Scott Williams has opened up about his recent battles with dartitis, suggesting that the mental pressure from a ranking drop last year may be a contributing factor. The Englishman, currently world number 44, saw significant ranking money fall away at the end of the season and believes this could have triggered the performance anxiety that manifests physically at the oche.
Williams, nicknamed 'Shaggy', first encountered the issue prominently in October during a Players Championship match against Ryan Joyce, where footage showed him struggling to release his dart—a classic symptom of dartitis. On the Jaackmaate podcast, he described it as "a state of mind where you can’t release a dart properly. It’s like a sports anxiety, performance anxiety. In your head you feel like you’re not good enough or you are not playing well enough, and then that portrays onto your body." He also referenced a video that circulated on social media, confirming the struggle was genuine and not him "messing about."
The problem typically strikes just before he commits to his throw. "Just before I would bring my arm back to propel the dart forward, it wouldn’t let me. So I could feel my body and shoulder going before my arm. As I did, you release it really late, so it drops and then it looks awful. And it feels horrible," Williams explained. Despite the challenges, he noted that the issue can disappear suddenly, adding, "I have been fine this week and was fine last week. I have a little yip here and there. Other than that, it is fine."
Acknowledging the potential psychological link, Williams stated, "At the end of last year, I had a lot of money coming off my rankings. Even in my head, I will tell you that is not the reason it happened. But a psychologist will tell me otherwise." His recent form saw him exit the UK Open in Minehead last weekend in the third round after a 6-4 defeat to Slovenian Benjamin Pratnemer.
