Sneak Peak at Snooker

Snooker. It scares a lot of beginners. It looks confusing to the spectators. But in reality its a really fun game!  I am posting a course map so everyone can start planning their strategy.

How do you play? I’m going to try to explain the game in an easy, understandable way.

There are “red” obstacles, and “non-red” obstacles. The Red obstacles are jumps. They will be marked with red flags or cones. On our course map (below) the Red obstacles are the jumps with a 1 by them. These jumps are always worth 1 point. Think of these Red jumps as your bank account. You must go to the bank (jump a red jump successfully) in order to go to the store and purchase something (in snooker your store is the field and you purchase things by completing them successfully).

In Snooker you must jump a red jump successfully, then go out and take any other obstacle. Each obstacle on the field is numbered. Whatever number the obstacle has, is it’s worth. For example, on our course map, the weave poles are worth 7 points. The dogwalk is worth 4 points, etc.

So, you jump a red, then a non-red, then you jump the next red, and any non-red, and then you jump the final red jump, and any non-red. This sequence is called the “opening”. If you do this successfully you move on to the “closing” which is simply running the course in numbered order starting at #2 and going through #7.

How do you Qualify? You need to get at least 37 points and do it under the course time (which the judge will post).

The closing sequence (#2 thru #7) is worth 27 points (add them up, 2+3+4+5+6+7=27). So figure you need to gather at a minimum 10 points in your opening.

Of course there are rules… If you fail to do a red-jump successfully, you do not earn the right to go do a non-red obstacle. For example, if you send your dog over a red jump, and he knocks the bar down, you MUST go to the next red jump and do it successfully before you can do a non-red for more points.

If you do two non-red obstacles, you are off course and the game ends. If you do two red jumps without getting a non-red in between them, you are off course and the game ends.

Using our course map (below), all obstacles in the opening sequence are bi-directional, meaning you can do them in either direction and get points for them.

You see the 5a and 5b sequence. You must do both of these jumps to earn the 5 points. In the opening sequence you can jump them in any order but must do both of them. In the closing sequence you must jump the obstacles in the correct order starting at #2.

~ Thanks to Linda at http://agilityteamair.wordpress.com/ for the above entry~

For more information on snooker, visit one of our affiliate’s pages, http://www.agilityability.com/snooker.htm