12-16-2014, 08:53 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-24-2020, 05:46 PM by nixer55.
Edit Reason: Fixed vid link
)
THE 10 MINUTE A DAY ROUTINE
A lot of what is written is geared at the individual who has an abundance of time to work through hours of practice routines.
Today there are plenty of players who perhaps only have 5 or 10 minutes free time to practise. Additionally, there may be players who need a quick routine to grab between travelling, games or other pursuits.
This then is really about those players who have a solid base and need to keep sharp. There may also be a slot for those who just do not like practising and need a quick and regular fillip. Firstly you will need to warm up even though this is a ten minute session.
Stage one: To start with use the bull and throw about a minute’s worth of darts. Here just concentrate on throwing a straight dart with very good form. To help achieve this once you have sighted the dart as you release, change your sight to the actual dart going through the air. The endeavour is to have a smooth flight, balanced and true all the way to the target. This will ensure in this quick session that straight away you are back in the groove and maintaining good form.
Stage two: Use this same form and approach and throw three darts in succession at treble 6, treble 3, treble 11 and treble 20. This should take about an additional two minutes with seven minutes remaining in the session.
Stage three: For the next six minutes use the routine as follows: nine darts thrown at twenties followed by a double of your choice. The target for the nine darts will be at least 180, 240 or 300 depending on your current standard of play. To note that success here is achieved when you hit your chosen double in either of the 10th, 11th or 12th dart.
Stage four: One more minute back throwing at the bull. Throwing relaxed in form darts.
There you have it. Ten minutes at the board focused and targeted. This should suffice for those periods where a more formal structured routine is not achievable.
WARMING UP YOUR BRAIN
I think we all agree that to perform at your best a thorough warm up is essential. In a different article I talk about how you can develop a technique to accelerate this warm up phase.
Now we are concentrating on the second area of warm up which is the mind.
Darts needs you to be relaxed both physically and mentally. You look round a room and there are players who are quite gifted at maths and finishing combinations. Others who have spent time learning and working on their own routines and others who seems to be perennial strugglers.
All of the above would benefit from a session before a match to warm up the mental aspects of the game. Once you are at the venue your warm up phase may be limited. You may have also started on the alcohol. This may seem to relax you but it may also dull the mental capacity.
So the other option is to either create this session at home before you go out or if you are meeting at a home venue before moving off to the competitive venue.
There will be finishes that need working on but these are not for this session. This is about the mental warm up and fine tuning before a match. I would suggest one of the following routines.
First choice: Use a list of doubles that you may already use as a practice session. Between 10 and 20 should suffice. (There is a list in the first book of this series: “The Definitive Darts Coaching Manual”). Now just run through these one after the other.
Do not worry if you do not hit the double and always move on to the next. The important aspect here is to enjoy the essence of the throw whilst lightly concentrating on how the throw is developing. By this I mean, for example, your next choice is 122. Your first dart is a single 18, so straight away you are now aware 104 is required. Next dart is again an 18. So part of the mental warm up has made you aware that you need to aim for treble 18 to leave 32. If you again hit 18 this leaves you 68.
Part of this mental warm up extends to thinking about that 68. As you note it is not all about hitting the actual target but being aware from a mathematical stand point what you have at any point and what your options are.
If you work on this 10 to 20 finish session as part of a practice session, when you come to use it before a game it should be second nature.
To reiterate a key point. Do not fret over the actual throw, enjoy and be relaxed. Your mind will then naturally open and adjust as part of the game preparation warm up.
I believe the above use of around 15 doubles is most suitable. An alternative though for a change is to choose 4 or 5 different outs that you may have recently struggled on.
Your list may include finishes like 123, 129 and 135 etc. Work with say 6 darts at each of them in the similar fashion to the previous session. Again the key is being relaxed and allowing the mind to adapt to the game ahead.
I think if you work with this you will find your combination finishing improving when you come to the business end of your next match.
CONCENTRATION
I think we all agree at some stage during a match or a practice routine we lose focus and or concentration. The ability to increase the level of focus required can be developed.
Here we are going to explore a simple routine, which is fun and will increase your levels of concentration in a game or on the practice board.
The idea of this session is to concentrate on throwing nine darts and then finishing on a double. To make this work all nine darts should, where possible, land in the 20. You must also develop a technique to replicate the time period when your opponent is throwing.
The following scoring will be a target with your nine darts:
180+ for the enthusiast
240+ for Superleague and County Players
300+ for the Professionals
The session will not be complete unless, in the 10th, 11th or 12th dart you take out the chosen double.
So you can see at home on the practice board, you can concentrate on this small segment of play. Then you repeat again and again. Over a period the ability to keep the concentration levels high will manifest in to your competitive play.
As well as being a useful development aid it should be fun and worth recording your weekly highest result. i.e. 260 and 32 out.
SWITCH ROUTINE
My recommendation would be to build a switch routine into your sessions. This is where you for example you score 100 plus with three darts and then take out the chosen double with the next three darts. This would count as one switch.
You then aim to hit another 100 plus and this would be your second switch, followed by the double again for the next switch. As you imagine this routine ensures you can maintain high scoring followed by the closure of the game with a double. Over time a switch score of 20 plus would be very acceptable.
(Source: Books by DK Darts)
SABER'S BULLS PRACTICE ROUTINE
A lot of what is written is geared at the individual who has an abundance of time to work through hours of practice routines.
Today there are plenty of players who perhaps only have 5 or 10 minutes free time to practise. Additionally, there may be players who need a quick routine to grab between travelling, games or other pursuits.
This then is really about those players who have a solid base and need to keep sharp. There may also be a slot for those who just do not like practising and need a quick and regular fillip. Firstly you will need to warm up even though this is a ten minute session.
Stage one: To start with use the bull and throw about a minute’s worth of darts. Here just concentrate on throwing a straight dart with very good form. To help achieve this once you have sighted the dart as you release, change your sight to the actual dart going through the air. The endeavour is to have a smooth flight, balanced and true all the way to the target. This will ensure in this quick session that straight away you are back in the groove and maintaining good form.
Stage two: Use this same form and approach and throw three darts in succession at treble 6, treble 3, treble 11 and treble 20. This should take about an additional two minutes with seven minutes remaining in the session.
Stage three: For the next six minutes use the routine as follows: nine darts thrown at twenties followed by a double of your choice. The target for the nine darts will be at least 180, 240 or 300 depending on your current standard of play. To note that success here is achieved when you hit your chosen double in either of the 10th, 11th or 12th dart.
Stage four: One more minute back throwing at the bull. Throwing relaxed in form darts.
There you have it. Ten minutes at the board focused and targeted. This should suffice for those periods where a more formal structured routine is not achievable.
WARMING UP YOUR BRAIN
I think we all agree that to perform at your best a thorough warm up is essential. In a different article I talk about how you can develop a technique to accelerate this warm up phase.
Now we are concentrating on the second area of warm up which is the mind.
Darts needs you to be relaxed both physically and mentally. You look round a room and there are players who are quite gifted at maths and finishing combinations. Others who have spent time learning and working on their own routines and others who seems to be perennial strugglers.
All of the above would benefit from a session before a match to warm up the mental aspects of the game. Once you are at the venue your warm up phase may be limited. You may have also started on the alcohol. This may seem to relax you but it may also dull the mental capacity.
So the other option is to either create this session at home before you go out or if you are meeting at a home venue before moving off to the competitive venue.
There will be finishes that need working on but these are not for this session. This is about the mental warm up and fine tuning before a match. I would suggest one of the following routines.
First choice: Use a list of doubles that you may already use as a practice session. Between 10 and 20 should suffice. (There is a list in the first book of this series: “The Definitive Darts Coaching Manual”). Now just run through these one after the other.
Do not worry if you do not hit the double and always move on to the next. The important aspect here is to enjoy the essence of the throw whilst lightly concentrating on how the throw is developing. By this I mean, for example, your next choice is 122. Your first dart is a single 18, so straight away you are now aware 104 is required. Next dart is again an 18. So part of the mental warm up has made you aware that you need to aim for treble 18 to leave 32. If you again hit 18 this leaves you 68.
Part of this mental warm up extends to thinking about that 68. As you note it is not all about hitting the actual target but being aware from a mathematical stand point what you have at any point and what your options are.
If you work on this 10 to 20 finish session as part of a practice session, when you come to use it before a game it should be second nature.
To reiterate a key point. Do not fret over the actual throw, enjoy and be relaxed. Your mind will then naturally open and adjust as part of the game preparation warm up.
I believe the above use of around 15 doubles is most suitable. An alternative though for a change is to choose 4 or 5 different outs that you may have recently struggled on.
Your list may include finishes like 123, 129 and 135 etc. Work with say 6 darts at each of them in the similar fashion to the previous session. Again the key is being relaxed and allowing the mind to adapt to the game ahead.
I think if you work with this you will find your combination finishing improving when you come to the business end of your next match.
CONCENTRATION
I think we all agree at some stage during a match or a practice routine we lose focus and or concentration. The ability to increase the level of focus required can be developed.
Here we are going to explore a simple routine, which is fun and will increase your levels of concentration in a game or on the practice board.
The idea of this session is to concentrate on throwing nine darts and then finishing on a double. To make this work all nine darts should, where possible, land in the 20. You must also develop a technique to replicate the time period when your opponent is throwing.
The following scoring will be a target with your nine darts:
180+ for the enthusiast
240+ for Superleague and County Players
300+ for the Professionals
The session will not be complete unless, in the 10th, 11th or 12th dart you take out the chosen double.
So you can see at home on the practice board, you can concentrate on this small segment of play. Then you repeat again and again. Over a period the ability to keep the concentration levels high will manifest in to your competitive play.
As well as being a useful development aid it should be fun and worth recording your weekly highest result. i.e. 260 and 32 out.
SWITCH ROUTINE
My recommendation would be to build a switch routine into your sessions. This is where you for example you score 100 plus with three darts and then take out the chosen double with the next three darts. This would count as one switch.
You then aim to hit another 100 plus and this would be your second switch, followed by the double again for the next switch. As you imagine this routine ensures you can maintain high scoring followed by the closure of the game with a double. Over time a switch score of 20 plus would be very acceptable.
(Source: Books by DK Darts)
SABER'S BULLS PRACTICE ROUTINE
