Assorted Q's Of Vital Interest To All

[rodmac]

Just kidding about the subject there!

So here I find myself at 3 score and 10 semi-retired in Florida after 25 years in the States without snooker and maybe 15 before that home in Canada without playing - work work work - we're looking at maybe 40 years since the obsession became interrupted by life, a wife, kids, mortgages. From childhood to nearly 30 it was my favorite - well almost - favorite pastime, and then it was gone - oh silly me. Next thing I know I'm in hospital and then recuperating from surgery at home, and Youtube comes to rescue me from boredom, and I rediscovered snooker. So now that I've seen every snooker match on Youtube several times (thanks to someone named David with the handle dlovellpwi for the new Grand Prix stuff!!!) I've got to get some questions answered.

1. What's with those hair-dos over the last decade or so? Ok, never mind that one - to each his own fashion sense.

2. The infamous "kick" I keep hearing the commentators lamenting. In slo-mo they show the cueball bounce in the air sometimes. Never heard of this back in Oakville Ontario Canada in the '40s and '50s. We just missed shots and cursed politely. Wish we had had "kicks" back then to blame that missed pot on. What is this "kick"? One of the commentators said it might have something to do with the cloth being thinner. That makes sense I suppose, less damping effect between ball and slate?

3. And for that matter, what is this "Oh he got a heavy contact!" (in the voice of Dennis Taylor). What? Did the weight of the cueball magically change on it's way to the pink? If someone can tell me why we never heard of such stuff and what these are I'd be able to appreciate what's going on much more.

4. What's with those hair-dos? Just kidding. What's with the bridge hand middle or ring fingers popping erratically up and down while aiming. Everyone seems to do it. Are they copying each other; has it been handed down over the generations; is it genetic; is it just nervous tension; is it taught by coaches for some purpose; I don't recall anyone in the "olden days" doing that but then I'm very old indeed and memories do fade and become all rosy.

5. How the HELL do they slam in those shots down the rails? There wasn't a snooker table in the universe you could do that on, again, back in the "olden days". Are the pockets wider? Shaped differently? Amazing if not!

6. Why does the cloth look so un-fuzzy? I've notice at the local pool hall here that all the cloth has absolutely no nap at all, or it's almost invisible. Are they doing that to snooker internationally? The balls do seem to roll faster and/or farther than I remember. But I've mentioned my memory . . .

7. O my god, why has this "miss" thing and it's eerie permutations crept into the game? It's appalling. Well I don't understand all of that yet, but I think I've seen threads on this so I'll read about that. Unless someone wants to comment.

Whew. Catharsis.

Did I ask about the hair-dos?

Cheers

Rod

[dannyd0g]

Nice post. I wonder how much the game would change in the next 40 years if i lost touch with it.

I can answer 2 of your questions before i have to leave for work. A kick and a heavy contact are the same thing. One of the symptoms you get when the balls 'kick' on contact is a dead or 'heavy' sound. This is all it means.

I guess it may be sometimes used as an excuse for missing, but it is a real problem. When you hear that awful sound then the positional side of the shot will be messed up if the pot goes in atall. I have no more idea than anyone else does as to what causes them. But some popular theories are chalk/debris on the balls, static, humidity etc etc...

[Maija]

Hiya Rod! I can only imagine how much things must've changed. I haven't been watching snooker for quiiiite that long (it's an age thing, perhaps in my previous life!), but I'm sure there have been changes, it's just that you don't notice the gradual ones.

Danny already mentioned the kick/heavy contact. I am sure you can find a lot more on the subject here if you use the search. It's one of those discussions that pop up when there isn't much happening. The hairdos. I blame society here. And perhaps bad personal taste

The finger thing is probably just an epidemic. Does nothing one way or the other, though some claim it's to feel the baize (snooker goes EMO). The cloth is indeed thinner (search for 'moondan' and 'cloth' to get opinions on the matter, (sorry Moondan, couldn't help myself!)), contributing to the faster/farther/better(?). Perhaps the sheep have improved over the last few decades as well?

So what did you blame the missed pots on 'back then'? Come on, you can tell us

Nice recreational thread.

[rodmac]

dannyd0g thanks - this kick thing very well could have been happening to us back in the day, and we didn't know it. I can remember the odd missed pot being just a total, like WTF? surprise! Impossible! I never miss that shot! So I would put it down to any of the usual reasons we miss a pot. My question actually is more along the lines of -- is this a more recent phenomenon? Perhaps since table cloth got thinner along with thinner slate beds?

maija - thanks. Yeah I went and played 9-ball last night and saw a guy doing that, but everyone uses a closed bridge, right? But he still had the finger thing happening, with the little finger. I think it's much more common than I thought.

[Wity]

My finger has started this twitching lark of late.
In my case it's all down to the smoking ban. I'm think my finger is trying to tell me to get this friggin cue out of here and stick a fag in it's place. Simlar thing happens when I miss an easy pott I used to go: Oh sod it! Now it's a deep intake of breath like one does with the first fag of the day: AHHHHHH sod it. Followed by "I need a fag me pottin's %£$"&!€! up.