"I lost the throw, I couldn’t get any control of it": Dimitri van den Bergh ends 400-day plus drought and opens up on nightmare 12 months

Dimitri Van den Bergh has spoken at length for the first time about the technical problems that have troubled him over the past few months. The 31-year-old Belgian endured a difficult period and revealed after his opening-round victory at the Baltic Sea Darts Open that he had completely lost his trusted throwing action. The former winner of the World Matchplay and the UK Open spoke openly about the uncertainty, the forced changes to his technique, and the motivation he draws from his family.

For Van den Bergh, his victory at the Baltic Sea Darts Open meant far more than just a place in the second round. With a 6-2 win over Alan Soutar, the Belgian ended a wait of no less than 418 days without a victory on the European Tour. Afterwards, he reflected on an especially difficult period in which he struggled not only with his results, but above all with his own game.

“I don’t even know how it happened. I don’t know why it came but I was practicing with my brother last year from September all the way up to end of November," he said on stage.

“And for some reason there came some tension in my arm and in the two outside fingers which also meant every time I brought up my arm, there was tension and the two fingers just lifted.

According to the current world number 37, it had major consequences for his game. “I lost the throw. I couldn’t get any control of it, there was no good feeling about it.”

The problems persisted for months and clearly affected his performances. This season, Van den Bergh failed to reach a single Players Championship quarter-final. He also struggled on the major stages.

With his ranking position under pressure, the Belgian decided to take a drastic step at the start of the year. Shortly before the UK Open, he abandoned his familiar technique and began using a completely new throwing action.

“Since this year, a week before the UK Open, I decided to change the throw and I started to just throw in a new way just with three fingers.

“And this is just me with a new throw, developing, giving myself a better feeling, more control, and less things can go wrong."

Although the results have not always been reflected on the scoreboard, Van den Bergh feels genuine progress himself. “I feel easier with it, I feel less worried about it than I was three, four months ago, which is a massive improvement for me."

At the same time, the Belgian knows the pressure remains high. His position in the rankings is far from secure, and he understands that a strong second half of the season is essential if he is to safeguard his future on the PDC Tour.

"I have a really big year ahead of me because I might be losing a tour card. I am back in the top 64, but the main goal is to make sure I’m qualified for the world championships.”

To regain both mental and technical stability, Van den Bergh decided earlier this year to temporarily step away from the sport. Between April and June, he deliberately took a break from darts, something he says benefited him greatly.

“I took a break in April up to June, up to the World Cup. The first week or two, I literally chose to not throw a dart and just be away from it all, empty the mind, work through the progress, breathe.

That period helped him put things into perspective. While results and rankings had dominated his focus for a long time, he realised there is more to life than sporting success.

“There is much more to life than just darts and obviously, I’m a dad as well. I’ve got two kids on earth now.

“They are my main reason why I want to be really good at darts, why I know that I can provide them, that I’ll be able to make their dreams come true.”