American reacts to Snooker Legend Mark Selby

[@MihkelN]

Balls close to the cushion are near impossible to pot in snooker. That's why that long range blue was so special. They always try to play cannons into the balls that are stuck near cushion to get them free.

[@georgercop]

Plus, at that angle, playing it with enough pace to get back down the table for the pink is very difficult, as there's a greater risk of missing the pot entirely when the ball pings off the cushion, or it rattles out of the pocket

[@fleuriebottle]

Cannons

[@grahamtravers4522]

The slightest touch of the blue against the side cushion will make it deflect away from the pocket. You have to hit it in exactly the right place to hit it straight into the pocket.

[@w.es.3974]

The Snooker table has got rounded edges near the pockets, so the ball will get out if you are a little imprecise.

[@alexmashkin863]

It's not that cushion balls are unpottable, it's the fact that he had to hit it at a good pace to get into position. Cushion ball at pace is extremely hard, you have to be fractions of millimetre precise

[@doughaslehurst5108]

Even though you say they lie on the table, it's only when they are at the side of the table because at least one foot must be on the floor at all times.

[@HenkDeHauw]

that long blue is hard because of 1) it's near the cushion, 2) it's far away 3) he needs to get back on this side of the table to be able to pot the pink. Anyone can probably pot that blue but doing that with pace and getting on the pink makes it special. Don't forget that the table is 6x12 ft

[@qman2261]

For the benefit of Ryan: re your comment "Anyone can probably pot that blue" - yes (with enough attempts) but to people familiar with pool, the key difference is the pocket shape - in pool, the blue could hit the adjacent cushion almost immediately or miss the centre of the pocket to the left by a cm or so and the pool pocket will still gather the ball. In snooker, due to the shape of the pockets, the long blue was incredibly precise (harder at speed and with spin on the cue ball for the next pink too).

[@estranhokonsta]

The size difference of the pockets between pool and snooker is also pretty big.

[@adamanonymous6885]

@@qman2261 yeah, this - that blue has to hit the jaws basically in exactly the spot it hits to actually drop - otherwise it's just going to rattle in the jaws. Pots along the cushion are much, much harder on a snooker table because of how the pockets are shaped.

[@robertobrien5709]

Every shot in Snooker is very calculated to not only pot the shot but then to place the cue ball for then next shot working out the angles for multiple shots ahead, Snooker is probably virtually the most skill based game there is, especially at the professional level.

[@AdamMarr]

Literally every billiards game...

[@jasoncallow860]

The most telling thing is that this in a tournament setting. Doing these things without any pressure is one thing, but with the crowd and the tension of a live match it's a whole different game. Winning a tournament requires tremendous mental strength, the skill is expected.

[@DanBolton-e9g]

I'm loving your enjoyment of 'snuker'. They are amazing. One thing to note is if you see the opponent at the table and you see them tap the table with their hand or cue it's them appreciating the previous shot. It's a nice touch to see

[@jwi1085]

Always allowed to stay up late in the 80s to watch the snooker with grandparents, this brought me so much joy, haven't watched properly for years.

[@gazfrc4754]

Ryan, take note of where the white ball ends up ............................ that's what makes it a great shot

[@paulknox999]

its not just potting the ball, you have to consider where the white ends up ready for the next shot. so that blue down the cushion was hard enough just to pot the blue but to play it so hard to enable the white to come around in position to then pot the pink made the shot much more difficult

[@babalonkie]

"Why are they using feet?" We British can and do use both Imperial and Metric. Snooker has always used Feet and inches.

[@benmorris118]

It makes sense because the tables are 12x6 feet, the regulation size hasn't changed and communicating in relation to the units the table is measured in makes sense to avoid use of 2 systems at a time

[@AndrewAHayes]

When I was at school in the '70s and '80s my woodwork teacher made us use imperial and our metalwork teacher made us use metric measurements, since then I have always used metric measurements as it is much more accurate.

[@babalonkie]

@@AndrewAHayes I use what ever is easier... and neither automatically gets that title.

[@rjjcms1]

We did stuff in both imperial and metric at primary school and onwards in the 70s and early 80s,too,so I was pretty comfortable with using either or. I too naturally fell into one or the other depending on what I was used to,but probably a bit more imperial than metric.

[@tommullinerart]

The metric system is only a post-war introduction to the UK, which is why many things that date before then still use the imperial measurement system. Many things are now measured interchangeably, so we kinda have to learn to use both.

[@SiAnon]

Mark Williams would blow his mind. In fact he'd have to watch it with his eyes closed lol

[@Tampahop]

The best part of these are missing. It's not just the one shot. It's the good shots that led up to the shot and the good shots following. Being able to see the table through to the point of sinking the last ball is what gets me every time.

[@archieeast3021]

4:36 until you've played on a snooker table you will never appreciate how tight the pockets are, they are only just bigger than the balls. On an american pool table the ball can hit halfway down the "rail" and still go in. In snooker if the ball just SLIGHTLY clips the cushion 99% of the time it will rattle in the jaws and wont go in

[@mehallica666]

You could pot a beach ball on a 9 ball table.

[@AdamMarr]

That's because of the cut, not the size. Modern pro tournament tables are 4", which is only slightly larger than snooker, with bigger balls, and the side pockets aren't even comparable to snookers huge wide mouth side pockets, esp on the 4" steep cut sides they play on now. It's the curved corner cut that makes balls so tough to pot down the rail, not the size really.

[@thesolarfutureenthusiast1102]

​@@AdamMarr This is what you get if you google "how large are the pockets on a snooker table" A snooker table has six pockets, one at each corner and one at the centre of each of the longest side cushions. The pockets are around 86 mm (3.5 in), though high-class tournaments may use slightly smaller pockets to increase difficulty. The top tournaments ( which this clip is from ) definitely us smaller pockets. This is what you get if you google "how large are the pockets on an american pool table" American pocket openings should be between 4.5 and 4.625 inches on the corner pockets and centre between 5 and 5.125 inches. The mouth of the centre pocket is traditionally ½ inch wider than the mouth of the corner pocket. Professional tables will also have a vertical pock angle (Back Draft), between 12 & 14 degrees. The difference is in size is massive and the cut makes a massive difference too.

[@AdamMarr]

@@thesolarfutureenthusiast1102 If your only source is a google search, lets talk about that a bit. Now I'm not trying to dis any side, I love watching snooker, and enjoy the game, and used to play a bit back 15 years ago when our area actually had a snooker table at a now closed pool hall. But the BS 'buckets" line and idea that the down rail shots are all that matter when talking about size is just nonsense. For one, most pro-level tournaments, and even many local high end pool halls play on, or will have tables with 4" or 4.25 inch pockets. Pro tournys, which is where these trolly-snooker fans often pop up play with 4" pockets all the way around. Now, while your search shows 3.5" snooker pockets (which to be clear is also smaller than 3.5" for pros), snooker side pockets are actually larger than 4", which is larger than the pro pool side pockets, with a slightly friendlier cut for slow rolled high angle shots. The curved cut does make rail shots harder, no doubt, overall the size between what most TV pool is played on and snooker tables is not as big a gap as people try and claim, just because the down rail shots are easier in pool. And the table size is bigger, but most offensive snooker play is done in the 6x6 rack side of the table. Also, this is why you see so much safety play on shots longer than 1/2 table, or tight down rail shots, where traditional pool is much more offensive. That's the whole point. And while pro snooker players are amazing, no doubt, and often have very high technical fundamentals, those that do dip their foot in the pool side of things aren't any better at pocketing balls on a 9' pool table than a decent pool player.

[@jsbrads1]

I thought it was about where he put the cue ball.

[@scotmax8426]

lol some absolutely cracking shots in that wee vid. enjoyed that. cheers.

[@javidlv]

Thanks for reacting. Snooker is such a beautiful discipline.

[@The_Iainternet]

I don’t think many Americans realize the size of a snooker table. I’ve been a pretty decent pool player when I was younger and have literally missed even hitting the triangle on a break on a snooker table!

[@DanceySteveYNWA]

Why did you leave the triangle on the table?

[@ivaneames4354]

​@@DanceySteveYNWANot sure if you are joking or not but he obviously means the triangle of red balls not the frame used to form them into said shape.

[@stevenmclaren2730]

You spell realise the American way.

[@The_Iainternet]

@@stevenmclaren2730 You spell realize the British way.

[@The_Iainternet]

@@DanceySteveYNWA I actually laughed at this. Yes, probably should've said pack but couldn't think of the right term at the time.

[@IanDarley]

Imperial is still the official measurement for horizontal distance. Road signs are imperial, speed is imperial, height is supposed to be metric but nobody uses it, we still use feet and inches. Also snooker tables are imperial.

[@riccardocoletta2398]

The color order happens only when all red are finished Until there are red on the table, after you put a red in hole you can hit the color you want and the best is usually (if possible) to hole the black that worth 7 points After all the red are done, you MUST follow the color order For this reason the max point you can do is 147 1- Red for 1 point 2- Black for 7 points 3- Repeat 1 and 2 until all red are done 4- Finish off all the balls in the color order

[@robby1816]

Well, you can get more than a 147 break *IF* there was a foul with a free ball to start it.

[@riccardocoletta2398]

@@robby1816 Yep... sure... I wasn't counting on fouls, in that case you're right... With fouls you can technically do infinite points :D

[@robby1816]

@@riccardocoletta2398 Not just points, I mean a 155 break.

[@riccardocoletta2398]

​@@robby1816 Yep... but techincallly I can make faul, my opponent can fail to put the red in hole and I make another foul and so on forever. So, even if it's pratically very unprobable, you can techincally do infinite points. But we can agree that with ball in holes you can do no more than 147 ponits. Thus we can say you can do 147 points plus fauls

[@robby1816]

@@riccardocoletta2398 Nope. Highest possible BREAK is 155

[@techfire1]

In the UK we use a mixture of Metric and Imperial. Snooker is a very old game, so the dimensions were set in imperial measures of 12 foot x 6 foot. Therefore it makes sense to reference the imperial measures on TV. It really is quite varied in whether imperial or metric is used, depending on the situation. Does mean we have a good understanding of both though

[@sianb1260]

I always find it interesting that people forget the US imperial measurement system was based on the English system. In the UK as many have stated we use both metric and imperial in our daily lives. Road signs in miles, petrol sold by the litre. Beer and milk sold by the pint (larger than US pint - 20 fl oz compared to 16fl oz), glass of wine by grams. 😊

[@russellbradley454]

Most people in Britain over 50 still use Imperial measurents in everyday use.

[@russellbradley454]

They don't lay on the table one leg should be on ground at all time when playing a shot.😊

[@bertiesworld]

@@russellbradley454 I just use whatever is convenient. Using a tape measure I just swap between the two systems as if they are one.

[@garydickson8405]

Selby,top snooker player, he's also a world class pool player,very talented guy...😂

[@MattAnderson-e1t]

Snooker is one of the skilful games in the world as well as the one of the hardest to get even slightly good at. What you seeing here the elites of the game. Everything you are seeing they are doing intentionally. Every shot played and potted leads the next shot and so on

[@mehallica666]

There's certainly no love lost between O' Sullivan and Selby.

[@davidmalarkey1302]

The standard snooker table is 12ft by 6ft thats why they use feet.

[@danielferguson3784]

We do still use feet & inches in the UK where it matters. A Snooker table is 12 feet long. The shots ending by or blocked by a colour are hard because the other player has to hit at a red first. Selby could shoot at any colour because he has already scored.

[@NorwayMan36]

When the opponent taps his cue on the cushion, you know it was a great shot :) Its like a little applause ;)

[@billyo54]

So glad you're enjoying Mark. You'll never know how difficult these shots are untill you try a frame of snooker Ryan. Try to control the cue ball, even on a pool table, and you'll realise how precise your cueing needs to be.

[@seanscanlon9067]

The American pool player Corel Duel has represented America in the Mosconi cup, which is like the pool version of golf's Ryder Cup, and he had a go at playing snooker on the qualifying tour and found it very difficult and struggled to pot half a dozen balls in a row.

[@anglosaxon5874]

4:46 It's not only the shot on the blue but the follow up of the white ball to position for the pink.

[@davidbroughton1088]

U can pot any colour after a red. Colours in order when all reds are gone.

[@stevenvanhulle7242]

... keeping in mind that in snooker red is not a colour 🙂

[@davidbroughton1088]

@@stevenvanhulle7242 good point

[@TheBluebirdkev]

It's easy to remember the colours at the top of the table.It's from L to R. God bless you.Middle is blue,pink in front of the reds and black at the back of the pack.You have to keep one foot on the floor at all times,that is why they use the rest.

[@davidricks7128]

When you pot a red you can choose any colour but must hit the colour you name if you pot it you go back to pot a red then colour till all reds are of the table then its yellow green brown blue pink black in that order

[@robertryan4461]

Now you re getting the taste for snooker, I would now suggest that you watch "Ridiculous Judd Trump shots", in some cases the man quite literally knocks them in of the lampshade, He like Mark and Ronnie and a number of the worlds top players have phenomenal cue power and precise control of the cue ball, you should watch his exhibition shots, as you saw with Mark as with all of the top cue men, they will produce them in to a frame once they have taken control of that frame/match. He Ronnie and Mark are no slouch's when it comes to Pool either.

[@markjones127]

I've played Mark Selby in pool, he used to play a lot of pool and their used to be an open team event called the golden cue and we had to play in the first round in a bar in Brighton, we knew him as he'd been on TV a few times but he hadn't won anything yet, he was pretty young, early 20's, they beat us 3-1, I was quite chuffed we won a game as they were all pro's!

[@SotonCueMan]

Mark Selby was the 2006 World Champion at the 'UK' style of 8 ball pool...... he still plays pool today in Ultimate Pool [partners Gareth Potts - another former pool world champ]....

[@markjones127]

@@SotonCueMan Interesting, I'm pretty sure we played US rules in the Golden Cue event, every league I played in around Brighton at the time had changed to US rack or rail rules which I much preferred anyway.

[@MarkLangdahl]

I think my favourite player is Judd Trump. He has some insanely impressive curls that are just perfect.

[@davidmalarkey1302]

They are using feet because the table is measured in feet.A standard snooker table measures 12ft by 6ft.

[@chrisbodum3621]

go You could help them out by doing it in yards which in US cups would be approximately 6 by 2.

[@scifihack5275]

@@chrisbodum3621er…4x2 3ft per yard when I was a nipper

[@ratatat9790]

@@chrisbodum3621 ...yards are measured in Imperial just like feet. 1 yard = 3 feet.

[@Zakarias89]

Also, if anyone is wondering why the table is measured in feet although it was invented in England, Britain was appearently using the imperial system until 1965

[@chrisbodum3621]

@@ratatat9790 You know nothing. My yard was 43 feet by 25 feet.

[@Sharturse]

Snooker pockets are small. It's extremely hard to pot a ball along the cushion (rail)

[@neutraloptions]

Flogging a dead horse perhaps, but trying to quantify. I would say that blue pot at least 10 times harder on snooker table and even more in this case because of the distance - so definitely not a routine pot. Hitting it with power takes it into the realm of nearly impossible - it is a example of great cueing. Also because of the table size it probably seems closer to the pocket than it is. I have often seen pros refuse similar shots and play safe instead. The reason it is harder (as others already described) is that the pockets are a lot tighter because of size and cut.

[@maomao5879]

At 2:27 yes he did found that gap on purpose with the perfect amount of top spin and right hand side and just a lil bit stun shot but even the best of best like them cannot promise to do that perfectly every time that's why the commentator gets so excited about it

[@ΓιάννηςΧατζηγεωργίου-θ9σ]

Snooker is a great sport and Mark Shelby is a gem. Snooker and pool are totally different games even though have in common the basic Physics principals. The same can be told about Snooker and pool vs three cussion billiards, carambolla or 5 birilli and Goriziana.

[@tosa2522]

In contrast to poll billiards, the pockets in snooker are built in such a way that the ball comes out again rather than being directed into the pocket. I played snooker as a hobby for years and my biggest break was 32 points with red and black. I was so proud of myself. When someone persuaded me to play pool (8-ball or 9-ball) with him, I was so good that it was no fun to play.

[@AdamMarr]

Right... Lol, I think you are confusing beating drunk bar players with actually being good

[@questionableabsanity]

there is a song called "snooker loopy" which has a chorus with the order sung. sing along to it a few dozen times and you'll have the order embedded in your head forever!

[@gatlygat]

“I could watch that all day” Yes, indeed!

[@cherryblossom3046]

A SNOOKER is when the white ball is hidden behind another ball such that it is impossible/ very difficult for other player to play a shot without error/miss!

[@anglosaxon5874]

We use feet/inches/miles for distance/height [except small measures] more in the UK [where it was invented] than the metric system [but both can be used]. The metric system is used more with weights on packages/groceries etc. but body weight is still more stone+lbs. For hosiptals more metric as better for calculations.

[@svenlima]

+anglosax... WHAT? The British invented feet inches and miles? What do you think how the rest of the world measured things the past 10'000 years? Did they all wait for the British to come up with feet? hahaha What a joke! Well, British are know for being snobby. Every country had its norms (and it wasn't British norms). As people from other countries also walk on their feet and also touch with their fingers you can imagine that they also used feet and inches and other parts like el (in Germany). Sorry but I have to say it: You probably also believe that the British invented football/soccer, don't you? ;-)

[@SimonEnglish-ec2fo]

What a defensive game he has. Outstanding

[@dan_savage]

4:44 long pot, angled inside on the cushion, it is on of those you never wanna play! Additionally, to play it with pace and spin to get the next position. Hats off!

[@paulbromley6687]

We do have a weird relationship with weights and measures in the UK we fly at 35,000 feet but we buy litres of fuel to then drive at 40mph to get our medication in milligrams and a pint at the local. Most people now know 600mm is roughly two foot and an inch is 25.4mm 3.785 is a gallon it’s straight forward once you do it on a daily basis.

[@J.A.M.17.11]

Also to you 528 seconds to google all that….😂

[@stevekirk7066]

3.785 litres per US gallon...4.546 litres per real imperial gallon.

[@billymac23454]

The pot on the blue had a few things about it that made it a great shot, 1. It was a long pot, 2. The blue was tight on the cushion, and 3, not only did he pot the blue, he got perfect position on the next ball, (pink) The bridge is called the "rest" in snooker and players can use it as an when they need to. There are also different rests, the spider is used when the cue has to elevate over a ball in order to hit the cue ball, the swan neck when the cue has to reach over more than one ball to hit the cue ball, and there is the long rest, which is used when the standard size rest is not long enough for the cue to reach the cue ball, there is also an extended length cue to use in conjunction with the long rest, though most players prefer to use an extension piece that either slips over or screws into the butt of their own cue. The "bank" shot is called a "double" in snooker. Hope this answers some of your questions😊 It's really good to see you, an American, taking such an interest in snooker, look up Jim Rempe, an American player who was ranked 101st in the world rankings back in the 1987-88 season.

[@seanscanlon9067]

4:30 the reason why that is a good shot and the commentator touched on it too, was the pace of the shot in order to get the cue ball to travel far enough back down the table for position to pot the pink in the middle pocket. Snooker table pockets are tighter than 9-ball pool table pockets, where the object ball can hit the rail a good bit before the pocket and still go in, whereas if you hit the cushion first on a snooker table, the object ball is likely to wobble in the jaws of the pocket and not go in. The object ball will often wobble in the jaws of the pocket and not go in if the cue ball is hit at pace like Mark Selby did for this blue ball along the cushion when trying for position on the pink into the middle pocket. So hitting the cue ball at pace means you really have to be cueing well and if Selby had only wanted to pot the blue and not have to worry about position on the pink, he most likely would have tried to roll it in by cutting back on the pace, which makes the shot easier.

[@peterdavidson3890]

Remember Snooker table pockets are only 50% wide compared to a pool table pocket.

[@nakkadu]

That's not true

[@jama211]

@@nakkadu it's more accurate to say they play almost that much smaller (at least in the corners) - if you touch the rail on a rail shot it will basically never go in on a snooker table, but it goes in most of the time on an american pool table

[@nakkadu]

@@jama211 yes the corner pockets on American pool tables are super forgiving but the middle pockets are really hard to pot in at an angle. UK style pool tables have about the same ball to pocket ratio as snooker tables.

[@milantrkulja7200]

Selby 4x World champion usually known for his ability to grind his opponents to dust however on his day and I mean during one of his World Championship runs to win he was simply superb. Potted almost everything, cleared up ridiculously difficult tables with balls tucked up on cushions while if anyone actually had the temerity to snooker him, he would calmly get out of it with a high chance of leaving no shot at all. That along with Mark Williams' last win where he actually closed his eyes on some shots just for giggles and Ronnie where he won one world title before taking the next year off snooker completely only to come back for the season ending World Championship as reigning champion to win it again are my favourites.

[@ratatat9790]

I play a lot of snooker, it's difficult. That was a good shot when he was playing Milkins because the cue ball was on the cushion and he could only strike the top of the ball. It was a full length shot and the blue was on the cush. He also had to hit it with power and he got perfect position on the pink. ...Yes, we use feet as standard in UK and miles instead of kilometres.Something we have in common with the U.S. Nice to see your appreciation for the game.

[@thailandandisaanproperty312]

17:27 it's a great shot because he potted the blue and got the perfect position on the Pink.

[@TerenceDixon-l6b]

I must say though that to play, my favourite game is pul - I'm allowed to mispronounce as well. The long blue shot at 4:53 was great as it is very difficult to pot a ball that is touching the cushion, especially with a power shot, and because of the sequence of potting he had to get a position to pot the pink ball, which he did. If he had potted the red ball at 5:45 he must then play a colour following the potting of a red ball so he was OK, it was clever because it was a difficult shot and left his opponent deliberately snookered.Use feet to measure so that Yanks can understand. He can lay on the table as long as he doesn';t touch a ball and at least one foot is touching the floor. The potting sequence is easy, any colour after potting a red, once all red potted - yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, black, the position of the colours on the table is always the same when set up. You really need to watch some whole games on YT not just 'best ot'.

[@ingobordewick6480]

4:40 it's such a hard shot, not only because of the distance but the opening of the pockets being round, not straight as on a pool table. Which means when the ball is on the cussion, only a bit out of direction will result in the ball not falling.

[@FayeSless-di3jg]

Why feet and inches? The UK committed to metrication in 1965. The process actually began in 1975, with an interim period in which both measures were to be used. The interim is still ongoing! It's a crazy mix, e.g. our petrol (gas) pumps dispense in Litres but we still measure our cars fuel efficiency in Miles Per Gallon; pop (soda) is sold in litres, but milk is still mostly sold in pints.

[@peteannells4218]

Try the builders merchant: "8 x 4 sheet of 12mm ply and 10 off 2.8 m of 2x2 please." Somethings will always be measured in inches. Nice footage of the snooker too 🙂!

[@peaeater1]

Yes - and penises are measured in inches, yet ejaculation in millilitres (unless you are me, then it's pints all the way) . It's a crazy world out there!

[@peteannells4218]

@@peaeater1 Not at our builder's merchants they don't !!!

[@ffotograffydd]

With milk it depends on the supermarket and/or brand. For example, M&S sells their own brand in pints, Tesco sells it in litres.

[@B-A-L]

Because we are intelligent enough to understand both systems and use them when they are best suited to the purpose!

[@pseud420]

There's some underappreciated craftsmanship going into those tables, making them as sturdy and reliable as they are; think about the size of these things (12ft x 6ft) and a human can put all of their weight on one side without the table moving at all and staying perfectly level! And then there's the actual play field, the cushions & pockets, all being the perfect size (they use templates to ensure this). The pockets seem a lot smaller on these tables if you play at them but there's actually not that much difference in size ... The difference is how far into the pocket the play field runs. On casual tables the ball drops in almost immediately once it enters that corner space, however on these it has to actually make it quite far into the pocket before it drops. If you take a look at snooker tables you can buy for home and then compare a birds-eye of those with these competition ones you'll see what I mean, it's interesting!

[@1lupus]

The long blue pot at 4:23. The Snooker tables are a massive size, but the pockets are much harder than 8-ball tables. So the long pot off the cush is hard, and gets harder the faster you play it. If he took it at a slower speed he would be much more assured of the pot, but to put it in at that pace in order to get the cue ball to travel all the way back down the table to get position on the pink, is astounding. To even get enough control on the white to come off at the right angle is astounding. To get all those elements to line up shows you how good he is. I think you should look at Ronnie's games however.

[@SgtSteel1]

7:25 Metric and Imperial are interchangeable in the UK. I would never say I am 173cm tall, I would say I am 5ft 8. Miles per hour is the norm but when we need to be exact, we use metric. e.g that piece of wood needs to be 1500mm long.

[@michaelafrancis1361]

At 4.50 it was not just potting the blue ball, although that was hard enough, but it's about bringing the white ball back to play the pink ball... the next in sequence. Remember you have to pot red, colour, red. colour, red colour until all the red balls are gone and then you have to pot the coloured balls in sequence.... yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, black. It's never just about pocketing the ball in snooker but your position on the next ball. These top players are mapping their plan out several balls ahead. A pot might appear routine but it's where the player places the white ball after the pot that's critical.

[@ingobordewick6480]

4:50 this is a great shot for different reasons. First potting over that distance is not easy, second the ball is on the cussion and the entry to the pocket is round, which means the ball needs to exactly follow the cussion, a millimeter off and it will not fall. Third, look at the position on the pink he has after the shot.

[@kristofferolsen8973]

Balls in the cushion are extremely tough. The pockets will throw out the ball if it's not sticking to the cushion all the way in. The distance and the position on the next ball is what elevated that shot to an excellent shot. Pool tables are way more forgiving. There's also the tablecloth to consider on top of that. A slow, straight shot will drift off to the side.

[@prototypep4]

13:14 I didn't see anyone else address this so I will, the tables used by professionals have a very strict criteria to meet for each tournament. The tables are reclothed at the start of the tournament in a very specific cloth and that same roll is the only one used for that tournament so it's consistent on all tables. the tables have heating pads under the slate to keep it at a specific temp so it's stable. The felt used on snooker tables has a knap to it meaning it's smooth in one direction (baulk to black) so balls move faster going down but have more resistence back up the table. American pool uses Sinounos cloth which has no knap to it and is made for speed. There's a good video out of the tables being built at the crucible.

[@mojishayestehmanesh661]

Never seen anyone been able to play the shot he played on the blue tight on the cushion especially with the back spin. Remarkable

[@contessa.adella]

7:35 Brits often use imperial measure to convey a general size or length, but we switch to metric if we need an accurate distance. Tradies/builders often use mixed units…such as a 2.4 meter length of 4x2. It just works!

[@stephenlee5929]

Hi Ryan the blue into the bottom left pocket along the rail (cushion) was difficult, partly because it is against the nape of the table, it was a long shot, I think the blue was a reasonably long way from the actual pocket, it was passed the pink, but also because it left the white in a position to pot the pink.

[@jimglynn67]

when i first played, every shot used the rest (bridge), and stood on a box. the table was like a putting green

[@cherryblossom3046]

Why don't you visit Sheffield, UK, when the World Snooker Championship is on, as part of your UK visit, and enjoy watching these greats display their crafts? ✌️👏

[@WilliamSmith-mx6ze]

6:20 It's called a safety shot. You may call it another thing in pool but it's the same thing: you are at the table, the balls are laid out such that you can't pot a ball, you know your opponent will come to the table immediately, so you play so that the cue ball goes to such a position that he can't pot anything either and may even not be able to hit a ball at all, in which case you regain the advantage.

[@coot1925]

The shot on the blue was great because not only is it a horrible angle but he had to hit it at pace in order to be in position for the next shot. The blue could have rattled in the jaws of the pocket & been left on for his opponent. Snooker is a very tactical game. When a player puts the cue ball behind another so the opponent can't get a straight shot it's called a snooker, hence the name of the game..

[@WillGiven-g6j]

I really hope you get to see a snooker table up close and personal sometime. Pool tables have buckets for pockets, snooker tables have cups. ( ) ( ) Mainland Europe uses the metric system only, kilometre, metre, centimetre, kilogram. UK uses both metric and imperial systems. Distances are still miles and miles per hour. And a snooker table is 12 feet by 6 feet.

[@paolow1299]

It's where the white ball stops that's important in line for next ball or to snooker ( block ) The opponents line of sight .

[@XENONEOMORPH1979]

we use imperial and metric the uk invented both accept km that for the french , but i use imperial as i prefer it.

[@WookieWarriorz]

some of the shots were escaping a snookered position, look at where the ball is, he has to do a trick shot to hit a red to avoid a foul. Other times they putting the white into a snookered position for their opponents turn.

[@markaitcheson3212]

You are missing the point here,it's not just the potting of the balls it's where he leaving the white for the next shot.

[@bepto4877]

If there are reds left on the table you can select any colour ball to play after potting a red, if the colour is potted it is replaced onto the table & you go for another red. After potting the last red you can again select any colour to pot & it will be replaced. The next shot must be for the yellow then all the colours in order The colours are no longer replaced.

[@philstevens9914]

The table is 6' x 12' so that is why they were using feet on the commentary, plus the UK teaches both imperial and metric systems. I learned both growing up and am a woodworker. I use metric system for measurements for joints because it is all in multiples of 10 mainly.

[@DM-kv9kj]

14:40 - A bank shot is called a double - banking a ball = doubling a ball. That type where the cueball cuts across the face of the object ball is called a cross double. There's also a back double, where you bank the object ball back towards you off the cushion. As for cases such as where he plays an escape shot to get out of being snookered, clips the object ball and the cue ball ends up behind the black - that wasn't exactly calculated. He was just trying to hit the red and do so on a particular side, so that he might get a chance of the cue ball ending up somewhere around that corner of the table. Sometimes they get a bit lucky like that, other times the cue ball would have just finished somewhere near that black but not behind it. Sometimes they keep missing the object ball all together from a snooker, have to keep replaying the shot, bracketing the angles until they get it, and maybe sometimes they then end up with a great cue ball with some luck...someone could then cut that clip for a youtube compilation 😂 Oh, and the UK use imperial measurements still for some things like height. Snooker tables have always been measured in exact numbers of feet, so they just stay that way. Even buying bud on the black market, sometimes it's in grams, sometimes in ounces. Brits generally still think in miles too, but learn the metric anyway as it's standard throughout most of Europe.

[@SiAnon]

I started playing snooker in the late 70s when i was just a kid. Now i'm so blind i doubt i could find the table. Need some of those Dennis Taylor glasses.

[@itsirrelephantman]

The blue was on the cushion, you usually have to play them slow, or perfectly precise if you're trying to get position. When you're playing for position on the next ball any shot can he hard.

[@mynameisnobody5295]

Selby is also a strong pool player. I first heard of him back before he was going the ranks in snooker

[@digitig]

The issue with using the bridge is you have less control over the height the cue hits the ball. It doesn't usually make much difference to potting the ball you're aiming for, but it gives you a lot less control over where the cue ball goes after that, so it's harder to line up your next shot.

[@NocnaGlizda]

Mark Selby and Judd Trump. These are my favorite players. I love watching them play more than those who have achieved the most. And in the past I loved to watch Stephen Hendry but those days ended long ago.

[@Cbge_Monkey]

when he potted the blue and you asked why it was a good shot, it's because you gotta get positioning with the white after the pot also, just potting it isn't what was superb about it, was the combo of getting the white back down in position for the pink

[@mahalayananda]

Selby is a real gentleman player, like also Marco Fu. It takes a bit for most to catch the positional part of the game. Often it takes one opportunity at this level and your opponent will steal the game. It's much like chess. They're always several shots ahead in their minds, when placing the white ball after a shot. There is this entire development part of the balls and the game. It's really an art.

[@Merrit16]

4:46 "Why is that such a difficult shot" I hear you mentioning how the tables are so big (12ft vs 7-9ft for American Pool tables) but dont forget that the pockets are actually smaller too (about 3.5 inches vs 4.5-5 inches for american pool tables) The pockets actually feel even smaller than this because the holes are set back slightly meaning the jaws of the pocket form a little corridor. As with pool, the harder you hit the ball the smaller your angle (as well as your accuracy to hit that angle) becomes to pot it mainly because the ball wont be sucked into the hole as much by gravity but there's other reasons too. Except this is more extreme in snooker because of the little corridor the jaws form. That's why you see players hitting the ball "just hard enough" more often. So in this specific case we see Selby hitting an already tight angle with an incredible amount of power that he needs to get back on the pink. He plays it with a lot of top left spin (hitting with some side spin knocks your aim slightly off too which you have to adjust for depending on the distance) to get the white all the back to the pink. This is all made more difficult by the fact that putting his needed left spin on the cue ball does put a slight right spin on the blue ball when it gets struck. This means if the blue hits the cushion at all the spin will push the blue further away than it normally would. Meaning Selbys angle to pot is halved by this last factor alone.

[@romaneberle]

4:36 it's about controlling the white ball. properly hitting a ball close to the cushion isn't easy, but hitting it in such a way that it falls into the pocket AND the white ball moves away from the cushion at a ~90deg angle, to be perfectly positioned for the next shot is the real challenge. every shot is a preparation for the next one.

[@davidsandrovitch7635]

Snooker pockets are much tighter than pool pockets. Doubles/banks are much harder. Mark was a pool player, winning a world championship at pool before winning one at snooker, which seems to be why he is so good at calculating angles. He's renowned as being very difficult to beat at his best.

[@stephenlee5929]

Hi Ryan 6:07, 'what would he have done if he had potted the red?' His next shot would be on a colour, I think he would have tapped into the Green.

[@robby1816]

Some of these shots are like professional golfers getting a hole in one. You know they are great players, you know they have the talent to get close every time, but sometimes it just goes perfectly.

[@johngorny8306]

@4.53 its because the angle is so acute any deviation in accuracy you'll miss. The balls are slightly smaller than the pockets and the further away the tighter the angle which means the smaller the pocket. All scenario just increases the the difficulty on an already difficult shot. Easy formula, Distance + Acute Angle = Increased difficulty. Distance + Acute Angle + Pace = Perfection.

[@callumbush1]

Brits still use ft, inches, miles etc.

[@colinbaker3916]

When Mark Selby plays Ronnie O’Sullivan, he is the villain as far as most of the crowd is concerned. Ronnie’s the entertainer, Mark’s the grinder.

[@blahdelablah]

With the order of the ball colours other than red, that only really matters in the end game after all the reds have been potted. For the remainder of the game you can follow a red with any other colour ball, and the choice of which non-red ball to pot is based on how many points they give, how easy they are to pot, and what position the cue ball will be in after the shot has been made. Aside from if the other player commits a penalty (which awards their opponent points), the best score you can get is to follow each red with a black, then pot the non-red balls in the order you said (yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, black). Sometimes a player will choose to not play to pot a ball, and instead will play a tactical shot that ideally leaves no clear shots to their opponents, and when this happens they are said to have "snookered" their opponent. If any of this didn't make sense, it might be best to watch a video on the rules of snooker, it will probably make it easier to follow the game. Also, you were right to point out that a full-size snooker table is much larger than it appears on TV, the large table size and the unforgiving cushions make snooker a lot harder than it looks, I think this will be easiest to grasp if you ever get a chance to play it on a full-size table.

[@martinokeefe2435]

I have played this game on a 12 X 6 table one corner to the other is like looking across a bowling green to get the white to come back to where you want it is amazing every shot in I seen gave me a headache for the operation.

[@Jason_L10]

The reason for using the bridge is to get a stable cue as close to the white as possible, also players have to keep one foot touching the floor at all times during the shot, even if its just the tip of the shoe on the floor.

[@ianjardine7324]

Measurements in snooker are given in ft because its a very old game and all equipment is still made in the same ways using the same measurements probably with the same tools. There is evidence it was played in some form during the middle ages.

[@markpodlesak7204]

The very best have an incredible skill with the cue.

[@WilliamSmith-mx6ze]

2:00 Watch the scores at the bottom of the screen. The black is worth 7, but Selby is already 74-35 ahead. There's no way O'Sullivan could beat him in this frame, so Selby could just put his cue down and walk away and still win. But he decides to pot the black in that funny way to entertain the crowd.

[@Jeni10]

Every shot is calculated. Sometimes they get it wrong, but everything is about physics in Snooker. The spin on the ball as it strikes another ball, determines both the trajectory of both balls and the results. It’s only after many years of trial and error that they learn where to strike the cue ball and where the cue ball needs to track for the right outcome.