25/02/2024

"The kid can play no matter how he throws" - Wayne Mardle & Glen Durrant discuss Luke Littler change in action on Thursday night

Luke Littler continues to be made to wait for his first weekly win in the Premier League Darts. The 17-year-old lost out in the semi-finals on night 4 in Newcastle last Thursday.

Littler lost 6-5 to Michael van Gerwen. It was notable however, that he used a slightly different throwing technique during the night. Normally Littler throws very smoothly and without pause, although on this occasion, he often hesitated for a moment to aim properly before throwing his darts.

"We've actually never seen this before" - Vincent van der Voort watched in amazement at change in throw from Luke Littler

"He's changed the way he's been throwing throughout his entire career. Luke now brings the dart back, sets it, then throws," assessed ex-Premier League star turned Sky Sports analyst, Wayne Mardle. "It is now not one motion and this will give him a bit of time to move around the board and maybe give him that little bit of time from the 60 to the double 10 and not feel like he has to pause because he's rushing. Maybe he saw it as a weakness and wants to put it right straight away."

Former winner Glen Durrant also watched the Premier League Darts on Thursday. "He normally plays on real instinct," he said. "He's an absolute rhythm player and an absolute monster of a player. It's his attitude, it's his attribute, it's his behaviours that impress me more than his prowess. Just at the end of his backswing, it's incredible from a player who's just walking on air at the moment is even thinking and striving for excellency even now."

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"The start of the night he was throwing this way and he did the same against Van Gerwen but then changed halfway through the game where he was seemingly not happy about the way he was throwing," Mardle added. "This was a new thing tonight. He may have done it through the Pro Tours this week, but this was a new thing tonight that he abandoned against Michael in the last knockings."

"When you change your throw, you're also changing your routine and he clearly felt that wasn't helping him so he changed back. It's up to him, and in my opinion it had no bearing on the result. It had no bearing on how he played against Peter Wright - the kid can play no matter how he throws."