Ssb - trump's slump

[Dave Walton]

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"!

Couldn't agree more, Trump is a fluke artist and anyone with eyes can see how much luck he carries. 'Naughty snooker' more like 'flukey snooker'
To add to that he's an arrogant, petulant, spoiled brat, can't stand the kid. Great potter not a great player!

[Neil Taperell]

Couldn't agree more, Trump is a fluke artist and anyone with eyes can see how much luck he carries. 'Naughty snooker' more like 'flukey snooker'
To add to that he's an arrogant, petulant, spoiled brat, can't stand the kid. Great potter not a great player!

I will cancel the Subscription to his Fan Club for you

Not my cup of tea either , but hopefully he will mature , knuckle down and show a bit of form .

[sberry]

That's more than a bit harsh. He is very talented and a more natural player than most and more comfortable than most on the TV tables and in the limelight. I just think that his game is maybe damaged by the way he operates overall, unlike for example, Ding, Robertson and Selby who would be the top players today that seem to focus 100% on the game only and because of that win consistently and will carry the fear factor for their opponents.

It doesn't actually matter what you do away from the table if you don't tweet the whole world telling them as when you do you run the risk of other people picking up their confidence levels to you as they perceive you to not be focusing fully and in a game that has such fine mental edges that can be a big thing.

[DeanH]

I noticed during the McManus match that Judd did play some fantastic safety and got Angles into some impressive snookers
I think he is maturing in his snooker (shot choice, tactical, etc., and off the table (?)) but others have caught him up and maybe passing him by...
as Neil said, a bit of knuckling down and get some form - how many of us need to say that to ourselves as well

[cueman]

Oh dear, I see the Judd haters are out in force once again!

So what if he decides to enjoy life off the table more than the other players, that is up to him. You have to counter in the fact that this guy has been winning snooker tournaments regularly since the age of 10. In fact during his junior career he was earning more money than some professional players and sacrificed a lot of his childhood devoting his time to snooker.

Maybe he has decided to give snooker a bit of a rest for a season or two and try and enjoy other things in life, something he hasn't been able to do because of sacrifices to the game.

He has the ability to turn his form around at any time, right now just like Murphy they aren't in the best of form or confidence but you know that one tournament can suddenly turn your whole season around. People were writing Selby and Ding off in the past and look at how they bounced back, form is temporary and class is permanent, Judd will be back but maybe he needs to get out of London because I think that could be the biggest distraction to his game.

[DeanH]

hi cueman
I hope you dont class me as a Judd-hater?
As I am definitely not, or a hater of any player.
I dont think he has decided to give snooker a rest, if he had he probably wouldn't tweek/facebook/or whatever that he wants to win and do a max
The thing is, I would say that EVERY player out there wants to win and do a max.
Yep, your right, many other players have been written off and then bounce back (see Ebdon at the mo, brilliant match yesterday ) and certainly hope he does.
What specifically in London is distracting him? Do you mean to back home (Bristol?) and get "grounded", away from the bright-lights of the OldSmoke?

[cueman]

No I wasn't aiming it at you or anyone specific but he does seem to get a lot more criticism than any other player on the circuit, a lot of it unwarranted IMO.

Knowing Judd from being a kid he definitely missed out on all the stuff, holidays, nice clothes, cars etc and now he has the opportunity for all of this who can blame anyone for wanting to enjoy life a little. I can see why people think he is not putting in the hours on the practice table but you only live once, he was never going to be a Hendry or Davis where success was the be all and end all. We live in a very different era today, a consumerist lifestyle is what many choose, particularly amongst this young generation, Judd is no different. It could be his downfall but he will grow out of this once he realises what affect it is having on his career. Just needs to grow out of this stage of his life and once he hits 26-27 I think we'll see his best years.

I feel that London and the attractions of a big city life can detract from your snooker. Jimmy suffered because of his lifestyle off the table and that was largely to do with being around London. Judd coming from a quiet somewhat boring area like Bristol was perhaps the reason why he knuckled down to his game because there was little else to do but play snooker. Living near London and being around people with money and prestige, flash cars, watches etc, its bound to suck in a young person in who wants to portray a top sports star image.

Paul Hunter had a very similar lifestyle at Judd's age, he was a very similar type of player and he admitted that he needed to change his lifestyle to get success on the table. Sadly we never saw what he could have been.

[Byrom]

Some great points on this thread - got to agree with a lot of it - you should all be life coaches or something.

Can't hate the guy even if he seems a bit full of it on twitter at times what's the point in getting people to dislike you or getting their back up as you only inspire them - as someone has already said.

I enjoyed watching that naughty snooker - He was the luckiest player at the worlds that year he got to the final in regards the run of the ball and flukes too as Dave says - but this always happens to players that go for a lot of low percentage shots long shots as you hit the ball that bit harder to try and get a good white - but wow I was there for the tournament and the Higgins final and it was great to watch - like the glory days of Higgins and White.

Maybe he should just have carried on doing that instead of listening to people telling him to do this and do that with safety and match play. Maybe he should just get back to potting everything going for everything and frightening the crap out of everyone?

He has won some big ranking titles so more than a lot of the others have done but if he slows his game down to try and get more consistent and win more - does it really work for him? and if he plays like this with more safety do people watch him as much? - I did not think he was too bad at safety anyway - I mean sometimes -when its going good- players like Ronnie and Judd him have such a high percentage potting wise people often forget to notice the bits when they play safe. He needs to just get back to being himself at the table - as form is temporary and class is permanent as cueman rightly says - he'll be fine- I just wish he'd smile a bit more though - seems like he has the world on his shoulders at times - It would do the game - and the player - no end of good to have a flamboyant showman once more at the top of the game - pity its not him or Ronnie.

Also I would see a shrink about the fashion sense.

[DeanH]

lets hope he does not join the 27 club!
Lets face it, most of us would like to have a taste of such a snooker-life (on and off the table) - way too late for me I'm afraid

[sberry]

Tony Knowles anyone? From nowhere to number 2 - no social media then but the tabloids did that job and after about five years the slide into obscurity...also, TK couldn't make the 147 club either

I think he drops another two places in the money list after this comp, three if Fu wins it and considering where most of his prize money was won over the past two years he could end the season outside the top ten and with another similar year next year, outside the top 32!

[DG GIBERT]

No I wasn't aiming it at you or anyone specific but he does seem to get a lot more criticism than any other player on the circuit, a lot of it unwarranted IMO.

Knowing Judd from being a kid he definitely missed out on all the stuff, holidays, nice clothes, cars etc and now he has the opportunity for all of this who can blame anyone for wanting to enjoy life a little. I can see why people think he is not putting in the hours on the practice table but you only live once, he was never going to be a Hendry or Davis where success was the be all and end all. We live in a very different era today, a consumerist lifestyle is what many choose, particularly amongst this young generation, Judd is no different. It could be his downfall but he will grow out of this once he realises what affect it is having on his career. Just needs to grow out of this stage of his life and once he hits 26-27 I think we'll see his best years.

I feel that London and the attractions of a big city life can detract from your snooker. Jimmy suffered because of his lifestyle off the table and that was largely to do with being around London. Judd coming from a quiet somewhat boring area like Bristol was perhaps the reason why he knuckled down to his game because there was little else to do but play snooker. Living near London and being around people with money and prestige, flash cars, watches etc, its bound to suck in a young person in who wants to portray a top sports star image.

Paul Hunter had a very similar lifestyle at Judd's age, he was a very similar type of player and he admitted that he needed to change his lifestyle to get success on the table. Sadly we never saw what he could have been.

Steady Bristol boring? bloody cheek

[Achamian]

I think the reason for 'Trump's slump' is simply that he's missing more pots this season than he has in the previous few seasons.

And I think the reason that he's missing more pots is because his 'complicated' cue action has become inconsistent.

Judd has several 'quirks' in his cue action.

Instead of just moving the cue backwards and forwards in a straight line, Judd aims to the left on every shot and only pushes the cue through straight on the final delivery.

And also, during the final delivery, he moves his head and upper body both forwards and downwards.

These 'quirks' are not so noticeable on close range, simple pots. But, on long distance pots, they stand out like a sore thumb!

If you don't believe me, you can easily go to YouTube and check it out for yourself. Just look for a few long distance pots where Judd is cueing directly into the line of the camera. Then you will see these 'quirks straight away.

Now, as Judd is an ex world number one, I obviously can't criticize his cue action too much. His cue action has certainly worked extremely well in the past.

All I am saying is, with a 'complicated' cue action like Judd's, there are a lot of things that have to be 'in sync' in order to cue straight. And, if something is not quite 'in sync', his consistency will suffer.

I think that is what has happened this season. Judd is just not as consistently good as he has been over the previous few seasons.

I don't think it would do Judd any harm to see a good coach.

After all, before you start to put things right, you first need to know what's going wring.

And I think the problem Judd has is that he doesn't know what's going wrong.

[chas6868]

Agree with the point. Top player dont need recovery exhibition type shot in most frames as judd seems to need. He doesn't have the touch of a hendry or osullivan and higgins.
It not is fault he was built up by other people to being the top dog in the game.
I wish him luck and hope he can win a few matches. He is a great potter and iam sure he can work on the other parts of his game.

[gavpowell]

This is a guy who's won multiple ranking events, including the UK Championship, and came within a hair's breadth of becoming world champion - some of you are talking like he's some sort of club amateur who's won a tour place in a raffle.

[Looki]

All of the greats have had slumps, not to mention the lesser pros. Trump will come back, there's no doubt about it.