Watching stephen hendry in the snooker world finals it really strikes me how much of the game is mental. I’ve always known, but watching Hendry it is really obvious.
I grew up watching Stephen in his hey day and was used to his domination. Seeing him playing his vintage style in the second round of this years world finals it’s clear that he really understands that the way snooker is played can play on your mind and on your opponents mind.
I mean that when you’re in play your opponent isn’t so if you’re building a break and gaining rhythm and confidence your opponent isn’t. More likely he’s losing it. So the act of building a break does as much to help your mental state as it does to dent your opponents.
Stephen hendry has made over 700 professional centuries and watching the world championship over the years I’ve seen so often how he uses his break building to keep his opponent off the table. Prevent them getting rhythm and make them scared of making mistakes. So he’s always heaped psychological pressure on any one he’s played at the crucible arean.
In contrast many others fail to make use of this very important feature of snooker and fail to apply psychological pressure on their opponent and often end up losing to those who do.