Dartitis

DARTBOOM KNOWLEDGE · HEALTH & TECHNIQUE

At a glance

Dartitis isn't a form dip that passes with a bit of practice. It's a disruption of motor control at the release point of the throw – hand, wrist, or arm simply stop obeying at the decisive moment, comparable to the "yips" in golf. The term was coined in 1981, affects amateurs and world champions alike, and still has no guaranteed cure – only individual ways of coping better with it.

What is dartitis?

Dartitis describes a state of nervous tension that stops a player releasing the dart at the right moment. The term was coined in Darts World magazine in 1981 and officially entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2007 – a dedicated word for a phenomenon that had existed in sport long before.

Medical professionals classify dartitis as a form of focal dystonia: a neurological movement disorder involving involuntary muscle contractions, triggered by exactly the highly trained, automatic movement that's supposed to deliver precision. The same pattern is known from musicians (writer's cramp, "musician's dystonia") and from golf, where it's called "the yips".

The cause still isn't fully understood. Research points to irregularities in the basal ganglia, a brain region responsible for automated movement sequences. One leading theory: when a player feels they can no longer meet the demands of the situation, that can trigger an anxiety response that takes on a life of its own and becomes chronic – a physical-and-mental interplay, not purely a mental block.

Symptoms

Dartitis shows up with varying severity – from a brief hesitation to a complete block:

The dart won't release – some players report a delay of 30 seconds to a minute per throw.
The arm "locks" mid-motion and can't be brought forward.
Involuntary muscle cramps or twitches in the hand and wrist.
The grip slips uncontrollably during acceleration.
The dart lands completely unpredictably on the board despite normal technique.
Over a long course: sleep problems, exhaustion, concentration issues, low mood.

Causes: what's being discussed

There's no single proven cause – but several theories, none of which rule the others out:

Consciously interfering with a movement that's normally automatic – mostly in experienced players who start thinking about the throw instead of through it.
Psychological pressure: the feeling of not meeting a situation's demands can trigger an anxiety response that becomes chronic.
Too many rigid fixed points in technique, especially when switching between different throwing styles (a theory from dartbase.com founder Karlheinz Zöchling).
Neurological factors around the basal ganglia, similar to focal dystonia in other sports and among musicians.

Known cases

Dartitis doesn't only hit amateurs – world-class players have spoken about it publicly too:

Eric Bristow

late 1980s

The five-time world champion developed severe dartitis at the peak of his career and never fully regained his old level afterwards.

Mark Walsh, Kevin Painter, Mark Webster

various years

Several PDC pros have publicly battled spells of dartitis, with varying success in their comebacks.

Nathan Aspinall

since 2023

The Premier League player described a blackout moment against Peter Wright: "I couldn't throw my effing dart." With the help of a sports psychologist and mental techniques – including looking at photos of his children before throwing – he has learned to manage it.

What helps?

There's no universal cure – but three approaches that keep coming up in practice:

Mental

Relaxation techniques and meditation
Working with a sports psychologist
Hypnosis
Deliberately lowering expectations short-term
Not thinking about the mechanics of the throw

Physical & technical

"Ghost throws": practicing the motion without releasing
Throwing a table-tennis ball against a wall and catching it
Using lighter darts
Throwing with your eyes closed
Training with your non-dominant hand
Physiotherapy for physical blocks

Around it all

Taking extended breaks (weeks to months)
Practicing in a low-pressure environment
Reducing repetitive triggering movements

Important: there's no universal solution. What helps one player can do nothing for another – most sufferers describe a longer process of trial and error.

Dartitis or slump? Two different things

A performance crash (slump) is a normal, temporary stage of development that practically every serious player goes through and that resolves on its own with time, practice, and experience. Dartitis, on the other hand, is a rare, often years-long or even career-ending disruption of motor control – a matter of the nervous system, not of training level. Both feel like "getting worse", but need completely different responses.

Further sources

Research on the definition, causes, and first-hand accounts around dartitis – for further reading and context.

dartbase.comFAQ: DartitisFirst-hand accounts, symptoms, and early theories straight from players, collected by dartbase.com founder Karlheinz Zöchling.en.wikipedia.orgDartitisBackground, the medical framing as focal dystonia, and known sufferers.patrickchaplin.comDarts History: The Darts "Yips" – DartitisThe official darts historian on the history of the term since 1981, including quotes from Eric Bristow.darthelp.comWhat Is Dartitis? (and How To Overcome It!)A practical guide with concrete exercises, from ghost throws to hypnosis.thedartsforum.comDartitis aka the "Yips"... is there a cure?A community discussion among real players: causes, experiences, and what actually helped in individual cases.sportbible.comNathan Aspinall candidly opens up on battle with dartitisA current example: how a PDC top player has been managing dartitis since 2023 – and what helps him.