Jack Lisowski on mental health in snooker: 'I've struggled, it's tough'
01/23/2025 05:09 AM
Jack Lisowski says he too has struggled with the mental strain of professional snooker, after the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby have spoken openly on the subject.
The intense pressure of an individual sport, coupled with life on the road and the thousands of hours of lonely practice, takes its toll on players.
O’Sullivan and Selby had an eye-opening conversation about their own struggles during the Masters this month after the Rocket pulled out of the event due to his own health problems and the Jester has been open about his own issues with anxiety and depression.
No two players will have the exact same issue, but Lisowski has also suffered mentally over his career, struggling just last year.
Speaking at last year’s World Championship, Jackpot said: ‘I didn't really care for the last few months. I didn't care at all. I haven't done any work. I didn't want to speak to anyone about snooker. That's just how it has been. It's life. It's ups and downs.’
On the pressures of life on tour, Lisowski told Metro: ‘I said outwardly last year I wasn’t happy, I didn’t feel good. It was tough.
‘Sometimes it’s tough balancing your life and being a snooker player. This is our job and we’ve got 20-30 years of this, you need to find a good balance. No one’s life is perfect is it?
‘It’s hard for other players who have families. They can’t just take them away with them.
‘When you’ve got other stuff going on you’ve got to figure it out. Everyone’s got their own problems, it’s just about figuring them out. It’s tough. Professional sport, man. It’s a lot of hotel rooms by yourself.
‘You’re always searching for perfection and so are the other 127 pros. It’s difficult, really difficult. If you’ve got other stuff going on off the table then it makes it even harder. You’ve got to figure it out, figure your life out. Life is tough. I’ve struggled, being a snooker player is a tough job, for sure.’
The ups and downs keep on coming and Lisowski is feeling good now, striking the right balance and enjoying life on and off the table.
‘I feel great now,’ he said. ‘It’s the best I’ve been in my life, in terms of everything. A good balance. I’m enjoying my snooker, enjoying when I’m not playing, enjoying being at home, my routine. It’s all good.’
Jackpot’s season has not been spectacular so far, with two quarter-final runs his best results, but the confidence is there ahead of a crucial run of events.
‘I think I’m playing good, for the first time in a while,’ he said. ‘Getting my eye in at the Championship League then Germany, Wales, Yushan, Hong Kong. Four big tournaments coming up and I’ll be doing my best.
‘I think I’ve played some really good snooker but not managed to put a run together. I’ve been a little bit inconsistent, not following up good results with other ones. But there’s been some really good stuff, hopefully it’s just matter of time before I string results together.’
The highlight of the season was probably a thoroughly impressive 6-4 win over Mark Selby at the UK Championship, which seemed to show a more well-rounded, mature side to his game.
Ronnie O’Sullivan said on Eurosport after the win: ‘He played fantastic. Calm, composure, that’s normally what’s missing from his game. Didn’t look like he was going to miss. Out-safetied him, it was all good.’
Lisowski does feel he is finally learning the other side of the game at 33 years old and mixing it in the safety battle with Selby has only boosted that belief.
‘I wasn’t trying to pot him off the table, my safety is getting better,’ he said.
‘That’s how my game is at the moment, my game feels really strong, more rounded. But until I get results consistently it’s nothing to shout about. I’m enjoying my snooker and trying to work as hard as I can.
‘I’ve been a bit of a trigger happy snooker player, wanting to go all-out attack and wasn’t really able to play the safety so I think it’s coming, I don’t know, but I think it is.
‘I know what I need to do, it’s just hard. It’s perseverance, being dedicated and sticking with it. If I keep doing the right things, keep knocking on the door, I’ll get the break through and kick on.’
