VAN DONGEN SEEKS NEUROLOGIST HELP IN DARTITIS BATTLE

JULES VAN DONGEN has enlisted the help of a NEUROLOGIST as he battles to overcome dartitis.

‘The Dutch Dragon’ has struggled with the condition over the past two seasons, ultimately losing his Tour Card earlier this year.

The 35-year-old reached a low point at the UK Open in 2025, where he suffered a heavy 6–0 first-round defeat, averaging just 61.11 against qualifier Simon Stevenson. 

Van Dongen later revealed he experienced a panic attack following the match, highlighting the severity of the challenges he has been facing. 

He told AD: “It’s like a short circuit in your hand. I just broke completely after three darts. I played the entire match with tears in my eyes. 

“I thought: I’m not going to give up. That’s not in me. I kept my head down the entire match. It was very hard, especially with so many people watching. I could feel their discomfort.

“An hour later I had a panic attack. I had never had that in my life. Then the PDC doctors came to the rescue. 

“I had hoped the PDC would have offered a bit more help. If Michael van Gerwen had the same problems, it would get much more attention. 

“When it kept getting worse, I started seeking help. Of all those specialists, not one advised me to see a neurologist. 

“If I had known that earlier, my ordeal would probably have been much shorter.” 

The American-Dutch thrower travelled to Holland to work closely with neurologist Erik van Wensen, a specialist in movement disorders in sport. 

Van Wensen is carrying out doctoral research into the “yips”, a condition involving sudden, involuntary muscle movements, most famously seen in golf. 

Unlike neurological illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease, these symptoms only appear during a very specific action, like the moment a player releases a dart. 

In medical terms, these are known as task-specific dystonias. 

Van Wensen added: “Dystonia is an abnormal muscle contraction. Your brain commands your muscles to make deliberate movements, which should happen smoothly. 

“With dystonia, multiple muscles contract that should actually be relaxed. That causes a kind of cramp. 

“Darters always come with a typical story: that at a certain point they can no longer release the dart and their hand cramps.  

“You can clearly see a cramp in Jules’s right hand. With his less talented left hand, he actually throws much more cleanly. 

“There’s more going on. It’s a neurological problem in which the psyche does play a role, but it is not a psychological disorder. That bothers me.”