Raymond van Barneveld is considering playing fewer tournaments next year. The 58-year-old from The Hague hopes that rest will bring him better results in the long term. “A car doesn’t run without fuel either.”
Van Barneveld said on Saturday after his defeat against Ross Smith at the Dutch Darts Championship in Rosmalen that he is playing with the idea of playing fewer tournaments next year. That doesn’t mean Van Barneveld is anticipating his darts retirement, he explains.
“I am not announcing my retirement,” Van Barneveld said on Monday in a telephone conversation with NU.nl. “I still enjoy playing tournaments for the Barney Army too much. Take just the Euro Tour last weekend. I got watery eyes when the audience chanted my name.”
“Next year I will probably only play fewer Pro Tours (floor tournaments, ed.). I will continue to complete the rest of the tournaments. That can’t be otherwise, because I have to earn my living. But it is too much of a good thing at the moment.”
The five-time world champion notices that the busy darts weeks are taking their toll. “You have to see it this way: I am often away on Sunday, then I throw a floor tournament on Monday and Tuesday. Then I am at home for a day on Wednesday and then I have to go to a Euro Tour again. The PDC is just cramming the entire calendar full. It doesn’t stop.”
‘Sport gurus shout all sorts of things’
Van Barneveld did not find it difficult to choose to reduce the number of floor tournaments. “I don’t like them. I have to be in the hall at 10:00 AM, but I am a bad breakfast eater. I hardly get anything down my throat. And then I still have to perform. A car doesn’t run without fuel, does it? That can’t be done.”
By taking more rest next year, ‘Barney’ hopes to get rid of his volatility. “That is inexplicable. Recently I threw over 100 average in the first round of a floor tournament. And in the second game nothing worked anymore. It always falls on the throw board. But as soon as I’m on stage, it doesn’t anymore.”
“If I throw fewer tournaments, I have more time to train in my business premises. Maybe that can give my career a boost. Now weeks fly by in which I could have done fun things with family, friends or my wife, but instead I am alone in a Premier Inn hotel somewhere in England.”
Van Barneveld hopes that taking a step back will also do him good in terms of fitness. “Because I don’t have time for sports now. When I’m in England, I’m not going to get up at 6:00 AM to find a gym somewhere to go to the gym. I still have to throw all day. That doesn’t work at all.”
“Then I hear those sports gurus shout: where there’s a will, there’s a way. Well, I see it differently. And it is not common in darts that people exercise. Look at Luke Littler, he enjoys eating his sandwiches and still throws everyone off the board, right?”
Barney may want to become a motivational speaker
Although Van Barneveld is not thinking about his retirement, he hopes to turn the tide quickly. Although the darts pioneer has won a lot in his career, the Hagenaar still finds it difficult that he structurally wins too little.
“Since I returned from my retirement (in 2021, ed.) I only win very occasionally. A kickboxer like Rico Verhoeven can lose once and recover from it for months. I get the blow of a defeat three times a week. You don’t get used to that. Then you lie alone in your room again and think: what am I doing?”
Van Barneveld cannot say how long he will be a dart player. “At some point I have to look in the mirror if I keep getting those disappointments. Maybe I will give darts lessons or work as a motivational speaker at companies. But for now I will continue to throw.”