SEARLE STRUGGLING WITH MOTIVATION

RYAN SEARLE admits he may need a “kick up the backside” to fulfil his potential.

‘Heavy Metal’ lifted the lid on his struggles with motivation, even questioning how the lethal Lukes maintain their hunger despite already achieving so much in the sport.

The Devon thrower delivered a brutally honest assessment of his mindset and revealed he has been “cruising” through parts of the season despite knowing he can produce far more. 

Searle reached the semi-finals of the World Championship at the start of the year and concedes that success can sometimes make it harder for him to push himself further. 

He said: “The next tournament I really care about is the World Matchplay, so I will try to get up with Gary [Anderson] and have some practice sessions for that. 

“It’s just the tournaments in between — I am cruising along. I know I can play some half-decent stuff without really putting any effort in. 

“That is not good enough really. I need to be more focused for the whole season and push my way up the rankings. 

“It’s not really in me. I live a comfortable life — maybe something needs to change to kick me up the backside to push forward. 

“I don’t know how people like Littler and Humphries do it. They are in a very comfortable position and they don’t need to play darts anymore. 

“They can retire tomorrow and it wouldn’t make a difference to them. 

“When I win matches like that, practicing ten minutes a day, with my personality it’s hard to make me put more effort in. 

“With the rankings as they are now, it is only the Worlds that makes a massive difference to your rankings if you are at the top end. 

“The Matchplay is my favourite tournament, but the Worlds is the one that can make a massive difference to your life.” 

World No.12 Searle then opened up on the mental toll of life on tour, particularly the relentless media commitments that came with his deep run at Ally Pally. 

He added: “Before the semi-final started, with all the media I was doing, I was thinking to myself, do I really want to be doing this? 

“It is non-stop and relentless. You are getting asked the same questions over and over and you are saying the same thing. 

“I was thinking, is this what… I don’t know. In the back of my mind, I don’t know whether that was a subconscious thing where I didn’t play well against Littler in the semi.

“That is obviously gutting. It’s something I am looking to put right in the future and we will see how that goes. 

“I don’t want to get to a point in darts where I have retired and I feel like I have underachieved.”

Searle has made a steady start to the season, reaching the semi-final at Players Championship Two. 

However, the 38-year-old has struggled to build on that momentum in Euro Tour and Premier events, failing to reach a quarter-final in either.

Image by Taylor Lanning.