Stephen Hendry Responds To YOUR Snooker Comments!

You asked, Stephen's answered!
In this video, we took the best questions from the most recent community post and put them to Stephen to answer. He spoke about the story behind his original cue being destroyed, his opinions on pool and whether he ever felt underwhelmed after a victory. There's plenty packed into this one and a real variety of topics. Thanks so much to everyone who sent questions in, we literally couldn't have done it without you!
TikTok: / stephenhendryscuetips
Twitter: / shendry775
Instagram: / s_hendry775
#snooker #cuetips #stephenhendry

[@sammalham3399]

Such a great lad - relating to every level of player answering all of our questions. The greatest

[@ErikTheCueist]

One time you directly answered my question on Twitter and it really made my Day. This is really cool of you to interact with you fans like this, thx man!

[@butler-macdonald8351]

As a Maritime Canadian (from Nova Scotia, ie. "New Scotland"), I appreciated the shout out to Cliff... an absolute legend around here, much like yourself. Thank you for the video, Stephen.

[@darrenelmore7575]

When hendry talks snooker, you listen

[@Proud_Bhoys]

And when he played, 😮 you watched

[@richardhorrocks1460]

I don't, because I know better than anyone else.

[@Proud_Bhoys]

@Richard Horrocks Yet you're on here commenting ya tosser

[@maxgusatz5644]

Loving the last few videos Stephen, please do more of these Q and A’s.

[@lewis6567]

Stephen with your attitude and ambassadorship for snooker, on top of your 7 world titles in record time, you are the greatest. Thanks for this channel it's amazing for regular joes like myself who play maybe once a week, but want to make the most of that one time amidst a busy life, thank you

[@dannygray-mi3xn]

Bloody brilliant. Fascinating to hear advice from 1 of the 2 greatest snooker players of all time. Cheers!

[@davidgeorgemarr8694]

I find this chanel so interesting and Stephen Hendry is a natural in front of the camera.... My favourite channel now..

[@ShadowWolf315]

Thanks for answering my question Stephen. Interesting to hear you say Cliff Thorburn as one of the opponents you found difficult. Keep up the great work!

[@TheHui]

I was surprised too by that answer.

[@brianmacpherson4913]

Me too. I'm Canadian and was lucky enough to play a game of 9 ball against Cliff once, so very cool for Stephen to mention him. I guess he wasn't called "the grinder" for nothing.

[@Beyondinstrumentals]

Feel honoured that he answered my question about his cue

[@allezlesrouges]

Good question too mate

[@Beyondinstrumentals]

@@allezlesrouges thank you

[@jaredmarks5822]

The best snooker channel on KZbin! Thanks Stephen! Cheers everyone!

[@SmokeandSteam]

The game’s best player, best pundit and now owner of the best KZbin snooker channel. 🎩 off Mr Hendry

[@finlay2299]

elite channel

[@allezlesrouges]

Elite snooker player

[@craigchristian344]

In off the red

[@johnbyrne1016]

Just the best snooker channel. Simple as that. Dave Hendon, on the Snooker Scene podcast, has said the same many times. Namely, that Stephen and team have created a perfect mix. Where both the die-hard snooker nerds and the casual fans can get something out of it. Kudos.

[@mostlikely2509]

I played snooker litteraly 2 times in my life, but watched it for years. And this channel is weardly gets me excited! Spot on lad! Thank you!❤

[@lakmeister]

Gives a honest opinion Fair play to Hendo.... I still think of him as the best ever....although I love how Ronnie plays

[@boahnation9932]

This channel and break from life are incredible

[@jaywilson2244]

Your honesty in commentary is appreciated. Stats when used sparingly and effectively have a place. But it doesn’t tell quite the same story as the scorn elucidated from a missed opportunity or bad shot. Never change your style

[@Tickerman]

I grew up a Jimmy White fan, but this channel has turned me into a Hendry fan!

[@susanpritchard6164]

Stephen has got to 104 thousand subscribers so quickly best pundit on tv love listening to him great channel ❤

[@insaan1072]

Great content as usual 👏 Please can you give some tips on tip size (9.5mm vs less or more) and shaping especially for better cintact and cue ball control. Frequently miscue/jump when attempting deep screw. Quite sure it's the tip more than how low I'm striking cue ball. Want to maximise control without inadvertently applying unwanted side and throwing ball off line before striking object ball. Also What's ideal weight of cue and length. Does lighter cue allow more spin and heavier better for straight shots at distance? Thank you.

[@MrVinnie47]

This is very enjoyable Steven. (Apart from the reminder of the Jimmy frame!). You are a natural. Well done.

[@mishellgagnon5771]

The very best! Always a treat to listen to.

[@matthewbray7992]

You are an ambassador for the sport worldwide I think the sport couldn't be in a better place for newcomers for you taking it onto this platform

[@jameso7049]

I’m always gutted when Stephen isn’t on the comms box because he deffo honest and comes out with some really cracking dry one liners and he is a savage When someone plays a bad shot 😂😂

[@bennylloyd-willner9667]

To me, he is the James Hunt of snooker (re: brutally honest commenting, not the lifestyle😊)

[@brianmacpherson4913]

Hi Stephen, I'm here in Nova Scotia. Been watching you play since you started, back when Canada cared about snooker. I learned a lot just watching you play Davis, White, etc. but I didn't have access to the tables like you did. My other hero is Wayne Gretzky, a hockey player here who had a very similar career to you. I'm trying to start a new snooker club here because the interest is so low here that there is only one table in a city of a million. Thank you for helping me through my younger years where I felt weird focusing on snooker.

[@brian_chalega]

I'm so happy that my question got answered!! 🤩 Thanks a lot!!

[@TheEricthefruitbat]

Great video. Thanks for the love for Thorburn!

[@djbogz1921]

Absolute Legend.

[@mell3109]

Bizarre but I’m liking this more than any other channel at the moment, I used to be a snooker fan but this is giving great insight and something I think was missing, excellent!

[@Zombies8MyPizza]

I spent a good couple of years looking at the object ball when striking cause it's what all the books and websites said is right. Once I found out some players, like Stephen, look at the object ball I tried it and I improved instantly. The logic for doing so is sound, when you think about it - if you get down on the shot, you've checked you're on line (and assuming you're aimed and aligned correctly) and your stance is totally locked in, the only thing that's gonna cause you to miss is not cueing straight through the cue ball. So looking at the cue ball is a good way to make sure you strike where intended and go straight through.

[@darrenhadden1037]

Great Q & A"s! Thanks!

[@aliorr9356]

One thing I learned about Murray walker the F1 commentator was he did his homework. He spent his time asking drivers questions writing down the answers. Writing down stats etc. All because he was personally interested. So when a situation occurred in the race he could rattle a relevant piece of information off the top of his head. Anything that was technical or driver related he referred to James hunt. I love it when snooker follows this sort of commentary format. One man has the stats and figures and an ex pro to refer to for the technical aspects of the game.

[@jibsmokestack1]

Thanks for mentioning the grinder Cliff Thorburn Stephen! Don’t get talked about much now but I remember watching his game lot when I was a kid!

[@darthgorthaur258]

I really wanna know if you kept the pieces of the cue and if you ever thought about getting it put back together it can be done.

[@shakhispoya3400]

So glad you're doing this Stephen. Thank you.

[@JayChambers83]

Love this channel. It’s enjoyable and also funny when Stephen has other players on.

[@kevlfc9223]

Unbelievable how good this channel is Stephen enjoyable informative and entertaining love to see more of these from a greedy snooker fan 👍👍👍👍👍

[@keithstamp4629]

Excellent series

[@jamescooke6032]

Top channel this. What an ambassador for the game you are, how many sports have arguably the greatest player of all time talking so openly like this.

[@andrewdougallmusic8734]

Great channel stephen. You are a true legend. Love from Scotland

[@amac1657]

Cheers Stephen. Much appreciated 👍🏼

[@stansnape3634]

another great blog Stephen I wonder if you explain about cues some are very whippy some are quite firm ,most cues made from ash etc. thanks

[@paullowe2658]

Love your videos:) been subscribed since your very first upload. I’m gutted I missed out on Q & A. Hopefully next time I’m able to ask a question. Do you think snooker has went downhill a little bit since Barry Hearn left the association?

[@paulainsworth9229]

In some ways, match fixing has increased since he left. He tried to stamp it out, and introduced the watchdog etc, to have as many Chinese players suspended at the moment is very sad as they are so good for the game.

[@dhirajpallin2572]

Thanks for giving back to the snooker community Stephen!

[@danieldecides7894]

Great channel and video - thank you.

[@GMTpointingspecialistsltd]

Love the honesty on the coms

[@knudsandbknielsen1612]

I also think there's room for different types of events. And I think snooker is the most difficult, intricate, intriguing and well developed billiard sport. And it is also beautiful to watch, it teaches you about ballistics and adherence, and it demonstrates chaos and entropy in a relatively simple formate. Furthermore, it is a true gentleman's sport, both in that women are included on equal terms, and in the gentleness of the setting where the two opposing players don't interact directly, but instead play undisturbed, basically on skills only, and not on obstruction, destruction or injury. And the fact that once you've won, your opponent doesn't lose any further by you making a century or a 147, makes for some honest appreciation amongst players, which is truly gentleman like!

[@doctord8589]

looking at the que ball before taking the shot ? thats why im missing then!!

[@RJJJCFC]

Another quality video - really enjoy this channel

[@danmorgan7775]

I had no idea about that story of Stephen losing his original cue to an airplane baggage mishap (not the first or the last casualty of that particular brand carelessness sadly). One does have to wonder if the rest of his career would have played out differently. Nice to hear my fellow Canuck Cliff Thorburn getting a shout out as well. Only person other than Neil Robertson from outside the UK or Ireland to win at the Crucible to this day.

[@markheitz7963]

As always enjoyed it Cheers

[@TheMrBennito]

Didn't know the story about his world title winning cue!! Amazing! Interesting mentioning Cliff Thornburn as a difficult opponent.

[@bennylloyd-willner9667]

Yeah, I can imagine the frustration he got sometimes when The Grinder was the opponent. Two very different styles.

[@wildthing6668813]

I've found that the light emitted onto the object ball, a sort of triangle on the object ball, if hitting the edge of the shape on some shots the object ball will go into the pocket other times when the angle is very thin you just have too play the shot and hope that no unwanted side is put on the cue ball. I used to be a decent player but had a stroke in December 2018 and now I'm putting unwanted side on the cue ball as my arms are judder when I'm playing, there are the odd times I'm making 30 plus breaks but it's about 1 30 plus break every 12 months, I'm now just happy to pot a red and a colour the play safe.

[@dwr9193]

I love your channel, Stephen. Having one of the greatest of all time creating great content about a sport you love more than all the rest is wonderful! Thank you. Though I think we would all like more Steve Davis appearances and a Ronnie appearance ;)

[@EannaButler]

No way! Yourself and Ronnie look at the cue ball last before pushing the cue thru? Jeez, now I have no excuses! 🙂

[@Green-Olle]

Hi Stephen, when does This is Snooker gonna be released?

[@handiman5001]

great video loved your answers

[@rosstownsend7056]

Thanks for answering the chalk question Stephen, I will now chalk before every shot now. Keep up the great work with the channel. 👍

[@JAMESCOLLISMUSIC]

Nice one Stephen Hendry. Thanks for having shared all that. Very interesting 🙂

[@MichaeI734]

My comment at 4:10 in the vid, cheers

[@L3TH4L1TY]

The question and answer for ETW was great, I always remember Stephen seeming clinical (some might say cold), like the Schumacher of snooker so I always favoured Jimmy White, but in recent years, particularly with this channel I've been turned right around and got myself back into a snooker hall.

[@L1ghtOn3]

Brilliant Channel from the best of the best! That Q thinking that you were "not happy" winning was funny. Of course you were happy, but like most Scots we just get down to the nitty gritty and the level that you have to be on to win WCs especially 7 times you had to keep your game face on. The broken cue Q, I wonder who paid them to snap your cue? Jealousy of your achievements. It's obvious that had a profound effect on your career, it's like Ice Hockey Skates I had that just fit and moulded my to my feet pefrectly and even though I was a good skater, upon changing to the supposed "Elite" Skate, I used to roll backwards on my feet like I was about to fall backwards and my skating dipped dramatically for a long time, so took ke ages to get bk up to speed, but just felt I was never as good as I was before just because of the way the new skates were made and the way those old skates were made and moulded to my feet perfectly and the years of practice in them I had done to get to the level I was at. The skates were unique, hard to find and got bought out by a larger company and the "mould" of the skate must have been archived. I asked Bauer who bought my old skate company Micron out, if they would ever re-make those skates again, but unfortunately the way new skates are made they would be completely different, so yeah the cue story I get 100% you can get good using that same piece of equipment no matter the so called "quality", but as long as you practice hard and like the cue those old skates were unique the way they fit unlike all the other "generic" skates around, mines were very different, but I was good on them. A few years ago on ebay I found old stock and a close match to my old skates and bought them from Canada, when I used them it was like ah hello my old friend, so close to my original 90s pair just slightly different, but I thought why couldn't I have gotten these many years before they discontinued them and had to use ones I felt uncomfortable with and never the same on the ice, so yeah ebay was a nice surprise but I doubt Stephen would find his cue with the slight bend in it on ebay, you never know though maybe it was a manufacturing error and they were all like that! Lol but yeah after 7 WCs job done, no need to practice like mad as nothing to prove anymore, so I get that as well and I was the same I just faded, then stooped, but took up pickup Hockey again just recently as I found my old skates and yeah "Im Old" lol but still give the young ones a run around and it has been fun, especially getting fit again, felt like a rebirth...just a bit late lol So yeah of you still enjoy playing snooker keep at it, you have so much knowledge to pass on to others and that goes both ways as well, sometimes the young ones surprise you with something you haven't seen before or they remind you of yourself etc., and some are ultra fit compared to when I was a teenager, so yeah that can be contagious as well. Health and fitness are key though, that made a massive difference to my life getting fit again, felt like a teenager again after about a years worth of hard work jogging, light weights and eating lots of fruit and drinking plenty of water, my eyesight improved as well, bizzare, but well worth the extra effort! All the best, great channel and a Legend of the sport I have watched for years. 🤝🏽👍🏼

[@neilharris8210]

Stephen thank goodness you started this channel! I think you covered this in a previous post. My break building is going ok, despite the end, where every single time going from brown to blue I just can’t get good position. Anyway my question is - can you have mental blocks and over think shots you are bad at?

[@paulainsworth9229]

Yes you can over think it. Try the colours yellow to blue. Remember pink and black are on the spots so leave paper circles on the table that would indicate target areas to go from brown to blue to pink to black to aim to position the cue ball. See how that goes.

[@gregwright5428]

Football is my favourige sport, follwed by boxing and then snooker/rugby but your my favorite podcast mate. Keep doing what your doing

[@ninja12lawbreaker]

More brilliant content, Thanks Stephen

[@posroposrani3597]

hi there Stephen , love to watch your channel and your guides, could you please explain and demonstrate again the shot, for example if I want to take a straight or angle shot aiming with cue ball on the middle there is no issue to pot, but as soon to play screw shot or sides on the cue ball it almost never pot , advice?

[@aravindthippeswamy]

There are some people that are MENTAL about TECHNIQUE. I see them all around, its perfectly normal in this sport I feel. For example some people who can do full table screwback on club tables. Steve Davis had a blog somewhere, where he went to great lengths about the technical aspect of the game; hips, arm, position of the cue with respect to the torso....when are we going to go to this level of detail on this channel ?

[@khisravibraimov5404]

Wow Stephen, amazing 👏🏼

[@dangermouse8466]

Love the channel! Thanks Stephen.

[@prior9181]

Stephen. Will you and Ken be doing a video on the world championship like you did before the masters ?

[@ho3einsoltani505]

Thanks a lot for these information. Please tell how you look at the aim line with both of your eyes its difficult

[@gordonoriordan4486]

Even though its a snooker channel golf is mentioned a lot, just for a laugh(it probably wouldn't work) wud it be possible to incorporate the 2? Volvik golf balls come in nearly ever colour so unleash the carnage let's have some Snolf😂

[@rickyelbourne623]

My question is not about snooker 😀, but does the raving pig 😂from golf life (tubes and big Ange’s golf channel) do camera work for you? You Chanel is brilliant as well, love all the tips and how chilled and relaxed the guests are. Its great to get to know them a little bit 😁👍

[@yoowan3437]

best channel on youtube atm

[@danieldecides7894]

Just on that first question - SH says indecision - bit also, even when you get up off the shot and maybe select a different shot - you miss much more often I fine - I recognise 100% what SH says - it is about the brain thinking about position or just in advance almost or sometimes thinking about scores and tactics as opposed to just flowing naturally almost.

[@paulainsworth9229]

100% concentration on the table, focus on two things, your shot selection and the route to the colour, red colour red colour, Ignore everything else around you, apart from the ref. ( SH says he used to be at the table in his own bubble) one shot at a time!

[@danieldecides7894]

@@paulainsworth9229 I agree - but at the level of proffesional snooker, with the associated pressure of gaining or losing vital ranking points - prestige - and huge sums of money, the difference between a non-successful proffesional and the top 16 or so, is this ability to construct big frame winning visits to the table, by virtue of I suppose multi tasking, insofar as the brain computes various things simultaneously specifically how to open up the reds or develop the higher value colours etc - this leads to as you say, missing straight forward shots - one different example (distinctive because I think it was down to both pressure, and as Dennis Taylor stated - 'seeing the title') is Jimmy White missing that black against Hendry - as I say, less for thoughts of developing the reds more so the brain just produces in some way, a defect that distracts or whatever - in theory, what you say is correct - sport is often fascinating because of human non-robotic realities. On that final point - Hendry in his prime was only able to be defeated by himself - he was the best ever.

[@andrevanderkant6616]

Pool = checkers Snooker = chess 3 cushions = go That's a nice way to put it. First class videos, keep them coming !

[@craigdavidmack]

100k wow, maybe there is a chance to save snooker, great job

[@chirag4]

Step-Hen-Dry .... that's your best video ever on this channel

[@user-ur2kn8qy5t]

Stephen, I have a spare Rex William power glide cue,I would give you as long you keep the channel going and start winning again.I miss the 90s

[@illusionnl9237]

me to

[@wav6hamad]

I love you Stephen !!!!!!

[@Ex-Pear-Rocker]

GOAT, debate is over, full stop!

[@arijit333]

@Stephen - I have always been an object ball player, I.e : the object ball is the last thing I look at. My current coach is a cue ball player, but he told me to go with what I am comfortable with. But today after years of playing this game, this interview tells me the 2 best snooker players in history - You & Ronnie are cue ball players. So honestly , I am going to give looking at the cue ball a try, atleast in practise and see how it goes. Thank you. You have no idea how much the answer might impact how I play the game.

[@sakikogookheng]

Steve Davis is an object ball player and he was decent at the game, lol.

[@brummiesteve590]

I have a Power glide one piece maple cue £30 in 1978 from Riley`s at Lozell`s Birmingham. Not used for 5 yrs, back injury, still the only one I would play with.

[@wouterdc3290]

i would like to know (a lot) more about cue ball object ball playing (when delivering the cue); i think D. Dale would make a great host about this topic

[@gregwright5428]

You are owning this stephen

[@allezlesrouges]

6:36 - 6:39 it's what defines the true greats of any sport. Ruthless and only driven for victory

[@ejones8583]

Love the channel. My question would be if someone wanted to become a pro snooker player what steps would they have to take. Is q school the only way to gain a tour card barring wildcards

[@motupatlugamesworld5768]

Awesome Content

[@Charlie_Crown]

Great channel Stephen, you should collaborate with Break From Life, that would be epic content 👍

[@michaelarchangel1163]

I vividly recall Stephen once saying, ' I don't know how I managed to clear up there, my whole body was shaking !' That only ever happened to me on my driving test { I passed though} and clearing up when Phil Lloyd missed in the Burry Port British Legion with three remaining reds. Revenge ! The bugger had thrashed me on his home table in Llanelli, when I'd had to use someone else's cue which was about as fat as a Cuban cigar.

[@philbobagbox1177]

Wish I’d asked a question now 😂😂😂👍🏻

[@adamleeson9072]

Be really keen to see your top 10 of all time. Think it's a good idea haha

[@sirdetmist3204]

I've always found it logical to look at the cue ball. You should look at the cue ball, if you have lined it all up right before you go down and put your cue on that line, as long as you strike the centre of the cue ball if you have lined it all up right you have need to like at the object ball, you cant touch the object you can however touch the cue ball.

[@nicholassetterlund3935]

hi stephen can you give some advice on the snooker grip, what it looks like when the backswing is completed, also what it looks like on the delivery, im also curious when do you close the grip when you deliver the cue, thank you

[@algarvemike]

Please will will you give current information on the type of tips,used by all top 16 players. Ronnie and Judd use Elkmaster, but many seem to use laminated tips of different hardness. Please could you do a cue tips special on cue tips… Thanks everso much…great channel.

[@highjim7778]

Question : "I have a Steve Davis Cue, but It must be faulty, I don't play like he does, it appears that every cue is try is also broken as the cue does not perform as they do on TV" :P I have the same issue with darts, I literally have a set of Taylors phase 5s and they do NOT go where they do on tv hehe

[@victors3803]

Stephen, thank you for the videos. They are fantastic. I have a difficult question, but important for many children who play snooker. Stephen, what do you think of the future of snooker? Where do you see it in 10 years? - biggest sponsor (cazoo) lost their price 10 times last year. How is this sponsorship going? - are new sponsors coming to the sport? - china is still closed. Will it return? How many tournaments will return? - what about USA? I remember Eddie’ Hearn interview few years ago where he said that Matchroom was planning to rise in USA through universities and through collaboration with pool. How is it going? Is snooker growing in USA? - Eddie also talked about India. Are there any news about it? - what do tv ratings say? Do people still watch snooker? Is the number growing or declining? BBC, Eurosport, international channels? - somewhere I’ve heard that the future of the tournament in Arab Emirates (i may be mistaken. I don’t remember) that was planned before the pandemic is still undecided. I’m talking about the tournament with the first prize of 1mln pounds. What are the news? Is there any chance that this tournament will appear in the schedule? - I’m a bit afraid that snooker will loose a lot when 1992 class decide to become pensioners. What do you think on that matter? - and again - where do you see snooker in 10 years? Thank you in advance! I saw you once in a hotel across the Crucible. That was my first ever visit to England. I stuck because of shock and forgot to ask you to make a picture. But i hope that situation in the world change and one day i will meet you there again. Next time i will definitely ask you to make a picture with me))) Good luck in qualifiers for the Crucible. To see you there as a player is a dream of many.

[@danshewell8746]

Question for you Stephen: With the ShootOut being a ranking event, do you think that other versions of snooker (with varying rules) should be brought into the calendar. Makes things more interesting and makes the top players prove they are the top by being good at all versions of the game.

[@AJsVIEW]

Ronnie's eyes are NOT on the cue ball at the time of delivery, it's on the object ball. Checked many of his videos closely.