Why can’t women compete at the top level at snooker?
I appreciate they, generally, have a height disadvantage and would have to use the reach more. But Alex Higgins was only 5 foot 8.
Is it the lack of power when hitting the ball?
It seems odd that no woman has come close to competing at a professional level in the men’s game.
men’s brains have better spatial abilities. Although not like crazy in difference on average, on a large enough scale we see why men do better in sports, math and physic or STEM fields. Also top athletes are extreme outliers, so even if the difference in spatial abilities isn’t on average so huge, the outliers would be the best.
What about chess, then?
Ask one of these girls. What is the reason?
I actually don’t know. It could just be a numbers game here as less women might be attracted to becoming a chess grandmaster. I liked chess like many other boys growing up for reasons i don’t know. I’ve met very few of my peers who are female who shared that idea when we were kids. Men and women have almost identical IQ, some even put women above 1-2 points. And womens brain on average do better at multi tasking. So I think theoretically, women should be just as able to compete and become grandmasters and champions.
snooker is technically uni sex and most leagues don’t have any rules preventing females. They just never get ranked high enough, only women’s league have a rule against men participation from what I know. They even had female on as wildcards in championships, I don’t think any of the women wildcards ever won a single game.
Reanne Evans has had several free entries into open tournaments, but got nowhere. The best woman player against men I can recall was Alison Fisher.
It’s difficult to focus when you know everyone is staring at your breasts or ass.
Darts players have that problem, too.
Maybe what could be the most talented women snooker players find other efforts for their time like golf or tennis or some other sport. Because they aren’t into the billard scene.
I do like women’s tennis, probably the only female sports I can say I like just as much as men’s if not more at times. But I don’t believe 1-5 world ranked women players could compete against any of the top 150 maybe even 200 players in the world.
Michele Wie was really good, a child prodigy at golf. Wanted to compete with the men and did try many times and didn’t do so good. Neither did Sorenstam who is arguably the best female golfer ever.
An article on gender and chess. It appears spatial ability also plays a part. Also men’s brains seem better on average at systematizing. So skill of navigating and arranging things in a system.
https://woochess.com/en/blog/why-men-rank-higher-than-women-at-chess
Cave woman stayed close to home, cave men navigated out.
I can get the difference in golf. They have women’s tees for a reason. Over the course of 72 holes in a tournament that’s going to make a difference. Although, having said that most golf tournaments are won in the 150 yard range.
I bet Jordan Peterson could answer this.
I think in theory, eventually there will be a top ranking women’s snookers player. In many sports that aren’t so based on raw physical strength, I would assume there would be eventually. I just think it’s a numbers thing and personal choice thing.
There have been some good women racers. One completely beat the men in rally racing before somewhere in the early 2000s.
There are some top women poker players. Victoria Coren has won two million payout Euro tourneys. They can do it, but it just seems less likely.
I actually believe women could actually excel in poker if more cared to play. It’s a lot of emotional intelligence.
I think they’re less likely to go on tilt due to ego. They won’t so easily get married to a losing hand.
So few play though. I’ve been playing since I was probably around 10-11. I can’t think of many women who sat at my table.