VAN VEEN ACCUSED OF OVERTHINKING DURING FORM SLUMP
24/06/2026 By Aaron Nijjar
GIAN VAN VEEN is overthinking his game at the oche, according to Vincent van der Voort.
The Dutchman has struggled to build on his run to the World Cup of Darts final alongside Michael van Gerwen earlier this month.
World No3 Van Veen suffered a second-round exit at the Slovak Open after a 6-3 defeat to Rob Cross and failed to make the semi-finals at either Players Championship 21 or 22.
Former pro Van der Voort believes Van Veen is no longer throwing with the freedom that took him to the top level.
He told the Darts Draait Door Podcast: “I had hoped he would come out of the World Cup a bit better.
“But the Players Championships weren’t great and the Euro Tour recently wasn’t either, so that’s a shame.
“I also get the sense that he’s standing a bit more upright. That he doesn’t dare to lean or stretch forward as much.
“His movement isn’t what it used to be. That makes everything a bit more careful.
“And that doesn’t help his game.”
The former UK Open finalist believes Van Veen is now trapped in a cycle of trying to fix problems while competing every week.
He added: “You can say: ‘Do something different.’ But that’s not how it works.
“Then it becomes uncontrolled again. You have to train that in, and that takes time.
“And he doesn’t have that, because every week he has to be out there again.
“When he made the World Championship final, he had the dart in his hand, threw it as hard as he could, and it just landed exactly where he wanted it.
“You don’t think about it then. Now he is thinking about it, and that’s not strange either.
“You don’t want to make a fool of yourself, of course. When you’re in form, everything clicks.
“Now it’s trying everything, constantly looking for where he can get the control back.”
Van Veen returns to action on the World Series circuit this Thursday at the US Masters.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
