Women vs Men

[vainparasite]

I know there are many good lady players but I have just looked at a post on womens world championship 2009 and the average breaks are quite a bit lower than what you would expect in the mens. Why is this? I remember some while ago Alison Fisher stating her intent to join the mens tour, i dont know if this happened but why not if she was good enough. There cant be a physical advantage to snooker and women tend to compete with men at 9 ball
Jasmin Ouschan for one, so what could it possibly boil down to?

[ste bed]

its just the way it is men are better at somethings mainly sport women are better at other things plus in snooker men can earn alot more than women maybe if they put more money in it they would improve as there's not much in it for them at the end of the day.

[Monique]

its just the way it is men are better at somethings mainly sport women are better at other things plus in snooker men can earn alot more than women maybe if they put more money in it they would improve as there's not much in it for them at the end of the day.

Indeed. None of them can make a living out of it. Meaning that they don't have the time and means to put the same work on practice because they need another job. Not to mention it's hard to attract young talents (and parent's approval) when there is clearly no professional future there, no exposure, no prestige. They could try to compete on the main tour. It's not a men's tour in fact. It just happens that there are only men in it ... It could change. Reanne Evans is trying to qualify for it. But then, even if she just won her 5th straight WC title yesterday - unoticed on this board - she's a single mother and certainly can hardly make a living on her snooker for now. So how is she expected to succeed in that highly competitive circuit?

[The Statman]

Of course, the 'men's' tour is not actually a men's tour; there just doesn't happen to be any women on it.

There have been a number of female players who have played on the main tour, especially back in the days when there was an unlimited field and you could join just by paying the membership/entrance fee.

Six ladies at least have played in at least one World Championship:

Karen Corr: 6 entries, matches pld-won-lost 10-4-6, frames 77-36-41
Anne-Marie Farren: 2 entries, 4-2-2, 36-17-19
Kellie Fisher: 3 entires, 6-3-3, 41-21-20
Allison Fisher: 4 entries, 10-6-4, 82-43-39
Stacey Hillyard: 3 entries, 4-1-3, 37-17-20

I can't remember who the sixth is, but I'm sure there is one!

[wildJONESEYE]

Of course, the 'men's' tour is not actually a men's tour; there just doesn't happen to be any women on it.

There have been a number of female players who have played on the main tour, especially back in the days when there was an unlimited field and you could join just by paying the membership/entrance fee.

Six ladies at least have played in at least one World Championship:

Karen Corr: 6 entries, matches pld-won-lost 10-4-6, frames 77-36-41
Anne-Marie Farren: 2 entries, 4-2-2, 36-17-19
Kellie Fisher: 3 entires, 6-3-3, 41-21-20
Allison Fisher: 4 entries, 10-6-4, 82-43-39
Stacey Hillyard: 3 entries, 4-1-3, 37-17-20

I can't remember who the sixth is, but I'm sure there is one!

Reane Evans has atempted to get on tour via the PIOS but not succesfull and she didnt even enter this year...

[Mal]

One of Stacey Hillyard matches was against Alex Higgins when he made his comeback after his one year ban! She lost, but I think she did win a frame or two off him.

I agree with Monique. The more practice at snooker, the better. The pros in the 60s and 70s occasionally had other jobs (and even today those lower down need something part time) and when people say they weren't as good it may be true, but they had the talent and the top echelons would be successful if practicising and committed as much as those in todays game. So it does help having time to practice and get better. However, what I would say is there is no physical reason why a woman shouldn't be great at the game, so if they practiced when really young (like Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump) they could already be great by the age of 12 (at which age Hendry had never even played)

One thing about 9 ball pool is that it is a leveller - i.e. anyone on form can win - I've run three racks in a row twice - wouldn't matter who I was playing. Of course the best will do it more often.

[checkSide]

Without wanting to start a massive arguement........!

Genetically men have evolved superior accuracy skills through the hunter/gatherer role.
Throwing sticks, archery etc.

Changing hormonal balances in women throughout the menstual cycle affect their spatial awareness.

Finally, numerous studies have shown men to be more intelligent on average, scoring a few points higher on the Intelligence Quotient test.

All this = better snooker player.

[Monique]

Without wanting to start a massive arguement........!

Genetically men have evolved superior accuracy skills through the hunter/gatherer role.
Throwing sticks, archery etc.

Changing hormonal balances in women throughout the menstual cycle affect their spatial awareness.

Finally, numerous studies have shown men to be more intelligent on average, scoring a few points higher on the Intelligence Quotient test.

All this = better snooker player.

The part in bold is definitely not true. The studies have shown that men have a wider "dispersion" around the same average score than women. Meaning they "feature" more geniuses ... and more idiots aswell!

[Viktortheman]

I have a theory but I don't think its's 100% correct. However, my theory states that men are better on reading angles than women. By this statement I mean that in snooker, you have to be good at reading angles and therefore I think men have a advantage against women. This statement can also be compared with driving skills. When driving a car you have to be good at reading anlges too! There have been stated that men are better than women in driving a car. What do you think? I just thought about it.

[checkSide]

The part in bold is definitely not true. The studies have shown that men have a wider "dispersion" around the same average score than women. Meaning they "feature" more geniuses ... and more idiots aswell!

I based my comment on this.

[Monique]

"On average" men score better in mathematical and spatial related skills, women in verbal ans social related skills. However "on average" does not mean anything for the individual. Some women have very high mathematical skills ... for instance.

I'd say some things have a hidden cultural background. In IT and computer engineering as an example women are under-represented in all european countries except one, Portugal. I very much doubt Portugese women are hormonally different from others

How many fathers bring their daughters to the snooker hall?

[wildJONESEYE]

persanally i think its far more simple than that......

more men play snooker socially so the best comes to the front because theres more to choose from...

Statman has named 5 or 6 women that played on the main tour when it was open for all......

in comparison to thoes 6 women there were 500 or 600 men on the main tour.

[Monique]

The "widening gap" is indeed related to the wider dispersion as I mentioned.
If their "sample" included 20000 students out of a total of 80000 persons it's not wonder they found such result: the whole studied was "biased" towards the "higher" part of the Gaussian curve ...

If they had included 20000 residents in institutions for "people with special needs" instead of students they would also have found more men than women and a widening gap.

[The Statman]

Monique - Yes.

I think there is some truth that ‘on average’ men have better skills required for snooker than women. Just like probably in theory men should be better at driving than women based on superior spatial awareness etc.

(I say ‘better at driving’ meaning the art of manoeuvring a vehicle in a confined space, rather than ‘better drivers’ meaning safety and consideration etc., because men also outdo women in arrogance!)

But there is more to it in snooker, which of course has historically been a men’s domain. The opportunities afforded to women in the game has never remotely equalled access to the game for men. This may be improving, but until it has improved, and then the first generation of young girls comes along once that has happened, will there be any significant signs of women competing seriously on equal terms with men.

That is a long way off, and in reality may never happen.

[wildJONESEYE]

personally i think Alison Fisher jumped ship 2 soon.....

if she had persevered with it like Selby or Murphy and got better i think she would have made it..

she turned Professional Player in 1991along with Ebdon and Harold when the game opened up and by 1996 she had gone to the states to play pool....that's 5 years....

it took Shaun Murphy 7 years to reach World no 48....