Darts star nearly retired due to emotional battle with dartitis

Scott Williams conceded he considered walking away from darts due to his struggles with dartitis.

However, a conversation with fellow pro Nathan Aspinall ensured ‘Shaggy’ got through the physical and emotional toils.

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Dartitis is described as a psychological condition where a player is unable to throw their dart.

It is an issue that has affected several stars at all ends of the rankings, including Aspinall, who has been especially vocal about the negative impact it has had on his game.

So when Williams was going through his own battle with dartitis, Aspinall was all too happy to share some words of wisdom.

Aspinall’s key role in helping Williams overcome dartitis

“Nath came to me,” Williams told Online Darts.

“He was going back through it and we were in Leicester. We both lost in the first round. There was a football match and he was off to watch it.

“He shared with me in the lobby, me and him were chatting to 15, 20 minutes. I had a couple of my friends there as well.”

Following his chat with Aspinall, Williams then undertook hypnotherapy, a technique used to great effect by ‘The Asp’ and Stephen Bunting.

However, ‘Shaggy’ struggled to make hypnotherapy work for himself.

“For me personally, I just didn’t let my head go, ‘This could work,’ so I stopped doing that,” Williams added.

“I got through it myself and we’ll see how the next two or three months go.”

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Williams’ ability to continue through the storm of dartitis has been all the more impressive given he was ready to walk away from the sport altogether.

Williams: Dartitis hit me so hard, I ‘burst into tears’ after a game

When asked if that was the case at the lowest point of his battle and if it made him consider retirement, Williams replied: “Oh, hell yeah.”

Such was the extent of Williams’ dartitis woes, he even cried at a Players Championship event in February.

“I beat Tyler Thorpe,” Williams said.

“I had five bull checkouts. I hit five bull checkouts against him and I just walked away. Because I was struggling so hard, I just walked away, sat down and I just burst into tears.

“I don’t know why I was doing it and I don’t know how it happened. I just got so emotional.

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“I played Andrew Gilding the next day. First game, I lost 6-4. I could have won that 6-0, easily. Again, I burst out crying because it was so tough.

“The thing that I love nearly as much as my family and football has caused me so much pain.”