Inside darts’ hidden downside: The reality about Dartitis, the gamers who’ve struggled with the problem and whether or not sufficient is being completed to deal with it

It was October 29, a little over two months ago, when former World Darts Championship semi-finalist Scott Williams stepped up to face Ryan Joyce at Players Championship 33.

Joyce would prevail that day, but the talk after the game was about Williams. The Brit had struggled to release his darts throughout the game, and revealed after that he had been struggling with Dartitis.

‘I’d had it for a month prior to that video with Ryan Joyce but no one saw it,’ Williams said after his win over Paolo Nebrida in the first round of this year’s World Championship.

‘As soon as it came on and it was out there people texted me treating it like it was cancer.

‘I’m OK, I’m fine and I’m going to get over it.’

Dartitis, as it is aptly named, is a condition that sees darts players struggle to release the dart – for one reason or another. Those reasons include the desire to be perfect, performance anxiety, and a neurological response which sees the hand freeze.

World Darts Championship runner-up Gian van Veen detailed his struggled with darts’ hidden problem, Dartitis

Williams already seems to be in a better place in regards to his struggles, but he’s not the only one who has dealt with the issue at the top level of the game.

Nathan Aspianll has been battling it since 2023. New hotshot Beau Greaves has also experienced it. Icon Eric Bristow did too. ‘I struggled with Dartitis for years’: The words of World Darts Championship finalist Gian Van Veen after his semi-final win over Gary Anderson.

Those players all, at least somewhat, managed to prevail.

That’s not always the case. Just ask Mark Webster or Berry van Peer. It can ruin careers, and not much is being done to tackle the issue.

‘I swapped hands so I don’t think I’ll go back right handed,’ darts influencer The Darts Referee – real name Jack – tells Daily Mail Sport of his struggles. ‘I have had no issues left-handed and hopefully that stays how it is or I’ll have to start using my feet or something.

‘If I try and go back to my right, it’s still there enough that I’m not comfortable enough playing.

‘I don’t think anyone fully understands what it is. It’s like performance anxiety. From what I’ve been told, I am trying too hard to be perfect and, when I’m not, my brain won’t let me throw the dart. My arm is trying to throw and my brain isn’t letting me.’

From the outside looking in, Dartitis is a curious issue. Just let go of the dart, right? It can’t be that hard.

It’s hard to comprehend for someone who hasn’t struggled with it. But the issue is very real. It impacts players’ performance – and, thus, careers, livelihoods, prize money, and lives period.

‘The biggest thing about having it isn’t not being able to throw, but it was embarrassing,’ Jack continues. ‘You didn’t want to play because you knew they were behind you.

‘If they didn’t understand, they were thinking, “what is this idiot doing?” Or I would be conscious I was letting my team down. There was one incident where I threw the dart near the chalker and I was now a threat and putting people in danger.’

Players have worked with psychologists but there is no such cure and it doesn’t feel like it’s close.

Again, players have battled through it. Van Veen was keen to mention his battle again after the World Championship final at the weekend, which saw him pocket £400,000 and move up to No3 in the world after defeat by Luke Littler.

Aspinall, meanwhile, is a two-time World Championship semi-finalist, a World Matchplay and UK Open champion, and his struggles still flare up from time to time now.

‘There are a lot of kids who are feeling pressure from parents and clubs to do better and then it can kick in,’ Jack says. ‘But also on the other side, people blame a bad patch on Dartitis. It can be an easy out to say you have it.

‘The awareness needs to be there, but people need to stop blaming dips in form on it.’

Nathan Aspinall (pictured) and Scott Williams are other players who have battled Dartitis

Maybe the awareness is increasing. But there’s such a lack of understanding of what Dartitis truly is that the fear of getting it is there and therefore comes confusion over what is actually is.

No one seems to have the answers right now. It’s unclear if they will ever come. But Dartitis is a rising issue. And it’s important people understand.