Clarys doesn't think Whitlock's dart points should be banned: "He's not the only one who plays with such points"

Simon Whitlock is regularly labeled the nightmare of every darts board. The Wizard uses darts with coarse points because they stick better in the board. After a few legs, the board is in a lot of disarray.

The website Sporza consulted ex-pro Erik Clarys. "Whitlock's points are just extremely coarse. Moreover, he throws very tight, so they remain deep and tight in the board. If you then pull the darts straight out of the board like Whitlock does, you take all the fibers with you. That's what causes the damage," says Clarys, who nowadays provides the co-commentary during darts matches on the Belgian channel VTM2.

Not consistent

There were already suggestions on social media that Whitlock's arrows should be banned. ‘Getting bored about hearing my points damage the boards; the problem is the boards are too inconsistent soft/hard/soft', he stated on Twitter.

He then suggested to improve the dart boards. 'Give me decent boards and I’ll adapt my points to suit - many players use adapted points not just me.’

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Whitlock replies to criticism regarding dart points: ‘Give me decent boards and I’ll adapt my points to suit’

Clarys also doesn't think Whitlock's arrows should be banned. "Because should he patiently spin his darts out of the board, there would undoubtedly be comments as well that it takes too long. Besides, he's not the only one who plays with such points. Fallon Sherrock uses them too. Only she doesn't throw as hard and so the damage is much less."

Same effect

Still, Clarys would not recommend that everyone suddenly starts tinkering with their darts now. "Nowadays there are so many good points on the market... Even with lasered notches. They're not as coarse as Whitlock's, but they have the same effect."