DE DECKER OPENS UP ON PERSONAL STRUGGLES
13/04/2026 By Aaron Nijjar
MIKE DE DECKER revealed personal problems and mounting pressure behind the scenes played a major role in a difficult 2025 season.
The Belgian says he was carrying “a lot on his mind” throughout, with issues in his private life combining with darts struggles to leave him overwhelmed at times.
World No. 18 De Decker explained he has had to make changes across every part of his preparation in order to reset.
De Decker was frank and open about how the past year forced him to confront the physical and mental demands of the sport.
He said: “Last year opened my eyes that I had to do more.
“Not just practice, but mentally I had to do more. Physically I had to do more – the whole package. That’s what I’ve been doing, so hopefully it shows soon.
“I had a lot on my mind last year – darts, private life, everything – and it was getting too much. I’m trying to sort that out now, and at the moment it’s working.”
De Decker failed to pick up a title or reach the quarter-final of any ranked major event over the past 18 months.
The former World Grand Prix champ insists the European Tour remains crucial to ensure he keeps his place in the Premier competitions.
But De Decker has suffered FOUR consecutive second round exits on the circuit.
He added: “They’re really important. I qualified for the first four European Tour events based on my ranking, and for five and six I was just outside.
“These are key to getting into the majors like the Matchplay, the Grand Prix and the others.”
De Decker has shown encouraging signs this campaign, reaching a ProTour quarter-final and narrowly missing a match dart against Luke Littler in the opening round of the World Masters.
He continued: “I’ve finally found a good set of darts that fits me. What I’m doing in practice is going really well.
“I played the Pro Tour last week and that was decent as well.
“I just need to get some confidence on stage, and hopefully I’ll be back to being the Mike from 2024.
“Well, I’m never going to put myself on double 11 again!
“If you get match darts against the world number one, who’s been dominating the sport for the last year, you can take positives from that.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
