Louis Heathcote is enjoying the best start to a season of his career so far and feels ready to make a step up with the help of coach Anthony Hamilton.
The 28-year-old joined the professional tour in 2019, won Rookie of the Year in his debut season and has reached two ranking quarter-finals, but with a highest ranking of 66, he’s still looking to level up and join the elite.
Strong performances early this season have seen him qualify for every event so far and he is making the leap up the rankings he desires, thanks to hard work on and off the table.
There have been big changes for the man known as the Hoover in recent months as he got engaged, bought his first house, took on a new fitness regime and began working with the recently-retired Hamilton, and it is all coming together nicely on the baize.
‘It’s been my best start. I feel really, really good, on and off the table,’ Heathcote told Metro. ‘Working with Ant has been unreal, I’ve really enjoyed, the last couple of months.
‘I’ve been trying to eat properly, go to the gym, run, which has all helped my confidence and I think I’ve found a really good balance with my practice. I don’t practice loads a day, probably do three hours, but while I’m there it’s proper practice.
‘I’m not going to sit here and say that’s it now, I’ve completed it, top 16 next, but I’m happy with where my game’s at.’
The link-up with the Sheriff
Hamilton hung up his cue at the end of last season after being a pro since 1991 and Heathcote is loving delving into the wealth of knowledge he possesses.
The Sheriff of Pottingham is new to the coaching game, but has seen it all on the table and the tour, with Heathcote realising he wanted to pick his brains while they were still rivals.
‘It’s a funny story how we started working together because I played him on tour and he’d beat me because of his experience, playing the right shots at the right time,’ explained Heathcote.
‘I was losing a lot of those matches and I thought, I’m going to go practice with him. I’m not going to enjoy it, it’s going to be torture, but I’m going to learn.
‘I messaged him and I went and played him and I absolutely loved it. We got along straight away and he was so full of praise and helped me so much. We’d sit there for an hour after we’d practiced and go through the day and he’d give me a lot of advice. Every time I went and practised with him I left feeling amazing, he just made me feel so good.
‘I think his experience and his knowledge is priceless. He’s someone I could see myself working with for a long time.’
Hamilton’s career was almost split in two as a free-wheeling, heavy-scoring young player, who was then hampered by injuries and became a canny veteran and a brutal test of both patience and tactics.
‘He was saying the last 10 years of his career he was getting through matches just through grinding,’ said Heathcote. ‘I never really knew how good he was because I wasn’t really around when he was in the top 16.
‘Apparently he was an absolute machine, didn’t miss a ball in practice. He kind of changed his game around as he got older and couldn’t play the shots he wanted to, so he had to create other shots to put people in trouble. Having someone like that around is amazing.’
Heathcote added: ‘I think a massive part of having a coach or a mentor is enjoying spending time with them because you’re going to spend a lot of time with them and I could sit and talk to Ant all day. He’s a really nice guy and we have a laugh.
‘I think he loves it like more than I do. He was saying the other day about the buzz he gets from watching me play well or win matches, he loves it, which is really good.’
‘Nothing changes if nothing changes’
Heathcote has a string of big events coming up, starting with the English Open this week and is taking his new mindset with him, having actively gone out to change the course of his career.
‘I saw a quote after the World Championship, it sounds a bit cringy, but “nothing changes if nothing changes”,’ he explained. ‘It resonated with me.
‘I thought, I’ve been around six years, this is my seventh and I’ve not really threatened breaking into top 64 yet. I was getting a bit sick of it. Do I want to give myself the best chance?
‘Now I’ve got a half a mortgage, I’m engaged, we’ve got a dog, I really want to knuckle down now and give it my best, so I can and look back with you no regrets.
‘I put a lot of working during the off-season. I had two weeks off after the Worlds and I was back practicing, so it’s nice to see the hard work paying off.’
A budding rivalry
A thorn in the side of Heathcote’s progress in recent months has been an unlikely rival in the form of Ukrainian teenager Iulian Boiko who beat the Englishman 10-9 in World Championship qualifying and then 5-4 in the big-money Saudi Arabia Masters.
Heathcote edged Boiko 4-3 in the English Open last year and is very keen to have another crack at him and start to redress the financial imbalance.
‘He’s taken about 20 grand off me in two frames in the last few months!’ Heathcote said.
‘He’s a really awkward person to play against. He makes it really difficult for you. He’s sneakily good. He’s improved a lot over the last few months, but I’d love another crack at him.
‘I need to write the wrongs ASAP because the match I beat him was for a grand and he’s done me for 20!
‘He’s a great lad, we get along really went off the table but we do have some really close games so I’m looking forward to having another pop at him when I can.’
Heathcote is in action on Thursday September 11 at the English Open against Mahmoud El Hareedy at 4pm.
