First of two videos in which Barry demonstrates scenarios where the rules of the game can come into question. This video talks about the 'touching ball' and 'free ball' rules.
The player potted a red and then he plays a foul on a color. The ref calls a miss and the opponent tells him to play again. In that case the next ball on is a color. Now the player potts the black and the break starts with 7. After that he pots the remaining 14 reds with 14 blacks and finally the colors so the break is 7+14x8+27=146. He has only potted reds and blacks and the colors.
Nop. If he potted a red there it shouldn't be called foul and a miss. Or if he missed in the next shot he has 1 point form the first shot and he also can't have 146.
@@jolly1881 Yes, it's my mistake Levi and You are surely right. It was very late when I was writing the comment. Huge congratulations from me to pultz and you of course to :)
You missed 1 point barry about the free ball rule. You can snooker behind the nominated free ball when only the pink and black balls remain on the table.
Although this is very unlikely to happen, because when a player is snookered behind the black after a foul by his opponent he would probably ask him to play again.
Thank you, very helpful. You explained that after a foul, where there is a cluster of reds, there is no further requirement to be able to see both sides of any single red. (At 2m40s onwards). As you show the setup, the pink is in the centre and the outer reds are clearly visible. What if several colours were in the way, so that if all the reds were missing except the right-hand-most as you show them, and one or more colours are partly in the way. For clarity all the reds are actually present.
It has surprised me that ,,touching ball'' exists on the coloured balls, not only on the reds. Always thaught only on the reds. This video is absolutely a mind - opener to dig into the thin side of the snooker rules. Still great videos, Barry!
Excellent and clear information Barry. This is basically just what I've been wanting to see. These situations haven't been 100 % clear for me but this video cleared everything up very well, thanks a lot.
100k wow remember not that long ago was 15k when subscribed. I play league snooker and its mad how many people dont fully understand the free ball rule. Concrats on 100k. Enjoy your snooker people.
Very Good Barry. Though might have been worth making the point that the only time you CAN lay a snooker directly behind the nominated free ball is when only pink and black remain on the table - so if a player fouls and leaves you snookered you can nominate black as the free ball and roll up behind it.
FAKHRUL. You are right, I have seen John Higgins, Kyren Wilson, Graeme Dott all show their ignorance of certain rules, I am sure there are others that I have not mentioned.
I think I got it Barry! Player one breaks off. Player B pots a red and snookers himself from every couleur. He decides to swirl around a red to hit the black but misses it. Foul and miss called and player A says "try it again, buddy". So, player B tries it again and flouks it miraculously off a red (7). He then pots every red with blacks (112) and clears the coulors (27). Total break : 146! :-)
@@BarryStarkSnookerCoach Could this also happen if player A breaks and sinks a red and the black? It would be a seven point foul and then if player B comes and clears the table all reds and Blacks totalling 139 but the seven would be added to the break as well making it 146? Just thought it would make for a simpler explanation.
Barry, have enjoyed all your videos, explanation of rules & tips. I think the answer to the poser is: Player A makes a red & commits a foul playing a colour, leaving a free ball situation. Player B plays a colour as free ball followed by pink. Then he goes on to make 14 reds & 14 blacks followed by the colours. That makes a break of 146.
Boy was this a brain teaser but I think I figured it out. Player A breaks and hits the blue ball (5 points) leaving the cue ball in a free ball snooker position of which Player B pots a nominated colour (1 point) and follows through and sinks the black (7 points). In that exchange 13 points was scored while a further maximum break (147 points) remains on the table. During the clearance break Player B while on the reds for some reason or another pots 2x double reds and therefore reduces maximum blacks of a further 15 (105 points) to 13 blacks (91 points) The colours remain a standard 27 point clearance. So 13 points right at the beginning of the frame + 15 reds (15 points) + 13 blacks (91 points) + all the colours 27 points equals 146. 🙂 You are a great coach Barry Stark! 👍 ✅ 🙂
Macaco. Although you don't play you are surely a fan of the game, I believe that the greater the understanding then the greater the enjoyment. Thanks for your comment.
Thank you for all the information that you have provided, it has been very useful in a lot of ways. I just wish that snooker was more popular here in the states, especially in Arizona. I grew up with the game from back home, and it's hard to,find a snooker table to play on out here.
Barry I like all your videos and I watch them all when I can and its really impressive that you now have 100k subscribed, as a Referee myself I have looked at all this rules video and what you say is fully correct, there is one comment I wanted to make, it the cue ball is touching an on ball and the striker plays away without moving it then it is a fair stroke and not a foul, but, if the on ball rocks due to a defect in the cloth or from the cue ball resting on it, then as long as the referee is sure the cue tip or hand or cue did not touch the on ball, that is he must be sure the on ball was not fouled, sometimes the strikers bridge hand can have pressure on the cloth too, so then he will not call it as a foul due to the small movement, I watch touching balls very closely and there are times that the on ball moves a small amount due the the pressure from the cue ball touching it being released, this does happen so the referee must be sure that the on ball did not move due to being fouled. it he is sure he should not say 'Foul" This does not happen with tight new cloth but it happens a lot when the cloth gets older and has divots in it. N
@@BarryStarkSnookerCoach I just wanted to point out that it is not automatically a foul if the ball the cue ball is touching moves when the striker plays away from it, the referee still has to be sure it was fouled by the strikers hand or underside of his cue, if it moved and it was not fouled by the striker and the referee thought it moved due to a defect in the cloth, then its not a foul, the referee has to look closely to be sure either way, I did not want the readers to think it was always a foul if it moves, very best regards. N
Ps: LOVING the tutorials! And would love to see the black market of rules. The ones so unlikely and so unknown. For example I never knew before today that two players on the black and one of them being 7 points behind. If the player in-front fouled to level up the scores that it would then be a re-spotted black.
Thank you!! I'm an American that just bought some 2 1/4" snooker balls to play on 9ft table. Fouls are the biggest questions I get at the local billard hall and the documentation can be a bit confusing. Thats for the clarification!
Another great video, thank you Barry. This has really helped me understand the free ball a lot, as it can cause quite a bit of debate when i'm marking a game in my local league. I shall take this information into those match nights. Once again thank you very much Barry and I really enjoy watching your videos, as they have helped me with my own game and I always look out and look forward to the next video.
@@BarryStarkSnookerCoach Could I also ask, as daft a question as this may seem but, does the free ball rule apply when only pink and black are left on the table after a foul has been committed and both sides of the pink can't be seen? If so, again a daft question, but can you roll up to the black or would that be a foul too? I only ask because i've seen from various sources that the roll up behind the free ball rule and a foul doesn't apply in this instance, I just wanted to know your understanding of that particular scenario.
Hi Barry, my guess to your scenario is that player A breaks off and flukes a red into a pocket AND fouls on the black by also accidentally potting it. This gives player B a start of 7. 14 reds left, 14 blacks and all the colours with the initial 7 from the foul shot adds up to 146.
Great video Barry! Not sure if this was covered in the comments or not, but if by chance a player has played a foul shot on on a red and gives a free ball by way of a foul snooker, the player coming to the table nominates the blue for example as a red but miscues, misses the blue and hits a red. Another foul shot. Even though the blue was considered a red in the context of the shot, the player missed it. It was his nominated ball. Foul four thank you referee! 😂
Barry please could you clarify whether you have to necessarily verbally nominate a colour ball in a free ball situation? For example black is over green pocket, pink on its own spot with blue on black spot and player misses blue and white lands on brown spot. Foul and free ball is awarded. If the player now opts for free ball and lines up shot towards black intending that as free ball but does not verbally declare that they have nominated the black as free ball because it should be obvious to opponent/ referee that black is being taken as free ball - then in such obvious case is it a foul or not?
I come to the table and pot a red. I nominate the black but I didn't hit it so now it's a foul and a miss. My opponent decides to put it back for me to try again. This time I fluked the black in (fluke only because my opponent wouldn't even put it back in the first place if I could potentially pot it). I then continue to clear up the table with all red blacks and the 6 colours. - 1 point (for first red) - Nominate the black but I didn't hit it (foul and a miss situation) - My opponent ask for a respot - This time I fluked the black in and continue to clear the table with red blacks. Start of break: 7points (fluked black) 14 points (14 reds) 98 points (14 blacks) 27 points (all colors) Total break: 146 Total score: 147 -146 (break) plus 1point (1st red I potted before I fouled on the black) Edit: hope I got it Barry! It's been cracking my head and this was the only answer I got!
You can also do thi in this way , instead of potting all 15reds and 15 blacks , you can pot 15reds, 14backs, 1pink and all colours it will make 146 break , this would be more easy then cracking your head buddy
@@manishkd6216 watch the video and listen to Barry's question. The total score has to be a 147 but the break was only 146. Based on your explanation the total score would be a 146 too same as the break. What barry wanted was a 147 score with a 146 break. In addition, It has to be all red and blacks. No pinks. Try again bro
146 on for a 147 break but does a ronnie o'sullivan and pots pink twice unless 1 red went in from the break cheers Barry! I need the answer now love your videos I'm going to the Sheffield Snooker academy this 6th December for the snooker experience looking forward to it hope it improves my game.
The answer to your question is - player A breaks off and makes a foul on the pink , then the player B comes to the table and clears up with a 147 only to go in off in the final black .so his final break is 146
Regarding free balls - if my opponent were to foul but leave the cue ball angled in the jaws of a pocket so that I couldn't see a red and was in fact completely snookered, would I have a free ball? After all, the only thing stopping me from hitting a red is a cushion, which usually is not enough reason to give a free ball
The DonkeyCow. I am afraid Aidan is wrong, you do not have a free ball option, you are not snookered. The only two options you have are to play the shot yourself or to ask your opponent to play again.
Hi Barry. I was snookered behind the green, and I accidentally hit the green with the cue ball first, then another ball hit the black ball in. Am I correct in saying this is a 4 point foul. Thanks Matthew D'Souza
Ok. I’m thinking outside the box on this one. I come to table and pot a beautiful red. Trouble is I snooker myself and play for black but foul. My opponent doesn’t see an advantage so puts me back in. I’m still at the table.. this time I manage to not only clip the black but it rolls along cushion and drops in. I’m guessing I already had a break of one which ended after the foul on the black and so I’m starting this break with 7 and not 8. If I now clear up I have 146... all I’ve potted are reds and blacks..
@@BarryStarkSnookerCoach Thanks Barry, but the more I think about it the more confused I am, as wouldn't i not be going for the black again if the other player put me back in?
Sir...Your tutorials and technical approach towards this wonderful game is fabulous. It helps alot to improve my game. There is a request about the rules of colour balls spotting if the spots are not vacant. Especially the pink and black.
NICKO. Great that you like the videos. If a coloured ball is potted and its own spot is occupied it will be spotted on the highest spot available. If all spots are occupied, the colour shall be placed as near its own spot as possible, between that spot and the nearest part of the top cushion. In the case of the pink and black, if all spots are occupied and there is no available space between the spot and the nearest part of the top cushion, the colour shall be placed as near to its spot as possible on the centre line of the table below the spot.
Hello from the USA. If that was me playing for real, I would choose to sink the green ball in that first scenario you presented. In the second scenario, I mistakenly thought you may possibly have a free ball because the pink ball is where it is, assuming the reds are the balls "on." If you say it is not a free ball, however, it is not a free ball.
Hi Barry love your videos keep it up. I have a question regarding the freeball situation. Only the 6 colours remaining and I have a freeball after my opponent fouls and snookers me on the yellow behind the black. I nominate black as my freeball and try to play a safety shot to put the black safe on a cushion. Unfortunately I under hit the shot and the black only partially covers the yellow so my opponent can hit the yellow about half ball. Is this a foul because he can’t hit both sides of the yellow or is it a legal shot because he’s not actually snookered fully. Thanks
good stuff barry. loved the puzzler. ended up reading the comments for the answer, i don't like to cheat but it was doing my head in, don't know if i would have got it to be fair. well done pultz666.
kenneth. That's not cheating, the fact that you thought long and hard about it means that you now have some knowledge you didn't have before, others may forget but I bet you won't.
Barry, one step further! In a recent match the following occured: Only the colours remained. The yellow was right on a pocket the pink was six inches further out and inline with the yellow and the pocket. Then came the green another six inches out also inline with the other two balls and the pocket. The cue ball came next a short distance out. So pocket, then yellow, then pink, then green, then white all in aline. The cue ball had arrived in that position after a foul shot by player A. Player B comes to the table and finds all the balls in a line and is thus snookered on the next ball which is the yellow. Player B said he was due a free ball and nominated the green as the yellow ball. He then said he intended to hit the green as yellow against the pink ball in order for that to strike the true yellow into the pocket. Player A said that would be a foul shot. Who was right? The shot was not allowed and this lead to the frame being lost by player B. What should be the outcome, if the shot is legitimate, is the frame called null and void?
John. I am afraid whoever said it was a foul was wrong, the green has become a yellow, the fact that the pink is the ball that knocked the yellow in is of no consequence. However, once a decision has been made, right or wrong, once the next shot has been played the ruling stands.
@@BarryStarkSnookerCoach Thank you for your time Barry. I've followed your videos almost from their commencement. They have been of great help and energised me in my pursuit of snooker skills. I'm also another one of Kyren's supporters. Good luck to you both.
Thanks for your video! I have a free-ball related question. You showed us that if I nominate the green and then pot a red (with or without the green), it's okay and I get the points and can go on with my break. But what if the opposite happens? Let's say I'm partially snookered on the red by the yellow, and the green is in the jaws of the pocket. Let's also assume I can see enough of that red that I can send it towards the green. So is it a valid shot if I nominate the green, then hit the red, the red hits the green, which goes in? Thanks!
@@BarryStarkSnookerCoach Interesting question, never thought about it. Barry, you say it's illegal, but if I nominate green on free ball (while there is a red ball left on the table) then green becomes red, is not it? why can't I plant red (that is green but in this situation gets red) with another red, which is partially seen? If free ball occurs while only colors left that play would clearly be a foul, but in the situation described it seems a little strange.
When you have a free ball you must nominated the ball you are playing, the rule says you must nominate or indicate to the satisfaction of the referee what ball you are playing. Barry did not say it but he did it, that is when you nominated a free ball then you must hit it with the first contact of the cue ball, in the situation you suggest, you say nominate the green as a free ball but you hit the red first, that is a foul as you did not hit the nominated ball with the first contact, the rule also says you cannot nominate the on ball as the free ball too. So for a few reasons what you suggest will be a foul. N
Hi Barry, I have a question for you. I have seen a number of videos on RU-vid about "controversial" calls made by referees,. Where the referee says that the player can see the object ball, but both players will disagree and argue that there should be a free ball. I have seen the same scenario but in a different situation where, for example, say the player has just potted a red by the black spot, has gone into the pack but the split has not worked out kindly. There will be a shot where the player can see a color but it will not be clear on the first and second shot. Now here is my question, on these videos I have seen some calls where the player has to be able to see both edges of the ball, where in other cases they won't have to be able to see both edges, but rather just full ball? When and where is the call different, what is the rule that makes it so in some situations it's the extreme side, then others it is only full ball? I hope I made sense.
Domain. After a foul shot a player can be awarded a free ball if he cannot see both extremities of a ball on. The full ball situation applies to the miss and caution rule, He will receive a caution after the second miss if he can see a ball on full ball.
Initial triangle of reds was accidentally arranged with one extra row, so the game is played with 21 reds. Player B starts with potting 8 reds on a single shot (scoring 8 points), then he pots black (7), then 13 times red+black (13*8=104), and finally the colours (27), for a total break of 8+7+104+27=146.
Hi barry Opponent snookered me behind a pink with it being a touching ball Yellow to hit and i missed it without touching another ball How many points does he get And is he allowed to let me retake my shot ?
146 total clearance break. May not fit the required scenario, but: Player A fouls - eg pots colour not-on. Balls come to rest with Player B snookered behind black. B nominates black as free ball, pots it for 1 point, black respotted. B nominates and pots blue. running total 6 points. B pots 2 red in one shot. running total 8 points. B post black, running total 15 points. With 13 reds remaining , B pots one at a time each time followed by the black, 104 points running total 119. B pots colours in sequence 27, final total - not including A's initial fouls, 146. but at least B has potted 15 reds, and potted the black 15 times, before final colours!
Player b pots the Red, then aiming for the Black he commits a technical foul (waistcoat foul or smthg) . Player a awarded 7 points, and then gives a chance to Player b to continue play. As there was a technical foul, Player b must play Black again for the seven points. But his current break is zero points. He does total clearance, so it is 146 points
Nice 'poser' Barry, But is this considered the same visit? Player A breaks, Player B scores 1 point and fouls (end of break) by default, the play then passes to Player A, who decides to put Player B back in play. From a professional record and statistics point of view, if a player is asked to play again, is it classed as the same visit?
I've got one more question about touching ball scenario: the ball on is yellow(for example) , position of the yellow is right in the jaws, cue ball touched the yellow. We must play from the yellow, but can we pot it from the cushion or with another colour? Pretty rare situation, never thought about it... Thanks
Hi Barry. You know the Rory mcloud free ball. The vid on you tube what's your opinion. I'm having problems trying to explain that for the cue ball to hit the edge of the green it needs to pass it kind of. Thanks in advance for any feedback.
I don't know how foul points cummulates. So I have to pot a red, it goes in, but the cue ball hits the yellow and goes in with the cue ball. How many points my opponent receives? Sorry for bad explanation
Hi Barry, 1 red left. I have a free ball. I nominate blue. I roll to the blue and snooker behind the brown. The snooker is full ball behind the brown. But if you moved the brown out the way u can see 2/3 of the red as the blue was in the way. Ie if you took the brown out the way it wasn’t a snooker behind the blue I nominated . Have I fouled ?
I am still bit confused about the touching ball. If I play away from the ball and it doesn't move does it matter which direction I hit the cue ball. Obviously not towards where it's touching but any other direction.
Paul. As long as the ball doesn't move you can play in any direction but you will find that the only way you can guarantee this is to play away from it.
Baray, I have a question. I don't know if this has ever happend, but what happens if a player gets in a situation where the cushion and other (illegal to hit) balls surrounds the cue ball completely? Would the player automatically lose the game due to unlimited foul and miss?
Where that situation appears, the referee should take the attempt of hitting that ball on (where is in the fact impossible to hit for example by surrounding of balls not on) as a good enough, not to call the miss rule, because he has the law to do that when the player gives his the best to achieve the hard snookered ball. More of that the referee could do that only when the player is trying to achieve (that impossible) ball on with the power and angle that it's good enough to try to achieve the ball on. It would happen also where the difference of points between the players would be higher than the points to get form the table, so it's naturally the miss would stop. So it's at least for that two reasons it shouldn't be an "unlimited foul and miss". Hope it helps :)
Do you have any videos that explain in which scenario does a player get a free ball ? Like what are the circumstances that allows a person to have a free ball?
@Barry Stark Snooker Coach what about when the cue ball is potted i have seen many videos in pro scene when player do get a free ball from that and some times they dont thats why i was very confused by that
I think the first player that breaked off commited a seven point foul but accidently one of the reds had potted. Like he hit the black and black touched reds and one of the reds had went into the pocket. Score is now seven. 14 red is remaining with 14 blacks and 27 colours with 7 point lead because of the foul. 146 in total.
@user. Nice try but not the answer. Player A breaks off. Player B pots red but snookers himself on all colours. He tries to hit the black ball but misses, a foul and miss is called against him, the balls are replaced and he is asked to play again. This time he not only hits the black but pots it as well, his break is seven not eight because of the foul. He now continues his break with reds and blacks and then all the colours. He has potted all the balls and his score is 147 but his actual break is 146 not 147.
Hello, let's consider a situation in which there is just, say, pink and black on the table. Player A tries to hit the pink and misses completely. A foul is declared and player B comes to the table. He can see both extremities of the pink, but he can't actually hit the pink from one side, because the black is right next to the pink and slightly behind it, in such a way that the cue ball would always hit the black centrally before hitting the side of the pink. Is that a free ball?
Stick. Always a difficult one to judge but the correct answer is yes it is a free ball. There was an incident in this years English Open concerning Rory McCloud and Dave Gilbert on this very same issue.
@@BarryStarkSnookerCoach I literally posted this while watching that match live, and I was curious about your opinion on whether it was indeed a free ball or not.
Hey Barry, we had a situation whereby que ball was touching the black but was snookered on the reds. Reds the ball thats on. If I missed the reds would it have been a foul 7 as I was touching the black (black did not move) or foul 4 because missed the red.
4 points. You are not judged to have hit the black unless it moves. Something missing from the video is that if the black moves as a result of a defect with the table (like rolling into a hole in the cloth) then this is not a foul either. This would usually move towards the cue ball.
Tried hard really can’t work it out i guess my question is does player B come to the table 2 times, or he pots all reds and blacks in one visit. I know there has to be a free ball scenario involved, just can’t work out how lol
Sir Can you please explain the free ball situation as mentioned below: Player A has 60 points and player B has 40 points, with all reds, yellow and green potted. Next ball is brown ball(which is near pink spot. Player A gives snooker behind black ball( which is near yellow spot) to Player B. While Attempting for brown he commits foul and a miss and the cue ball comes behind black again, hence Player A is awarded 4 points for a foul and gets a free ball option as well. Player A decides to nominate blue ball (which is near top cushion near D) as free ball. He hits the blue ball first and gets the cue ball behind Black ball. Is it a foul? as he snookered player B behind the same ball by which he was snookered before and how many points will be awarded(if its a foul)
rocking. Player B is twenty points behind when he attempts to hit the brown from a snookered position, there are only 22 points on the table and as a result of the four points being added after the foul player B will be 24 points behind, so a miss cannot be awarded. Player A nominates the blue ball as his free ball and snookers player B behind the black ball so it is not a foul. It would only be a foul if he snookers behind the ball he nominated as his free ball, by accident or design, in this case the blue ball.
If you get a free ball situation and choose a colour ball and only pot that ball, are the points awarded to the value of the ball and what ball would you have to pot afterwards?
Gary. I take it that in the scenario you are describing there are red balls still on the table. Irrespective of the coloured ball you have chosen to play it has now become a red ball with a value of one point. The next ball you would have to play at is a colour and if you pot that you will receive the true value of that colour. i.e. Black 7. Blue 5. etc.
@@BarryStarkSnookerCoach Yes that is what I mean thank you. I play with my dad every now and then and we're trying to follow the rules strict to make it as competitive as possible but this was the only one I was unsure of.
Hey Barry! Wanted to ask what happens if a ball is nominated as free ball and the actual object ball is played? Say the brown is on the edge of the pocket and I've free ball on the yellow. Can I nominate the brown and hit the yellow in order to pot the brown? If it's legal are there any scoring issues like those you talked about in the video?
Hi Barry, Thank you so much for your videos. It's helped me to understand more about this wonderful game. Just a question about this same video please - how can you pot a yellow while nominating green as your free ball, when there are no reds. Thank you 🙏
ilovesnooker. The situation would be that all the reds have been potted. The ball on is the yellow but your opponent has played a FOUL SHOT and has left you snookered on the yellow, you are now entitled to a free ball. Lets say the yellow is over the pocket but you are snookered on it, you can now nominate any of the other balls as your free ball, lets say the green. You can legally pot the yellow by playing the green onto it, the green was your nominated free ball.
Hi Barry, great viedos, thanks for uploading them and please keep them coming! In the scenario from 5:05 - what if opponent played the shot as Alex Higgins on the pink vs Steve Davis in 1987 UK Championship? Theoretically this is still the cushion that covers the object ball. In that case Steve couldn't see the red at all - is this what makes it different to the case you've discussued? Many thanks
@@BarryStarkSnookerCoach Hello Barry, it's the shot from 3:30 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Xo0RYMP8F7k.html What if this ball setup was a result of a foul from the opponent. From what you say I understand the free ball on black couldn't be declared, interesting problem! Using this occasion I'd like to ask another question: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-y1sDiLapr0g.html (first shot of the video) 1. What is your opinion on the fairness of the rule (people tend to agree the judge was right not calling a miss as white never left the bed of the table). Is it possible this would be addressed in the future to ensure advantage to the opponent in this situation? 2. What would happen if Graeme went even further and placed the white behind a colour ball and surrounded it with other colours with his hand for a very difficult snooker? Many thanks for your responses, looking forward to your videos coming!
@@kompot86 I remember the shot Alex played, he took advantage of being in the right place and he put the cue ball behind the cushion, he did hit the pink and not play a foul so Steve Davis had to play it himself and went very close to potting it off 3 cushions but he missed when he could have hit it off one cushion, no foul was played by Alex and it was just a clever stroke, not classified as being snookered either as you cannot be snookered by a cushion still Steve did have to hit it and missed, what Barry was saying regarding 5.05 is that even though a foul had happened and the striker was snookered on all the other reds near the pink, the one sitting on the cushion on its own cannot be called as being a snooker because of the cushion preventing the cue ball from hitting the red on its right hand thinnest edge, its not snookered so you cannot have a free ball in regard to that red, so no free ball due the the cushion getting in the way. N
@@billiardsandsnookervideosn8319 Thanks for the reply. I just think this would be a bit unfair to Steve if the white got where it ended up by a foul shot (it obviously didn't in this case, Alex played a legal shot off the pink). But I guess if Steve faced extremely difficult shot (i.e. more ball on the table) referee might not call miss if he missed that pink.
@@kompot86 Yes of course it would be unfair, snooker is unfair and all the time too as many things happen that are both good and bad luck so that is why the game has rules that are meant to be used regardless of if the situation were fair or unfair, as long as the rules cover it the rules get used, good luck for the striker is also bad luck for the non striker, that was a very clever stroke by Alex Higgins and he could do it due to his lucky opportunity, that is the balls were in the perfect position, but lets say that it got there by accident, Steve still had to hit the pink. Lets say it got there by a foul, in the past there was a rule that said that if the striker was angled on the on ball after a foul then the referee would pick the cue ball up and it would be in hand for the next player, that rule was removed as it was unfair and too harsh a penalty to add the the existing foul, the rules always allow the striker 2 normal options after a foul and in some case more options, but were he angled after a foul then he may play it himself or he can send the offender back to play the next stroke and sending the offender back in was regarded as being a good enough solution so the picking it up part was removed a long time ago still in your video Alex put it there on purpose. In regard to your foul and a miss comment, that rule says that the striker must hit the on ball if his ability means he can hit it so as player like Steve Davis can hit the pink then he must hit it and fair or unfair has nothing to do with it, so if he did not hit it every referee would say Foul and A Miss, I would too. N
Hi, can you please tell me the role. Situation is I need to play the red ball butt cue ball touches the red and I called a free ball and played the cue ball away from the red without moving it but parallel I want safe the red so when I played a shot and cue ball move on table and touch the any colour directly or indirect (after touching cushions) without disturbing the red which were play on, is it foul ot not?
Me and a friend had a similar situation involving a touching ball on the pink within the cluster of reds. As no other colour was visible we opted for the play safe off the cushion option.
Dear Barry as you said in this video that player A breaks & then player B comes & clears the table with all 15 reds & blacks & all the colors is it not a 147 break. You mentioned it's a 146 break why is it so
Farhad. I gave the answer to this on one of my videos. Player A breaks off. Player B pots a red but snookers himself on the colours, he fails to hit the black, foul and a miss. The balls are put back but this time not only does he hit the black, he pots it. The break is now seven not eight. He now goes on to clear the table with reds and blacks, the break is now 146 not 147.
Hello Sir, big fan here. Very helpful video I must say. One clarification about the first scenario you explained. One of my friends explained me following and I accepted based on logic we discussed. Let's say that I have pot a red and cue ball has ended up touching the pink (first scenario that you explained in the video). In this case my friend explained me that I must release the ball away from pink. I can touch other red / colour but can not pot any other colour. Logic for this : When red ball is on and I end up touching the red, I am allowed to release the ball because cue ball has already touched one red (the ball on). With the same logic, when I end up touching pink in above situation, cue ball already touched the pink. So, potting some other colour is a foul. I accepted the suggestion based on the logic, please share your views on this. I know this is a long question due to detailed explanation, I hope the query is clear.
Nishant. Lets say I pot a red ball and the cue ball ends up touching the pink. I can now play away from the pink and be deemed to have hit it, I can also play away from it and be deemed to have missed it, in which case I can play for and pot another colour. In both cases I must tell the referee which ball I intend to hit, either pink or the other colour. If I do not tell the referee it will be assumed that I might have hit the black ball and seven points will be awarded to my opponent.
Hi Barry, I have a question regarding 2014 World Championship final played by Selby and O'Sullivan. At the end of frame 13, Ronnie pots the red, but also fouls the green into the other corner pocket. Selby is awarded 4 for the foul and gets a free ball. Why is Selby then awarded 2 points when he potted the brown as his free ball? He then goes on to play the yellow and the yellow is not respotted. I thought that you play a free ball (which is essentially a red), then any colour and then proceed with the order of colours?
Lukas. I don't recall the incident but when Ronnie potted the red it must have been the last red, the red would stay down so the next ball on would be the yellow. Because all the reds have been potted the brown is classed as a yellow and therefore Selby is awarded two points for potting the brown. The brown is re-spotted and the colours are potted in their normal sequence.
@@BarryStarkSnookerCoach Thank you so much for explaining! That must mean the same rule applies for a free ball when no reds are on the table? For instance a player is snookered on a foul and the lowest ball on is the brown. The player nominates the blue as his free ball and pots the blue, will the blue then count 4 instead of 5? The blue gets respotted and the brown must be potted next?
Lukas. Spot on, just takes a little thinking and you get there. Well done. Lets have a little fun though in the same scenario, What happens if he pots the blue as his free ball but also pots the brown in the same shot?
Lukas. You are right in saying that the blue gets re-spotted but I am afraid that the player will only score four points. The reasoning behind this is that there is only one brown in a set of snooker balls.
Usman. I understand that there may be a language problem but I am sorry that I cannot quite understand your question, please try again and I will try to answer.
Had the first scenario happen tonight in our Snooker league. Player potted a red and white landed touching the pink. Referee called touching ball on the pink. The player did not nominate any colour and simply played the white off two cushions to leave a snooker. He did not make contact or come close to another colour and it seemed clear they were just playing away from the touching pink. You said you have to emphasize which colour you are playing to the ref, even if pink. So what happens in the above scenario where the player simply played the shot without saying anything after the touching ball is called. Is this down to referee discretion to decide if he was playing away or if they were trying to pot another colour. Am I right in thinking that if there is no nomination, the referee will have to assume they are playing the pink as its been called touching. Therefore the player can then play away or even hit another colour directly as the pink has been assumed to be the choice. The only thing they cant then do is pot another colour because they didnt nominate one. Or is it simply an immediate foul because he didnt nominate anything and the referee had no idea what he was playing??
I've just checked the World Snooker rules and it covers this. It actually says that if touching a colour the referee will call touching ball and then ask the striker to DECLARE which colour they are playing. So in my scenario its the referee at fault not the player because they didnt ask. However, the question still remains what should happen next as neither the referee or striker said anything before the shot was played.
Andy. I am a coach not a referee but I will clarify whose fault it is at my earliest opportunity. Assuming the referee has asked for a colour nomination and the player fails to give one, the penalty will always be the highest which is seven points away. I will check the other matter, but I believe the onus is on the player. There is a similar incident on RU-vid on this between Cliff Thorburn and Alex Higgins where Cliff nominates the green but the referee does not hear him so a foul is called and seven points given away.
what if i pot the black from its spot and all other 5 spots are coverd and black spot as well(coverd with cue ball) where should black will go.. i mean where i have to place the black ball... please clearify this one for me...
Aamir.The black ball will be placed below its own spot and as close to that spot as possible without touching another ball. It must also be in line with the brown, blue, pink and black spots.
@@BarryStarkSnookerCoach Thank you. May I also ask, if I'm trying to learn and improve snooker as a passion, would you recommend I practise with a friend or find a teacher/mentor?
always thought the free ball nominated effectively became the same as the ball tageted ie yellow onto yellow 4 points scored not just 2 well now i know thanks barry
Question two red side by side colour in front of the middle you can hit left of one red the right of the other is that a free ball. (You can't hit both sides of ether red)
Hi Barry. I need your help in a scenario. The cue ball is on the edge of the pocket and nearly 20 seconds later it got dropped in the pocket without being hit by the player. Now cue ball should come to the "D" or will be placed on the same edge?
Robert. You will recall on the video I said that I had potted a red and the cue ball ended up touching the pink, therefore it would be six points away. The pink ball was not representing a red.
Barry, If a player has a free ball and doesn't nominate which ball he/she chooses to play, is this a foul? Is it a foul even if it is obvious which ball is being played at?
Andrew. A player must always nominate the ball he/she is intending to hit in a free ball situation otherwise a foul will be called and the maximum points of seven will be awarded to the opponent.
Thanks Barry, I agree. Often it is obvious which colour is being played and the local referee I asked said that the player didn't have to nominate. The particular situation we had was a free ball snookered behind the yellow. The green was played and it was obvious that the player was going for the green. He hit the green and the cue ball ended up completely snookered behind the brown. I thought this should be a foul and a free ball,but the local referee said otherwise. I guess at lower levels a bit of leeway with the rules is and maybe should be, applied.
if white ball touching ball with red and the situation is i got 1 red ball at the pocket. can i canon it with blue ball? with no other way to escape it the blue ball on the way of escaping it? is it legal or a foul?
Raja. Your explanation of the situation is not totally clear. If I understand you correctly a red is the ball on and the cue ball is touching a red. You must therefore play away from the red and you will be deemed to have hit it. The cue ball then hits the blue and either the blue or the cue ball knocks another red into the pocket. Both these shots would be legal and you would score one point and your break would carry on with a colour being the next ball you should play.
Hello dear Barry I have a question about free ball. Let's say in this scenario, I was awarded a free ball and I nominate the pink as the free ball, and I try to snooker the last red, by putting the cue ball behind the black. and i achieved it , but only a little of red (let's say a quarter ball of red) is snookered by the black. and the pink ball obscures most of the red ball. to be more clear, cue ball is behind the black, and black is behind of pink, and red is behind of the red ball. In fact if the pink ball was not in this position, my opponent could see most of the red and only a quarter of the red ball was obscured behind the black. but now because of the pink ball which is the free ball, my opponent can't see any of the red balls. So my question is, am i committed a foul or not?
imagine the red ball is snookered by both black and pink(free ball). as a way half of the red is obscure by black and other half is obscure by the pink. and the black ball is a little closer to the cue ball and the pink is closer to red ball. is it foul or not? thanks Barry
Sagar. I read and answer every comment myself. There is only two on the team myself and Phil my cameraman, my two finger typing is still slow but improving.
Alap. Firstly you must play away from that colour and it must not move. Lets say the cue ball is touching the blue you must play away from it and, A/ you MUST nominate the colour you intend to hit, this can be the blue or any other colour. B/In either case the blue MUST not move. Just to try to avoid any confusion for you, as long as you nominate which colour you are playing you can play away from the blue and be deemed to have hit it or indeed be deemed to have not hit it.
Hi Barry, I have a question regarding the first scenario. You in both cases had a color on, and I understand that either nominating the pink or green works. But what if the reds are on (opponent hits the reds, misses and leaves you in the given situation)? You must still hit a red? Can't nominate pink in this occasion, as the reds are on right?
You are right. If the reds are on and the cue ball is touching a color, you must hit a red first. In that case a ref wouldnt call "touching ball" because touching ball can only be called on ball that is on or a ball thats possible on.
Vladan. Yes, the free ball situation only arises if you are snookered on a ball that is on, in this case the reds. So in the scenario shown I would have to be snookered on the reds, then I would nominate the pink or green as the free ball.
Regarding free ball - Let's say i got a free ball when there are still two reds available at table (of course snookered). Say i tried to pot yellow, but missed it. Now the situation is that one red is snookered by the yellow and the other one by some other color (assuming they were at different sides of table). Will it still be a foul because i somewhat snookered my opponent behind the yellow or will it not be a foul because the other red is snookered by some other color not the yellow?
Thanks so much for this detailed info sir, only recently i saw this controversial black ball game between kieron and a chinese player where the respotted black was mistaken as a normal foul 'ball in hand' shot by kieron(i am sure you must be knowing this episode). Anyway, many thanks for this one and the upcoming video that i requested for.
If I nominate yellow ball as free ball and try to pot it and it rests in the way to the last red on the table, but yellow only covers half of the red and other half of the red ball is covered by another colour. Now is that a foul shot from me?
Thanks for your reply Barry. Adding to my first question is it still a foul if: (1) yellow is near the cue ball and other color is near the red. (2) other color is near the cue ball and yellow is near the red. (3) no other color covering the red and only yellow is covering half of the red mean not a snooker but can only hit one edge of the red. Thankfully waiting for an elaborated reply
Hi Barry, I have a question about the snooker rules . I snookered my friend the other day , but he has no intention to save it ,he just hit the ball anyhow to lose 4 points . We didn’t play the game like we see on tv that you have to put the cue ball back on when you miss the shot . We just play shoot again or get a free ball . My question is : Can he do that ? What kind of Penalty will he get . Please advice ,
Jackie. That would be considered a deliberate foul and should be considered a foul and a miss, the rules are just the same for amateurs and professionals alike. The fact that you and your friend do not play the miss rule is your decision but the game should still be played in the correct spirit and if your friend persists in doing this then he should forfeit the frame.
I've a case where a referee will call a touching ball on a colour. For example, the cue ball rolls up to the pink and there are still reds on the table, the referee calls a touching ball where the cue ball is resting on the pink and all reds are snookered by that pink. Next turn is my opponent and can referee give free ball or not???
Samsung. You have not made it clear if a foul shot has been committed or not, if the cue ball ends up in the position you describe as the result of a foul shot then yes, it is a free ball situation. If a foul has not been committed then no, it is not a free ball.
Emo. When the cue ball ends up touching another ball the player must play away from that ball and it must not move. With your question I am assuming that a red is the ball on and if so the cue ball can hit any other ball on the table including a colour.
Rookie here, I've seen the white being respotted and the player made to take another shot when he can't escape a snooker. Sometimes I've seen it given as a free ball. Can anyone explain me these two scenarios?
ZoSo. When a player fails to escape from a snooker and a miss is called his opponent has the right to ask the player to play again from where the cue ball comes to rest or to have the cue ball replaced. If however, as a result of that miss the cue ball comes to rest in such a position that the incoming player cannot see both edges of a ball that is on the incoming player can have the extra option of playing a free ball.
