What changes would you like to see?

Myrddin

As the title suggests folks, what do you think could change in the modern game to make it more enjoyable/appealing to new fans?

1 - Eliminate "Dead Time". I personally feel that if one player is playing on for snookers & then misses, with his chance gone I dont think the frame should continue for the 10/15 mins that it usually does even though its won. Yes it gives people the chance to settle etc, but removing it would make frames quicker/more competetive.

2 - Two Breaks Per Session. In the big games, I think the players shold have to stay in the arena & not be allowed leave after EVERY frame. One exit from the arena every mini-session each (medical conditions exempt). It would keep the players at boiling point, keep the pressure on & keep the flow of the game.

3 - Vary the cloth colour. I know the purists will hate this one, but I agree with Hearns idea about making every event unique. Green should remain predominant, but I have to admit if we had 2/3 events which had a blue/black cloth it would really have a big impact for such a little change. Im sure theres some archeic regulation somewhere, but it would look great on the tv & give variety hopefully drawing people to watch more (and of course once they do, theyre hooked )

4 - Stripe the white ball. Im not fully settled on this idea yet, and they did toy with the idea a few years back. But basically putting a black ring around the white ball would brilliantly demonstrate the technique/spin the player is using. It might be off putting for the player though, but Id like to see it tried.

5 - More Camera Action. Camera work is improving, but imagine having a camera at the back of EVERY pocket, a direct overhead cam, a tiny un-noticeable shoulder/breast cam for the players, giving a near 1st person view of the impending shot.

Id love to hear more ideas!

fryup

• Encourage more women in the sport, there's no physical reason why women can't compete against men in snooker.

• Encourage black people into the sport, never seen a black pro snooker player - would make the game more international.

• Have more doubles tournaments, pro-am, mixed sexes, senior-junior etc

• No more than 90 secs per shot, Robertson was taking the piss in the final pussy footing around for ages on some shots.

bohsboy

Very minor point but watching old footage of the 80's tournaments, I loved the more elevated angle of the table. Gave a much better view.

There must be also a time limit between each shot. That final was tough going. Incredibly slow.

Arthur Daley

fryup wrote: »

• Encourage more women in the sport, there's no physical reason why women can't compete against men in snooker.

• Encourage black people into the sport, never seen a black pro snooker player - would make the game more international.

• Have more doubles tournaments, pro-am, mixed sexes, senior-junior etc

• No more than 90 secs per shot, Robertson was taking the piss in the final pussy footing around for ages on some shots.

Rory Mccloud is a black pro who made an appearance at the cruicible last year.

I remember the hofmeister doubles played back in the mid eighties. It was played a week or so before Christmas and nobody took it too serious. It'd be nice to see a doubles tournament again.

Also from that era was a world cup competition sponsored by Guinness. The top three players in England, Scotland, Wales,Ireland, Australia etc. playing two frames each in a best of 9. I think there could be interest in that format too. Play it over a long weekend. Begin on Thursday, finish Sunday. Everybody could support their team playing against an England team of Ronnie, Selby and Ali Carter.

davenewt

Shoulder cam FTW! Actually not a bad idea there!

Also +1 for the cue ball idea. If they could maybe give it a marbled white/off-white effect (rather than white-with-black-lines or something with too much contrast which I'd imagine would be really off-putting for the players) I expect that would make a lot of shots more of a spectacle for TV. I remember watching the old instructional videos which had a white-and-black cue ball - it's the bit I enjoyed the most

Not for the world champ's tho... red cloth, stripey cue-ball... lights that flash on all pockets when a ball drops in... flippers on the corner pockets like on a pinball machine, operated by the opponent...!

Permabear

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ArmaniJeanss

donegalfella wrote: »

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But Wimbledon is only one tournament, and for the rest of the year the players can wear their garish multicoloured garb. Wimbledon would be a less special occasion if every other tournament was strictly white clothes, lawn grass, strawberries and pimms etc.
So maybe have the special tournament (Sheffield) as the traditional Green Baize, strict dress-code competition, and the other tournaments as the Pink Baize, Polka dotted cueball, dress up as clowns or whatever.

********
My changes (which I post every year when this thread comes up).
Basically don't be afraid to take some of the better rules from Pool.

1. The must-hit-cushion rule. This would force players to play cleverer snookers as the roll-up-behind-the-yellow shot would be gone.
2. Bring in the jump shot - a well executed jump shot would bring the house down.
3. Maybe ball-in-hand for fouls - would instantly stop the practise of players being able to take 2 or 3 practise attempts at nestling into the pack, knowing that if they leave it short the worst that will happen is they'll have to retake the shot til they get it right.

Dr Pepper

I find the player-intro music and flashing lights very annoying and tacky. Not to mention the loud, obnoxious MC introducing the players! I'd prefer to leave that kind of thing to boxing/darts/pool. They'll have scantily clad women holding up frame number signs next

I think after the other night's final, Steve Davis' comment about starting sessions at 12 noon and 6pm is a good idea, at least for the final match. The players just look exhausted and the quality suffers, not to mention entertainment value. I suppose it depends on the match though. You wouldn't want a final finishing at 6:30pm either although the number of frames required can't be predicted... Or can it?? :eek:

Myrddin

donegalfella wrote: »

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Where was that suggested? I suggested that if the said player fails in his snooker attempt, and his opponent pots a ball, well unless there is a century to be made then letting the winning player continue on for the next 10/15 mins is pointless. The frame is won, the opponent will have conceded...why continue?

Women players is a good idea, Ive never seen a womens match before. And honestly without sounding sexist...what is their level of skill like? Would the higher ranked girls put it up to Selby/Carter/Ronnie? Im genuinely curious, I think if they could then Id be all for it.

As stated about Wimbeldon, thats just ONE event during the year. The Crucible should NEVER change, its already the epitome of a snooker arena, however if new events were on the tour - Id love to see the game being played with a variation on cloth colour.

The "off-white" stripe in the white ball is a great idea, this shouldnt interfere with the players and would look brilliant on tv seeing exactly how the white ball is played.

The time limit should in reality though be seriously considered by the board, it will give a degree of predictability to the time window, and maybe the tv companies would be more open to the game then.

Dr Pepper

I think there was a woman a couple of years ago on the men's tour and she was around the 200 mark in the rankings. /Edit - Allison Fisher - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allison_Fisher

There was a girl on BBC the other day, Reanne Evans who has dominated the ladies game for several years and is about to start competing on the men's tour. I'd love to see her getting to the business end of tournaments but, to be honest, I don't think it's likely!

Permabear

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zack01

I agree totally with the last post, the women playing with the men has been tried before, I can remember three players that stood out most, they were Alison Fisher, Stacy Hillyiard, and Kelly Fisher, they all won the womans world title but struggled to make any impact on the main mens tour.Alison Fisher was possibly the best and she was a regular practice partner of Steve Davis.
I remember watching her make a century break in a pro am in pontins a good while back.
Of course at the time they played on the main tour it was opened up to anyone, as long as your paid your membership you could turn pro, I toyed with the idea myself but I knew if you coul'nt make it as an amateur how could you expect to make it as a pro.
The three women players joined the pro ranks that same way but nowadays you have to qualify from the PIOS series of events held during the season, win the world amateur title or be given a wild card as in Reane Evans case.I hav'nt seen her play but by all accounts she is an excellent player who feels she can compete with the men.

I think it's a great move by Hearn and the WSA to let her in, even if she struggles it will make for interesting viewing to see her compete.

Regarding other changes, and this is just my opinion, I hope they don't go down the road of different colour cloths of a line on the cue ball, that's just the traditionalist in me!
I think if you can have different events held in calendar gaps between ranking events would be exciting, a few have touched on this already such as the return of the world doubles event, the world team event etc.
Maybe an event with the shot clock as in the premier league this is very popular with the players who have played in it.
Maybe a best of three frames event which could be run over a weekend?
Bringing back a revamped weekly version of pot black? Junior and senior versions?
I'd love to see a one day pro celebrity style comp before each ranking event just like they have in the golf?

The possibilities are endless, and now with an Austrailian as world champion it's never been a better time to get an event on over there, apparently Robertson's win has really caught the publics attention so the WSA really must strike while the iron's hot.
Other hotbeds are Thailand,India and of course China which already hold two events, mainland Europe will be back on the map next season with a new ranking event in Berlin.

At the end of the day none of this will happen unless Hearn's blueprint is voted in, but it's exciting times ahead.

aDeener

what would ye make of a top16 "premiership" so to speak? where the top 16 players all play each other in league format at various different venues.

just a thought

Myrddin

aDeener wrote: »

what would ye make of a top16 "premiership" so to speak? where the top 16 players all play each other in league format at various different venues.

just a thought

I like that, top 32 though...short matches so that its not dominated by the top few.

fryup

Dr Pepper wrote: »

I find the player-intro music and flashing lights very annoying and tacky. Not to mention the loud, obnoxious MC introducing the players! I'd prefer to leave that kind of thing to boxing/darts/pool. They'll have scantily clad women holding up frame number signs next

good idea!!:)

Myrddin

Dr Pepper wrote: »

I find the player-intro music and flashing lights very annoying and tacky

Nonsense man, you can visibly SEE it working up the crowd. Land down under is STILL stuck in my head ffs

irishthump

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

********
My changes (which I post every year when this thread comes up).
Basically don't be afraid to take some of the better rules from Pool.

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

********
1. The must-hit-cushion rule. This would force players to play cleverer snookers as the roll-up-behind-the-yellow shot would be gone.

Cleverer?!!!

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

********
2. Bring in the jump shot - a well executed jump shot would bring the house down.

The jump shot was legal but was banned sometime in the 50's. Nothing worse for a professional than to lay a great snooker then see his opponent just jump the fukcing ball!

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

********

3. Maybe ball-in-hand for fouls - would instantly stop the practise of players being able to take 2 or 3 practise attempts at nestling into the pack, knowing that if they leave it short the worst that will happen is they'll have to retake the shot til they get it right.

You say you suggest these "improvements" every year? Ever wonder why we don't see them even bein considered in snooker?

irishthump

fryup wrote: »

• Encourage more women in the sport, there's no physical reason why women can't compete against men in snooker.

• Encourage black people into the sport, never seen a black pro snooker player - would make the game more international.

• Have more doubles tournaments, pro-am, mixed sexes, senior-junior etc

• No more than 90 secs per shot, Robertson was taking the piss in the final pussy footing around for ages on some shots.

1) Nothing stopping them competing at the top level.

2) Once again, nothing stopping them....

3) All down to sponsoprship, mate. If the money ain't there...

4) That was a joke, right?

aDeener

irishthump wrote: »

Cleverer?!!!




The jump shot was legal but was banned sometime in the 50's. Nothing worse for a professional than to lay a great snooker then see his opponent just jump the fukcing ball!



You say you suggest these "improvements" every year? Ever wonder why we don't see them even bein considered in snooker?

plus damage to the cloth by the less articulate players. that said they can be spectacular:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgBfkjkpZcc&feature=related

ArmaniJeanss

irishthump wrote: »

Cleverer?!!!

Why the confusion - I thought it was fairly well explained. To clarify I would like a rule change that you couldn't lay a snooker without at least one ball hitting a cushion. So to snooker behind a baulk colour you would perhaps play the yellow (with enough power that it reaches a cushion) and screw behind the brown.

irishthump wrote: »

The jump shot was legal but was banned sometime in the 50's. Nothing worse for a professional than to lay a great snooker then see his opponent just jump the fukcing ball!

Awww come on now, I'm sure there are loads and loads of worse things for a professional than the above scenario.
And in general the 'great snooker' will not be something that can be jumped out of anyway - it'll be the lesser snookers where this is an option as there has to be a gap between white and closest ball to allow the space to jump anyway.

irishthump wrote: »

You say you suggest these "improvements" every year? Ever wonder why we don't see them even bein considered in snooker?

I just threw them up seeing as the OP has started a thread titled 'what changes would you like to see?'. I didn't know they had to be changes I'd like to see which I've only thought of recently.

But you are right that they may be crap ideas - however they don't seem to cause any problems in 9ball pool, which is a game thats ahead of snooker in the amount of sponsored tournaments it runs worldwide. So I don't see why snooker should be afraid to look at what other similar games are doing and
perhaps copy some ideas.

brick tamland

The Earlier starts is a good idea alright

How about having more tournaments or even more coverage for existing tournaments with 6 reds only. Qucker frames?

Maybe ban Graham Dott from all future World Championships, as his finals are a cure for insomnia;)

Myrddin

brick tamland wrote: »

The Earlier starts is a good idea alright

How about having more tournaments or even more coverage for existing tournaments with 6 reds only. Qucker frames?

Maybe ban Graham Dott from all future World Championships, as his finals are a cure for insomnia;)

Im not a fan of the 6 reds idea. Whats the point of a 12x6 table with only twelve object balls?

I do agree with your Dott idea though, maybe you should contact Hearn?

Dr.Silly

One extension, One rest, One spider, and that's it.

So many extensions and gadgets available now, that make the shots so much easier. You hit a bad shot, and are stuck between other balls or have a difficult shot, then you should be penalised for it, like the old days.

It's like driving a golf ball into the rough, and getting a free drop back into the fairway!

ArmaniJeanss

I'd guess that the mean average time of the final session is about 90 minutes and whilst the average is a bit more its skewed by the 3 Dott finals.
And the BBC want the final session to be prime time, not just 6PM to 7.45PM.
So I think the 8PM start is here to stay.

I don't see any reason though why the 1st and 3rd sessions of the final shouldn't start a bit earlier though as 3PM seems a bit late, and 1PM should ensure that theres no backlog of frames for the final session.

What overall difference would this make though, probably none on the weekend just gone anyway.