GARY ANDERSON is hoping to return to top form in the Speedy Services UK Open in June.
The Scot recently missed out on the McCoy's Premier League Darts Play-Offs in the defence of his first major PDC title - finishing bottom of the league table following the 14-week season.
Anderson's campaign suffered in mid-season as he missed the league night in Cardiff following the death of his father.
Having won three successive matches early in the season, he would not win again during the remaining ten matches, losing five in a row before ending the season with four draws in five games as he refined the set-up of his darts.
"It was 14 weeks of struggling but it was nice to finish the season playing half-decent again," said Anderson.
"Every week during the season I was going back home to Somerset and playing on Mondays and Tuesdays with my mates, and the darts were going great. I was hitting 42 averages and 38 averages, but on stage they weren't going as well.
"I think in 13 weeks I had 12 different set-ups with my darts! I went back to using long white stems along with my Unicorn darts and flights, to make my darts a bit longer, and it's working.
"It's been a slow process but I'm getting there."
Anderson drew with Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor in the final two weeks of the season, and admits those performances have lifted his spirits ahead of June's Speedy Services UK Open - as he returns to the venue where he reached the final in 2010.
"I kept saying to myself that it's got to get better and it did in the last few weeks," added Anderson. "I wanted to stick in there and see what happened and I had four draws in the last five weeks.
"The way I'd been playing, I was expecting to get a battering from Phil so to get seven legs and a draw was great way to end.
"I've been drawing with players and I think I'm playing at ten percent of what I can, so if I'm struggling and getting a draw with the Raymond van Barnevelds and Phil Taylors, then things are looking good.
"It really is a wake-up call. I was putting the practice in and it seemed to get worse - so I'm having a couple of weeks off before the UK Open!"
Tickets for the Speedy Services UK Open televised finals, from June 7-10 in the Premier Suite at De Vere Whites, Bolton, are still available by calling SeeTickets on 0844 871 8807 or by visiting www.seetickets.com.