The decisions we make in youth are quick, we haven’t the experience to know that they may go badly, so we go boldly. Now, at this age, if I stop and think, I will access a bank of experiential data that will educate my decision to either go for it, or not, likely not. That is the debilitation that knowledge brings, I intend to now argue that it isn’t always useful, but knowing when it is can be vital.

The front of the brain builds the experience in a simulation, that’s what it is for. If it has nothing to draw on it uses reason, if still empty it sees no barriers, no problem, just opportunity. I watched Mark Allen, the former No1 player in the world, torturing himself on a snooker table by thinking everything out until it all became difficult. It pained me to watch, I wasn’t disappointed for just him though. I remember the guy that had little fear, that could pot anything under pressure as a youngster and then as a professional. His brain, and all the data he accesses now when he is considering the possible outcome of the shot, is no longer his friend.

1000s of times potting the same sort of shot should have taught him that he can, but the last few that he has missed seem to be all he can think of. Now why is that? I conclude it’s simply because he’s older than he was, we all are, and this is happening to each of us all the time. You become more cautious as you age and that can’t be helped. For sportsmen it’s a little different than for you and I, they rely on risks and rewards more than we do. The boxer that won’t hit out for fear of being open to being hit is the boxer that then gets hit, the snooker player that turns down opportunities lets his opponent at the table too much to make their own chances, the footballer that won’t attempt the tricky pass gives the striker no chance to score, the tennis ace that won’t try the passing shot just repeatedly gets the ball back from their opponent. Over mitigating, or attempting to completely eliminate, risk, is simply not what winners do.

I’m not saying that Mark is not a winner, that would be ridiculous since he’s still winning enough, but I believe I may be seeing the start of a possible decline, even if it is a very slow one. I think that because I’ve watched a lot of snooker, I’ve seen it before now. I don’t believe, as he does and states, that he’s not going for his shots because he doesn’t think he’ll get them, I believe he’ll not get them because he’s not going for them. What I mean is that his attitude is dictating his shot selection, not his shots educating his attitude, or vindicating his own comments.

I’m not a great sportsman, and I was only a reasonable club snooker player at best, and maybe I have no business sticking in my oar, but I truly believe that every miss should be a surprise to you, if it isn’t then you didn’t believe you could, and that means you’re more likely to not … And I also still think it’s better to fail with a roar than a whimper.

Paul S Wilson