Jack Lisowski on mental health in snooker: ‘I’ve struggled, it’s tough’
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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.
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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.
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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, who has come through serious health issues before, 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.
