We discuss the final, darts beers and cheers and a list of our `boys` of the tournament.

Barry Waites for No Man

Posted: 23.11.10 in Tournament Analysis Blog category

We discuss the final, darts beers and cheers and a list of our `boys` of the tournament.

Welcome to The Darts Performance Centre Darts Blog

Barry Waites for No Man

Congratulations to Scott Waites who pulled off a remarkable victory against James Wade in last night`s final. Waites was eight legs down at one stage but fought back to claim a stunning victory. The ITV 4 commentary team were at a loss to explain how James Wade had `thrown away` the opportunity to win the final. Matt Smith was speechless and confused with the outcome, the usually unflappable IceMan was `flapped` and admitted to having no explanation for the sudden reversal of fortunes in the match. `Mace the Ace` admitted he too was baffled, but had the demeanour of a man who had other places to be. Perhaps he had been given a sheet of paper by Uncle Barry with contract written at the top and sign here Scotty written at the bottom and was about to race off to deliver it to the worthy champion.

Darts Beers and Cheers

We will not attempt to explain what happened to Wade, it will have to be put down as a sporting mystery. This rather thwarts our attempt to bring you a `scientific` explanation for Wade`s downfall so just to fill in a bit of space we will discuss, briefly, a totally un-related topic to last night’s action.

Darts Beers and Cheers is the name of an excellent PDC fansite and well worth a visit. The term also resonates with all darts fans, are you ready for a big word, because of the symbiotic relationship that exists between darts and alcohol. In other words the two need each other, like darts and beer really!

Darts does not attempt to hide its relationship with alcohol, authors relay anecdotes about the players openly discussing the discernable benefits of taking alcohol prior to a match in books by Justin Irwin, Sid Waddell, and Wayne Mardle, despite seemingly overwhelming evidence that points to the opposite being true.

In a paper written by former BDO Women`s player Linda Duffy she took a sociological angle to try and explain the perceived non-conformity of dart players (and in doing so identifies a possible explanation for their relationship with alcohol), compared to other professional sportsmen. Her suggestion is that because the history of the game has its roots in an informal social environment (a public house), and it is from here the dart player emerges to become a professional player. On the other hand, other professional performers have their first contact with their activity in a specifically designed environment focused specifically on their sport, such as an athletics track or gym.

Whatever the reason for the majority of dart player`s believing they cannot play without ` a drink` the fundamental flaw with alcohol is that it has so many side effects. You may strike `lucky` and hit the optimum amount to put your-self in the `zone`, just enough to keep your nerves at bay but still being capable of utilising the fine motor skills required to be an elite dart player. You may start off fine, but as the alcohol wears off the side affects kick in and you can go from feeling like a `world beater` to a loser in a matter of minutes, imagine that...

We do have one possible remedy for this dilemma, play sober, darts, beers and cheers for now!

Our Boys of the Tournament

Head Boy Scott Waites

Boo Boy (s) Phil Taylor, Mark Webster and Ted Hankey

Lost Boy (s) Simon Whitlock and Adrian Lewis

Bad Boy Ted Hankey

New Boy Aaron Monk

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Author: Paul Gillings ( paul@dartsperformancecentre.com )

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