Michael Smith has been advised to choose his events wisely in 2025 to regain his best form.
That includes skipping this year’s Premier League in favour of more beneficial tournaments to his world ranking.
‘Bully Boy’ has plummeted to 16th in the PDC Order of Merit following his second-round exit at the World Darts Championship.
It follows just two event wins in 2024, with one coming at the World Cup of Darts alongside Luke Humphries.
An impressive Premier League campaign would not impact his position, though, with the tournament a non-ranking event.
Instead, Smith has been told to copy Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods’ approach to their golf schedule in the coming months.
Ex-major winner Paul Nicholson told talkSPORT: “I’ve never questioned Michael Smith’s work ethic ever. And I never will. But I think he does.
“So if he’s not putting in the work and he’s not going to enough tournaments or the right ones, which are ranked, because you could, if you’re world champion, you can go to the World Series, you can go to the Premier League and you can go to World Series finals and win a whole lot of money.
“But if it’s not in your ranking, you’re going to find yourself in a position where you’re not in the Matchplay.
“Think about Johnny Clayton. When he won the Masters, the Premier League, World Series finals, none of those were ranked.
“It was the same for Luke Littler. Won the Premier League, won the World Series finals. That’s what, 350 grand in non-ranking money? He had to win the Grand Slam to get in the top four. If he didn’t, he was going to be someone in the fringes of the top 16.
“You’ve got to be crafty in that regard. I actually think this is a good thing for Michael Smith because I think this is a chance for him to re-establish a time away from the Premier League, because I don’t think he should be in it.
“Do a calendar for the year well in advance and say, ‘I’m going to these definitely’. Just leave a few with an asterisk against them. ‘I’ll go to these if I need to go to these’.
“This is how golfers prepare their seasons. When does Rory (McIlroy) ever play more than three weeks in a row? If he has to, that’s it. End of story.
“When does Tiger start his season? At the Farmers Insurance Open. Why? Because he wants to make sure he’s prepped for the season and he will cherry-pick everything.
“This is what dart players are going to have to do now. This has come at the right time for Michael because of 34 Players’ Championships in 2025, 14 European Tours, no guarantee of Matchplay, get the schedule right, get the work ethic right and I have every faith that the top ten will be his again.”
The line-up for the 2025 Premier League will be confirmed on Monday 6 January at 4:30pm.
Humphries, who finished runner-up last year, will be included as the world no.1 alongside defending champion Luke Littler.
The top four on the Order of Merit are guaranteed spots as part of an unwritten PDC rule, with Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross also assured of their involvement.
World no.5 Stephen Bunting’s fan favourite status looks set to see him in along with former world champion Gerwyn Price.
However, the final two names on the eight-player line-up remain up in the air.
Smith is amongst the favourites to make the cut in a three-horse race with Nathan Aspinall and Damon Heta.
The 2023 world champion reached the semi-finals last year but as never won a Premier League title.
Meanwhile, outsiders for the remaining spots include Callan Rydz, Chris Dobey and Peter Wright off the back of their impressive runs at Alexandra Palace.
World Grand Prix winner Mike De Decker has also been tipped for a berth, as have highly ranked pair Dave Chisnall and Gary Anderson.
The 2025 Premier League gets underway in Belfast on February 6, with 16 weekly events before the finals night in London on May 29.