Van Duivenbode on decision to leave PDC Tour early: “Ideally you want to invest 100 percent time and energy in it, but that was just not possible”
PDCFriday, 14 August 2020 at 08:00
We will not see Mike van Duivenbode appear on the oche in the coming months. The Dutchman is struggling with severe cramps in his neck, shoulder and arm and has decided to stay away for a while.
The issues started for Van Duivenbode three years ago. “It went great and I was really about to make it”, he says in an interview with RTL7 Darts. “But from one day to the next I developed dartitis. I fell after my dart. It was a very bad period. That dartitis lasted almost two years. In addition, I also got stiff, tense muscles and cramps in my neck, right shoulder and right arm. But I didn't want to give up. ”
“At one point I got rid of my dartitis. That was just before I won my Tour Card ”, Van Duivenbode continues. “But the burden of my muscles remained. It wasn't really pain, but after an hour I was completely gone. ”
The 21-year-old Dutchman sought help from physio's, psychologists and doctors. “But after some conversations and thinking for myself, I think it is because there were continuous cramps in my body during the dartitis. I think it originated there. And that never passed. ”
All those problems eventually took the fun out of it for 'The Pigeon'. “After every game I felt that I could have performed better than I had. Purely because you are hindered physically, and that also applies mentally. You know that you are playing under your abilities, below your previous level. That is very frustrating. Ideally you want to invest 100 percent time and energy in it, but that was just not possible”, he says.
After the Summer Series, Van Duivenbode made a drastic decision. “I have had so much trouble. Then I realized that I can never keep this up. At some point you come to a point where you've tried everything and you realize that it won't get better as long as I keep playing darts. ”
No goodbyes
However, Van Duivenbode does not consider this a definitive farewell to darts. “I keep the options open. I don't want to leave a mark on a date, ”he says. “I won't be playing for the rest of the year, no competition, no training, nothing at all. And then at the end of this season, around December, I want to see if there is any improvement. If that is not the case, I will just wait a little longer. ”
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