Cameron Menzies stared at the wreckage of his own fury on the stage at Alexandra Palace, the roar of the PDC World Darts Championship crowd still echoing as he walked away from his first-round defeat to Charlie Manby. In a moment of raw frustration that would haunt him for months, the 36-year-old Scottish star lashed out, punching a table so violently that blood poured from his hand. What looked like a split-second loss of control nearly cost him everything—his career, his livelihood, and the very sensation in his fingers.
The aftermath was brutal. Menzies couldn’t feel his fingers for six long weeks. Surgery followed, along with ongoing hand treatment and the slow, painful process of trauma recovery. Doctors warned him the damage ran deep. “They said when they operated on me that I was lucky that I hadn’t severed any nerves or tendons,” he later admitted. “I’d just battered and bruised them.” The scar remains a stark reminder, a permanent tattoo of regret. “I’ve made a massive mistake in my life and you can see from the scar, I have to live with that,” he reflected. “I was lucky it’s not as bad as it could’ve been. I’m not proud of it but I’m lucky I can still play.” No words, he said, could capture the shock of waking up after the procedure with a breathing tube and the grim realisation of how close he had come to severing his hand entirely. For someone who had fought his way from local circuits to the world’s biggest stages, it felt like the end of the dream.
Yet Menzies refused to let that single outburst define him. Instead, he channelled the pain into profound change, both physical and mental. Recognising that darts is as much a battle of the mind as it is of precision and power, he sought help from an unlikely source: the hypnotherapist who works with UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall and top boxers. The sessions have become a lifeline, transforming how the world No 28 approaches pressure, anxiety, and the simmering frustration that once boiled over on stage.
“There are a lot of players doing it that I don’t know the names of, but why not?” Menzies explained. “If there are guys fighting for UFC championships… Sport is a mental game. I like it and I am working with a guy called Ecclestone. He is great with me and has been a massive help.” The routine is simple but powerful. Once a week, for a full hour, they begin with a casual 10- to 15-minute chat. Then come the headphones and a soothing soundtrack. “Nine times out of 10 he talks to your subconscious, which is the part of the brain you don’t think we need to work on,” Menzies revealed. “It is scary that you don’t realise there is more to the mind that we don’t know.” The therapist’s Northern English accent draws the occasional light-hearted ribbing from the Scotsman—“That is coming from a Scotsman!”—but the results speak for themselves. “I have never left an appointment feeling bad. I have always done the whole hypnotherapy thing feeling good about myself.”
Every night now, Menzies listens to relaxation tracks to unwind. “I’ve been doing hypnotherapy – stuff to help relax my mind,” he shared. “I was going through a lot at the time and maybe wanted to win too much. That was the boiling point, and I snapped. Now I listen to relaxation tracks most nights to lower my stress levels. I’m quite an anxious person, so it helps me stay calmer.” The approach breaks down overwhelming challenges into manageable steps. “It tries to make your life easier and talks to your subconscious. When things get hard, you always think of a bigger problem. What he does is try to simplify it and go with the small parts first, then take steps to go further.” Even the Professional Darts Players Association initially sanctioned eight weeks of support, but Ecclestone has continued beyond that—free of charge—because he sees the potential in a player committed to growth. “It shows we are not just pub players anymore, we are professional athletes,” Menzies noted proudly.
This mental reset comes alongside major lifestyle shifts sparked by a recent health diagnosis. Menzies has been battling an ectopic heartbeat and high blood pressure, conditions that once left him feeling vulnerable. Determined to reclaim control, he has shed three stone, hit the gym with new discipline, and adopted habits that have left him feeling stronger than ever. “Life is a lot better!” he declared. “I’m at the gym and I’ll tell you something that not many folk know that I’ve got an issue with my heart and high blood pressure and an ectopic heartbeat.”
Nearly a year has passed since his last PDC title triumph at Players Championship 11 in April 2025, but the fire remains. This Monday in Leicester, at Players Championship 7, he returns to the oche with fresh perspective—calmer, fitter, and mentally sharper. The hypnotherapy has not erased the scar or the memory of that Ally Pally meltdown, but it has reframed it as a turning point. Where once anger ruled, clarity now guides him. In the high-stakes world of professional darts, where fractions of a millimetre decide matches and the crowd’s energy can either lift or crush a player, Menzies has learned that true strength lies in mastering the unseen battles within.
His story is one of resilience forged in regret. From the bloodied table at Alexandra Palace to nightly soundtracks that quiet the mind, Cameron Menzies is rebuilding—not just his hand, but his entire approach to the game and to life. The road ahead holds more tournaments, more pressure, and perhaps even greater heights. Yet whatever comes next, he faces it with the calm confidence of a man who has stared down his darkest moment and chosen to rise stronger. Darts fans have seen the animated celebrations and the raw emotion before; now they may witness something even more powerful—a champion in the making, tempered by adversity and tuned by the power of the mind.
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