Humphries reveals the flaw in his game he is desperate to fix

LUKE HUMPHRIES admits his biggest weakness is showing too much emotion on stage.

The Cheshire thrower fears rivals use his visible frustration against him and believes it has cost him matches during his career.

Humphries, 31, has still enjoyed another superb season, winning two Players Championship titles and the Belgian Darts Open.

But despite reaching the World Masters and Premier League finals, Cool Hand is still chasing his first televised major crown of the year after both defeats came against Luke Littler.

A first-round exit at the World Matchplay saw Humphries drop to world No3 after failing to defend the ranking money from his 2024 triumph, allowing Gian van Veen to leapfrog him.

Humphries insists keeping his feelings in check remains the biggest challenge in his game.

He told the Tops and Tales Podcast: “It is probably a negative, because you're best off not showing your opponent any sort of ammunition.

“But I think a reason for it is I struggle to hold my emotions in. I think that's the problem.

“You see most dart players, when they hit a bad score, they can just hold their emotions in.

“It's not like it's just something that I've sort of adapted in professional life. It happened to me when I was younger, and I just struggled to hold my emotions intact.

“I think when something's not going great, sometimes I could be very guilty of letting those emotions show.

“That is probably one of the weaknesses in my game, to be honest. I think sometimes people do use it to their advantage and stuff, and it can help them beat me.

“I feel like I'm trying to get better at it, but it's something that I wear my heart on my sleeve, I guess.

“I think people know when I'm a bit annoyed with myself, and that's something that I really wish that I didn't have in my game.”

Humphries has lifted EIGHT major titles and became the first Englishman since Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis in 2013 to win the World Cup of Darts twice.

Despite acknowledging the flaw, Humphries believes his relentless pursuit of perfection is also one of the reasons behind his success.

He added: “But also on the other hand, I feel like it helps me because I'm always striving for more.

“I think that is an elite-level mindset. People sometimes say, how can you complain with a 140? And it's like, because I believe if the first two trebles go in, I should be hitting a 180.

“I feel like for everything I've achieved, everything I've done, with the emotions on show quite a lot, which is obviously something I'm trying to eradicate a little bit.

“Who's to say that if I didn't have that sort of attitude when I'm playing, that I would achieve what I've done?

“Because sometimes you could sit there and be, I'm playing okay, I'm averaging 100, but 100 isn't always good enough anymore.

“So, I guess what I'm trying to say is I always strive for more.

“Even if I'm averaging 107 and I've missed a 180 and it's a 140, why are you moaning? It's like because I'm always striving for more. That is an elite-level mindset of a sportsman.”

Words: Aaron Nijjar

Image: Taylor Lanning