Grand Slam Night 4

Posted: 16.11.11 in Tournament Analysis Blog category

We look at the recruitment skills of Dave and Rodders as they try to tempt BDO players "to the other side"!

Put That In Your Pipe!

We are taking a day off performance analysis. The "highlight" last night was of course Justin Pipe`s catastrophic mistake of busting his score and allowing Dave Chisnall in to send Pipe out of the tournament. Pity, "The Force" has demonstrated that he is a fantastic role model for dart players with his preparation and single minded approach to playing darts

Gizza Job (Give Us A Job)

Have you ever wondered what Dave did before becoming the face of darts and boxing on Sky Sports? I reckon he may have been in recruitment! His subtle “head-hunting” skills (which he also has passed onto Rodders) were in evidence again last night.

Every BDO player Dave (and Rodders) could get their mitts on was asked the same tedious question. I will paraphrase but it pretty much went like this:  “So, we all know the BDO is a waste of space, are you going to be “a fail” all your life or have you got the potatoes to jump ship and join a proper darts organisation, well, have you?”

On the whole the BDO players took the question in good faith. If you imagine Sky were acting as agents for The PDC then it is a great compliment to the players that the PDC covet their membership. If the players are motivated by money then a glance at the PDC order of merit demonstrates that there are some  players earning a lot of money from darts that the BDO contingent may feel they could match or even surpass if they joined. This does not include the exhibition money and other benefits being a PDC member can bring.

The PDC has set out its stall to be the equivalent of the football Premier League. They want the best players and their only interest (pretty much) is making money for themselves and their players. This goal may not fit with everyone`s sociological view of sport. Also, Governing Bodies arguably have a responsibility to plough back some of their profits to the grassroots which does not appear to be high on the PDC agenda. Nevertheless, they have a plan and are applying it efficiently and ruthlessly.

When (not if) there is a surge of BDO players turning up at Q School to get their tour card there are two issues that spring to mind. Using the (football) Premier League as an example it always amuses me when businessmen buy football clubs and promise great success to the fans. They too seem to have a meticulous business plan but somewhere along the way their highly paid team of advisors have neglected to point out there are only three domestic trophies to be won every season! The businessmen seem baffled their club does not get one each year so they sack another manager due to his obvious incompetence.

Could the PDC become saturated? As the stock rises in the PDC how will the majority of players make a living? I expect Uncle Barry has a plan but it is certainly something worth considering for every player contemplating the switch. Yes there is more  prize money available at the PDC but it also costs more to compete. Moreover, trying to make money solely from Players Championship events is a hard grind. The holy grail is of course the TV tournaments but as the football club owners have discovered there is no guarantee of even qualyfying let alone grabbing the trophy and the big cheque.

The other issue is the BDO. The “hand of friendship” seems to have been extended to the BDO players at The Grand Slam (even with Dave’s recruitment drive). But Martin Adams, one of the most influential voices at the “new” BDO has systematically turned down an invitation to play in  the event. The BDO players who have turned up this week have endorsed a much more powerful message to the darts world with their exploits on the oche rather than ignoring the chance to shine. There is also much work to do on the grassroots game at the BDO and surely some sort of restructuring of their tournaments should be high on their agenda?

A more competitive and lucrative BDO circuit will at least make players think twice before succumbing to the green grass of The PDC. The BDO will  argue that the conveyor belt of players will continue to roll on bringing talent to the organisation so what's the issue? They are right of course, however, this is the easy option and I hope they don't employ it!

...............................................................................................................................................

The Darts Performance Centre is a resource to assist dart players of all standards play better darts. We are also committed to researching all aspects of darts to provide players with information and solutions that most other sports take for granted. Please support us by joining today.Membership is £25.00 per annum. 

We also offer group coaching days  and we will shortly be arriving at a darts centre near you for one on one video analysis sessions - please register for free to join our mailing list to find out when and where we will be.