Archive for the ‘Darts Practice’

In darts is it important to straighten your arm when throwing? • 09.21.08

darts
This is another common question.
Although all darts players have their own throwing style, There are a few things every player should bear in mind:
1. Balance
    If you want to play well it is important that your stance is solid. If you are tottering around on the oche your accuracy will suffer. Many players attempt to improve their chances by standing side on to get a little closer to the board.     This is ok but reduces your stability.
                                           2. Consistent Tracking - once your balance is sorted the next key factor is making sure that your throwing pattern is consistent. It is inefficient to re-adjust your aim after each throw. It is far better to teach your arm to track consistently. If the first dart hits the treble 20 your chances of hitting the maximum 180 are greatly improved.
                                           3. Follow Through - The final key factor is to ensure that you follow through with your arm on each throw. This is as improtant for darts as it is for other games such as golf. If you do not follow through it is likely that you will pull your throw - this obviously reduces your accuracy.
The key to mastering each of these is practice, practice and more practice!

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What is the easiest way of working out checkouts while playing darts? • 08.24.08

darts
Being able to calculate your checkout at any point in the game is key to being a great dart player. If you have to think too much about it you will break your rhythm and once that happens your chances of a clean finish are reduced dramatically.
However, the good news is that there are a number of ways that you can improve your finishing:
  1. Start from 50 and practice checking out in as few darts as possible. Every time you successfully finish add one to your score and try to check out on that. Try this with a mate to add the competitive element.
  2. Take a look at the top darts players favourite finishes.
  3. Play shorter games like 301, 201 or even 101 - you will find that the shorter games mean that the finsihes come around more quickly which adds to the pressure to learn your finishes.
  4. Volunteer to chalk at your local pub. Nothing helps you learn to checkout as fast as watching other skilled players finish. You will quickly find that you are able to anticipate the throws that the players make.

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Should I use ear plugs when playing darts to block out noise and to concentrate more? • 08.08.08

darts
M. van Gerwen asked:

Raymond van Barneveld and Mervyn King use ear plugs when playing darts to block out the noise of the crowd. Do you think it is a good idea? Some people say you lose some of your balance when doing this and balance is very important in darts.

I think your best bet is to try them out in some practice games. It is unlikely that they will affect your balance but you may well find them distracting to start with.

If this is the case, and improving your concentration is the aim, you may find that chewing gum helps. I know it may seem strange but many of the superleague and county players I have played have done this.
Alternatively you may find that exposing yourself to as many competitions as you can will help impove your concentration. The distractions that affect you in a normal pub game seem to fade away when you up the ante and compete at a higher level.

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  • the darts shop
    Hi, I'm Gerry Peters and I run thedartsshop.co.uk a website that specialises in darts supplies. I've been playing darts for many more years than I care to remember and, God willing, I'll be playing for many more! I love this game - it's not just the beer - honest!