Dartitis () is a condition which can affect

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the ...

players, and severely damage their performance. It can be compared to 'the

yips In sports, the yips (in gymnastics, lost move syndrome or the twisties) are a sudden and unexplained loss of ability to execute certain skills in experienced athletes. Symptoms of the yips are losing fine motor skills and psychological issues that ...

', an expression used to describe apparent loss of fine motor skills without any explanation. The term is used in reference to players who struggle with some kind of

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betw ...

problem with their technique and/or release of their darts.

Etymology

Dartitis is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsCollins English Dictionary The ''Collins English Dictionary'' is a printed and online dictionary of English. It is published by HarperCollins in Glasgow. The edition of the dictionary in 1979 with Patrick Hanks as editor and Laurence Urdang as editorial director, w ...

'' as "(in darts) nervous twitching or tension that destroys concentration and spoils performance". The word was first used in the magazine ''Darts World'' by editor Tony Wood in 1981.

Cases

In 1986 five-times World Champion,

Eric Bristow Eric John Bristow, (25 April 1957 – 5 April 2018), nicknamed "The Crafty Cockney", was an English professional darts player. He was ranked World No. 1 by the World Darts Federation a record five times, in 1980, 1981 and 1983–1985. He was ...

revealed he had the condition because he was having problems with the release of his darts. Bristow managed to make a partial recovery from the condition, and even managed to regain the number one position in the

world rankings A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

. Former World Champion Mark Webster also had dartitis. In the 2017 Grand Slam of Darts,

Berry van Peer Berry van Peer (born 23 August 1996) is a Dutch darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. Career Van Peer won two events on the PDC Development Tour in Coventry in April 2015. He went on to finish third in the 2015 Deve ...

suffered from dartitis. This was visible in his matches against

Simon Whitlock Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname T ...

, Gary Anderson and

Cameron Menzies Cameron Menzies (born 27 June 1989) is a Scottish darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career BDO Menzies first played darts on the BDO circuit in 2006, playing in the Gibraltar Open. However, he did ...

Condition

Dartitis
is believed to be a form of dystonia, which is described by the UK NHS as:

A medical term for a range of movement disorders that cause muscle spasms and contractions. The spasms and contractions may either be sustained or may come and go. Movements are often repetitive and cause unusual, awkward and sometimes painful postures. Tremor (shaking) can also be a characteristic of some types of dystonia. Dystonia is thought to be a neurological condition (caused by underlying problems with the brain and nervous system). However, in most cases, brain functions such as intelligence, memory and language remain unaffected.

References

Darts terminology {{Darts-stub