Would Judd be outstanding with a more 'normal' cue action?

[winphenom]

All truly great world champions must possess these things in the modern era. They are consistency through hard work and practise, cautious and not reckless cueing and playing, good cueball control in break building and safety, high level of concentration through good physical health and dietary habits and determination to succeed. All champions need that but JT definitely lacks quite a few. Jimmy White wasted his chances as he was lacking in a few of these too as compared to Davis and Hendry. ROS realised it late but got his act together so he deserves his place in the legends list.
No world champions are winners through flamboyance and laziness. Its all through hard dedicated painful work.

[Big Splash!]

I Believe he will win a wc before he's done.

Look at the others, once the guard Changes over the next couple of years he has every chance to win a few world titles..

He'll win atleast one imo... I'm not really a trump fan but he'll win a WC before he's done I'm sure.

The guard has already changed, Kyren Wilson and others are ready to usurp JT. Ding hasn't won one and he's the best in the balls there is apart from Ronnie. You need so much energy, persistence, indomitable spirit, stamina, self control and self belief and nerves of steel to win one. JT just doesn't have these qualities in abundance. Selby does, Hendry did and Ronnie has at times.

JT has won one UK and no Masters. It's harder to win comps now, snooker is so competitive, so the two China Opens and the International he has won are great achievements. With the large number of Chinese and Far East players coming through, it's only going to become more difficult to win anything.

I think you also need to love snooker to get you through the 6-8hrs of practice a day for 4wks necessary to build form and physical/mental stamina to win a Worlds. JT does a max of 3-4hrs a day. A few years back in his slump he was only doing 2hrs a day, spending more time looking at cars. I don't think he loves snooker. He sits there when not at the table and looks away, disinterested, his mind on more interesting things. He's a bit of lightweight.

[ghost121]

Like most things in life, you get out of it what you put in. Trump doesn't put enough in. Clearly lacks professionalism. No excuse for being distracted in a match and looking around. He looks like a teenager on the bus. He's nearly 27 the heaven's sake. Can you imagine how far he would go in the real world without his little snooker bubble? No sympathy here. And that goes for any pro who doesn't put the graft in.

[Big Splash!]

Like most things in life, you get out of it what you put in. Trump doesn't put enough in. Clearly lacks professionalism. No excuse for being distracted in a match and looking around. He looks like a teenager on the bus. He's nearly 27 the heaven's sake. Can you imagine how far he would go in the real world without his little snooker bubble? No sympathy here. And that goes for any pro who doesn't put the graft in.

He's clearly put a lot into the game when he was younger, to be able to break through and achieve. I believe he thinks he just needs to top up the tank now and again, that he's learnt everything necessary. He doesn't realise that even the most talented need to practise a lot for fine control. His CB is wayward. He should practise with Marco or Ding and watch how they break build and control the CB.

[luke-h]

a lot of him looking away is to concentrate on anything but his oponant potting balls.

he still has the metal to win a world one day, just needs to channel his focus, at times he's as good as anyone and mesmerise's the crowd, other times he looks jaded.

his cue ball isn't the best in the game but it's still bloody good.

[mikeyd100]

It's widely agreed about JT and his lack of all things said above.
We all know it, why doesnt he - seems he doesnt have the ambition of the great players past and present.
Come on Trump... dont be a Chump... sort it kiddo !!!

[luke-h]

It's widely agreed about JT and his lack of all things said above.
We all know it, why doesnt he - seems he doesnt have the ambition of the great players past and present.
Come on Trump... dont be a Chump... sort it kiddo !!!

I agree, its a shame as his full potential could be realised and him having multiple title to his name, seems fast cars and khadija maybe the problem....good problem to have though haha

[mikeyd100]

I agree, its a shame as his full potential could be realised and him having multiple title to his name, seems fast cars and khadija maybe the problem....good problem to have though haha

Looool, I hear ya re the "problem"
He has bags of potential but no hardcore mindset.
One day when he is in his 50's - watching a DVD of his naughty snooker and entertaining shots he will think... SH1T.. I could have been a multiple World Champion.
I truly hope I am wrong of course

[Alba_]

I believe someone like McGill/Wilson will win a world title before Trump. They will win more ranking titles than him too. Trump it too preoccupied with Ferraris and designer everythings, to become a true force in the game. I doubt he will ever win a world tilte. Maybe in 10 years time after he comes back down to earth and stops thinking he's a playboy.

[markz]

I believe someone like McGill/Wilson will win a world title before Trump. They will win more ranking titles than him too. Trump it too preoccupied with Ferraris and designer everythings, to become a true force in the game. I doubt he will ever win a world tilte. Maybe in 10 years time after he comes back down to earth and stops thinking he's a playboy.

Trump reminds me of Peter Crouch, when asked at an interview what he would have been if not a sportsman he said probably a virgin lol. Hope he wins a world title as he's got so much ability but not sure he's tough enough mentally.

[Big Splash!]

Trump reminds me of Peter Crouch, when asked at an interview what he would have been if not a sportsman he said probably a virgin lol. Hope he wins a world title as he's got so much ability but not sure he's tough enough mentally.

He needs to hit the gym and pick up something heavier than a shopping bag. Maybe some martial arts? Karate did wonders for Hamilton from F1. Trump is very talented but a bit of a limp lettuce.

[cueman]

Only time will tell. I wouldn't write any player off winning a world title, nobody would ever have thought Bingham would win one!

As for his cue action, well if it works for him and he's won titles its hard to criticise. There are a number of players out there with technical flaws, far worse than Trump. He wouldn't pot the balls he does if it was such a flaw. His poor cue ball control is also a myth, you don't have nearly 400 tons at 26 years of age, higher than anyone else at his age, if you can't control the white!

What worries me more is his mental strength. I think he finds it tough to accept that he isn't having the success his young talent expected. He was the best junior player ever in the game, at one point he was earning more as a junior than some of the professionals, he literally won every title and was pretty much unbeatable, even when playing people 3 or 4 years older than he was.

I think that has been his biggest handicap, the pressure on him expected to carry on the success as a pro, and the fact he had such a lot of success early on.
The change of cue is also telling, I think he believes that a cue can help him when the reality is he played his best ever match only in January this year against Robbo in the masters. That shows mental weakness for me, putting his lack of success down to a cue when the truth of it is the majority of players who start trying new cues are doing so because of a lack of form and consistency. Look how many cues Higgins, Maguire and Williams have been using the last 5 years and what good has it done them, apart from Higgins who at least won a few titles.

[winphenom]

Only time will tell. I wouldn't write any player off winning a world title, nobody would ever have thought Bingham would win one!

As for his cue action, well if it works for him and he's won titles its hard to criticise. There are a number of players out there with technical flaws, far worse than Trump. He wouldn't pot the balls he does if it was such a flaw. His poor cue ball control is also a myth, you don't have nearly 400 tons at 26 years of age, higher than anyone else at his age, if you can't control the white!

What worries me more is his mental strength. I think he finds it tough to accept that he isn't having the success his young talent expected. He was the best junior player ever in the game, at one point he was earning more as a junior than some of the professionals, he literally won every title and was pretty much unbeatable, even when playing people 3 or 4 years older than he was.

I think that has been his biggest handicap, the pressure on him expected to carry on the success as a pro, and the fact he had such a lot of success early on.
The change of cue is also telling, I think he believes that a cue can help him when the reality is he played his best ever match only in January this year against Robbo in the masters. That shows mental weakness for me, putting his lack of success down to a cue when the truth of it is the majority of players who start trying new cues are doing so because of a lack of form and consistency. Look how many cues Higgins, Maguire and Williams have been using the last 5 years and what good has it done them, apart from Higgins who at least won a few titles.

Well mate, thats because he out pots everyone just like Shaun Murphy did. However, difference between them is obvious which is why Murphy won more major titles and the world as well. If he can build up some good traits and practise hard, i am sure JT can do it too. ROS has to practise hard and change himself to achieve it too, despite his abundance of natural talent or rather, the most talented ever to play this game.

[Big Splash!]

Well mate, thats because he out pots everyone just like Shaun Murphy did. However, difference between them is obvious which is why Murphy won more major titles and the world as well. If he can build up some good traits and practise hard, i am sure JT can do it too. ROS has to practise hard and change himself to achieve it too, despite his abundance of natural talent or rather, the most talented ever to play this game.

^ Spot on.

Jimmy is the most naturally gifted for me, incredible potter with even more power than JT (Jimmy did it on slow tables) but even he learned too late that he needed to distractions and practice hard. Hope JT doesn't make the same mistake. I like the shoes but he could do with not wearing Texas y'all tat from Matallan. He's known as Judd Tramp on another snooker site for good reason. Meowwww!

The issue Cueman is his technique going faulty under pressure. If he had a good technique to fall back on, he'd be able to cope under pressure better, instead of thinking, what if I twitch. He had openly admitted to a fear of twitching under pressure and his grip and cueing certainly won't help to stop twitching. That is why most players strive for a grade A technique. Bingo spent a lot of time/money learning not to cue across the ball and making sure that the right side of the table wasn't a weak area (spotted by NR) anymore. JT needs to do the same. Ronnie made himself more consistent by changing stance. And he's recently made his long potting better by changing grip (akin to the work NR did). Bodies change over time as we get older and players need to accommodate these changes. They should also seek to remove any weaknesses, which is at the centre of achieving potential in all sports.

[cueman]

Isn't a twitch purely down to bottle though. Get yourself mentally strong and thoughts of twitching don't exist. There is pressure on these guys everytime they play, a poor technique would falter all the time, that isn't the case with Trump. Its his negative mindset when the pressure is on that's the problem. Working with a sports psychologist would do far more for him than changing his technique which is not easy to change and no guarantee to work either!