Billiards: The Misunderstood Gentleman’s Sport

The dark green rectangle, dim lights, smoky environment, and incessant nationalist triple play seem to be most people’s first impression of the sport of billiards. In many people’s stereotypical conception, billiards is a recreational activity that only uneducated people will come into contact with, while feet on slippers and cigarettes in the corners of the mouth are the rightful attire of those who play the game. In the last two years, the frequent exposure of domestic snooker players gambling incidents also cast a shadow over the entire Chinese billiards industry, billiards is a misunderstood gentleman’s sport.
Billiards has its own peculiarities compared to other competitive sports. Other widely known sports such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, etc., ornamental and high skill, and extremely teamwork spirit, although the individual technology is the key factor, but the cooperation between teammates is the key to victory. Billiards is an individual sport, more like table tennis, badminton and other one-on-one competitive projects. But unlike table tennis and badminton, billiards is played at a much slower pace. It does not require players to make accurate judgments and counterattack accordingly in fractions of a second. In the non-time-limited game of billiards, players have enough thinking time between shots to judge the shape of the ball, observe the point of the shot, and plan an offensive or defensive route, all of which are things that need to be considered before each shot. Only the speed of striking the ball does vary from person to person, and the talented players can often anticipate the layout after five or six or even more balls at a glance, and the speed of offense will be much faster. Therefore, billiards is actually a ball game that requires repeated thinking, careful deliberation and rational planning, or even more like a chess game, where muscle conditioning and swift reaction speed are not of much use.
In addition to the difference in pace, billiards is one of the most delicate of all ball sports. Unlike many large-scale ball sports, billiards has a very low tolerance for error, which is mainly reflected in whether the target ball falls accurately into the pocket and whether the stopping point of the mother ball is conducive to subsequent articulation. When attacking, a slight deviation of even half a centimeter from the hitting point may cause the target ball to swing out of the pocket, interrupting the attack and giving away the opportunity. If you want to win, only rely on the accuracy of the attack is obviously not enough, this time on the mother ball alignment control is particularly important. The alignment of the ball is not too much, not too little, not too far, not too close, and the target ball to form a comfortable angle not only helps to improve the rate of scoring, but also helps to control the alignment of the next shot. A few centimeters out of alignment can be a huge mistake, affecting the connection of the attack. The masters of the fight between often is a thought difference, a ball difference. The old chess saying “one careless move and the whole game is lost” also applies to the billiards world.
Compared with the NBA and the World Cup, most of the time the billiard game is very quiet, and laymen may even find it dull and boring, because the players often need to play in a quiet environment to play more stable. The aiming point before the shot, the speed and extension distance of the shot, all of these require extremely fine muscle movement to participate in the cooperation, the slightest interference in the field environment may have an impact on the stability of the players, and even change the course of the game. In the critical moment of the game, the player’s psychological quality is an important factor to support their ability to successfully complete the game. A player with a strong psychological quality can still analyze the situation calmly and make reasonable attack or defense strategies even when the score is down. The most crucial thing is that the stable play can stop the ball in the expected position. Without a strong ability to resist pressure, it is easy to have an imbalance of mind during the game, make wrong judgments, or even make low-level mistakes, and ultimately lose the game and miss the championship. There are not a few top players who have missed the championship in this way.
As a competitive sport, billiards is still in the developing stage in China, and its popularity and popularity are far less than that of star ball sports such as table tennis, basketball and soccer. If a ball game wants to get a long and stable development, it must be accompanied by a good cultural soil and a healthy competitive atmosphere, the development of China’s billiards road is still a long way to go. As a source manufacturer of billiard tables, we firmly believe that the competitiveness of Chinese billiards will continue to improve, its influence will increase day by day, and new talents will continue to emerge, and will eventually occupy a more important position in the international billiards circle.https://www.tiktok.com/@spk.billiard?_t=8qRRRnXP4N8&_r=1