ADRIAN LEWIS is aiming to get back to his best with a helping hand from rival Raymond van Barneveld - after switching to using a set of the Dutchman's darts!
Lewis won his first televised game since July's World Matchplay as he overcame Belgium's Mike De Decker 6-3 in the first round of the Mr Green Sport Players Championship Finals in Minehead on Friday.
The two-time World Champion landed three 180s, averaged 99 and took out a 129 finish to seal a victory which he hopes can help boost his hopes ahead of the forthcoming World Championship.
"I've been practising better now than I probably have done in all my career and I've had a new set of darts for the last five days," said Lewis, who now plays Richard North in Saturday's second round.
"If you play with the same set of darts for the last ten years, you start to get a bit repetitive and start slackening off, and I know I can improve with these darts.
"I didn't even like Barney's darts at first but I thought I'd give them a go and my first three darts were a 180. Then I hit a 140, and the more I practised with them I thought they weren't as grippy as they looked.
"I've got some darts coming from China which are going to be a very similar barrel but a different pattern, so we'll see how they go.
"As the tournament progresses I think with the longer formats you'll see the real me turn up. There's a lot more to come from me.
"I've not won a game on TV since July and I needed to change something, and I'm probably practising as well as I've ever done."