Ryan Joyce broke into the top 32 of the world rankings last year for the first time in his career. Thanks in part to a semifinal place at the World Grand Prix and reaching the last 16 at the Grand Slam of Darts, he is currently ranked 29th. And that need not be the endpoint for the 39-year-old Englishman.
Joyce himself says he should have been further along in his career. “I’ve been very lazy, very complacent,” admitted 'Relentless' in quotes collected by Mirror Sport. “I’ve been very comfortable in the position I’m in. It’s been hard to motivate myself, to push myself further. I’ve struggled with that for a few years now. It was like, 'I’m in that position between 40 and 32, I’m making £100,000 a year without practising very hard, without travelling to European Tour events [Joyce has a fear flying]'. In my head, that was enough for me.”
Self-confidence has also been a problem for the 39-year-old, but advice from former Premier League Darts winner Glen Durrant is helping him in that regard. “Since I had a chat with Duzza [Durrant], I’ve got that desire back, because I’d lost it a little bit,” Joyce explains. “I had fallen out of love with it a little bit and was thinking, ‘I’m never going to be any better than what I am, I’m not going to get in the top 32, I’m not good enough’. But he’s given me an extra bit of belief and made me realise I actually am good at darts and that I can do better. Now I’ve got to go out and prove it over the next 12 months."
“Before I get too old and too unfit, I’m going to really try and push myself and see how far I can actually go. That’s why I’ve gone to speak to people like Glen, fitness coaches, dieticians," he concludes. “This next 12 months is going to be huge for me. I’m going to try and sort things out and make sure my mindset is right for being a top player in this sport. In any sport, you get out of it what you put in and I’m going to hammer the practice board. Talent can take you so far but if you want to be the best, you’ve got to put the hard work in. I feel like I haven’t done that as much as I should have.”
By the way, Joyce failed to qualify for the main stage of the Winmau World Masters yesterday. In the penultimate round of the qualifying tournament, he went down 2-0 against Florian Hempel.
Jermaine Wattimena, Cameron Menzies and Kevin Doets were amongst the eight players to come through the 2025 Winmau World Masters Preliminary Rounds in Milton Keynes on Wednesday.
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 29, 2025
Round-up & Results from Wednesday's action in Milton Keynes! 📝