Does height affect how you play?

[Cateran]

I'd have thought that tall players (6'2"+) have a problem too. I've noticed that they generally have to work fairly hard to get themselves into a decent stance.

[April madness]

Higgins is about 1.80 he may look small cos of weight

who told you that? (if kja he must have been drunk.) he is not that tall... bit taller than ja and bit smaller than me - and I am 1.75

[ja.]

who told you that? (if kja he must have been drunk.) he is not that tall... bit taller than ja and bit smaller than me - and I am 1.75

and i am 1.68 so he must be about 170

[poolqjunkie]

Allison Fisher is not tall at all by any standard. Even Kelly Fisher is taller but is under 5 ft.
What about James Watana? I have never seen him live but he appears quite short on TV.
Ken Dorthy I would reckon is under 6ft, is he?
There are 13 years old who can run centuries in China.
I just watched a video my friend sent me. It was a match between a 13 years old and a chubby little boy. The 13 years old was really short and tiny and he had a 136 highest break in a match. teh chubby boy was also quite short and was a very well known player in China already.
If a short little child can play to that standard, I would say anything is possible.
But these kids dont go to school, they practice 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, have a coach, and have nothing but snooker in their lives.

[stephen23]

How tall is Ronnie actually?

[wayync]

wayync:

At 5ft4in you should be able to cue normally and you should be using a 57in cue unless you have a good cuemaker custom make you one at 55in or 56in where the balance point is still 16-17in from the butt and the taper on the cue suits the length (cutting down a 57in cue means the taper is not correct for the length).

Also, at 26yrs old, I hate to say this, but you are starting out a little too late. I mean, Terry Griffiths did it back in the old days along with Spencer and Reardeon but nowadays players start when they're 8-10 years old, so you are behind the 8-ball already.

Unless of course, your 'big tournament' is the provincial championships or the Canadian Championships and not a professional tournament. In order to turn pro you would need enough money so you don't have to work, go to Britain and compete in the PIOS series, compete in your provincial qualifiers for the Canadians and then win the Canadians and then win the World Amateur.

You would have to practice 8hrs a day, every day for at least 4 years and also would need more money to hire a full-time good coach.

No problem with shooting for the stars and if you live in southern Ontario I can certainly help you at least achieve some of those goals

Terry
Certified IBSF Master Coach
President, OBSA

Well I am shooting pretty hard i guess but 8 hours a day???

Anyways, I have always had this question in mind, say if someone as naturally talented as ronnie never played snooker starting at his age, played on and off for fun during his teen years and didn't start getting serious about it until his mid twenties...Would he still be able to acheive the level of play that he has today? Ever?

[Welshsteve]

A lot of the top players are no taller than 6 foot, a lot of them are less. It's all about ability. I wouldn't say height is an advantage

[Bigmeek]

Lots of good comments here. I feel sure someone could work out the ideal height for a snooker player but you're stuck with the way you are, (assuming your an adult!). I've always felt that shorter (under 5'.10") rather than taller is best as has already been mentioned you seem to be able to bend over naturally to the height of the table. Fred Davis always seemed to me to be the ideal size. Tall is good for avoiding having to use the rest as much but I think if you're over 6 feet and play a lot you can end up with back trouble as getting into position is more difficult. I've had a few slipped discs in the past and I know I don't get down on the shots any more like I used to.

[Welshsteve]

Well I'm only 5'7". I use a 57" cue. I'm not brilliant but have knocked in nearly 150 30+ breaks. I mainly get 30s and 40s, but have a few 50s and 60s to my name, plus an 80 and 3 90s. I don't think height is a factor at all once you're tall enough to address the table confortably.

[King T]

This is a very interesting topic to discuss.

I live in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and without a doubt the average height here is much less than the UK. When watching snooker matches many shots I notice players stretching and executing easily while we have to use the rest here.

I personally don't think height is that much of a case as poolqjunkie mentioned look how short the Chinese snooker player Dongdong is, he's good enough to appear in exhibitions aggainst Selby and Ding! not to mention professionals such as Trump and Ronnie making their 147's at very early age.

I think having excessive height is a larger case than being short, A very tall player I know can't play for so long as it takes him lots of effort to level with the table, I don't know if thats the case with many other tall player or it's just him though.

Terry Davidson, a question I always had in mind and never knew the right answer. If one began playing snooker with a wrong stance (i.e Joe Swail) and continued playing without improving his stance for many years, would the wrong stance he's adapted effect his performance? Or does the right stance help you understanding the game easier but once you're used to the game and spent enough time it wouldn't really matter?

In other terms, if Joe Swail long time back actually worked on his stance and adapted the right stance while playing, would his playing be any different right now?

I personally bend both legs while playing, It's quiet confusing to me as many people tell me work on getting your stance right it will be difficult right now but it would be better for you in the future, while many other people tell me never mind each has his own stance and many players like Mark King bend both of their legs.

Thank you.

[Welshsteve]

Allison Fisher is not tall at all by any standard. ...
Ken Dorthy I would reckon is under 6ft, is he?

I was stood next to Ken last Saturday in Telford, and I would say he's no more than 5'10"-5'11"

[Bigmeek]

Well I'm only 5'7". I use a 57" cue. I'm not brilliant but have knocked in nearly 150 30+ breaks. I mainly get 30s and 40s, but have a few 50s and 60s to my name, plus an 80 and 3 90s. I don't think height is a factor at all once you're tall enough to address the table confortably.

Welshsteve Believe me being tall, say 6' 6" is a problem. Bending over the table to get into position is difficult. More so as you get older and your spine is less supple. My playing partner is around your height and I am very envious of his solid stance.

[Terry Davidson]

To answer some of the questions:

First of all, even if you feel at 8 years old you were as good as Ronnie was at 8 years old and then you just continued to play socially you will (my opinion only) NEVER catch up to him as he learned his snooker as a young boy and it's one heck of a lot easier to learn when you're young.

Now that you're 26 years old you will never be able to re-capture that learning ability you had as a youth (look how quickly kids pick up new languages compared to adults trying to learn a new language).

I'm not saying you can never do it, however I'm saying you will have to work a lot harder than Ronnie did as a young lad in order to catch up. The other thing is top level snooker players mostly top out in the mid-30's (witness Hendry) with John Higgins and Ronnie now reaching that stage and maybe with better coaching Hendry could again reach the top, but your years are numbered.

As for stance...as long as your stance is stable there should not be a problem. It's not Joe Swails stance that is unorthodox, it's his cueing arm handing into the middle of his back that is the problem. The stance should be somewhere near the ideal, with both feet level or almost level and with one leg straight and one bent, but there are many good players who bend both legs, like Peter Ebdon for instance.

The secret is COMFORT and STABILITY. Everything else is just window dressing

Terry