Ssb - trump's slump

[DeanH]

Yes, or everyone on the forum could give him some free advice.

"could"? already do

[Raldon]

I guess Judd has worked really hard as a teen to become a very good player.
Now he enjoyed his achievement...fair enough. But now it´s probably time to get back to hard work.
Very hard work!

[the nugget]

I reckon the bbc did him no favours 2 or 3 years ago when they went all out proclaiming that he was the saviour of snooker when they thought ronnie was on the slide. Massively overrated compared to a hendry, ronnie ,white, davis or higgins of the same age then or still. His lack of tight cue ball control seems to be pretty pretty obvious to me compared to most of the greats of this game and then its back to the one trick pony stuff of deep screws, power shots etc. He relly needs to knuckle down and give the game some respect for the next couple of seasons or he may soon see himself getting overtaken by the latest generation of young uns on the way up!

[j6uk]

he simply can't decide on what shoes to buy next

[mythman69]

he simply can't decide on what shoes to buy next

Or what expensive watch to buy next

[gavpowell]

not just BBC
Anyone know if he has a regular coach?

He has no coach, never has - he said in an interview a couple of years ago that he doesn't see the need for one, that he can tell by instinct how to play.That makes his success all the more impressive to me. Not sure I've ever heard mention of Alex Higgins being coached by anyone either, come to that.

And Ronnie has said a few times that Judd puts the hours in on the practice table, so it could just be Trump is having a patch of bad luck. On the other hand, if Ronnie or Stephen Hendry can learn from a coach, Trump definitely can.

[Rane]

I agree with you on this but I´m really surprised to hear that he´s never had a coach! But on the other side I was also very surprised that O´Sullivan hadn´t seen a mental coach before spring 2012. I really thought that the top players were working systematicly on the mental side of the game.

[Byrom]

Both these bits of information are incorrect -

They are all searching for that edge that bit of motivation and that re-assurance- just like many on here are but they are worse - don't you believe it -

[luke-h]

Oh and just so we are clear, i know they have heated tables and the best cloth....but my god is judds deep screw shot impressive lol

[sberry]

Davis and Hendry dominated for so long because they didn't care about anything outside of the game, they put 100% into practicing, preparing, playing and winning, like robots, and their opponents knew it and knew they would probably lose to them.

If you spend time on social media talking to the world about your latest haircut, holidays, Ferrari, nights out with models, shoes, and whatever, you are not putting enough % into the game which is very mental, to dominate for any length of time or scare your opponents.

EPTC6 next and he'll need to win six best of 7 games just to make the last 4, his results this season aren't top 32 material, maybe even top 50 and nobody will be scared of him now, they'll be looking forward to playing him as the underdog with nothing to lose knowing he is not playing well and that his confidence is shot.

It's a good job rankings with this prize money system will cover two seasons, as if it was just one he could be off the radar in six months time.

[Byrom]

Everyone goes through a slump in form - he is no different than say Murphy who has had a bit more of a nightmare recently.

Both Trump and Murphy have enough talent to bounce back- they just need to regain the hunger. Selby and Allen have been out of sorts until recently too - Maybe it is also the case that the other players down the order are simply better than many people seem to think too?

Perhaps having a more open format for everyone is not as in favour of the closed ranking system that favoured the top 16 which they used to have in place and these shorter frames make it a bit more of a leveller. Also with more competitions, more players get more match practice and experience and more chance to settle.

[Terry Davidson]

Just to emphasize the point about coaches (or Trump's lack of one). Every good player up until now has received coaching in one form or another with the possible exception of the old-time boys like Joe and Fred Davis, Ray Reardon, John Spencer and the rest of that crew. For sure Alex Higgins received coaching, even if it was only very early when he could just see over the cushions.

Steve Davis had his father
Stephen Hendry had his father initially and then later Frank Callan and Chris Henry
Ronnie O'Sullivan has tried every coach there was
Shaun Murphy was coached as a junior
Mark Selby was actually coached by his manager for sure as he credited the manager with changing where he had the tip at address
Cliff Thorburn was coached by a few coaches in Vancouver and Toronto

Frank Adamson has coached a lot of the older pros and also to this day continues to coach pros at the SWSA along with Terry Griffiths who is the house coach there for the 20-odd pros managed by On-Q Promotions (Paul Mount).

I don't know about Mark Allen, Peter Ebdon, Joe Perry, Jimmy White and some of the others but I'd be willing to bet they had someone showing them the ropes when they were young and just starting out.

These days it's very rare to find any pro who has not gone to a coach, be it for improving their technique or for mental coaching.

As was said above, they're all looking for an edge, just like me and a few other players on here looking for 'THE' cue!

Terry

[gavpowell]

Jimmy White

Jimmy used to work with a guy he called his "technical coach" Alan Bell. Alan Bell was interviewed at one stage during I think the world champs about 10 years ago - he came across as paranoid nutcase to be honest, though that's no reflection of his ability as a coach, no doubt.

[the nugget]

Oh and just so we are clear, i know they have heated tables and the best cloth....but my god is judds deep screw shot impressive lol

Yes luke but thats about all most people remember him for playing! jimmy was playing those shots and better years before, and Alex before him, both and poorer cloth/table conditions. Still feel his close cue ball control is severely lacking to most of the top players gone by and present, really needs to get it on a much shorter string consistently.

[Strickimicki]

Trumps attacking game is exciting to watch, so very easy on the eye. But obviously with that attitude to the game you have to pot at levels of 95% or above at all times otherwise you are leaving the door open to your opponents much to often.

Going back to the WC final he reached a couple of seasons ago, he played extremely well with his "naughty Snooker" attitude. But I recall quite clearly how often he went for a wild one and was just hoping for the snooker gods to come to his assistance. Which they did so often I was getting agitated about him having so much luck. When he missed he left a lot of the time absolutely nothing on besides a very difficult safety shot because the reds were split and spread, or he'd get the pot and land completely by chance on a perfect angle for his next ball.

Mark my words or watch reruns on YouTube, "if you play like that and you don't have the run of the ball, you'll find it difficult to stay in the top 64"!