Practicing the stroke

[brenthahn]

I'm not a golfer, but my dad was. He'd go out to the driving range and just work on his stroke. Not hitting the ball at any spot in particular, just trying to make his form smooth and consistent. Any of you folks ever do that when you practice darts?

[Black Dog]

I'm not a golfer, but my dad was. He'd go out to the driving range and just work on his stroke. Not hitting the ball at any spot in particular, just trying to make his form smooth and consistent. Any of you folks ever do that when you practice darts?

First you have to find the stroke and grip that puts the darts right where you want them consistently. A good way to practice that is to follow each throw, so where ever the first dart lands try to get the other two in the same place, "grouping", That takes practice and you could even film your arm movement to see if it varies too much.

[gumbo2176]

I kind of do that when I am warming up. I do it in 3 stages. I don't throw for any particular spot on the board but I do try to throw each dart with a fluid stroke. Kind of like a pitcher in the bullpen warming up and loosening the arm before heading to the mound. After I feel like the arm is warmed up, then I'll throw for a spot on the board and do like Black Dog mentioned----group the darts in that area. Then I'll aim for doubles, trebles, single wedges to try to fine tune the throw.

I've found the older I get, the longer it takes for me to get loosened up. Long gone are the days of 3 sets of darts to the board and ready to play.

[Getagrip]

No but I think I should, its worth doing Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

[brenthahn]

No but I think I should, its worth doing Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

It's nice to be able to concentrate on just the mechanics, not caring where the dart is landing. I'm finding it's helping me overall.

[JayKay]

I do the exact same, though I will aim for an area and try to make the next to follow that dart. So if I aim for the triple 5 but hit the small wedge of the 12 I don't throw to the triple five anymore but try to make the "ching" noise by hitting the first dart with the next two. I move around the board doing opposite triples roughly just to move about a little.
Seems to help me

[BigE]

I'm not a golfer, but my dad was. He'd go out to the driving range and just work on his stroke. Not hitting the ball at any spot in particular, just trying to make his form smooth and consistent. Any of you folks ever do that when you practice darts?

Yes. It is imperative ( at least to my mind ) that I can create a reliable stroke... no herky jerky, just consistency with follow through.

If I worry about this too much though, I start wondering what my fingers are doing, what my wrist is doing, if the follow through is ok etc.... This is counter productive.

Imagine what would happen to your fingers if you tried to hammer nails with that much going on in your head. It would not be pretty, and it generally is not on the dartboard either.

That is not to say one should not try to correct *bad* habits ( like snatching ) but over thinking the action never helps. At most, I concentrate on *one* element at a time.... my pea brain does not allow for any more than that. I then hope each of the other things I've worked on stick around.... as a former ski instructor, I can tell you that you certainly cannot change more than one thing at a time.

[guest2]

Yes I fully agree plus the fact that it somehow loosens up the "tightness" in your arms

[ChrisTheFish]

Thats just what you need a consistent stroke, everything else will become second nature.
When I started back again 3 years ago it all felt alien, I tried to throw this way and that to get going and ended up trying to "manufacture" my throw.
By working to throw with a smooth stroke and consistent grip instead I am now much more comfortable and its more fun and less frustration.

[BigE]

ChrisTheFish,

That is exactly where I am now. Develop a smooth stroke.

I could never figure out why the follow through demanded that fingers end up down. Now I know..... consistency. Same start/same end. That is going to take some effort to get embedded into muscle memory. They say you own a movement if you do it 10,000 times.

3 darts means only 3,333 trips to the ockey. Assuming a 30 dart game, that would be only 111 games. You'd think you could fix a follow through issue in a week with practice alone!

[brenthahn]

They say you own a movement if you do it 10,000 times.

Trouble is, every different spot on the board calls for a variation on that movement. So it's partly consistent repetition of the movement, and partly mind over matter.

[habanerojooz]

I'm not a golfer, but my dad was. He'd go out to the driving range and just work on his stroke. Not hitting the ball at any spot in particular, just trying to make his form smooth and consistent. Any of you folks ever do that when you practice darts?

A percentage of my solo practice time at home is spent working on form, smoothness, and consistency with an overall goal of improving my control over each dart thrown. I like to work on things and repeat them until they become second nature. Sometimes, I find that I need to clean up my form as bad habits have crept in.

[BigE]

They say you own a movement if you do it 10,000 times.

Trouble is, every different spot on the board calls for a variation on that movement. So it's partly consistent repetition of the movement, and partly mind over matter.

True. There are subtle differences across the board. No argument there. But I think that there are more similarities in shooting at any given spot on the board than there are differences.

I am of the opinion that there are essential movements in darts that must be present in the physical stroke if you wish to improve.

These are things like follow through, release ( you must let go) , a pull back and throw that are on the same plane, an elbow that stays put until the dart is released, a solid well balanced stance without body movement, a comfortable repeatable grip.

That being said, people can become very good at tossing darts without mastering all the above. They've repeated some other movement pattern over 10,000 times....

If you watch Peter Wright, he does a little circular movement at the end of the pull back that causes the pull back and forward stroke to be in different planes. Last I checked, he was ranked 5th in the PDC.

Look at the guys like Darryl Fitton, whose body moves quite a bit on the ockey (sway and rotation). Ranked 11th by the BDO. I'd call them both quite successful -- I wish I could shoot that well.

But I would not suggest that they are model throwers.

Which raises the question: "Is there a technically perfect throw?"