Joe Swail (born 29 August 1969) is a Northern Irish former professional snooker player from Belfast.

He has reached ten major ranking semi-finals, including the 2000 and 2001 World Championships but only one final.

At the Paul Hunter Classic, Swail defeated players such as Jimmy White, Shaun Murphy and Barry Hawkins en route to the final, doubling the black ball in a final frame decider against Hawkins.

This not only booked his place on the tour for the following season, but also qualified him for the PTC Finals in Galway, Ireland, where he defeated Stephen Maguire 4–3, despite being 0–3 down.

He lost in the Last 96 of the Wuxi Classic, 2–5 to Ken Doherty, in the qualifiers for the Australian Open, he beat Darren Cook 5–2, before losing 4–5 in the Last 96 to Pankaj Advani.

Instead of keeping his cue-arm vertical as most players do, Swail cues up with his arm bent at least 45 degrees outwards, and his elbow towards his back.

[9] He has told the BBC that he regards this as an advantage for snooker, as he is less likely to be distracted by crowd and other background noise.