Arrowsmith turned wordsmith puts pen to paper on well recieved autobiography:
Christmas is the time of year for plenty of things, not least the litany of autobiography and memoir releases. But one new book this year certainly caught the eye more than others. Dave ‘Ladders’ Ladley has been a regular on the darts circuit for well over twenty years, but has recently turned his hands to writing through the release of a new autobiography, Ladders to Climb.
The book regales not only his oche story but his life story too, chronicling his family background and introduction to the sport as well as his several darting experiences. But what encouraged Dave to put pen to paper on a memoir, often only the domain of the biggest stars and even bigger publishers?
“It is something I always wanted to do,” Dave told me as we spoke via Zoom. “After my Dad died, I spent quite a lot of time going down to visit his grave. I realised how at some point all the people buried around him had crossed paths with me and my family and I didn’t want those stories and connections to be lost.”
“My hope is for the book to leave a testament to my time in darts for generations of my family to come and that way my memory can stay around forever. I just wasn’t sure when to start it, as it is often something you do when your career is over, though mine is far from done! But you never know how your memory might decline, so now was definitely the time.”
“I also found out whilst doing the book that I am going to be a grandad, so I have dedicated one copy to my grandchild!”
A more commercial release was not however the original intention of ‘Ladders’.
“Originally it was just going to be a book for my family, but when I spoke to a guy called Dave Taylor who had done a book on darts in Hull, he encouraged me to widen it out,”
Ladley explained. “He thought I had a story worth publishing….I gauged interest on Facebook and received responses from over a hundred people, so I decided to print more copies and ended up with an eventual batch of 350.”
The process of writing for Dave was quite a methodical one, involving laying out a contents page before detailing sheets of paper with all the necessary for each chapter and section. It was then that the 48-year-old put fingers to keyboard and began to type out the book, which at just over 300 pages and a 1.5 spacing is eminently readable even for those less bookish amongst us.
It also spans a period in which the game of darts has transformed almost beyond recognition, a change which Dave identifies both in the book and his own experiences.
“It even comes down to the equipment,” he suggested. “I was at a tournament last night and people were complaining about the boards. If they had played when I had started in the 1980s, they would have found things very different!
Each board had a round wire and there were several bounceouts. There was no variation in points, you either had a long one if it was new or a short one if it was well used!”
For those who know Dave exclusively as a darts player, it also offers lots of insight on his earlier life, and Ladley certainly has high hopes that it is a story which will resonate.
“One of the people I got to proofread was the ADC’s Simon Rimington, and after he had read the first few chapters, he told me he was really enthralled in the story. That definitely gave me a lot of confidence in how the book would be received.”
The autobiography may by its nature be a retrospective, but it is also one which looks to the future. And Dave is optimistic that his darts is going only in the right direction. “I do like to think I am one of the better players in the world, perhaps not at the very elite but certainly in the top end.
Lots of things have to click: attitude, talent, being able to play under pressure. I have most of that in order.”
Our conversation also turned to the young star Luke Littler, who Ladley thinks benefits from a lack of “scar tissue”. But unlike the 16-year-old wonderkid, Dave also has several other considerations.
“I am playing better now than I ever have, it is just that the rest of the circuit has improved as well! I played about 40 legs on Wednesday, had a first 9 average over 100 and an average across the night of 92. That sort of average would have taken me a lot further 15 or 20 years ago but now it won’t even get you past the first round of a PDC event,” Ladley observed.
“I try to manage my time a lot better now. I still have quite a young family so it is important for me to be around for them too. That is why I am not going to play in the Challenge Tour or Q-School as the midweek dates on the Pro Tour just don’t align with all of that. I don’t want to take that gamble, particularly when I still have a mortgage to pay off.”
“I am going to Las Vegas in January for the WDF events and will prepare for that how I always prepare. If it doesn’t go too well, I still have plenty more events lined up. The real target for me now though is to qualify for the WDF World Championship at the Lakeside, as well as to retain my England spot.
I’d also like to get involved in Modus at some point, but the Vault events require a lot of time and commitment. It is all a balance for me now to look after my health and family.”
That is what shines through both in Dave’s writing and how he sees his career. It is not a pursuit of aims at all costs, but instead one which balances that with his health and family priorities. It is certainly a far more realistic reflection than many leading sports stars would offer.
One anecdote sticks out for Ladley in the writing of the book which helps to emphasise this.
“There is a part in the book where I come home late after a fallout at work. I had to miss my daughter’s birthday and she was quite upset. She is now 9 or 10 and she came in to listen to the story as I was describing it and started crying too. But I was also glad she was able to hear that story as I handed in my notice at work at the time. Family has to come first. After all, you can get another job but not another family.”
Dave’s book is available via eBay or directly through social media. You can contact Dave on X/Twitter at @DaveLadley.
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