Has The Power Been Turned Off?
The Premiership of darts is a month old now and it appears at this stage that the young guns are going to take some beating.
Phil “The Power” Taylor who until this season had never lost a Premiership match, is now languishing in the bottom half of the table and in danger of not making the final stage, having lot 3 of his first 4 matches.
Once new boy James Wade showed he could be beaten, Taylor seemed to lose that air of invincibility and confidence, and that coupled with the decision to change his darts has led to the 13 times World Champion looking a shadow of his former self.
It’s funny how this happens to great players in any sport. It takes enormous mental strength and dedication to compete regularly at the highest level, and with that comes wealth and opportunity. It is therefore understandable that at some point other interests will take over and the once long hours of practice that are important to sustain excellence start to fall away.
Taylor took his eye off the board so to speak about 18 months ago when his business interests, which will secure his future, took precedence. Once he realised that things had begun to slip he went on a fitness regime, losing weight and upping his practice hours. However, the damage has been done.
Once people realise you are beatable they beat you. Its that simple. It’s like once people know it is physically possible to run a mile in under 4 minutes, many realise they have it within themselves to do it.
Taylor managed to win last years Premiership title on reputation. A number of times he was on the rack and his opponent choked when they realised it was Phil Taylor they were about to beat. He was then able to claw back and either win or force the draw.
Now that reputation has been damaged he will find it hard to regain it. What is most sad is that he has resorted to tinkering to try and get it back - why oh why would you change the type of dart you have used so successfully for your entire career? It’s the sign of a man desperate to find that missing something - that elixir of youth. Unfortunately it doesn’t exist and once you have fallen from the pedastal it is nigh on impossible to climb back on.