Pro Player's Strengths and Weaknesses

Degag

Just thinking about this tonight. What do you think are the main strengths and weaqknesses regarding Pro Players? I'd like to go through just the Premier League Players for now, but this thread is open to all players.

Phil Taylor

I can only think of a few weakness' with this man, that is that if he comes under pressure - which is not often - he can seem to struggle, at least compared to his usual standard. The other small weakness is tournaments with double starts, he has lost a few tournaments - usually in Dublin! - when he has to play this way. Also, when he has to play over short distances, he can struggle.

James Wade

I'm not a huge fan of this man, often he doesn't seem totally concentrated on the task at hand and i think this affects him badly. An in-form Wade is very hard to beat, but when he is off form, he can struggle to get into the 90's in average. He is a fantastic scorer and finisher in general but i feel sometimes that he is too dependant on finishing on d20 or d10. I'm not sure if others have picked up on this, but he is very wary of finishing on other than this. This affects him because if he ends up on d5, he is wary of leaving himself on a bogey. Just wath next time and see how often this happens.

Terry Jenkins

I don't really have too much to say about Terry, he is a very solid player, perhaps too solid. It is rare that you see Jenkins in the 100s or the late 80s to early 90s. He is, by distinction a 95-100 average player which obviously makes him a very good player, but perhaps not one capable of great success.

Mervyn King

A really fantastic player imo. Great scorer, finisher and capable of big finishes also. I find it difficult to find faults with him.

Raymond van Barnevald

Wow, what has gone wrong with Barney? 3 years ago he was an equal of Taylor - well at least a match for him - It looks like he has no interest for the game anymore. There is nothing profoundly wrong with his game - he is still a great finisher and scorer - but on current form, he is the weakest player in the Premier League. Without a seconds notice, that can change though. Form fluctuates, Ability does not.

Simon Whitlock

Great Scorer, Even better Finisher. There is not many better finishers of a game other than Whitlock. When he is under 170, you feel that he is more than capable of checking out. His main weakness IMO is that he often misses big numbers. Often it happens that he can be on 220 -250 and not leave himself on some sort of finish - it seems to happen more often than to other players - Often when going for eg, t18, he can hit big 4 etc. I actually think this is about the only flaw in his game, and would imagine it shouldn't be too difficult to sort out.

Adrian Lewis

Lewis is a great talent no doubt, but regardless of averaging 105 or 110, he is not of Taylor's level or indeed of Wade, Whitlock or King's either. It doesn't make sense to me that he can average 104 and lose 4 or 5 nil to Taylor while others can give him more than a game. I understand that this can happen, but it shouldn't happen on such a regular basis to Lewis. I think he will be a World Champion - possibly multiple times - but there are still fundamentals that he needs to learn.

Ronnie Baxter

Ronnie has few faults. He doesn't get upset if he is losing, nor does he seem to get complacent if he is winning. A good scorer and finisher, he is far imprved than a few years ago when he fell far out of the top 10 i think.



Longest post ever i'd say, i welcome your opinions and i hope ye post ye're own opinions on these players aswell as other players. I might get around to others such as van Gerwan, Tabern, Hankey, Fitton, Part etc some other day.

dartsfan

These are just my thoughts on 2 for starters. More to come too

Phil Taylor
His aura is undoubtedly a strength, many players are beaten before they even step on stage. Also, he's never beaten until the last dart is in, have seen him come back from the dead so many times.
His counting is a definite weakness, leaves himself on bogies loads of times, I guess he's just not bothered because he knows the capability of his scoring. Still...surprising that a supposed practice perfectionist wouldn't work on this aspect of his game

Mervyn King
He's said before his game is all about peaks and troughs, when he's on fire he's capable of beating anyone, other days it just doesn't happen. Look at the Players Championship, never got going in the final. However, this brings me on to a possible weakness, he's never really got going in any of the big finals he's participated in and maybe there's psychological pressure here that he puts on himself. He also comes across as the ultimate professional in his approach to the game.

whaaames

Phil Taylor
Too many strengths to bother listing, not many weaknesses but as has been said sometimes counting can be a problem for him, i’ve seen him umpteen times leave himself on a bogey from not stopping to think but then again most of the time he’d be 120 - 150 points ahead so it wouldn’t matter that much. And even though it’s very small and not much of a weakness he seems more comfortable and more confident going for a double when its on the end of a combination finish than stepping up with 3 darts in his hand, he seems to hit more anyway.

James Wade
Really heavy scorer and plays well when in the lead but beats himself up too much, riddled with talent but when it’s not going him way in the first 2 sets/ 6-8 legs he dips the head a bit. Remember his world quarter final against Paul Nicholson, dreadful match, and wade was capable of at least 20 points on top of his average but never got going because he dropped the head, but in the next game against Barney he was on fire, didn’t win but was magic compared to the night before.
Also his attitude bothers me a bit, acts like he doesn’t want to be at some tournaments and he’s capable of winning most.

Terry Jenkins
Have a lot of time for Terry, unlucky not to win at least one TV title after all his finals but that’s where he’s worth his weight in gold; his attitude. Doesn’t really get annoyed with himself or give up on himself and never beaten until the end.
He doesn’t however (IMO) have a killer instinct, when he’s ahead he doesn’t turn the screw enough and put players away and he’s been pipped in games over it, a bit too nice, but a brilliant player and decent counter.

Mervyn King
Pantomime villain! Good when he’s good, heavy scorer, good finisher, solid 95+ averages but I cant put my finger on it why he wont ever be world champion (and the reason isn’t Phil Taylor). He seems to over do it in finals or latter stages of TV tournaments, like he throws very fluently and relaxed early doors but semi finals and finals and he looks like he’s trying and forcing it too much. Pity because he’s class and should settle down a bit.

Raymond van Barneveld
Massive scorer, ruthless finished on song, canes the treble like its broken the law when on form but in the last 12-18 months he’s completely (a) lost interest, (b) got bored or (c) realised he’ll never be Phil Taylor, which is rubbish considering his talent. I think his biggest problem is his hunt for perfection; the changing darts, the ear buds, the Zen Guru’s and all that gick. If he stopped worrying about the peripherals around his game, and just relaxed and threw darts again he’d be flying.

Simon Whitlock
Good attitude, great approach and good professional attitude towards big games, lets very little phase him and doesn’t seem to get overawed by big occasions (although he didn’t seem to turn up on the premier league opener) but I have a feeling that if he doesn’t win something in the first 12-18 months he’ll lose interest, I don’t know why, and I’m probably wrong but he seems like a big game player and if a lot of them don’t coma along he might zone out a bit.

Adrian Lewis
Great scorer, lovely rhythm but he’s so hot and cold it’s unbelievable, hopefully he’s coming of age a bit now and that’s starting to average out but I always said about Lewis that he’s just as likely to get beaten 5-0 as he is to cane somebody 5-0, you never know what Lewis will turn up, but with his averages in the world championship and his league form so far i’m starting to think maybe this could be the start of something from Ady.

Ronnie Baxter
Solid mid 90s averages throughout his career, great floor player, unlucky not to win the 98 match play, unlucky not to win at least 1 Lakeside title and probably the biggest underachiever with his level of talent, always seemed to under perform at the TV tournaments but still an serious competitor. Can be a beefy scorer and much better when involved in a fast paced match; it always seems he plays better when playing someone who throws at his kind of pace. Good attitude though and glad to see him back throwing well.

stylie

Phil Taylor

I have noticed him ask what he has left more then other pros, he probably coutning the treble treble finished and is surprised when its a big single. I think he is weaker on D16 and D8 then any other double. Also the barrels on the 26grams he is using seem to be stopping him getting more 180's then he should.

James Wade

Attiude and personality, I hate his pause and look at the side of the darts when he misses, its like he cant believe the caller and the crowd got it wrong and does a double take himself, the guys a pr1ck.

Terry Jenkins

Doesnt seem to have any edge, you know what to expect from him really.

Mervyn King

The ear plugs suggest he has a problem with the crowds but his game seems really sound and I think he is going to beat Taylor in a televised event this year.

Raymond van Barnevald
Seriously doubting and second guessing himself, you cant do that at the top level of any sport and expect to survive, others players know this and are playing more relaxed and better than normal against him.

Simon Whitlock

Too many visits where he doest hit a treble, big scores followed by little scores are killing him. Fantastic counter, starts thinking about finishes very far out, i think I remember him using 2*T18 in the worlds from about 300 + to leave 170.

Adrian Lewis

Talent is there, but not the brains, another Ronnie O Sullivan.

Ronnie Baxter

He is playing well at the moment, but sometimes to aware of where he is and who he is playing. Still think he is too fast.

Degag

stylie wrote: »

Adrian Lewis

Talent is there, but not the brains, another Ronnie O Sullivan.

I think that the 3 time World Champion and current World No. 1 could take offence to that!

I understand where you are coming from though.