“It was either leave the shop or leave the wife” – Scott Williams makes huge life changes and undergoes hypnotherapy to battle dartitis

Scott Williams has spoken candidly about how he is currently doing everything he can to get his dartitis under control. The Englishman is working not only on his game, but also markedly on his lifestyle: from nutrition and sleep to mental support through hypnotherapy.

‘Shaggy’ has been struggling with the frustrating condition for six to eight months now. Above all, the mental side of the sport has become more demanding than ever. The former World Championship semi-finalist stresses that structure, calm, and recovery are crucial in his quest to regain form.

On the Double Tops Podcast, Williams explains how decisive it has become for him: “Mentality is 85% of the game. I would say personally as well, because I’m going through it myself with dartitis. I’ve probably had it for six or eight months."

According to Williams, the cause is not technical but deeper in the brain: “It’s got nothing to do with darts or anything like that. It’s usually, so it’s apparently to do with the second part of your brain, your fight and flight. Where it’s just subconscious stuff that you don’t even think about."

That is why he is fully focused on finding calm: “I’m just at the point now where I’m feeling comfortable in my home life, relaxed a bit more, enjoying it a bit more, enjoying darts more. So, I think mentality and the way you approach the game itself is so much more important than the actual playing side sometimes."

Williams, like Josh Rock, Cameron Menzies, Nathan Aspinall, and Stephen Bunting among others, is seeing a hypnotherapist who previously had success with Kevin Painter. “A lot of us players go to see him because he got dartitis away from Kevin Painter, who had it recently, really, really bad as well.”

Alongside mental support, physical care is playing an ever bigger role: “Nutrition, for me as well as them guys. But the fact that we’re on the road all the time, not everywhere has accessible, delicious food that’s nutritious.”

The intensive tour therefore makes it hard to live healthily on a consistent basis: “Sometimes you just don’t want it after you’ve finished playing or you’ve had a long travel. You’ve got to look after yourself. Your body is so important now.”

To put his full focus on his career and recovery, Williams has made a striking decision. The current world number 44 has closed his own darts shop. “Mine recently, over the last six months to a year, has been darts.” The choice was unavoidable, he says: “So, I literally yesterday got rid of my shop, all the stock out of my shop. So I’ve got nothing behind me. It was either leave the shop or leave the wife. And I thought it’d be easier to leave the shop."

Williams is now looking closely at how top players like Gerwyn Price handle downtime away from the sport. “That’s the thing that Gezzy his hobby is more than just darts."

To find balance again, he wants to discover new hobbies: “I’m going to try loads of different hobbies. It’ll be pub-based. It’ll be pool, snooker, dominoes, maybe golf.” With that approach, Williams hopes not only to overcome his dartitis, but also to return to the oche as a more complete player.