Aiming to improve

I have had some encouraging results and runs of good form in recent practice sessions, but as any self improver knows when you expand the gap between your 'A' game and your 'B,C or D' games your expectation raises and so does the resulting frustration when things do not go so well. To put it bluntly you start expecting treble 20s and finishing doubles to happen and when they do not is is easy to think "well I was hitting these yesterday why can't I...." or "This is typical, I always get ahead in legs and then blow a good lead." Notice that these sorts of thoughts are irrational because it is unreasonable to expect every dart to land where you want it: everyone misses, sometimes.

To keep a lid on frustration and still make improvements to my game I have had a look at my practice routine and analysed what is working and what is not. The most obvious success has been filming my throw and then gradually fine tuning aspects of my technique. I have solidified my stance, improved my rhythm and identified the features or makeup of a poor throw. I have also defined the most important statistic for my own improvement: the FTS% (follow through success percentage). I have built my practice around routines on 20s, double top, bullseye, double three, double 16 and games of double-start 301 vs the computer. My routine, which is heavy on straight darts does seem to have improved my straight throw. It has also given me a consistent reference point to tinker with other aspects of the throw, such as oche position by small degrees, whilst still being able to return to the same basic throw when needed. By this I mean my arm knows what it feels like to throw straight and if I lose the feel of this through too much experimentation I can reset and get back to it.

My last batch of fts% filmed sessions= 81,58,78,79,87,88,83,90= 80.5 mean. which is a significant improvement on my last stats. The downside of my current practice routine is that I do not move around the board much so in future I need to build in some kind of round the board routine, perhaps incremental so I can keep score and challenge my own PBs. I am also finding it hard to shake of losses against the computer, since I often score better but rarely hit a winning double. Doubles are such a small target to hit and I need to think about a way to practise doubles whilst still rewarding near misses, or darts against the wire so I can build confidence and remain philosophical about the doubles that got away. Traditional doubles routines for example Bob's 27s are built around a greater degree of competence than I possess and so I will often become knocked out straight away and become disheartened when I play them.

Aiming the dart has become a key issue when I practise because I have unfocused my aiming of late to concentrate on the action of the throw, but now I must develop an aiming mechanism if I am to hit doubles at the ends of legs. I also have two competing methods of aiming at present and so need to resolve these into one method: if I am aiming high I sight vaguely with the V shaped crook between the bottom of my thumb and my index finger and if I aim low I line up the flight with the target. In the coming weeks I will concentrate on sighting the target and the dart together (the dart will be blurred of course) and then stare at the target so my follow through arm knows where to aim. I will also try to keep the dart nearer my dominant eye to begin with, to try and make the action more repeatable and consistently accurate.