https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/my-s ... -2gccjpqcv
My sporting body: Gerwyn Price, darts player
Picture exclusive: Marc Aspland. Interview: Alex Lowe
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I wish I had discovered darts ten years earlier than I did. I grew up playing rugby union, representing Wales in all the age-groups and all I wanted to do was to win a senior international cap. I had a brief spell with Glasgow Warriors but spent most of my career playing for Neath and Cross Keys. I was in the same Wales Under-20 team as Jamie Roberts, James Hook and also Alun Wyn Jones, who I would have to rank as the best player I have played with. When I was 28 I started to think about life beyond rugby and I thought I might go to college to become a plumber or an electrician. Then my friend started up a pub league for darts. I picked up a set of arrows and realised I was all right. I started winning local open competitions and then my friend Barry encouraged me to go to the qualifying school. I got my tour card and had to decide between rugby and darts. There is a lot more money and a lot more longevity in darts than rugby so I decided to bite the bullet and took a dive in at the deep end.
I never got to experience the Millennium Stadium atmosphere as a rugby player but the experience of playing at Alexandra Palace is unbelievable. I played Ian White on Friday afternoon and I was on for a nine-darter. It was the first time I had heard the roar of the crowd when you are on for that seventh treble. The atmosphere on the stage is unbelievable.
I have reached the fourth round of the World Championships, which is my best performance at Alexandra Palace, and tomorrow night I am playing Michael van Gerwen, the best in the world. I have come this far without any coaching at all but I did tweet the former pro and commentator Wayne Mardle recently and said that I am at a stage in my career where I need to push on. I asked if he would give me some insights into how I could improve. It hasn’t happened yet but he said that he would have a look after this tournament. As of now, the sport is just something that I’ve picked up myself.
I played hooker in rugby and so had to throw the ball into the lineout but the cross-over skills are more mental than physical. When you throw the ball in at the lineout you are using two hands and aiming at a moving target — but I learnt how to be professional about preparation during my rugby career. I guess I have taken that across with me into darts. I practise for about five hours a day in blocks of about 45 minutes because I find you can end up just throwing the darts with no real purpose and that is counterproductive. I usually practise at home but I live next door to a pub which opens at 2pm and sometimes, if my mother-in-law can pick up my daughters from school, I will go in there for some competitive practice against Barry, who I met when I was competing at the open tournaments in Wales.
I am in the gym between 9-11 every morning. It is not like when I played rugby. I do lighter weights and more repetitions, just trying to keep things ticking over. Staying in shape makes me feel better in myself and I feel a lot more confident. Some of the players on stage don’t feel comfortable in themselves and it shows in their game, so mentally I think it helps me a lot. I will probably go and see a sports psychologist next year.
I think 90 per cent of players have the ability. It is just the way their minds work. If you can conquer your mind and keep yourself focused in games, you will come through them. As long as you are strong-minded and keep a clear head you will do better than most of the guys who don’t look after themselves. Some of them don’t prepare right and you can see that in some of the players. They don’t prepare right before the games and you think, “How can they expect to win?”
I am in bed early. I have a travel board that I put on my door in the hotel. I get a good night’s sleep. I don’t drink at all when I am playing. I don’t smoke. The hardest part is trying to keep my diet right because being away all the time you have takeaways and the easiest things that come along. When I am at home I can eat healthily. I don’t diet but I don’t eat as much rubbish at home as when I am away.
I believe darts is a sport. It has come from a pub game but it has moved on now. It is much more professional. It has cleaned up a lot.
You do not have to be especially good at mental arithmetic. It is just repetition. If I was to say to you, “What is 3x20?” you would know it without counting. It is the same in darts; you pick it up along the way because you work the different scenarios. From about 300 down you will start to work out your routes to the checkout. If you miss your first dart then you know where you are going next. For example, if you are on a 126 you would never start on a treble 20.
I don’t miss the rugby but I miss the camaraderie, the boys, the banter. I wouldn’t change anything though. I love the travel, I love playing darts, I love getting on the big stage and I love the feeling of winning. On the other hand, I hate losing and it feels a lot worse losing in darts than it did to lose in rugby because it is all on you.
