‘I know there’s something wrong’ – Mark Allen ‘a little bit lost’ with his game

Mark Allen admits he is a ‘little bit lost’ with parts of his game as he struggles to return to the brilliant form he showed last season.

The Pistol was the star of last season, winning the UK Championship, Northern Ireland Open and World Grand Prix alongside reaching a British Open final and World Championship semi.

Things have not been as rosy for him so far this campaign, though, yet to reach a quarter-final and not finding his best form with any kind of consistency.

The 37-year-old showed kicked off the English Open this week with a 4-0 win overMostafa Dorgham, making four centuries, but his campaign ended in the last 32 to Matt Selt on Wednesday night.

Speaking at the Brentwood event, Allen admitted that he is struggling with some technical problems in his game that weren’t there last season.

‘I still feel like I just need to work on a few things, a few kinks in my technique that weren’t where they were this time last year,’ he said.’I’m working hard to try and change it, it’s just not quite there yet.’

On the cause of the problems he explained that it was time off over the summer and not being able to call upon his former coaches Terry Griffiths and Joe Shortt anymore.

‘Just the summer break,’ he said. ‘I always come back super rusty. I took nine weeks off after the World Championship and I’m someone that needs to practice all the time.

‘That nine weeks, as much as I needed it, it hasn’t helped me at the start of the season. I feel like I came back with some real bad habits, some real basic stuff.

‘But I don’t have Griffiths in my corner anymore, he’s not about the circuit and the only other person I would turn to in technical terms was Joe Shortt and he died over the summer, so I feel like I’m a little bit on my own and a little bit lost with that at the moment.’

The world number three sounds like he could do with some guidance, but is not convinced that there is anyone he trusts to offer it to him.

‘With the greatest respect to the coaches that are about, I don’t know if I’d trust them the same as I’ve trusted Terry and Joe over the years, I’ve known them since I was 12 years of age,’ he said. ‘I don’t know if I’d have that same trust in other coaches.

‘It’s just about me trying to find ways of remembering what Terry and Joe have taught me over the years. I’ve got loads of email notes from Terry, I’m reading them to see if anything hits home as I’ve done it before.

‘I’m just a bit lost with it at the minute, I know there’s something wrong but I can’t put my finger on what yet.’

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