Silly remarks from opponent whence missed

[mchpddl1]

During club matches my opponent kept saying either merry Christmas or happy new year when he missed something and left me on the next chance. I find it pressuring. What will you do? Say back something?

[pottr]

Tell him to have more respect for his opponent... Or smack him with a Budweiser bottle, he'll get the idea.

[Giggity1984]

During club matches my opponent kept saying either merry Christmas or happy new year when he missed something and left me on the next chance. I find it pressuring. What will you do? Say back something?

I get this too. Usually when left a chance that isn't too easy as well. Lol. It's all about mind games and he's trying to get into your head and disrupt your shot before you've even got to the table.

What I would suggest is take an extra few seconds to weigh the shot in front of you up. If you aren't confident of potting it, then play a good safety and wait for a chance that you prefer having a go at. This takes the control he thinks he has on you out of his hands and puts you in control. It will also frustrate your opponent and he may get the message and stop.

One alternative is that he doesn't realise he's doing it or he genuinely believes that he's given the game away and doesn't understand that he's being quite disrespectful. Either way, the advice is the same.

Of course the final option is to say "cheers mate!" and clear up in one visit! - a risky strategy! Lol.

I find that a safety is the best way to go. He may look at you strange, and maybe even say something, but, you can reply "not everyone is as good as you" the irony of which should get a good laugh as he keeps missing!

[luke-h]

A lot of players do this, as has been said just take extra care on the shot, don't give them the satisfaction also try block out what they say keep focused on the job at hand, and always play the balls not the opponent

[Billy]

I get this too. Usually when left a chance that isn't too easy as well. Lol. It's all about mind games and he's trying to get into your head and disrupt your shot before you've even got to the table.

What I would suggest is take an extra few seconds to weigh the shot in front of you up. If you aren't confident of potting it, then play a good safety and wait for a chance that you prefer having a go at. This takes the control he thinks he has on you out of his hands and puts you in control. It will also frustrate your opponent and he may get the message and stop.

One alternative is that he doesn't realise he's doing it or he genuinely believes that he's given the game away and doesn't understand that he's being quite disrespectful. Either way, the advice is the same.

Of course the final option is to say "cheers mate!" and clear up in one visit! - a risky strategy! Lol.

I find that a safety is the best way to go. He may look at you strange, and maybe even say something, but, you can reply "not everyone is as good as you" the irony of which should get a good laugh as he keeps missing!

Will you please be my life coach?

[Giggity1984]

Will you please be my life coach?

Lol. If you like! I charge a ridiculous amount of money for my pop psychology though. ;-)

[herbie]

I find that a safety is the best way to go. He may look at you strange, and maybe even say something, but, you can reply "not everyone is as good as you" the irony of which should get a good laugh as he keeps missing!

This is a good suggestion I think.
I made many experiences of this kind. It was always difficult for me to handle the many remarks and comments of my match partners because in general I am a compassionate person. Keep in mind that I used to play snooker in Germany. Not all players there are respectful gentlemen who can handle their own disabilities.

[alabadi]

what I find annoying is when team mates say things that increases the pressure on yourself.

when playing in a match and can hear whispering from my team mates he should be taking this or that colour ...etc, when I am playing a different one. this really gets to me and I lose focus and many times I miss the intended pot. I just wish they would just be quite and let me make my own decisions, right or wrong.

I'd accept later after the match any advice they have, but when I am playing I need to play the shots I see best for me.

I play different to these players and try and play the proper way, I always select a ball that will get me on the next one, which gives me a better chance of making a break. sometimes its not the easiest pot, but best for position.

an example was I potted a red and was on the black level with its spot. brown over the middle bag, blue on its spot. yellow middle of the table. green just below baulk line towards the yellow pocket, pick on its spot.

to me I thought chance of a clearance, pot the black with top land on the yellow and easy from there, everything on. I then hear (while I was addressing the black) whispering surely brown is the shot.

so now I have lost focus, sure brown was easy over the middle bag, but wasn't the shot to get on the yellow after that. I would have to go in and out of baulk and hope I get the correct pace to land the right side of the yellow.

anyway cutting the story short I missed the black landed plum on the yellow, leaving my opening in which he did pot yellow, green and brown.

I know my concentration should be better, but i can't help not hearing all the chatting while I play.

Alabbadi

[Giggity1984]

when playing in a match and can hear whispering from my team mates he should be taking this or that colour ...etc, when I am playing a different one. this really gets to me and I lose focus and many times I miss the intended pot. I just wish they would just be quite and let me make my own decisions, right or wrong.

This is another really common one for me. It's very difficult to cope with and nearly as bad as the original problem raised in the OP. What they are basically saying is "I know better than him, what on earth is he taking that shot for?!" this has two outcomes, both negative for you! 1 is that you clear up and make your shot selection work, in which case they say "Oh well that's not the way I would have played it!" Implying luck rather than skill won the day for you. Or 2, you miss and they say "I told you so!"(either to your face, or worse whispering it to teammates!).

What I like to do is take preventative measures BEFORE your match. Drop things like "We all play the game different" or "There's no such thing as the right shot" or "We will all approach the same shot completely differently!" into the conversation/banter before the match, when practicing or discussing other matches.

Another technique would be to picture in your mind players who take outrageous shots on the TV and in front of large audiences, and compare the shot your about to take to their style of play. I find this calms me down a lot and helps me to realize that people have taken far worse on in far bigger pressure situations.

However, I would not suggest envisioning Judd Trump as an outrageous player as all he does is bang em hard and fluke em in the opposite pocket. ;-)

[alabadi]

What I like to do is take preventative measures BEFORE your match. Drop things like "We all play the game different" or "There's no such thing as the right shot" or "We will all approach the same shot completely differently!" into the conversation/banter before the match, when practicing or discussing other matches.

believe me , I always say it, we take on shots differently as we play differently, I mean by the same account there are players in our team who play shot by shot, with no intention of positional play.

when I see them playing such a shot, in my head I may say don't take that shot you'll be out of position, even if they make the pot. however I don't mutter it out loud, I keep it to myself.

I have a mate who is a black and pink ball chaser, he could be perfectly on a yellow or green, which is the best to get position on the next ball, however they will take on a 7-8 foot black just for the points.

I sometimes afterwards if they miss or even pot but get no position for the next ball "why didn't you take the yellow" surely it was the best option to get position. but they say 7 points better than 2.

I then think no point, everyone plays the way the want.

Alabbadi

[sberry]

When he says this he will either have left a sitter or a half chance, if it's a sitter just say something like "makes a change..." to imply he is usually lucky after missing, if it's a half chance just say something like "safe again!" and if he has left nothing after missing a pot you can mutter "so lucky"

If he asks you what you said or questions you just say "sorry, just thinking aloud" and smile at him. Engage in no further conversation other than this, if he wants to talk tell him you can talk after the game or now if he's conceding. Keep smiling at him and at everything and even if you lose make sure he hears you mutter "you can't beat luck"

[damienlch]

...anyway cutting the story short I missed the black landed plum on the yellow, leaving my opening in which he did pot yellow, green and brown.

I know my concentration should be better, but i can't help not hearing all the chatting while I play.

Alabbadi

If I am envisioning this correctly, you chose the right shot... the black is fairly routine and it's a natural angle to get to the yellow for the green... You'll become a better player than whoever that thought the brown, if not already. Disregard those off table remarks and keep playing the right shots... :snooker:

[rightoncue89]

Silly remarks from opponent whence missed

i find this very annoying! but from somebody in my own team! when we practice and he misses he always say 'fill your boots' and half the time he has left nothing easy on or he has but not chance on position for a colour and it really gets to me.

as for team mates talking, a couple of weeks back i was in a match and my opponent broke off and i took on a risky long pot because i saw no easy way back at baulk and was feeling confident in my potting, but i rattled it, and left him a half chance. fair enough, i knew the risk.
i then heard team mates talking behind me saying 'hes going to throw this match away taking shot like that'

which had me absolutely fuming, but rather than saying anything, i did just that, every time i got to the table i took on the most ridiculous pot, even if a ball was over a pocket i refused it.

i finished the frame with 3 points (3 cracking pots!) lol

and they knew exactly what i was doing and that i had heard them.

when the frame was over i put on my coat and went home.

i have since then had an apology from the team and from now on when anyone is playing it is just quiet and no badgering anybody or any stupid comments, just letting people play their own game.

i did also mention that they shouldnt be 'coaching' from the sidelines and as team captain if i ever saw somebody change their shot because of something heard from the sidelines i would concede their frame for them, in my eyes it is a form of cheating, it should inly be the 2 players at the table making choices, nobody likes to play 2 on 1, or at worst 5 on 1!

it might be an extreme way of handling the problem but you cant argue with the results

[Byrom]

I am polite when playing - too polite to say anything at times but it bugs me when playing someone who mentions how he has just missed and recounts the whole thing when it is now your shot - they start telling you why they missed and what he wanted to do and what they should have done.

[DeanH]

the phrase that bugs me is one that a previous team mate used to say ALL the time was "fill ya boots"
I have never understood that one