Judd Trump feels there are two reasons behind his recent dip in results, but feels it is only a matter of time before things turn round.
Trump is still the world number one and will go into the UK Championship next month as the defending champion, so this sticky patch is hardly the stickiest, but he has become accustomed to his career being a completely stickiness-free zone.
It is coming up to year without a tournament win for the Ace, which is a lengthy drought by his standards.
The 36-year-old admits that confidence levels have dropped a touch in that time, which he feels is behind his lack of silverware, hand-in-hand with a new cue.
Trump has only had his new stick for a month having used the previous one for seven years, so it is taking some getting used to.
He is still winning games and after beating Anthony McGill 4-2 in his first game at the Northern Ireland Open on Sunday, he discussed what has been holding him back.
‘Just not as confident as maybe I have been, so not as fluent, but I played pretty solid after going 1-0 down,’ he told Metro of his win over McGill.
On his wider issues, he said: ‘Confidence and the new cue. The new cue is very, very different from the old cue and there’s just certain shots I go for and I miss because I’m aiming in the wrong place where to. I’m so used to playing with the same cue for so long.
‘This one is so different that it’s very easy to forget I’ve only had the cue for a month. It’s very, very easy to go back to what I was doing with my old cue and it doesn’t work. So yeah, it’s going to take a long time or at least a win.
‘I think if I get a win under my belt then I’ll be all right, but it’s just certain shots are still difficult. But then there’s other shots that I feel like I’m a lot better at.’
Explaining what this new piece of wood has changed, he said: ‘There’s just certain shots where I’m so used to playing with side to pot the ball and this cue doesn’t throw so it doesn’t go off line. It just stays where I aim it. So sometimes I just aim in the wrong place and it doesn’t come back with the side. So it’s just certain shots like that.
‘I think obviously when you’re not winning all the time you don’t have that same belief that you’re going to pot every single pressure ball and that’s probably just the difference.’
Despite a trophy dry spell, the world number one is not distraught about his form or results, all being narrow defeats by no more than two frames.
‘I haven’t done a lot wrong,’ he said. ‘Elliot Slesser played really well [in the English Open], Gary Wilson’s had a great season also played very well against me [at the Wuhan Open]. Gary beat Ronnie in the last tournament [Xi’an Grand Prix] as well.
‘It’s not like I’ve been getting smashed 5-0, 5-1. Then I’d be worried. It’s just the odd frame, I’m just not getting chances like I was last season and the season before.
‘The more you lose deciders, the more worried you are when you get into a decider that you’re not going to win. So it’s not like I’ve been a million miles off, just where I was making the big clearances and winning the deciders last season, it’s just been a little bit different this season.’
Judd Trump’s ranking results this season
Saudi Arabia Masters L32: Oliver Lines 5-3 Judd Trump
Wuhan Open L16: Gary Wilson 5-4 Judd Trump
English Open L16: Elliot Slessor 4-3 Judd Trump
British Open L16: Shaun Murphy 4-3 Judd Trump
Xi’an Grand Prix L64: Matthew Stevens 5-4 Judd Trump
Trump is now based in Dubai and spends a lot of time in Hong Kong but dismisses that lifestyle as an issue because he won a string of events in 2024 after he made the switch from England.
‘No, I was doing the same last season, so January 2024 I think is when I moved, since then I’ve been in Hong Kong and Dubai, so I’ve won a lot of big events,’ he said.
‘Since then I’ve won all those big events last year while I was travelling, so yeah, there’s no difference this year.’
Trump will continue his campaign in Belfast as he bids for a fifth Northern Ireland Open title when he takes on Jackson Page in the last 32.