How has Luke Humphries become the best darts player in the world right now and favourite for Ally Pally glory

He’s definitely the best player in the world at the minute but the question is how long can it last in this era of darts?

In the past, we didn’t really have this kind of discussion because Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen were so dominant during their respective years of dominance but in more recent times, we talk about this issue more and more.

WATCH: HOW TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL DARTS PLAYER WITH PAUL NICHOLSON

It seems to change every month, every fortnight, every week, which is good because it means there's plenty of competition for titles. However, based on information that we have right now, there's nobody playing as well as Luke is.

Whether it’s double start, sets, legs, long format or short format – there’s nothing he can’t master now.

World Championship favourite

I don’t think anyone other than Phil Taylor or Michael van Gerwen have ever been favourite for the World Championship – so it shows just how far Luke has come in a relatively short time that he now finds himself at the head of the betting for Ally Pally.

Gerwyn Price has been favourite for some tournaments in recent times but it’s still rare to see a new name at the top. Even when Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson or Peter Wright became world champion, the following year you’d still see Phil Taylor or MVG as favourite.

The one to fear?

When you think about the World Championship draw, I think it’s fair to say the likes of Price, MVG and Michael Smith would rather avoid Humphries more than Humphries wants to avoid them.

That speaks volumes.

Right now, nobody fazes him. Even when Rob Cross threw some great darts against him in the Grand Slam final and averaged 103, he was never really troubled.

That will scare a lot of people.

He reached the last 16 at the World Championship last year when he was really ill. Imagine what he can do when feeling fit and confident. It’s a venue where he’s reached the quarter-finals three times before and in two of those he hadn’t even established himself as a title winner. So, he loves the venue too.

Why wasn’t he in the Premier League?!

Although the fact he got left out of the Premier League looks silly now, you could say it’s turned out to be the best decision that has been made on behalf of him.

The previous big negative that he turned into a career-changing positive was a first-round defeat to Paul Lim in the 2021 World Championship. He realised there was a lot to figure out if he was going to reach the next level. He spent the next 12 months working on his fitness, weight and mentality and although he didn’t win any titles, it wouldn’t be long before all those changes finally paid off.

From 2022 onwards he won his first PDC title then a whole host of European Tour events as well as reaching the semi-finals of two major tournaments. He reached world number five and there was huge clamouring for him to be included in the Premier League.

He wasn’t included but didn’t moan. He didn’t sulk. He got on with it and got better. A whole lot better and he’s not once made any barbed comment about proving anyone wrong. His attitude has been exemplary and he’s a real role model for the next generation.

Future world number one?

There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s a world number one in waiting.

To reach the summit, your B-game has to be mid-90s because that’s a lot of player’s A-game. Subsequently, you need an A+ level that only the greats can achieve on a regular basis.

Luke can do that now and he’s even had a 119.5 average this season – the highest of the year in a ranking event.

He’s done most things better than anyone else this year and the cherry on the top of an amazing year would be the World Championship and it really wouldn’t surprise me to see him holding the Sid Waddel Trophy.

Ice Cool

Nothing in the game fazes him. Whether it’s a barrage of 180s from Gary Anderson or when he’s got the microphone in his hand – he has so much maturity and handles everything so confidently and coolly.

When he has setbacks – during or after matches - he accepts it and moves on quickly whereas in the past he’d feed his opponent with negativity. This is the biggest thing he figured out and what many other players can learn from.

Take your darts out of the board, process any mistake in a matter of seconds and put it right. He’s turning into an elite sports person for doing this.

Humphries has also taught other players that you should never be afraid to make changes. Think about where he was when he was having episodes of uncertainty on stage. What was his life like then? What has he changed since then?

He has moved from Berkshire to Cheshire. He's happier. He's got a partner, he has a child. Everything in his life seems to be going perfectly, and this is as a result of him making changes.

Whether it was health, whether it was the people he was keeping company with. He's not afraid to change and to evolve.

That is something that every dart player should really be aware of, because if he keeps evolving for the next 20 years, he can print as many cheques as he wants.

Look at Phil Taylor. He was best evolutionary player

this sport will ever see. Whether it was weight loss, juicing, diets, equipment, mind training, everything. He would do anything and everything for success. We're already seeing that from Humphries and he's got professionalism running through his veins because he's got this open mind that he will use.

Fitness first

Not only has his weight loss and fitness regime helped him become a real poster boy for the sport – but it will also help him so much in the longer formats, as we’ve already seen.

Darts fitness is a thing. Phil Taylor may not have looked the fittest, but everybody on tour would have admitted at the time that he was more darts fit than any player on earth.

Don't underestimate the fact that you can maybe not look like an athlete, but you can still throw darts for 13 sets and still feel fresh. This is what Luke has learned. He is now a darts machine because he's very fit for whatever darts format he has to play. You could stick him in a best of 15 sets match tomorrow and he'd be ready.

I think Price has definitely got that stamina, MVG has got it and now Humphries has it.

Keeping focused

Not only does Humphries stay cool when he’s losing but he doesn’t get carried away when he’s winning either.

There's a time and a place to celebrate. Sometimes you might get carried away if you’ve had a nine darter but the big picture is to win the game or win the championship right? And in order to do that, you've got to be able to conserve the mental energy throughout.

Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson were masters at it in previous years whereas someone like Gerwyn Price seems to need to live on high adrenaline throughout his matches. I think even he has tempered this though and mastered the art of what Luke is doing now.

Humble Humphries

He remains very grounded and modest despite his success. Even when asked if he’s the best player in the world right now, he felt more comfortable describing himself as the best player that week.

He also admitted his weakness at the moment was afternoon sessions but a lot of other players would say the same.

However this is not something he’s going to have to worry about much in the future because he’ll be scheduled to play in night sessions, especially when Sky are broadcasting.

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