PTC'S YES OR NO ?

is it mate it was 5 or 6 under rod

LOL

I see your point i think its up to selby and robbo to take a break at some stage between end of masters and worlds.

They have to do something as they didnt become poor pressure players over night

Burn out is complete bullocks and fans of the big name losers are lapping it up.......disgraceful.

GJ and Sonny hang your heads in shame.

Jewell wrote:I suspect Selby will play everything again this season. That's his choice, but let's not hear anymore of this burnout rubbish. Players have a choice to play in what they want to play in, nobody forces them.

If you feel tired, take a BREAK! Simple!

Regarding Higgins comments that playing so much didn't allow him to practice properly. Surely, given the choice, players would much rather play a match than spend time practicing? You learn more from match situations than in practice so I don't know where Higgins is coming from. Hopefully, in future players will use the PTCs to tune up their games and iron out their flaws on the match table.

I doubt Higgins can improve in terms of matchplay or really needs to. Higgins is the type of player who almost always plays the right shot, but doesn't always execute the shots he wants to play as well as they can be played. If he notices little technical problems or thinks certain aspects of his game need to be improved as they're not being worked on enough, he needs to practise.

there's no substitute to match practice yet another kop out.

seriously what can he work on on his own knocking in balls that he cant in a match situation....

he can pot as many balls in as he wants on his own it wont build up confidence of doing it when it matters.

how can he do sustained practice drills in a match

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The PTCs have a purpose still.

They were introduced a few years ago as "the backbone" of the tour and i see them now as the interlink between the amateur and pro game.

They take snooker to new countries but the time has come for Belgium, Germany, Bulgaria etc to stump up some extra cash and create Super PTCs or rankers on a par with say, the Welsh Open.

The big players have no need to play all of these now though, given the full calendar plus the money ranking order of merit which offers them far greater freedom to plan their schedule.

All players should play the PTCs and try to make the Grand Finals because those finals have a top prize worth winning and each PTC is only 2 days work for the players. OK some have a day to kill in between but that's time to get refreshed so the extra day should be seen as a bonus.

Here's one for you to digest. There will be 133 players on tour next season. The flat 128 will have to have some prelim qualifiers if more than 128 enter and it's looking like there won't be room for amateurs although how this will work is yet to be announced.

I'll buy Smart a hair transplant if all pros enter a PTC.

Solution is simple whatever entry numbers of pros and amateurs are though.

If more than say 100 pros enter then id suggest that maximum, only the top 100 pros on the PTC order of merit get automatic entry into the last 128 of the PTC, and the rest go into qualifying rounds with the amateurs.

WS arent daft, they aint going to turn down £100 entry fees from amateurs plus the whole idea of the PTC along with getting players playing more often and spreading the word of snooker, was to bridge the gap between the amateur and pro game.

GJ wrote:how can he do sustained practice drills in a match

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theres no point in drills other than make you think your better than you are just look at Hendry he did solo drills practice on his own table for the last 10+ years of his career and it hardly got him anywhere.

fair point mate its just higgins was insisting it was why he was struggling

Players have to manage their schedule correctly and frankly some need to get fit and manage their diet and lifestyle.

I don't agree that the "best" results should go towards the rankings; players need to show dedication and commitment - if they're not interested in playing, they don't have to play. Simple as that. Its at their own risk.

With tournaments starting with all players in R1, players won't have to have such an emphasis on the rankings anyway.

Tournaments should compete with each other for prestige and get the top players over there. Its all good for the players and fans alike.

"John Higgins made a good point after his defeat to Mark Davis , John said because of events week in week out he was unable to do normal practice and fix any flaws that had developed in his game."

Surely playing matches - actual matchplay experience - is better than normal practice. It's possible some players are tired toward the end of the season and have little left in the tank. I suspect that's why some players underachieved at this year's WC. This is a controversial debate because Hearn and others, such as Shaun Murphy, don't believe in 'burn out'.

As for the PTCS - players were moaning they had too many gaps in the season and Hearn was voted in to fix that. I think Stephen Hendry retired because he didn't want to play in them and Judd Trump said there's hardly anyone watching the PTCS so I guess it's not the ideal format but I can't think of a snooker season format that will appeal to all players and all fans of the sport.

Hendry retired because he was playing rubbish week in week out and more matches just proved how bad he got had he been competing like he used to he would love playing in PTC and its frightening how much centuries hendry would have made in a PTC Season playing like he used to.

Why did the guys at WS keep the Championship league next season.The next season is full of events allready, why should they play in the CL

snookerfan97 wrote:Why did the guys at WS keep the Championship league next season.The next season is full of events allready, why should they play in the CL

Yeah hadn't noticed that already but you're absolutely right. There is no point at all keeping that tinpot CL event in the calendar with all the events we have now. If it didn't make sense this past season, well in this new one makes no sense at all, plus they've scrapped the PL for the new Champion of Champions event, so World Snooker

Andre147 PGC wrote:

snookerfan97 wrote:Why did the guys at WS keep the Championship league next season.The next season is full of events allready, why should they play in the CL

Yeah hadn't noticed that already but you're absolutely right. There is no point at all keeping that tinpot CL event in the calendar with all the events we have now. If it didn't make sense this past season, well in this new one makes no sense at all, plus they've scrapped the PL for the new Champion of Champions event, so World Snooker

from the very start i did not like the whole format of this event it was rewarding players that lost ..

John Higgins won the opening Group and walked away with £8,600 Stephen Maguire didn't win any Group and walked away with £24,600. But when there was a handful of events i could understand it as practice but now there's absolutely no point at all in it although im sure Ali Carter would class it as a Major and more Worthwhile than going to china to play.

Wow I never knew that, the difference between Higgins and Maguire. That's funny, explains exactly why the whole thing was bullocks.

This is only my opinion, but I believe that you cannot play matches all the time and neglect solo practice. Say if you go into the PTC's to 'practice', is that to say that they won't be bothered if they lose?

If you are in a match, you cannot play to win and play to get better at the same time, it simply is not possible. You can play matches to gain certain experiences but you can't seek out improvement and winning in the same moment.

So if you go to a PTC and intend on practicing, does that mean if you are on a red but the green is in an ideal spot to practice that shot you dogged in a comp last week, that you deliberately foul to practice that shot?

Practicing has to be set aside from winning - they cannot co-exist. You are not meant to think at the match table, but if you try to correct flaws at same time then that is exactly what you are doing.

Appreciate I haven't got the snooker experience that perhaps some of you may have but I do have some experience in tournament play at 9ball pool and my coach has guided me through the mental side of cuesports too...

Sorry if it's a bit wordy, just glad to be involved in discussions here :)

The wordier the better. And good point, that's why players need to learn to strike a balance. There aren't always practice tables at these events.

Burnout does exist of course it does. We're comparing players, not players with miners. Players like Selby are so consistent they play more matches. Of course you or I would love a bit of burnout in this way but it could affect players' performances towards the end of a season.
They of course have t be prepared to drop out of tourneys if they feel they need it.