That will ruin his average!

I have put to the back of my mind escalating ‘analysis paralysis’ regarding dart throwing technique and instead I have been thinking about how I can improve my average with a more structured change of practice routine. I am throwing at my target 51 or better average some of the time so to improve my average I need to reduce or eliminate the worst mistakes I make and let my good games take care of the rest. In recent legs of 501 my worst legs were thrown in 45, 44, 41 darts so I broke the legs down into sections and analysed my mistakes. Common themes were as follows:

·         A poor start-this gives any opponent a psychological advantage from the word go

·         Only 3 scores of 60+ in the scoring phase of the game

·         Drifting, mostly to the left, sometimes to the right

·         Very low scores in 150-90 set up range-as tension increases in the arm I guess

·         Accidental awkward set up shots hitting an odd number to leave a difficult finish

·         Double trouble or splitting a nice double with a wayward dart and making it more difficult than it was

In response to this analysis I propose to work more mindfully on the different phases of a game:

·         Scoring-I suspect drifting is  likely caused by a combination of rushing, bobbing of the head and as yet undiagnosed technique issues so I should continue to video my follow through aiming at 20s and other straight throw targets

·         Initial set up phase-perhaps throwing in random legs v computer during sessions to simulate the beginning of a game and the need to ‘settle in’ quickly. I could rehearse the timing and rhythm of my setup so it always looks the same no matter which phase of the game it is

·         Scoring phase- work towards a standard of 5 x scores of 60+ out of 8 visits (=58 ish average) or 350 in 18 darts. I need to play a game which counts accuracy on 20s and rewards 3 in a bed.

·         Setting up phase-to prevent nervousness approaching a finish I need to play more setup games such as legs of 170 vs computer or 120s in 9 incrementing the finish to reward success.

·         Doubling-to avoid blobbing on high pressure finishes such as 1 double 1. I should work on so called ‘muscle-memory’ of this particular nasty or 3 darts from 5 or 15 which are also ugly out shots that can ruin your average. I also need to work on concentration gathering before shots as I can get into a negative rhythm where I no longer expect to hit the target after a certain number of misses.

My new long practice routine now looks like:

·         Warm up and visualisation of throwing technique

·         101 bullseye challenge-10mins how many successful games in a row?

·         Or 20s routine on computer-I have not done this before so no PBs to date

·         FTS score/film 20s

·         FTS score/film bullseyes

·         3mins aim to hit double-double on double top

·         Gathering/visualisation

·         Cricket aim to score 14+

·         Doubles routine record score aim to beat PBs (10-12 successful shots regularly is my long term goal 14 = PB, best score 182 since I stated using the proper scoring system)

·         170s vs computer 4 legs or 120s play for 10 mins note finish number ( go up or down for success/miss)

·         Awkward finishes from 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15: how many in ten mins?