difficult it is.

Ellena, I have quoted only part of your post.

The above sounds like Ronnie.

[Ellena]

Perhaps Dave can win today by putting Ronnie to sleep?

LOL Could be..! Even better if Ronnie has his towel with him.
He experienced the match with Peter years ago , i think his nerves are stronger now , so hopefully Daves slowness wont put him off..

[dannyd0g]

yeah ROS coped fine with dave harold in the w/c first round a couple of years ago. He will know what to expect and he will be prepared.