"That negativity... For two, three years, I was really in that downward spiral": Kim Huybrechts works on a comeback with help from a Belgian darts legend

After some turbulent years, Kim Huybrechts appears to be cautiously reconnecting with the upper-mid tier of international darts. The Belgian is enjoying a notable resurgence on the ProTour and suddenly finds himself back within reach of the major televised events. A scenario few would have considered at the start of this year.

Huybrechts is all too aware of that. The former World Championship semi-finalist was trapped for a long time in a downward spiral where results, confidence, and enjoyment kept fading. Now, a few months on, there is renewed optimism from the Belgian, who openly admits that a major course correction was needed to revive his career. “Darts-wise, things are going pretty well for me,” Huybrechts says on the Darts Draait Door podcast. “We’re back in an upward, more enjoyable phase of my career that was really needed. And timing-wise I don’t think it could have been better.”

Those words would have been unthinkable a few months ago. During the last World Championship, Huybrechts hit rock bottom. His early exit delivered a harsh reality check. According to Vincent van der Voort, that’s when the realization hit that change was urgently required.

“That was an eye-opener for him as well,” says Van der Voort. “Something really has to change now, because if this keeps going, I’m going to lose my Tour Card according to you. And then, from realizing that to doing something about it and making it work, that’s really impressive.”

Huybrechts fully recognizes that feeling. The Belgian admits he spent years stuck in a pattern of negativity and doubt at the oche. “That negativity… For two, three years, I was really in that downward spiral,” he says. “You keep thinking: it’s against me again. Or that checkout is going in. And if they miss it once, you don’t capitalize. So it’s never fun or positive or good.”

Even wins hardly brought relief anymore. The belief was gone. “If you do win one, you think: I finally got a bit of luck, but soon it’ll be over again anyway.”

To break that vicious cycle, Huybrechts decided to approach his career differently. The Belgian changed management and intensified his collaboration with former top darter Erik Clarys. The biggest shift came on the mental side.

“Erik really talks to me a lot,” Huybrechts explains. “Mainly addressing my weaknesses, in his view. We still do a lot of finishing work. And we’re also working very hard on the mental aspect.”

Where the cooperation used to be more sporadic, there is now a structured push for improvement. Multiple training sessions per week are designed to help Huybrechts find consistency again on the floor and on TV.

“It used to be much smaller in scale. We’d get together once a month. Now we do it two or three times a week and really dig into where it goes wrong, why it goes wrong, and how we can fix it.”

Progress is also being made away from the dartboard. Huybrechts admits that physical readiness had been overlooked for years, something he increasingly notices during long tournament days. “We’re now working with dietitians and looking to hit the gym a bit,” he says with a laugh. “Is that fun? No.”

Still, the Belgian realizes that physical condition is becoming ever more important at the highest level. Especially now that he’s going deeper in tournaments again. “When you barely win rounds for two or three years, you’re never in those tournaments for long, so you don’t consider how important that physical readiness is. But if you now go deeper, you notice that at a certain point you’re not just tired, but mainly mentally tired.”

Huybrechts believes that also explains why his level sometimes dips during longer events. “You’ll see matches where I average 98 or around a hundred, but by the third or fourth round it starts to drop. We’re addressing that now.”

Van der Voort knows that situation all too well. He also went through spells where early exits became the norm and players fall out of rhythm physically and mentally. “At some point you’re so focused on that first round,” says Van der Voort. “As long as you win that first round, otherwise it was all for nothing. As a result, you’re no longer used to playing four or five matches in a day.”

Huybrechts’ recent results, however, show that the hard work is slowly paying off. The Belgian is suddenly back within touching distance of qualifying for major ranking events such as the World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix.

“Our first goal in January was to secure that Tour Card as quickly as possible,” says Huybrechts. “If you’re around 60th, everything depends on the Worlds and who picks up points there. But three months later you suddenly have a completely different mindset.”

Where survival was the initial focus, ambitions have now shifted upwards again. “We’re still thinking about that Tour Card, but now you suddenly have other goals we didn’t expect this soon. Erik always says I’ve got an arm that shouldn’t be missing those tournaments. Matchplay, Grand Prix, I should be there every year.”

The analysts at the table agree it’s getting harder to break through on the ProTour. The Euro Tour system in particular helps established names remain protected for longer.

Huybrechts believes the current system offers little breathing space to players going through tough spells. “Over the years they’ve made the system a bit impossible for people in a difficult phase of their career, but also for new players,” he says. “The protection of the top players is part of that.”

According to the Belgian, the big televised tournaments have a huge impact on the rankings. “A Worlds or Grand Prix is so decisive in terms of prize money. You can perform almost all year, but if someone behind you wins three or four rounds at a Worlds, you’ve fought all year for nothing.”