Ep 5 Jules van Dongen (Dartitis will never defeat my love for the game)

I was joined by someone I have great admiration and respect for in Dutch/American pro Jules 'The Dutch Dragon' van Dongen who kindly came on from the States to chat about his recent battles, winning Tour card, World Championship experiences and to see how he fares in Pro Knowledge.  Jules is from Meerssen a small town in The Netherlands and grew up watching the Darts at Christmas time with Raymond van Barneveld being the main influence at the time for Dutch darts. Jules only turned pro in 2020 after coming from hospitality industry but got good during the lock down period and managed to win his Tour card from Q School.  In 2023 Jules was starting to find his feet on PDC with playing World Cup for USA & making his World Championship debut at Alexandra Palace in a 3-1 loss to Darren Penhall was when at the start of 2024 the first signals of the long battle with Dartitis were evident as the throwing position wasn't what it would usually be and he struggled massively but still managed to win a tour card for 2024 season. It gradually got worse and at the start of this year Jules would seek help for months to fix the problems as he couldn't hold the dart without it falling out his hands or release it that was until a neurological specialist took a look at him and within 5 mins diagnosed Jules with Focal Dystonia where the hand cramps and the brain sends too many signal to the nerves in the hand. Jules would fully switch to left hand as of recent and insists on forgetting everything he achieved with the right hand as he is effectively a rookie with lots of experience as a new lefty. We finish with Pro Knowledge see how The Dutch Dragon fares can he do well? Find out I want to thank Jules for his bravery on talking about Focal Dystonia diagnosis as I know it is a tough subject to talk about and done extremely well describing it! If you are struggling with your game or throw then message Jules van Dongen on Facebook and he says he will reply!  Proud of the delivery of this episode so very sure to listen or download via Podbean, Apple or Spotify. This is a belter, enjoy!