Rusty-Jake Rodriguez sees daily training as counterproductive: "Standing at the board every day doesn't help at all"

Rodriguez did average 106.54 during the previous Development Tour weekend, but overall he is somewhat disappointed with how the season is going so far.

His training mainly takes place together with compatriot Mensur Suljovic. "I take the time every Tuesday and Thursday to train with Mensur. Those are fixed days on which we train together. I sometimes need someone to push me and play together with Mensur, that also pushes me."

“At the end of last year I commentated for DAZN and promised Elmar Paulke (German darts presenter) that I would train more and I am doing that now,” continued RJR#3. "I kept my promise. The averages come naturally when you train and so I'm just making my hours."

But in addition to training, private life is very important for the young Austrian. In his opinion, this is much more effective for mental strength than daily training: "Once I'm in Austria, I'd rather isolate myself from darts. Don't see or touch darts. Except on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's really hard to make a living. when you're on the road all day."

"For that you have to make the best of it. Do something with my girlfriend when I'm in Austria or with friends, so that next time you just have a clear head. Although I'm only 22 years old, I already have a lot of family birthdays and missed friends. That's life, that's how I chose it. Now I've just seen that people are behind it and that you just have to do what you want to do to be strong."

"Being at the board every day doesn't help at all, I think, because there are days when you think things are going well. Then you know that the form is there for the next tournament. But for the same thing, after that you have a bad training day. Which days do you stick to? The good or the bad? That's another mental story. I had this problem a few years ago when I was training every day. I didn't know what to hang on to. Where to played well or where I played badly? So I just make sure I train on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's been that way for a while and I'm enjoying it for the time being," Rodriguez concluded.