John Higgins says he is struggling badly for motivation, with almost no work going in on the practice table and wins proving hard to come by as a result.
The 50-year-old is still competing at the very top of snooker, ranked number six in the world 33 years after turning professional.
The Wizard of Wishaw won the World Open and Tour Championship last season, in what was his best campaign for a number of years.
It ended in a painful loss, on the final black of the deciding frame against Mark Williams in the World Championship quarter-finals, but it was still a campaign which saw the four-time world champ return unquestionably to the very elite of the sport.
He is now finding it hard to keep up that momentum, though, with the decades of hard work taking their toll and the drive to practice ebbing away.
A 50th birthday trip to America with his wife was a treat over the summer, but the Scot is finding it difficult to get back into work mode.
After losing his opening games at the Shanghai Masters and Saudi Arabia Masters to Xiao Guodong and Elliot Slessor respectively, Higgins got back to winning ways at the Wuhan Open, beating Dylan Emery 5-1 on Monday, but admitted he is finding the game hard.
‘I’m struggling, struggling with the motivation,’ Higgins told WST. ‘I think after the big high I had with my birthday, going to Dallas and different things, I’m really struggling for the motivation.
‘I’ll play this event and then take a month off and see where I am after that. I don’t know if I should have come to this event. I’m struggling.
‘Maybe it’s because I had a little bit of a high at the end of last year and maybe I’m not used to it in the last few years.
‘I’m struggling with my technique and that’s just all down to me not putting the hours in. My technique is really all over the place. I need to feel as if I’m on it, playing at least a couple of hours a day, but I’m struggling to put half an hour in and at this level you cannot mix it with the best players at this level.’
If Higgins does indeed take a month off then he will miss the upcoming Xi’an Grand Prix qualifiers, where he is due to play Liam Pullen on September 2, and the English Open, starting on September 11.
Higgins has been known to tinker with technique and with his cue in order to find some inspiration to work on his game, but he’s not sure what will get him out of his current rut.
‘Who knows? You’ve never got to this age in your career,’ he said. ‘There’s not many players who’ve got to this stage of their career and still compete, over and over and over the same things. It’s tough.
‘But I’ve always said there’s a lot worse things happening in the world, there’s a lot of other jobs people are doing and they’d bite your hand off, I’m always conscious of that, but right now it’s tough.
‘I’m hoping it will change because it has changed throughout your career. But as you get older, it’s putting the effort in on the practice table, it’s really tough now. You’ve been in a dark room for 40-odd years, it’s tough.
‘But I’ll have a month off after this, see where I am and then come back hopefully refreshed and re-energised and in a better mindset. But just right now everything’s quite down.’
Higgins has the chance to improve his snooker mood as he is into the last 32 in Wuhan, where he will take on Yuan Sijun on Tuesday.
It has been a high quality event so far, with defending champion Xiao Guodong and Thai star Thepchaiya Un-Nooh both making 147s already.
Aaron Hill has pulled off the most eye-catching result, with the 23-year-old from Cork downing world number two and recent Shanghai Masters winner Kyren Wilson 5-2.
His reward is a clash with the man who knocked Wilson out of the World Championship on the opening night in April, Lei Peifan.
