NICHOLSON WARNS HUMPHRIES TO MANAGE SCHEDULE BETTER

By Aaron Nijjar 

PAUL NICHOLSON believes Luke Humphries must get better at managing his schedule if he feels burnt out from darts.  

World No.1 Humphries said he “needs a break” after feeling “emotionless” after a victory at the International Darts Open at the weekend.  

‘Cool Hand’ has endured a relentless schedule in 2025 which included a total of 19 matches in the month of March.  

‘Cool Hand’ has featured on the European tour, Players Championship and the World Series of Darts – not to mention the Premier League. 

Former Players Championship Finals winner Nicholson admits that the Cheshire ace must do more to manage his own welfare. 

Nicholson said on talkSPORT: “He does have a point to a certain extent.  

“But a lot of these players at the top of the rankings, with Humphries being the perfect example, have got to be able to pace themselves in what is a 12-month season.  

“It’s not like football where it’s seven or eight months – in darts when the World Championship is over on January 3rd, they’re already thinking about what’s happening on January 4th.  

“If you don’t plan ahead then you’re going to get to this point where your welfare is questioned. 

“I never played in Premier League darts so it wasn’t the same as Humphries, but it was a weekly thing where you were constantly playing tournaments, doing exhibitions and fulfilling sponsorship requirements but these days with the popularity of the sport it has gone to a new level. 

“It’s a shame because I applauded Luke Humphries for saying what was on his mind.  

“People in any sport should have the power to say what they want in that moment and Humphries was speaking after a win when adrenaline was high.  

“He said what was on his mind and there’s nothing wrong with that. 

“If you’re going to these tournaments as world number one or world number 64, it’s your choice. 

“If you’re in the Premier League you’ve got an obligation to play 16 weeks on Thursday nights and if you play on week 17 then that’s great because you’re in the play-offs, but everything in between, you have to manage that. 

“The Players’ Championship events, the European Tour events, it’s up to you to programme it so that you don’t burn out, but unfortunately it looks like some of the guys are getting to that point.” 

Nicholson continued: “The power is with the player here. That has to be the message.  

“If you’re at the point where you think you’re not going to perform at your best then maybe you need to have planned a bit better. 

“I’m not saying that Luke Humphries has made a mistake here but look at Luke Littler, the most talked-about darts player in the world. 

“Was he in Riesa at the weekend? No he wasn’t. Was he in Gottingem a couple of weeks ago? No. Why? Because he’s managing his schedule a little bit better than anybody else is at the moment. 

“I know that Littler winning the Belgian Darts Open at the start of March was the kind of thing where you can say, ‘I’ve won one of these so I can take a break from the next few’ but I’ll be fascinated to see if these Premier League stars going to Munich over the Easter weekend. 

“If they do, we have to ask ‘you said you were burned out, why are you going to Munich?’” 

Image by Taylor Lanning.