McGeeney had to learn how to throw again after dramatic weight loss: "I lost my balance, my fingers shrunk"

Well documented during COVID-19 was Mark McGeeney's dramatic weight loss with seven stone coming off 'Gladiator' which led to form struggles and eventually losing his PDC Tour Card.

But speaking to Phil Lanning for Unicorn, he admits it did more than that as he had to learn to play again.

"I lost seven and a half stone, dropping from 20 to 13 stone," said McGeeney to Unicorn Darts.

“It made a massive difference to my throw. I lost my balance, my fingers shrunk.

“Unicorn had to make me new darts, I’ve had to re-learn the entire game again.

“I’ve now got a slightly heavier dart but the entire grip changed, they have completely re-designed my darts by making them thinner to fit my fingers.”

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Now the goal is to return to Q-School next year and seal his Tour Card and a return to the ProTour.

“I’ve been practising really hard and doing the Challenge Tour, it didn’t go according to plan to start with but has improved. But I hadn’t been playing much since January.

“I’m slowly getting back into it and the aim is to get my PDC Tour Card back in Q School in early 2023.

“There’s four more Challenge Tour events to come. I’ve also got the Online Darts League plus a local league which also helps me get more watch practice.

“There’s a bit of luck involved at Q School. In January three of the games I lost I wired a dart to win the match. If I’d won those matches I would have won by Tour Card back.

“The aim is to get back to where I was but with a little bit more improvement.

“In my first year in the PDC I did really well. I got to the Players Championship and to the World Championship at the Ally Pally. But I need to improve further.”