the age when players decline in more athletic sports like baseball, football, hockey, basketball and soccer, where few players are not slowly declining by age 30-33, if not earlier.
using pro-basketball in terms of age (which is one of the most demanding on your body outside of taking big hits in the NFL since it requires the most overall wear/tear on your body in my estimations since your constantly active)...
i would say by 30 many (at least the decent names) are still golden as i would say it's more in the 33+ age bracket is when you start to see a noticeable decline. but Michael Jordan (considered the best ever by many) seemed to be fairly immune back in his day as in 1998 when he won his last NBA title he would have been 35 and was still going pretty strong basically. but when he tried to come back not too long after his retirement (which 1998 was his last year) in 2001 you could see a big hit then as he CLEARLY was nothing like he was in 1998 only a few years earlier. but that's not surprising considering he would have been 38 at that time basically. but obviously he's not the typical decent name player as even amongst the big names don't seem to go as long as he did as @ 35 years of age pretty much everyone took a noticeable hit vs when they where say 30 or so. even Kobe Bryant, who's probably the closest to Jordan like overall, was definitely not as good as Jordan at the age of 35 as he was more injury prone and seemed to have slowed noticeably more (but Jordan is a rarity). but basically Jordan did not really take a hit til his late 30's (maybe a little, but he was largely golden in his early-to-mid 30's).
but i guess with the NBA i might say something like this in terms of all around balance of youth/experience... 27-32 (or so) is probably most peoples prime (baring any major injuries).
but i would say anywhere in your 20's your still golden in terms of sports baring any major injuries as i don't really see a noticeable slowing process starting to a bit into your 30's and probably closer to 35 than 30 at that. but there is a solid hit going from 30 to 35 years old in general i would say for a high percentage of players and going much beyond mid 30's or so and your just flat out not going to be close to your prime as dropping a little from your prime, especially if you are golden, would not really be noticeable and would put you still amongst the high ups in the league but after a certain point when you start to struggle with more average players in the league that you would normally blow away then you can clearly tell your good ol' days are long gone.
but i guess looking at the 100m/200m track events... that's probably a good indication of peak youth which seems to play inline with once you get into your early 30's your pretty much old (even if your not old, your days are limited once you get into your 30's) as that's a sport that largely favors 20 somethings, in general. but it's not surprising since it really tests your bodies youth to the limits since in that sport a little slip and you lose when your competing at that very elite level.
but with baseball it seems a fair amount can make it into their 40's but it's not that surprising since it's the least physically demanding sport amongst the four major ones here in the USA (i.e. NBA(basketball)/NFL(football)/NHL(hockey)/MLB(baseball)) as the players are fairly stationary most of the time and take less wear and tear in general on their bodies because of that than the three other major sports here in the USA basically. i would imagine pitchers arms probably take the most abuse when it comes to baseball.
as for your specific question... i can't really say for sure since Pool does not require heavy physical activity and is more of a finesse thing which means your age can go much higher without losing your edge that sports that require much more physical activity i would assume. so i don't see why people can't be great at it at a much older age in pool than your typical sports that are limited to 30's and younger typically. but i do wonder if at a certain point your co-ordination starts to decline also which i imagine that's crucial for Pool. so if you wanted me to take my best guess on when Pool players declined i would probably say 50's and older, if not around 60 on up, as i would imagine those in their 40's would still be top notch.
p.s. personally i don't consider Pool to be a real sport as to me real sports are ones with more higher level of physical activity like Basketball/Football(NFL)/Soccer(as we refer to in USA)/Hockey/Tennis etc. even Golf is borderline whether it's a sport in my mind as outside of a burst of energy into the swing Golf requires pretty much no legitimate physical activity and that's key for being a legitimate sport in my mind. or look at it this way... it's one of those "sports" that older people can play and still be decent at which is why i think it's kinda borderline being called a sport. or maybe you could look at it this way... sports that general require you to be 30's or younger to be great would probably be a good definition for a sport since those tend to tax your body the most all around.
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