Cue Action Blog Snooker Debate: Technology in snooker, a good thing or bad thing?

The latest edition of the Cue Action Blog twitter snooker debate, saw the panel debate whether technology in snooker was actually a good thing or not, and whether it was improving the game. This saw the panel debating things such as: the new SightRight cue, the new balls, superfine cloths, extensions and whether eventually players would use different cues in different conditions. This is what the panel made of it all:

James Kilmartin, armchair snooker fan: “Some work for some. Some may be a placebo. But if something helps a player then great. With regards to tips, think it's great for players of all standards that there is much more choice than just elks and bd, but also think it's telling that lots of pro's tried many modern layered tips, but most have gone back to elks and bd.”

Ron Florax, runs statistics website CueTracker.net: “Two things which aren't fair and at least the stream thing is cheaply fixed if WS want to. Hope for the future!”

Steff Coyle, snooker fan: “Well in my honest opinion the technology that we have nowadays is brilliant. It has really helped snooker develop. I prefer to use layered tips you get a better reaction from the cue ball. The extensions are great tools as well.”

Shaun Murphy, World No.4: “There will come a time when players use different cues for different conditions. When I tell other sports people that we only have the one cue they think we're from mars. To expect the one cue to perform the same in all conditions is madness. I promise, in 50 years snooker players will look back at us and think we were mad to use just the one cue.”

Johnny May, fan of snooker: “All sports have improved/been revolutionized at some point. If it can improve the sport + make the players better than they already are, so be it. Change is part of sport, always has been. I will say that kicks are bad part of snooker. Change is always part of any sport, new things are always going to come along, and that’ll help improve the game. Better than being stuck in the same place.”

Paul Rinaldi, snooker coach: “Yes agree anything that helps or improves the game can't be a bad thing. No like, no buy? The choice is yours. Some are worth trying what suits one person does not suit others. Simple game for complicated people?”

Chris Vear, snooker fan:  “Certainly a good move, in my book. The game needs to keep up with the other "high-tech" sports to maintain a fan-base. The players however should use Hawkeye as a last resort. We should still maintain play-ref trust. That is a very extreme measure, for me. I'm up for new tech, but changing cues for conditions seems excessive.”

Paul Collier, World Snooker referee: “Technology is good for the game but is it fair to have Hawkeye on one table and not on another in the same round?”

E Jones, fan of snooker: “You can take technology too far by trying to solve a problem that's not there. In snooker refs are becoming glorified ball boys hardly nothing is a judgement call anymore. Let the referees ref the match because in snooker unlike other sports the players are helpful.”

Mark King, World No.24: “Hawkeye I think ain't 100% accurate. Finer cloth means better splits and not to have to hit the balls hard.”

Vikki, Bulgarian snooker fan: “In my opinion the new technology is a good improvement to the game...a lot of other sports use technology. We want snooker to be global but if it doesn’t move up it won’t be, technology needed.”

Gary, runs snooker Blog OnCue:  “Some say it's same for everyone so doesn't matter but if technology is available to improve the game, use it. Technology probably plays two key roles: 1. Erasing wrongs and 2. Added to entertainment value.”

Igor, Brazilian snooker fan: “Very useful in "foul and a miss", in the positioning of the balls. If you do not have the honesty, the technology exists. Technology only needs to be used when necessary for the ref, or the player.”

Andy, fan of snooker: “The way I see it, it's good because every sport needs to modernise itself. You don't want to be playing on old cloths with iron balls do you? Can you imagine todays snooker without extensions, referees without screens?”

My opinion is that technology in snooker is a great thing as it helps the standard of the game improve. With things like Hawkeye it makes the job of the referee much easier as well. However, some of the new technologies in the game could be behind Kick's, which is a bad thing for the game, with it being made harder for players to play at their best standard.

Most panellists agreed that technology in snooker was a good thing, as long as it benefits the game, and said that players would have to develop to even more technology as time and the game moves forward, in order to stay at the top.

It was another very good debate, and probably my favourite one so far, I'm looking forward to the next debate as well, should be another good, fun debate. I'll be back soon for the best bits of the next debate.