"I could genuinely imagine walking away from the game overnight” - Florian Hempel questions Gerwyn Price's motives and future in darts

Gerwyn Price has recently spoken with unusual candor about his mental state. After the Welshman skipped numerous events in recent months and even withdrew from the World Cup of Darts, the 2021 world champion explained on the sidelines of the US Darts Masters that he simply lacks motivation at the moment. On the podcast “GAME ON”, darts commentator Elmar Paulke and former pro Florian Hempel used these remarks as a springboard to discuss the Welshman’s character and his unusual approach to his career.

At the US Darts Masters, Price admitted that private projects on his farm currently absorb him more than darts. He said he had “just been running on autopilot” lately, would actually rather be at home, and often felt no desire to be at tournaments. Those comments triggered plenty of debate, as the world number seven had already skipped numerous events this season, with his World Cup of Darts withdrawal fueling especially intense speculation.

For Florian Hempel, such statements are not entirely surprising. The former German Tour Card holder sees a recurring pattern with Price over the years.

“Gerwyn Price seems to go through a kind of motivational slump every year, usually at the beginning of the season. The Premier League, in particular, has never really been his strongest period. He's a very temperamental player who regularly struggles with motivation, yet he still plays excellent darts. He's always in the mix and usually goes quite deep in tournaments, but he just can't seem to take that final step and win a major title.”

Elmar Paulke was nevertheless surprised that a player of this caliber can be successful at all while dealing with such motivational issues.

"You mentioned that he keeps struggling with motivation. That's actually quite surprising for a top-10 player. In other sports, you'd probably say you simply can't afford that—you don't become a world champion unless you're completely driven and passionate throughout your career. Is it perhaps different in darts?"

For Hempel, part of the answer lies in Price’s sporting past. After all, his career began not at the oche but on the rugby field.

"I think darts is actually his second love. His first love is definitely rugby. I still remember when they were in Australia for the World Series. He and Jonny Clayton had a rugby ball in their hands, and his eyes just lit up. He was as excited as a little kid."

That is why darts has become an ideal substitute for Price, but not the greatest passion of his life.

"Rugby will always be Gerwyn Price's true love. Darts is a fantastic sport for him, a great outlet and a great replacement, because he's been far more successful at it and can earn a lot more money. But at the end of the day, it's his job—a job he doesn't always feel like doing. And let's be honest, we've all felt that way sometimes."

After the World Cup withdrawal, speculation ran wild — from health issues to family reasons to projects on his farm. Paulke even joked: "It's almost like he's having a midlife crisis!"

Hempel followed up with a wink: "When it comes to communication, Gerwyn Price is the Julian Nagelsmann of Wales."

Behind the joke, however, lies a serious thought for him. Price apparently has found something outside of darts that currently fulfills him more.

"Right now, it looks like he's not 100 percent into darts and has found something outside the sport that really motivates him. And Gerwyn Price is also the kind of person I could genuinely imagine walking away from the game overnight. He's the type who'd probably just say, 'You know what? I don't feel like it anymore.'"

Paulke finds precisely this distance from the sport remarkable: "I still think it's remarkable that you can be successful in professional sport with that kind of mindset. But maybe that's exactly what works in a mental sport like darts. Perhaps that distance actually helps, because you don't attach so much importance to every single result."

As the discussion progressed, Paulke drew a comparison to Hempel’s own pro career in handball and asked whether darts touched him more emotionally than handball once did. Hempel clearly said yes.

"Handball was never my great passion. Darts is definitely the bigger love for me. In darts, sometimes three darts decide whether you win or lose. In rugby, you have to spend two weeks grinding away in the gym just to become physically stronger. That's why I believe you can become very successful in darts with a certain amount of natural talent and comparatively little effort."

Added to that is the sport’s economic development. "The prize money keeps increasing. Gerwyn Price is the world number seven and earns an incredible amount of money—far more than he ever did playing rugby. That naturally creates the risk that, even as world number seven, you're already wealthy. At some point, you might lose the drive to ask yourself, 'Why do I absolutely have to become world number one?' Maybe that's simply part of his personality—being content with what he has. That could be one of the reasons why he has never quite joined the elite tier occupied by players like Michael van Gerwen or Luke Littler."

Despite all the debate, Hempel isn’t overly worried about Price from a sporting perspective. "He's not playing badly at all. He's just not getting the results right now. His game isn't in a bad place—he's simply missing that major title."

Paulke still views the coming months as decisive. "He's playing very little at the moment. Now I'm curious to see whether he can turn things around. Can he fix it? Can he get back to enjoying tournaments? If he can't, he won't be successful. At some point, you have to get your head back in order."

Hempel, by contrast, believes Price is mainly focusing on the second half of the season.

"For him—as for all the top players—the second half of the year is much more important than the first. The UK Open and the World Cup of Darts are great titles, but most players are far more motivated by the World Grand Prix, the World Matchplay, and, of course, the World Championship. Price's motivational slump usually comes during the first half of the year, before he starts preparing for the tournaments that really matter."

Paulke remains cautious, though. "I'm not entirely convinced. Sure, he's been through phases like this before and has always managed to come back. But right now, I genuinely get the impression that he's struggling with motivation and finding it difficult to maintain the level of discipline that's required."