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Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Badsnookerplayer

I have played a variety of sports and some to a decent level. Of all the sports I have played, snooker is by far the most difficult IMO. The levels of technical expertise demanded and infinitesimal margins required leave me wondering if it is the most difficult sport that exists. Snooker can be brutal.

Anyone think of a harder sport?

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Holden Chinaski

Badsnookerplayer wrote:
Holden Chinaski wrote:MMA.

Serious??

Well you can't really compare sports, but to be able to compete in MMA you need to be a master of a variety of combat sports. You need to be good at striking, grappling, jiu-jitsu... You need good stand-up technique but also ground techniques. You need to have excellent cardio, great physical strength, and need to be able to fight different styles of fighters. Also, make one mistake and you get knocked out or choked out. So I would say it's a very tough sport.

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Badsnookerplayer

Holden Chinaski wrote:
Badsnookerplayer wrote:
Holden Chinaski wrote:MMA.

Serious??

Well you can't really compare sports, but to be able to compete in MMA you need to be a master of a variety of combat sports. You need to be good at striking, grappling, jiu-jitsu... You need good stand-up technique but also ground techniques. You need to have excellent cardio, great physical strength, and need to be able to fight different styles of fighters. Also, make one mistake and you get knocked out or choked out. So I would say it's a very tough sport.

Fair enough - I know nothing of MMA. Not something I have evr been drawn to/

So current list looks like:

1: MMA
2: Snooker

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Holden Chinaski

But like I said, you can't really compare different sports. Snooker is definitely a very difficult game to play at a high level, but so are many other sports. I watched a documentary on Senna the other day. Those F1 drivers have insane skills as well.

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Holden Chinaski

Not sure if chess is considered a sport, but top-level chess is crazy as well. You don't need technique of course, but the level of strategy and quick thinking is brilliant.

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Badsnookerplayer

Holden Chinaski wrote:But like I said, you can't really compare different sports. Snooker is definitely a very difficult game to play at a high level, but so are many other sports. I watched a documentary on Senna the other day. Those F1 drivers have insane skills as well.

Yeah - the comparison is perhaps a difficult one to hold up to the light.

I just think that in some sports you can make a better living than in snooker with far less consistency and talent. Perhaps I should have framed the question in difficulty/$. In that light, I think snooker would be high up. Nonetheless, a list is forming.

1. F1
2. MMA
3. Snooker

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Holden Chinaski

The thing with snooker is that it's not really a sport that's popular around the world. It's basically popular in the UK and China and that's it. If it had a more worldwide history and popularity there would be a lot more money and a lot more top players.

But I do agree snooker is a very difficult game. The difference between amateur level snooker and top level snooker is insane.

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Pink Ball

Badsnookerplayer wrote:
Holden Chinaski wrote:But like I said, you can't really compare different sports. Snooker is definitely a very difficult game to play at a high level, but so are many other sports. I watched a documentary on Senna the other day. Those F1 drivers have insane skills as well.

Yeah - the comparison is perhaps a difficult one to hold up to the light.

I just think that in some sports you can make a better living than in snooker with far less consistency and talent. Perhaps I should have framed the question in difficulty/$. In that light, I think snooker would be high up. Nonetheless, a list is forming.

1. F1
2. MMA
3. Snooker

F1 must be insanely difficult. I tried high-level Go Karts once and I was absolutely bollocksed for about an hour and a half afterwards.

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby rekoons

Apparently that Asian board game ‘go’ is the most difficult of its kind, far far more complicated than chess.

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Holden Chinaski

Badsnookerplayer wrote:I am discounting go as a sport so the list of hardest sports remains

1. F1
2. MMA
3. Snooker

I think there is a cracking episode of 'Superstars' to be made using these three sports.

What would be easier to do: win a lap in a F1 grand prix, win a round in a UFC fight, or win a frame in a pro snooker match? I think I might end up in the hospital trying the first two.

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Iranu

Holden Chinaski wrote:
Badsnookerplayer wrote:I am discounting go as a sport so the list of hardest sports remains

1. F1
2. MMA
3. Snooker

I think there is a cracking episode of 'Superstars' to be made using these three sports.

What would be easier to do: win a lap in a F1 grand prix, win a round in a UFC fight, or win a frame in a pro snooker match? I think I might end up in the hospital trying the first two.

Against a top pro?

I’d venture that winning a lap would be ‘easiest’ (i.e. you’d be most likely to fluke a victory if you’re a decent driver) but I don’t know enough about F1 to be sure about that.

Not sure about MMA and snooker. It’s tempting to say you could get a lucky shot in and knock the other guy out, but that’s extremely unlikely given the speed of movement and reflexes they have.

With snooker the level of play by a top pro is so variable day-to-day that you could catch them on an off day, but you can’t really fluke a victory unless you fluke frame ball. I also think that variability is an insight into how difficult snooker is.

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby SnookerFan

Iranu wrote:Against a top pro?

I’d venture that winning a lap would be ‘easiest’ (i.e. you’d be most likely to fluke a victory if you’re a decent driver) but I don’t know enough about F1 to be sure about that.

Not sure about MMA and snooker. It’s tempting to say you could get a lucky shot in and knock the other guy out, but that’s extremely unlikely given the speed of movement and reflexes they have.

With snooker the level of play by a top pro is so variable day-to-day that you could catch them on an off day, but you can’t really fluke a victory unless you fluke frame ball. I also think that variability is an insight into how difficult snooker is.


I have never played snooker, but out of interest how common is it for a club player to have a 70 or 80 highest break? I'm not saying that they have to be consistently making breaks that high, only that they've done so once or twice in their life?

Would a player of that standard, if they were given enough frames, eventually make a frame winning break against a top pro? Obviously, I know it's unlikely. And most players of that standard would likely need to play several thousand frames against a top player before doing so. But isn't that just as likely as a 'decent' driver fluking a lap win over a F1 driver?

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Iranu

Holden Chinaski wrote:You're not going to win a lap in F1. There's no way. Those drivers have insane skills.

Let’s be honest, chances are you’re not gonna win in any of the examples.

But with snooker at least there’s no chance of ending up in the hospital <laugh>

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Sauce321

Unless the F1 driver crashes or has a mechanical failure, it is literally impossible to beat him, even in a single lap. Even if you're a rally, Nascar or kart world champion.

In MMA, you could throw a super lucky punch and knock a pro out.

In snooker, an amateur player could win a frame with a few 20-30 breaks with decent snookers between them.

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Alex0paul

Completing a lap of a track is a lot easier than making a 70 break

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Holden Chinaski

Alex0paul wrote:Completing a lap of a track is a lot easier than making a 70 break

It's not completing a lap, it's driving as fast as the F1 drivers... Look, if Ronnie O'Sullivan breaks off and leaves a long one and you pot it, a good club player might compile a frame winning break.

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Holden Chinaski

I really doubt one of us would be able to hit a pro MMA fighter with a lucky punch as well. Not going to happen. Not in boxing either.

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby rekoons

Holden Chinaski wrote:
Alex0paul wrote:Completing a lap of a track is a lot easier than making a 70 break

It's not completing a lap, it's driving as fast as the F1 drivers... Look, if Ronnie O'Sullivan breaks off and leaves a long one and you pot it, a good club player might compile a frame winning break.


It’s this, because snooker is the only sport on the list where you don’t play your opponent (when you’re on the table between the balls, that is)

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby rekoons

I do think the top level snooker skills and dedication required are more demanding than the other Sports. But that’s just my biased opinion bases on a Tiny bit of experience in snooker and none of the other sports. :grin
:

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Sauce321

rekoons wrote:I do think the top level snooker skills and dedication required are more demanding than the other Sports. But that’s just my biased opinion bases on a Tiny bit of experience in snooker and none of the other sports. :grin
:


My cousin was a Formula 1 driver, but he stopped because it was time consuming and also the wife wasn't really happy about it.

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby rekoons

SnookerFan wrote:So, have we come to the conclusion that snooker is the easiest sport then? rofl


Seriously, what is the point in this thread?


It’s comparing apples with Pears...

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby Badsnookerplayer

SnookerFan wrote:So, have we come to the conclusion that snooker is the easiest sport then? rofl


Seriously, what is the point in this thread?



Just a gentle bit of debate in the fallow fields between snooker tournaments.

Passive aggressive

:bird:

Re: Is snooker the toughest sport

Postby SnookerFan

Badsnookerplayer wrote:
SnookerFan wrote:So, have we come to the conclusion that snooker is the easiest sport then? rofl


Seriously, what is the point in this thread?



Just a gentle bit of debate in the fallow fields between snooker tournaments.

Passive aggressive

:bird:


I was quite enjoying that Scottish Open Quarter Final discussion we were having personally.