Colin Lloyd urges Luke Humphries to take break from social media amidst darting burnout: "The PDC have got to be a bit worried as well here"

After world number one Luke Humphries recent admission that he feels fatigued by the relentless nature of the current darting calendar, stars from past and present continue to weigh in on the debate and answer the question if there is simply too much darts at the moment?

“When I’m up on stage I am just feeling emotionless," said Humphries at the recent International Darts Open, where he reached the semi-finals. "It’s weird and it’s me being honest to all the fans. I feel like my emotions are just all over the place. It’s not that I don’t want to be here — it just seems a chore for me at the moment. It’s just too much darts. I’m playing too much. I think I need a break. I’m emotionless and it is not good for my mental state. The emotion was drained from there. Usually, I have the fight in me."

"He's always been someone that supports the Tour for it all," begins the assessment of former world number one and World Matchplay champion Colin Lloyd in conversation with TalkSport. "Maybe it is time for him now to sit down and have a chat with his management team at MODUS, and have a different gameplan. Skip a couple of events, not the big TV events and do like Michael van Gerwen does and just spend some time with your family."

Read also

Luke Humphries backing down due to criticism sets potential dangerous precedent: "We will get robots and we don't want robots"

"Even if he says to the missus: 'Let's get ourselves packed up and go to Portgual for 10 days.' Go to a nice all-inclusive hotel, relax, chill out, just unwind and leave the darts at home. Rest and recouperate then get back and hit the ground running," continues 'Jaws', offering up an example. "He'd be refreshed, recharged and then back at it again. But only Luke Humphries can do that. He's the one that has to make that decision. He just has to justify it to one person and that's the person he looks at in the mirror every morning."

If Humphries doesn't take that break though. and persists in his current manner, could there be a knock on effect? "There could be!" Lloyd answers thoughtfully. "I think we've seen little bits of it. The shaking of the head and the sighs, we never used to see Luke do that because he believed in his own ability, what he could achieve and what he could do. At this moment in time he's possibly getting a bit ragged, he's getting down on himself and he's getting disappointed in himself because he perhaps feels that one minute there's a bit of brilliance and then there's a lot of ordinary stuff. That's not him."

Lloyd was PDC world number one in his own playing days

"The PDC have got to be a bit worried as well here," he adds. "It might get to the point where the World Matchplay comes along and after he plays that, he's supposed to be going to Australia and New Zealand. He might just say: 'Nah. I'm having this at home with the missus and the little one. I'm not going.' The what do they do? You can't have the world number one not going."

Ultimately though, Lloyd has one key piece of advice for his compatriot. "Come off of social media for a bit," Lloyd urges. "Listen, he's got his fans. We're not caning everyone on social media. But then you've got people who have lost a 25p bet and their having a bad day. Be gamble aware everyone. If you can't afford to lose the 25p don't gamble it!"

Read also

"Do your research! How unprofessional did they make themselves look?" - Gary Neville called out by Colin Lloyd after Luke Littler's appearance on Stick to Football

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Unlock your ultimate darts experience—subscribe today for exclusive access to top stories.

Subscribe