Is it disrespectful to smash the pack open?

[Burwat Champ]

I have recently been made aware that a letter of complaint about my conduct has been submitted to the comittee of one of the leagues I play in.

The complaint is that on a number of occasions during the season I have smacked the pack open on my first visit.

The reason I have done this is that the league I play in works on an individual handicap and I play off -40 now there are a lot of players in the league playing off +30 we have a 50 point limit on the amount you can give per frame and almost every week I find myself giving a 50 as opposing teams always put there highest handicap players against the lowest hadicap players.

I was getting fed up of tip tapping round the table only for my opponent to pot a red and then play safe putting the black safe then potting another red putting the pink safe etc...

So the last 4 times I have had to give a massive start I have opened the pack straight away putting reds all over the table to make sure that I had a good chance of being on a red no matter were on the table my opponent left the cue ball.

This tactic has worked for me as I have hit a 50+ break in all 4 frames I have done this in getting back into the match straight away.

Now the complaint states that I am being disrespectful to fellow league members as I should play the table the same against a +30 as I would against a -40 player.

My argument is that I am playing to my strengths as I am a a pretty decent break builder and im opening the balls up against somebody who is not a high break player.

I think there is no difference in me opening the pack up to my advantage and these +30 players putting high value colours safe to their advantage.

So I would like to know the opinions of fellow forum members as to do you think my actions are direspectful or not.

Cheers

[perpetualboredom]

Sounds fine to me.. I've seen players on high + handicaps who look fairly competant players do exactly as you say.. pot red, colour safe. I've never been a fan of handycapping in any form for this reason. Potting 1 ball and playing safe is not helping their progression in any way either.

[gary soo]

Hi
I wished I had seen this article sooner. I whole heartedly support your tactics. Well done

[arbitrage]

whats wrong with that?
you are the player taking the risk by smashing the pack open. and there is absolutely nothing in the rules which states that you can't smash the pack open at the beginning, middle or end or whenever you wish.
what is the world coming to nowadays, that people will complain about opening up a pack in snooker?

[dannyd0g]

I should play the table the same against a +30 as I would against a -40 player.

My argument is that I am playing to my strengths as I am a a pretty decent break builder and im opening the balls up against somebody who is not a high break player.

I think there is no difference in me opening the pack up to my advantage and these +30 players putting high value colours safe to their advantage.

So I would like to know the opinions of fellow forum members as to do you think my actions are direspectful or not.

Cheers

I think you are right that they are using tactics to their advantage. And you are right that you should be able to do the same and play to your strengths. The top players would play differently against different players; playing very cagey against a great long potter or Ronnie for example, maybe more attacking when they feel confident that their opponents are less dangerous. Thats all part of the game.

IMO it would only be disrespectful if you did it Quinten Hann break off style; or played a shot without any regard for safety. There's nothing wrong with playing a thick attacking safety to open the pack.

Sounds like some people dont like it that you have may more talent than them...

[subzeer0]

you are doing the right thing to give yourself a chance....even the big guys on the telly do it

dont feel bad about it

[Acrowot]

Burwat Champ, I would do the same as you, but if it was me that was breaking off, then would hit top cushion first, with plenty of bottom and side and smash them open that way. When I stopped playing for a few years, then came back to it, I was in same predicament as you and often had to give lots of start, but we never had as much to give as you do. All the best to you and hope that the committee look at this problem properly and let you continue.
:snooker:

[Burwat Champ]

Thanks for the comments guys.

I was starting wonder if I had been a bit disrespectful, its good to know that some people are of the same opinion as me on this.

[glaken]

As a plus player in a league myself I find nothing wrong with your tactics at all. Having said that I don't pot a red and then deck a colour as that wouldn't help my game at all, I much prefer playing the game to the best of my limited ability in a fair manner IMO. Good luck to you and don't let the jealous people get you down.

[cantpotforshíte]

Of course you are doing nothing wrong, simply playing to your strengths.
I'm sure Barry Hearn would think he's won the lottery if more pros did it
I reckon that the complaint has been lodged by little green eyed monsters that are jealous of your break building capabilities.
Are you breaking the reds from the back off the black cushion or from the side Quinten Hann style?
If I was in your position (giving such a big head start) I'd come off the black cushion with a ton of side, just missing the black and into the back of the reds, but quite softly - to hit the centre ball of the flat back of the pack,half ball.
This tends to put a few reds in pottable positions, doesn't put the pink out of comission, doesn't park any reds on the cushion and, most importantly, leaves the black spot uncluttered.
Also it's amazing how often you leave nothing.
And if anybody whinges about that, suggest they take up something a little less taxing, like 8-ball or sudoku.

[steedee]

im rubbish at snooker so if i played in a league i would expect to get a massive handicap in my favour, having said that i think id actually prefer my more talented opponent to scatter some reds about because a) some reds would go safe on cushions and b) being attrocious at positional play i might actually get a chance at a break. By my calculation a 50 point start would mean i would only need about another 50 points to take the frame, i can get regular breaks of 15-20 when im in the balls so id be happy that i stood half a chance.

[Burwat Champ]

If im breaking I hit the 3rd ball dow on the right side of the triangle a little thicker than normal with a a fair bit of pace, this way I find the reds open really well but the white still goes to baulk, if my opponent breaks I just smash into the reds from were ever the white is, if I can do this in a way I can get the white fairly safe I will but I will also just smash them open if there is no way to guarantee a safe white.

Doing this has nearly backfired as an older gentleman came to the table and made a nice little 20 break leaving me 70 down, but a 50+ got me back in and a 27 clearance of the colours won the frame for me.

While on the subject of individual handicapping, heres something i found amusing the high break in the league last year was break of 121 which was made by a player who was off +15 in the 2nd to last game of the season!!!

He was a new player to the league so as such starts off plus 15 under review, he tells us after the season had finished his captain had told him that once he had done enough to win the frame to let his opponent start to pull the points back so that the end score is really close meaning that the review board will leave his handicap as it is.

What really takes the biscuit about this is this captain is one of the guys who has complained about me smashing the pack

[Odrl]

Now the complaint states that I am being disrespectful to fellow league members as I should play the table the same against a +30 as I would against a -40 player.

That's complete nonsense. Snooker is a game between two players, not between a player and the table. You can do whatever you want, in terms of tactics, if it helps you beat a specific opponent.

So I agree with everyone else. There are a couple of ways to disrespect your opponent, but this is not one of them.

And just for the record, I would say the same for the opposite scenario. If you find yourself 50 points ahead, of course you play defensively and put colours safe. It's good tactics. The problem is the handicap system itself, which is one of the stupidest ideas people ever came up with in sport.

[Qmaster]

Burwat Champ,

Although smashing the pack is a touch disrespectful I'm sure there is a more subtle way of doing it. I find that smashing the pack is counter productive anyway as the pink invariably gets tied up and more reds end up near cushions.
My mate breaks off by putting the cue ball by the green, then contacting the 2nd red below the pink with tons of check side coming off two cushions back to baulk. It is amazing how the reds fan out leaving pink and black on their spots. You will be surprised how often a red will end up in a corner pocket as well!

[themayorofflair]

I am so glad to see so many people backing Burwat Champ, I too adopt the tactic against the hit & run merchants as I like to call them.....it definitely evens the odds when giving big starts away. Their hit & run tactics are designed to win them the frame using their specific talents at the game, their Ying to your pack splitting Yang if you like.

It is not cheating, which is the most disrespectful act in snooker in my humble opinion. Playing off a dodgy handicap is far more lamentable. I cannot believe that the complaining captain is advocating far more sinsister tactics with his team.

Stick to your guns, enjoy how you love to play the game, not how others would like you to, which would give them far more of a chance to beat you (which is their goal in the end after all).

Keep up the good work & don't let negativity get you down. As you have discovered with your post, their are a lot of people in your corner on this one !