Steve Davis may be 51, a six times world champion and all round snooker legend but he is still searching for improvements.Therefore, he has slightly altered his technique this season after noticing that he was inadvertently applying side to the cue ball.
With all this on his mind, Davis feared the worst against Gerard Greene in the Shanghai Masters qualifiers last week but came through 5-3.
“I noticed I wasn’t striking the ball in the centre. I was favouring cueing on one side and it was affecting my alignment,” he told me.
“It’s all weird. All the shots seem different. I didn’t expect results overnight. I expected to struggle and miss the balls by miles but actually I didn’t pot too badly.
“I was trying to play quite basically so any win is a good win. I’m not going to criticise myself. I got through.”
Many players have tinkered with and refined their cue actions and techniques over the years.
Mark Selby has shortened his action for the new season. Others have got new cues or are looking for ways to improve.
It makes sense: the professional circuit is so competitive that anything that can give a player an edge is to be embraced.
However, it is also a great risk: if something works, why change it?
In Davis’s case it proves that he is not merely content to slide down the rankings as the game’s elder statesman.
Like all true champions, he wants to compete for as long as possible.
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