can the dream be realised

[alabadi]

Hi All

I am over 45 and been playing for two and half years now, my standard is not great i have a highest break in a game of 28 in practice 38 and in a line up 53.

i have been taking the game seriously now for over a year had a few coaching lessons and i am trying to improve my technique every time i practice. i'm just wondering if it is feasable for me at the age i am to dream that i could be knocking in tons in the distant future.

at this moment in time i can never see this happening, there are so many variables that keep going wrong and it takes so long to get one sorted then the next one comes along.

I practice 10-12 hours a week solo, i also play a match once a week for around 4 hours, yet my game is almost at a standstill, i haven't beaten my highest break for over 6 months now, so i am getting pretty frustrated that i am going to lose interest and not bother trying to improve and just enjoy a game from now and then just for the sake of it.

don't get me wrong i love the game to a point of maybe obsession, i spend my time when i'm not playing either watching snooker,reading or researching tips and ideas, either in forums or books. i am always seeking new ways to improve my game however my consistency is shocking which is grinding me down to the point i think that i will never be able to play at a high standard. maybe because i came into snooker at an age that is not favourable its harder for me to progress quickly i don't know.

i wonder is there anyone out there who has thought the same thing but eventually was able to turn it around, i would love to hear from those who are older too to see if i'm not alone in this, i need insperation because i am seriously doubting myself at this moment in time.

cheers
Alabbadi

[Inoffthered]

Is this a srs thread?

Sorry, but no. You have a great work ethic but unfortunately 25yrs too late. IMHO. Good luck tho! You never know..

[inevermissblue]

Stick with it! Most people reach a certain standard and then dont really improve further. This is what happened to me. I reached a fairly high standard breaks wise, just by playing. However throughout this period i never kept a keen eye technically of my progress. Even though i was quite happy i knew that i had much more. About 18 months ago or so i decided to strip back my game and start from scratch! This time rather than relying on memory, i would document the complete structure of my game. Though this has been swapped and changed a bit since, it is important to keep previous versions so that u can revert back if necessary until u arrive at a technique that you know ur going to be happy with. What i would say is that if you do find yourself changing certain aspects, it would be a good idea to give reasons for it and its benefits! This will allow you to improve at an incredible rate(that was a lesson for me! Lol).I'm 38 and have been playing for 17 years. I believe that the first 15 were wasted! Even though i made my first century in the 1st year. So like i said stick with it mate it is possible.

[cazmac1]

Stick with it! Most people reach a certain standard and then dont really improve further. This is what happened to me. I reached a fairly high standard breaks wise, just by playing. However throughout this period i never kept a keen eye technically of my progress. Even though i was quite happy i knew that i had much more. About 18 months ago or so i decided to strip back my game and start from scratch! This time rather than relying on memory, i would document the complete structure of my game. Though this has been swapped and changed a bit since, it is important to keep previous versions so that u can revert back if necessary until u arrive at a technique that you know ur going to be happy with. What i would say is that if you do find yourself changing certain aspects, it would be a good idea to give reasons for it and its benefits! This will allow you to improve at an incredible rate(that was a lesson for me! Lol).I'm 38 and have been playing for 17 years. I believe that the first 15 were wasted! Even though i made my first century in the 1st year. So like i said stick with it mate it is possible.

Some really good advice here and I do something similar.
My problem was that I gave the game up at 20 just when I was starting to play well I was constantly getting high breaks and would have got my first century with in weeks IMO. But I had an offer to go abroad and DJ, so being young I took the opportunity and work abroad for the next two years. when I came back I flirted with the game but never really got my form back. This was to a large part that I was off my nut most of the time as I was heavily in to the rave scene. I then became disillusioned with the game and gave it up completely and never gave it a second thought till around six years ago. Then problem I had was I was constantly trying to remember how I used to play and kept doing the same things over and over again, the problem is that memory fades with time and what you remember will almost certainly not be accurate. I have now over hauled my game and binned all that has gone before .
Now to answer your question, I have to be honest and say that given your current high break and your age time is against you. You are starting from such a low base it's hard to see how you can progress. having said that If your truly believe that you have talent and that your problems are technical stick at it. Some time a few small changes can make a big difference and you can make a big leap forward. Only you no the answer deep in side, whatever you decide it won't be easy as even the very best struggle for form from one day to the next. Snooker is a kind of torture at time and is highly addictive, what ever you do try and enjoy yourself and take each days as it come's
Good luck

[NorthWestJunior]

I'm in a similar position to you cazmac. I gave up around a year ago and want to get back into it. The reason I quit was because none of my friends play snooker so most of my practice was solo and it just got too boring. I love playing in matches but the oppertunity to play a competitive all-day match was rare for me. I got my highest match break of 61 and at least 10-15 50-60 breaks in the weeks before I quit. I reckon I could get form back as I had quite a bit of coaching and I still watch snooker so It should come flooding back. Just not motivated for 6hours solo practice 3 times a week again, gets boring. Would love my own table but that's not going to be possible for a while. Does anybody know of any singles leagues in the North West of England area? Would give me motivation to practice when I know I'm actually practicing for something.

[Particle Physics]

A lot of folk started playing in the 80s on the back of a surge in snooker popularity generally. Then quit as the game eats up so much time, which the man in the street is short of in overworked Britain. Now they're coming back (like I am myself) as snooker revives. All I can say is don't give up if you enjoy it. Put more emphasis on enjoyment and flow; trying too hard and overanalysing is a killer so I'm told. If you enjoy it, you'll probably play more fluently. At the end of the day, almost no-one on here is going to the Crucible, despite the high breaks they state on profile, it isn't likely to happen. So we're all actually in the same boat. The most important thing is enjoyment because it's a great game after all, not a life and death pursuit, as it is for the pros. In this respect we can play for the purist reasons; love. Enjoy!

[Terry Davidson]

As you said you wanted to hear from someone older so here goes. During the boom years of the late 70's and 80's I played in the UK for about 3-1/2years and reached a top ranking of #33 in the SnookerScene top 100 amateurs. I wasn't able to qualify to be a pro at that time (I was 42 years old) but I worked on my game and I have run centuries in tournaments, so it is possible to improve when you're over 40.

I came back to Canada in 1988 and gave the game up shortly after as snooker here in Ontario was in such poor shape. I had a table in my house at that time and kept practicing but then I received a very good job offer from the States and moved to Virginia and gave snooker up completely.

In 2005, at age 60, I returned to Canada after not having picked up a cue to over 10 years and I got involved in the Ontario snooker scene again and became President of the association and helped organize the ranking tournament series we have now. Initially I failed to qualify for the Canadians but was lucky by being able to purchase a spot since the Canadian Association couldn't fill up the 40 spots in the championships. For the first few years I never made it out of the round robin section and I was getting a little disheartened.

Then I thought I would get myself trained as a coach and have myself as my main student (something that's not recommended) and I had just built my house and put a snooker table in the basement along with a bit of a coaching facility. Once I learned what the snooker technique was all about from Nic Barrow and Wayne Griffiths and started video taping myself and analysing those videos I started a 12-point improvment program which took me over 5 years to do and I still haven't really completed it as I still don't have a nice rear pause.

In the last little while, from about 64 to 67 years of age I've noticed a great improvement in my game and my high break in a match is now 89 (I've had plenty of 70+ breaks in matches and also missed quite a few opportunities for centuries) and I feel I'm improving all the time. I manage to put in around 4hrs of solo practice daily since I live in the country and no one comes here just to play and the nearest club is over 2hrs away through Toronto traffic.

If you really want to improve, study your technique and video yourself and look for the flaws in your technique and iron them out and then practice all you can. I find snooker much more enjoyable now that I'm able to run centuries in practice again. In fact I've sort of given up on the line-up as it's not really a challenge anymore as in 10 attempts I will run 5-7 centruies with 2-3 of them being total clearances.

Now if I could just take my practice game to the match table...Oh wait! Stephen Hendry already said that about a 100 times

Terry

[alabadi]

Is this a srs thread?

Sorry, but no. You have a great work ethic but unfortunately 25yrs too late. IMHO. Good luck tho! You never know..

Thanks a lot mate, a little encouragement wouldn't go a miss

Alabbadi

[alabadi]

Thanks for all the replies and encouragement it helps to know others have been in a similar situation

As you said you wanted to hear from someone older

Thanks Terry , you are definitely older

(I was 42 years old) but I worked on my game and I have run centuries in tournaments, so it is possible to improve when you're over 40.

this give me hope , did you actually start playing from scratch at 42 or just took it seriously at that age, for me I started from scratch at 45

from about 64 to 67 years of age I've noticed a great improvement in my game and my high break in a match is now 89 (I've had plenty of 70+ breaks in matches and also missed quite a few opportunities to make centuries

Well it's great to know that I can still improve, if your improving at 67 there hope for me yet.

In fact I've sort of given up on the line-up as it's not really a challenge anymore as in 10 attempts I will run 5-7 centruies with 2-3 of them being total clearances
Terry

I play line up to improve cueball control, you are probably a master at it, I'm a novice haven't gone past 53 yet.

I'll keep soldiering on because I am determined to get to a standard that I can enjoy the game more, I'm not too greedy, I will settle for the odd 70 80 break , then I'll probably get hungry for more.

Thanks once again keep the encouragement and advice coming It really helps

Alabbadi

[jim evans]

hi alabadi i didnt realy start playing as a sport till i packed in football so i was in my 40s when i started in earnest i made my highest break at the time around my 43 birthday i got a 43 and a 44 within a few days of each other thought i was static and not going to get any better when igot to 55-57 i had my best at moment years managed a 64 + was a dispute some said more but settled for that so if you put the time and effort in you can get better

[jaffaboy]

I started playing the game about a year ago , after a gap of about 6 years . My previous high break in matchplay was 88 , I was like you thinking will I ever get a ton in matchplay. Lo and behold i had a century about a month ago (102)when playing best of 3 , this really did come out of nowhere literally. The person i made it against was also an ex pro which made it that bit more special i guess.Id shown no form whatsoever the previous 6months ,to suggest I would achieve anything close to this. The only thing I have been doing is having the odd coaching lesson and making a few technical tweaks. Don't get me wrong you can't coach someone to be a century break player ,but coaching and technical changes can help you make the most of what ability you have.

Hope this story provides a bit of inspiration , just don't stop believing you can do it , im 31 btw.

All the best!

[thelongbomber]

I'm 39 and have been playing since 1998 with a 5 year intermission somewhere in between. I quit when my regular break in match was 20-odd with a match high break of 72. Before the 5 year break, I played purely by feel. Little coaching and theory, and mostly random positional play. Being a crazy potter (thus my nick), I would pot my way out of trouble. Now, I'm focusing on CB control and it's making a difference with at least a few 30+ breaks every session. With the help of a good friend, I'm working on cue action and cue delivery including sighting, pauses, and level cueing and have even done some videoing of myself in match play.

I don't think there is any age you can stop improving. Saying someone over 40 won't be able to play competitive world class snooker is bollocks. It's monkey see monkey do. If you think you can, then you can. Yes, it might take hard work and perserverance to remove all the kinks in your game, but isn't it that way for everyone anyways?

Don't give up hope. Keep working at things, one step at a time. Try to stick with one coach - making sure they qualify of course - and follow their mantra completely. Work hard on understanding cueing and cue action and the breaks will come. Trust me. I didn't start making consistent breaks recently until I started looking much more deeply at cue delivery and recognizing shots that I might cue badly. Being at one with your cue action, arm, grip, etc is the holy grail, I do think.

[Inoffthered]

Thanks a lot mate, a little encouragement wouldn't go a miss

Alabbadi

Saying you had a great work ethic and wishing you good luck wasn't enough.. Sorry m8, not going to sugar coat it for ya.. I hope you go on to prove you've got it in you.. I was just being realistic. Again.. Good luck.

[bricktip]

Two and a half years is nothing in terms of snooker. You have to keep doing the right things until it all clicks. It probably would have helped if you started playing at a young age though, as with a lot of things in life.

[superman32]

I think for any sport if a person over 18 to start, is very very hard to achieve the professional level.
Of course he can still get very very very good at the game and play country matches.
Like Mika Hakkinen said on top gear "it's too late to understand the name of the game" He did mean for snooker but i think he is right about any game.

Younger age group are picking things faster than older people.
There are so many young players working very hard for the game. They learning faster and have more ennegy and spend as much time as old player practice if not more. They also get couched the right way when they start. And many of them gave up normal life for just training. They desperate more.

So i don't see any reason that old people can compare these advantages. The game is all about skills. Experience is very important but that is base on you have same level skills. If younger player have more skills and the matches is best out of 11 then the younger player have more chance to win.

The standard of game is getting higher every year. So i don't think anyone start after 20 can play at the pro level.

I know some one who is 31 years old. He wants become a pro. He gave up everything. He sold his car get a table at home and practice almost 3 years. But he can't even make to Canadian Championship level. He runs 20s sometimes 30s. He play 8 hours a day and also do training for his body. But i don't see any possibility for him to become a pro.

I mean people got be real. if someone like the game and wants become very good at it. That is no problem. You will still be able making centuries after you practice and play at very high strandard. And that good so enjoy the game. But if anyone are talking about become a pro. I don't think so.

Anyway, if someone believes themselves. Then go for it. Because that is exciting to do things you want to do. I really wish i am wrong and hope someone can prove that. I will be so glad to see that. Because i am 25 years old too. And i love the game.