‘I was making £100K a year in darts without practicing hard – I want to go to next level’

Ryan Joyce’s nickname, ‘Relentless’, is entirely fitting, given his prowess on the outer ring. The thrower, who gave his sternest test at the is one of the best double-hitters in the game.

But Joyce hasn’t been as relentless as he should have been away from the oche. By his own admission, the 39-year-old has been “lazy” after slipping into a comfort zone that came with being a mainstay in the world’s top 50. But he has vowed to turn over a new leaf in 2025.

“I’ve been very lazy, very complacent,” admitted Joyce, who is taking part in the World Masters preliminary round on Wednesday. “I’ve been very comfortable in the position I’m in. It’s been hard to motivate myself, to push myself further. I’ve struggled with that for a few years now.

“It was like, ‘I’m in that position between 40 and 32, I’m making £100,000 a year without practising very hard, without travelling to European Tour events [Joyce has a fear flying]’. In my head, that was enough for me.”

There has also been a lack of belief in his own ability and a feeling that he wasn’t capable of rising up the rankings. Given his undoubted talent, that has been a source of frustration to his followers, including mentor Glen Durrant, who has given Joyce some sound advice.

“Since I had a chat with Duzza [Durrant], I’ve got that desire back, because I’d lost it a little bit,” said Joyce, now 29th in the PDC’s Order of Merit.

“I had fallen out of love with it a little bit and was thinking, ‘I’m never going to be any better than what I am, I’m not going to get in the top 32, I’m not good enough’.

“But he’s given me an extra bit of belief and made me realise I actually am good at darts and that I can do better. Now I’ve got to go out and prove it over the next 12 months.

“Before I get too old and too unfit, I’m going to really try and push myself and see how far I can actually go. That’s why I’ve gone to speak to people like Glen, fitness coaches, dieticians.

“This next 12 months is going to be huge for me. I’m going to try and sort things out and make sure my mindset is right for being a top player in this sport.

“In any sport, you get out of it what you put in and I’m going to hammer the practice board. Talent can take you so far but if you want to be the best, you’ve got to put the hard work in. I feel like I haven’t done that as much as I should have.”

For all his brilliance on the outer ring, another thing holding Joyce back has been his power scoring, or lack thereof. Finding that treble 20 as consistently as he needs has been an issue.

“I’m a professional player. I’ve been playing darts for nearly 20 years and the overriding feeling I have is of embarrassment – ‘why can’t I hit a treble 20?’. It’s the bread and butter, especially if you want to get into the top 32, you have to be good at hitting the treble 20, it’s as simple as that.

“It might be psychological, it might be something technical but I’m going to try my best to work it out. The more I switch off and don’t think about treble 20, the better. That’s the way forward, to try and relax and have more belief.”

There was little wrong with Joyce’s power scoring as he pushed Littler all the way at Ally Pally, eventually going down 4-3 in the last 16. Durrant’s words of wisdom have clearly helped Joyce, although he doesn’t want to give away many secrets.

“He’s told us not to mention too much about it, he doesn’t want to give away too many secrets. If you want to know, you’ll have to book a lesson,” he said with a smile.

“But when you reach out to someone like that, they can give you an extra two or three per cent, and that can make all the difference in a tight game. And a lot of the games you play on the Pro Tour and on the stage are really tight. They’re decided by one dart at double here and there.

“To have that extra couple per cent, whether it’s confidence or a slight technical tweak, it’s worth going for, especially in my position where games can be decided by the slimmest of margins.”