"Maybe at some point he will need to take a break": Luke Littler gets warning of possible burnout from darting legend

Former world champion Dennis Priestley has warned teenage sensation Luke Littler to be careful with his busy playing schedule to avoid burnout. The 18-year-old Littler is experiencing an unprecedented rise, playing almost continuous tournaments around the world.

After his lost World Cup final in 2024, Littler still grabbed the world title early this year, but since then he has hardly known rest. His schedule in 2025 is relentless: in addition to participating in the Premier League Darts with as many as sixteen and possibly even seventeen weeks of play, 'The Nuke' travels from place to place to play darts. Meanwhile, the young Englishman added the UK Open and the Belgian Darts Open to his list of honors and already won three weekly Premier League titles.

The 73-year-old, who captured the first-ever PDC world title in 1994, expressed concern about Littler's grueling playing schedule. "Luke Littler says he didn’t pick up his darts for a week, but he probably doesn’t have the time to practise," Priestley told OLBG. "They have such a full schedule with midweek and weekend competitions usually, he has been racing around hotels in different cities and he probably doesn’t have the time.

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“He is playing so often that might mean he doesn’t need to practise, but he does need to be careful he doesn’t burn out. Maybe at some point he will need to take a break.”

Still, Priestley sees a glorious future for Littler and expects the teenager to soon take over the number one position in the world rankings from Luke Humphries. "You can say that Luke Littler is the best player in history never to have been world number one – but that is certain to happen this year," Priestley said. "The money list being over two years is what is stopping him at the moment, he’d be top if it was one year. That’s the only reason he isn’t top and it’s now only a matter of time."

Despite his cutthroat playing schedule, Littler is still performing at the highest level. Last week in Cardiff, Littler captured his third weekly title and threw a nine-darter in a sensational final against Michael van Gerwen. Afterwards, he acknowledged to himself that he needs to take a rest from time to time.

“I’ve been playing very well - but I must admit I’ve not picked up a dart since last Thursday. You have got to have rests every now and then, so I just took a week out to chill, but I’m enjoying my performances at the moment."

With 21 points on the board, Littler increased his lead at the top of the Premier League standings and appears to be well on his way to the O2 Arena, where the playoffs will be held at the end of May. "It’s good to be standing here with another trophy and with 21 points on the board already. I just want to get to the O2 (play-off finals) as quickly as possible and I’ve put myself in a really good position," Littler said.

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