Darts star Stephen Bunting reveals the surprising secret to his success and says he plans to train with upcoming prospect Luke Littler in the near future.
Bunting, 38, has been one of the standout performers at Ally Pally this year and has established himself as a fan favourite.
The Englishman is yet to drop a set in his opening two matches in the tournament and averaged more than 101 in the second round.
Following his rampant victory over Florian Hempel on Thursday afternoon, the 38-year-old is set to face Michael van Gerwen in the fourth round of the World Darts Championship this evening.
Away from the darts board, Bunting has become a viral hit on TikTok - with over 65,000 followers and over 942,000 views on a single video.
Darts star Stephen Bunting reveals his surprising secret behind his recent success
The 38-year-old has become a real fan favourite at the World Darts Championship this year
The former Lakeside Champion has caught the eye of many in 2023 - in a year which has seen him reach three televised ranking quarter-finals for the first time since 2014.
Darts fans may be wondering what the key to his success is, with the 38-year-old revealing that hypnotherapy has played a big part in his dazzling performances this year.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Bunting said: 'The plan's already implemented in the back of my mind what I want to do, but I won't give too much away,' he added.
'I've got some hypnotherapy lessons booked in the next hour. So basically, he'll put me under for maybe 40 minutes, but it replicates four hours sleep and it just refocuses the brain.
'We do some visualisation stuff, so things that I want to see happen and yeah, it's been working for me.'
The Englishman reveals that he has been seeing a hypnotist for around a year - which has helped improve his game
'I've been seeing the hypnotist now for probably about 12 months and yeah, it's really a big part of my game now to be fair,' he added.
Bunting was also full of praise for rising star Luke Littler. The teenager has undeniably lit the PDC World Darts Championship alight in one of sport's great underdog narratives.
Luke Littler has undeniably lit the PDC World Darts Championship alight in one of sport's great underdog narratives
He became the youngest ever player to reach the tournament's last-16 stages after a 4-1 win over Matt Campbell
Littler, 16, has already broken records and become the youngest ever player to reach the tournament's last-16 stages after a 4-1 win over Canada's Matt Campbell in the third round at Alexandra Palace. Having done so, he guaranteed himself a minimum of £35,000 even if he should lose to either Jim Williams or Raymond van Barneveld.
'He's (Littler) a special talent, obviously, at 16 there's a lot of things he needs to learn but at the minute he's pretty fresh, he's got no scars and yeah, as long as he keeps winning, he'll keep feeling that way,' said Bunting.
'I think the hard thing for him is when the losses start coming and you might see a different side of him, but at the minute he's a breath of fresh air for the sport and yeah, there's a lot of focus on him which may put a bit of pressure on him but like I say, he's fantastic.'
Bunting reveals that Littler's manager has spoken to him about potentially setting up some practice sessions some time in the very near future.
'He's literally round the corner from me as well, and his manager spoke to me the other week and wants me to practice with him, so I think we're going to set up some practice sessions and see how that goes as well.'
Bunting says he intends to set up some practice sessions with Littler in the very near future
