Darts players and alcohol

jonnny68

I remember back to the days of Eric Bristow and especially Jocky Wilson (RIP) and they would be half cut on the oche,but would still rinsing out 180,s,but in recent years all you'll see is players drinking water, so are players actually banned from consuming alcohol while on stage or is it just the decision of the players themselves?

buster180

jonnny68 wrote: »

I remember back to the days of Eric Bristow and especially Jocky Wilson (RIP) and they would be half cut on the oche,but would still rinsing out 180,s,but in recent years all you'll see is players drinking water, so are players actually banned from consuming alcohol while on stage or is it just the decision of the players themselves?

Its banned on stage. Nothing stopping them drinking behind the stage during the breaks

Kingp35

buster180 wrote: »

Nothing stopping them drinking behind the stage during the breaks

Which is something quite a lot of them do regularly. If you go to any local tournaments then the vast majority of players drink when playing. It's something I have never understood though, I don't drink when playing because even after one pint I play much worse than if I'm sober. Something that affects your hand eye co-ordination surely can't be a good thing.

Kazooie

I'd say most of em drink backstage yeah. Anderson and Klassen off the top of em head are the only two I know that don't.

I find I throw much better after a few pints but there's a limit. If I go over it there's usually holes in the wall.

Kingp35

Kingp35 wrote: »

It's something I have never understood though, I don't drink when playing because even after one pint I play much worse than if I'm sober. Something that affects your hand eye co-ordination surely can't be a good thing.

On the other hand they may think there is something to be said for the psychological effect, "dutch courage" and all that, particularly in front of a crowd or tv cameras. I guess the most famous case was Bill Werbeniuk in snooker who drank dozens of pints a game as he believed it helped him stay calmer and steadied his hand.

Kingp35

Deleted User wrote: »

On the other hand they may think there is something to be said for the psychological effect, "dutch courage" and all that, particularly in front of a crowd or tv cameras. I guess the most famous case was Bill Werbeniuk in snooker who drank dozens of pints a game as he believed it helped him stay calmer and steadied his hand.

I'm sure it does steady the hand and I do suffer from nerves at times but what you get out of steadying the hand you lose in hadn eye co-ordination. Each to their own I suppose.

buster180

I remember around the last time Hankey won the world title, he said in an interview that he needed up to fifteen pints just to play a game. He was saying Fitton and O’Shea had words with him and he sorted himself out and was only having the three pints and he went on to win the world title that year.

robman60

I don't understand how people can play while under the influence to be honest.

I find even one pint affects my game noticeably so I avoid it while playing.

wilddarts

The BBC showed a player drinking backstage at Lakeside this year. It was during a break in the Final between Tony O'Shea and Scott Waites, the cameras followed O'Shea backstage to the players area where he picked up a bottle of Budweiser and drank from it. They cut back to the commentators fairly qiuck tho, ha.

If anyone's interested here's the official word from the DRA,

5.27 Alcohol:
5.27.01 No alcoholic drinks shall be consumed or introduced into public areas by any
Player or Official whilst engaged in a Match played on stage which is being covered
by television.
5.27.02 No alcoholic drinks shall be consumed or introduced into public areas by any
Player or Official during televised introductions to Match play, during any televised
interviews, either on or off the stage, and during presentation ceremonies made on
the stage.
5.27.03 Any Player found to be in breach of Clause 5.27.01 or 5.27.02 may be liable
to forfeit that respective Match and shall be reported to the DRA for disciplinary
proceedings to be considered.
5.27.04 Any Official found to be in breach of Clause 5.27.01 or 5.27.02 may be
reported to the DRA for disciplinary proceedings to be considered.
5.27.05 The DRA, or a Promoter, shall reserve the right to prohibit the consumption
of alcoholic drinks in any other Match under its jurisdiction if it is considered to be in
the best interests of the promotion of the sport of Darts to do so.

jonnny68

You'd often wonder if the top players would down a pint or two during the interval :-)

buster180

jonnny68 wrote: »

You'd often wonder if the top players would down a pint or two during the interval :-)

They do

gramar

Too much won't help. Look at that dude from Australia who was up against Adams a year or two back. He couldn't have stuck his mickey in a bathtub let alone hit anything on the board.

StephenHendry

gramar wrote: »

Too much won't help. Look at that dude from Australia who was up against Adams a year or two back. He couldn't have stuck his mickey in a bathtub let alone hit anything on the board.

remember that so well, the guy dropped his darts a number of times during the game. :P

SolitaireX

They introduced the no drinking rule after this sketch on "not the nine o'clock news" apparently, they wanted to improve the image of the sport.

http://youtu.be/sHnBppccI0o

SolitaireX

SolitaireX wrote: »

They introduced the no drinking rule after this sketch on "not the nine o'clock news" apparently, they wanted to improve the image of the sport.

http://youtu.be/sHnBppccI0o

Its a classic alright, didn't realise it had that result though.

When I think of drink on stage, I think this was the right way to treat Holsten Pils...