Dave Hendon on Mark Selby's game

http://snookerscene.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... nergy.html?

Mark Selby aknowledges he plays too negatively at times ...
http://www.markselby.info/blog.html

“Other than the final, and against Graeme Dott in the semis, I had a good, quick start in all my matches and led from the front. But more often than not I am a slow starter, and sometimes that can cost me. I can be over-cautious, trying to be too careful and not make any errors. Sometimes I play not to lose, rather than play to win, and that stops me from performing to the best of my ability. You can’t lose a match in first two or three frames, so I need to start off more relaxed and get myself into a commanding position, rather than playing catch-up.”

and Dave Hendon offers an analysis and opinion about it.

I'm one who has been of the opinion that at times Mark deliberately plays slowly for no other purpose than to bog down his opponent game and I'm glad every time it backfires at him, which it has more often than not recently. Much to my delight.
I think he plays his best snooker when playing into his natural rythm which is far from being slow.

What's your view?

it works against antonio

GJ wrote:it works against antonio

not always Masters 2009.

Shall I add that "Antonio" has beaten Mark in each and every of the 5 matches they have played this season?

Does anyone know who this Betty Logan plank is? She has slagged off Snooker Island in the past, and is talking complete rubbish in the comments section of that blog.

Monique wrote:I'm one who has been of the opinion that at timers Mark deliberately plays slowly for no other purpose than to bog down his opponent game and I'm glad every time it backfires at him, which it has more often than not recently. Much to my delight.
I think he plays his best snooker when playing into his natural rythm which is far from being slow.

What's your view?

Mark Selby hatah.

Sonny wrote:Does anyone know who this Betty Logan plank is? She has slagged off Snooker Island in the past, and is talking complete poo in the comments section of that blog.

She's a sport journalist working for BBC. "Inside Sports" notably

Sonny wrote:Does anyone know who this Betty Logan plank is? She has slagged off Snooker Island in the past, and is talking complete rubbish in the comments section of that blog.

Smells like the troll, Vodkadiet.


=oP

Noel

So she's "real" and posting under her real name on Hendon's blog?

How bizarre. Clearly specialises in other sports to snooker then.

Sonny wrote:So she's "real" and posting under her real name on Hendon's blog?

How bizarre. Clearly specialises in other sports to snooker then.

I suppose she is writing under her real name. I reckon Dave would know (or check if suspecting) if this was some kind of "impersonation" and block the comment would that be the case.

SnookerFan wrote:

Monique wrote:I'm one who has been of the opinion that at timers Mark deliberately plays slowly for no other purpose than to bog down his opponent game and I'm glad every time it backfires at him, which it has more often than not recently. Much to my delight.
I think he plays his best snooker when playing into his natural rythm which is far from being slow.

What's your view?

Mark Selby hatah.

Not at all.
Actually I consider Mark as one of the most interesting and creative players in the game, with Ronnie and MJW. It's more that it infuriates me when he bogs down his own game while trying to apply such tactics (that are borderline gamemanship IMO), because he is not doing his own abilities justice. He doesn't need to do that to win, quite the contrary in fact.

All players play their best in their natural rythm.

If Selby makes an active effort to slow his game down it's bound to affect him negatively. I think that sometimes Mark believes the negative impact of slowing himself down affects his opponent more than him and that's rarely the case.

IMO, the optimal game comes out when a player is able to bring his practice rythm to the match table. This tends to be a bit quicker but it is the more natural rythm and will yield the best snooker.

Unfortunately, the tendency for many players is to be a little over-cautious at the outset of a match and playing cautious can prevent you from finding your own rythm. You don't want to give anything up but you've got to find your rythm quick. My preference is that I'd rather play at a pace that will ensure my natural rythm will kick in than play at a pace designed to throw my opponent off. I'll even go out of my way to speed up if I notice I'm taking too much time on each shot.

Sonny wrote:Does anyone know who this Betty Logan plank is? She has slagged off Snooker Island in the past, and is talking complete rubbish in the comments section of that blog.

Jokes? She's slagged off the Island on Hendon's blog?

We must be going places if journalists have started slagging us off.

Sonny wrote:So she's "real" and posting under her real name on Hendon's blog?

How bizarre. Clearly specialises in other sports to snooker then.

From reading her comments now, I agree with you. That stuff about Barry Hearn telling Mark Selby to play a faster style. Utter fanny.

I saw one of the old pots you mentioned, with her questioning freedom of speech on Snooker Island. You know you're a success when those less successful then you are insulting you.

I think Mark is just a classic case of a player who is more afraid to lose than eager to win, and it can definitely hold one back ... there is no doubting his talent, I think anyone who can't see he is world champion material needs their head testing, but going out on the match table and replicating a game plan to the best of your ability is not always easy. I'd like to see him use the smaller events like the CL and the PTCs to free his mind a bit, go for more shots, look for quicker opportunities to take control of frames/matches and instead of relying on his ability to hang in a match when not playing well, use his ability to get in front and then squeeze an opponent out.

my view is he has to get the right balance in his game.

i think the mistake he does isnt really with slowing players Down but in Taking the safety option on a 40/60 against pot when hes ahead in Frames instead of going for the throat Like Ronnie does and Hendry used to and still does

then he lets his opponent in with hope ....when he is behind he does go for those iffy do or die pots and he gets a high % of them.

Exactly, I wonder what his % would be on those tough shots when the pressure wasn't off though ? Probably not as high, so it's a tough balance to find.

Mark Selby's a really excellent player, his shotmaking is actually quite inspired at times so I would place him as being one of the more interesting players to watch, in direct contrast to those who find him boring just because he's not fast paced.

However, I don't think he's a natural born winner like Hendry, Higgins, O'Sullivan, Robertson or Williams He doesn't go for the jugular like the aforementioned. He is a man more afraid of losing than actually going in for the kill. Which infuriates me. He's the best player the game's had to only hold a single ranking title (not including Alex Higgins), and too often I've seen him play inspired snooker against top players (particularly O'Sullivan) and far too safely against less fearsome players.

I think Selby will eventually take the World title his ability deserves, but you won't see him finishing his career with a plethora of ranking titles. Fine player all the same.

I just had a right rant/ramble about Selby on the SS blog comments section

Monique wrote:

GJ wrote:it works against antonio

not always Masters 2009.

Shall I add that "Antonio" has beaten Mark in each and every of the 5 matches they have played this season?

whos antonio?

randam05 wrote:

Monique wrote:

GJ wrote:it works against antonio

not always Masters 2009.

Shall I add that "Antonio" has beaten Mark in each and every of the 5 matches they have played this season?

whos antonio?

RAO (why do people still call him ROS ?)

i would like to know what tournaments ronnie and selby have against each other in this season not including the stupid premier league and those power snooker one frame time limit snooker exhibitions if im right they havent played in a ranking event tournament against each other have they ?

as for the dave hendon comments he entitled to his opinion but my opinion is he speaking bullocks if what he saying is true

jojo wrote:i would like to know what tournaments ronnie and selby have against each other in this season not including the stupid premier league and those power snooker one frame time limit snooker exhibitions if im right they havent played in a ranking event tournament against each other have they ?

as for the dave hendon comments he entitled to his opinion but my opinion is he speaking tezzies if what he saying is true

ROS beat him twice in the PTCs (PTC1 last 32 and PTC4 last 32).
The shoot-out might be anyone's and a bit of fun , but the Premier League isn't and Selby likes to play in it. He also did very well in it, topping the table and reaching the Final at his first appearance 2 seasons ago. So it's not as if he is struggling with the format.

Other than that would you care to explain why Dave's comments are "tezzies"?

Monique wrote:

jojo wrote:i would like to know what tournaments ronnie and selby have against each other in this season not including the stupid premier league and those power snooker one frame time limit snooker exhibitions if im right they havent played in a ranking event tournament against each other have they ?

as for the dave hendon comments he entitled to his opinion but my opinion is he speaking tezzies if what he saying is true

ROS beat him twice in the PTCs (PTC1 last 32 and PTC4 last 32).
The shoot-out might be anyone's and a bit of fun , but the Premier League isn't and Selby likes to play in it. He also did very well in it, topping the table and reaching the Final at his first appearance 2 seasons ago. So it's not as if he is struggling with the format.

Other than that would you care to explain why Dave's comments are "tezzies"?

and the Championship League too was the 5th one

and if memory serves me right, hes thrashed Selby in all of these 5 clashes

4-0 and 4-1 in the PTC i think
3-0 in the CL
5-1 in the PL
and 120 odd to nil in the shootout

clearly Ronnie now has focus and motivation when he comes up against Selby as he sees their rivalry as a grudge match

another dave hendon topic i see

Sirius B wrote:another dave hendon topic i see

Yes. A very good one too.

Witz78 wrote:and 120 odd to nil in the shootout

this is the win he would of cherished the most

Smart wrote:

Witz78 wrote:and 120 odd to nil in the shootout

this is the win he would of cherished the most

To be sure