There are certain skills that you simply need if you are going to be good at any form of billiards. Playing billiards can help you to build up these skills, but there are also a lot of other games and sports that can build the same sort of abilities.
It isn’t always possible to play billiards, you need quite a lot of equipment, but it is possible that people can play other games that bring plenty of enjoyment and still work on the sort of attributes needed for billiard games.
eSports (DOTA, League of Legends, etc.)
This might surprise people but there are a lot of parallels between eSports and billiard games. You need the ability to think about things quickly, speedy analysis of an in-game situation is important for both eSports and games like Pool and Snooker. Similarly, those who are playing the game need good hand-eye coordination.
It is important to quickly take action based on what is unfolding in the game and with a lot of different controls in these eSports, the gamers often show impressive coordination and can build this skill while playing. A lot of people just watch these games for enjoyment, too. Often they are watching how a tactical battle between different teams can pan out or even trying to build their analysis skills and bet on League of Legends or other esports like DOTA. While playing the game requires you to be at your computer, people can watch from virtually anywhere on their devices, and bet on the game too.
Pool and Snooker Video Games
Some players of the game really can’t get enough, and this means that they will look to play video games based on pool and snooker even if they can’t play billiards for real. These games are quite different from actually playing. You’re not using a cue at any point of course, but there are still some overlapping skills.
It can help players to work out the position of the balls and the angles that they need. So, working on things like positional play and working out how best to clean up a rack (or build a break in snooker) can be benefitted by playing these games. On top of that it can keep the flame and love of billiards alive. There are games you can download and play on your mobile so pool and snooker lovers have the chance to engage in billiards even when they’re on a train or on the bus.
Chess
While hand-to-eye coordination is not as important in chess, there are a lot of skills that overlap.
You need to show good levels of discipline in chess, executing a strategy and not being able to go all-out attack, and discipline is also very important in your pool and snooker strategy. Keeping your cool and playing the game to the highest of your abilities relies on this disciplined approach.
Concentration is closely tied to discipline here and is another skill that is used in chess that can also help people who are playing billiards. In chess, constant analysis and focus to understand what is happening on the board is required, a vital skill that can help players of snooker and pool.
Darts
Darts is a game that is often played in similar settings to billiards games, you’ll often find it in bars and some snooker clubs, and pool clubs even have their own dart board. One of the reasons for this is the fact that the two games use some very similar skills. Playing one can benefit the other. Both require a focus on precision and being able to hit the board (or ball) at a very exact location to get the result you need.
Both also require a lot of patience when you are practicing, and the repetitive motion is one of the most important things about both darts and pool, being able to recreate a specific movement reliably over and over again.
Keeping your cool under pressure is also something that can be learned in both of these games. As a player edges closer to victory they need to stay relaxed and manage to continue to see out the frame or rack. A lot of people who enjoy darts are also very likely to enjoy billiards games. They have a similar vibe and rely on quite a lot of the same skills. The Darts technique is comparable to the pool technique in a lot of ways.
Summary
This is just a simple list of a few of the games and other sports where players can put their skills into practice and build on the sort of attributes that make a good billiards player.
There are plenty of other sports and games where you can find similarities. Baseball can help to build coordination, board games can help to build strategic analysis skills, and even some of the most modern eSports allows players to build up analysis and coordination skills. There are plenty of options for those times when people have to be away from the billiards table.
