Playing against yourself

[expos1994]

I have several practice games and routines... but my main practice routine is to play games of 501 and cricket against myself.
There's player 1 and player 2. They are both me. And they are both out to kick the other one's butt.

Is there anyone else out there that does this? If you don't do it you should give it a go. When I started doing it I really started to make gains in my skills. You are your #1 worst enemy. You know exactly how you play. You know your strengths/weaknesses. When playing others I find the most satisfying games are against people whose averages are closest to my own. When you play yourself you are playing someone with the exact same average as you. It's the ideal competition. I find that I often have epic battles, especially in cricket.

Darts is one of the few games you can play yourself and it's easy to not be biased (you can't play poker against yourself). Every turn your goal is to throw your best darts. Whether in the lead or making a comeback... you throw your best. If Player 1 is ahead, my mentality is to continue to build the lead and put pressure on Player 2. As Player 2, my mentality is make a comeback, retake the lead. Those are the two mentalities I use in actual competitive play. Playing against yourself you're always practicing both.

You also encounter many game situations that prepare you for when they actually happen in league or a tournament.

Anyways, just wanted to share that. If you have never done it, give it a try. Maybe everyone already does this... but I had been playing darts for about 8 months before I thought to do it. Now it's my favorite way to practice and gauge my ability.

I use an app on my phone that keeps stats for both versions of myself. I use it to track my progress.

[Banned]

I used to do this ALL the time. The only diff is that I'd use 2 sets of darts. So basically it's one set of darts against the other. I'd always get bummed out when I'd lose with my match darts. It made me want to switch lol

Even recently I'll play against myself with 501 and 2 scores. It really keeps the math sharp having to know 2 scores. The only downside is, and I'm not sure if it's true, but playing against yourself causes blindness? Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

[gumbo2176]

I think most folks do that, or have done that when practicing. Now, a lot of time I'll head to a local bar and play against the electronic scoreboard. It has 4 levels of difficulty for 301, 501 and Cricket. The levels are assigned a number with 14 being the easiest level and 11 being the most difficult. It gets hard for me to beat it on 12 and if I try 11, I'd better throw like Taylor and the like to even have a chance.

When I practice alone I'll concentrate on doubles, a series of random out shots, sometimes start at 170 and see how many darts it takes to get out, and then the cricket numbers since it is such a popular game in the US.

[expos1994]

Yeah I've got an Arachnid cricket pro 750 board. And it has a computer player you can play against. But it's just unrealistic and I get a lot more out of playing myself. The computer scores seemingly random stuff. It'll hit T18, T20, T6 in 501. Cricket is especially bad. It'll be behind in points with 2 numbers it can point on and it'll hit a bullseye. Just random and didn't simulate a human player at all. I just gave up on that.

[*Saber*]

I used to do this ALL the time. The only diff is that I'd use 2 sets of darts. So basically it's one set of darts against the other. I'd always get bummed out when I'd lose with my match darts. It made me want to switch lol

Even recently I'll play against myself with 501 and 2 scores. It really keeps the math sharp having to know 2 scores. The only downside is, and I'm not sure if it's true, but playing against yourself causes blindness? Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

I wear glasses now lol.

[Dmott]

Yeah it causes warts on your hands too, scary stuff...

Why does George from flight school say NEVER play against yourself?

[guest2]

Yeah it causes warts on your hands too, scary stuff...

Why does George from flight school say NEVER play against yourself?

What are you suggesting Doug? "Play with yourself?" Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

You're crazy - LOL!!!

And they are not warts!!! Something else!

[Banned]

To be honest the majority of my practice I'm always trying to beat my own personal best scores. If i'm playing baseball (numbers 1-9) or using the cricket numbers and the bull, my main goal is to beat my own scores. That's sort of like playing against myself?

[Dmott]

To be honest the majority of my practice I'm always trying to beat my own personal best scores. If i'm playing baseball (numbers 1-9) or using the cricket numbers and the bull, my main goal is to beat my own scores. That's sort of like playing against myself?

Yeah I cant see how that would be bad at all.

Maybe I can understand actually playing legs against yourself though. George just could be saying that it throws the timing off? You get the scoring practice of a game of 1001, then almost 2 times the practice of finishing, but maybe George likes to just practice 501?

edit: Cy, maybe I would call what you do "trying your hardest." You arent really playing against yourself.

[Dartbuggy]

Yeah it causes warts on your hands too, scary stuff...

Why does George from flight school say NEVER play against yourself?

My take on what George says is to avoid competing against personal bests. I don't think he is talking about this scenario.

My brother didn't come along until I was seven and we lived in the country. I had to learn to amuse myself. I used to play nine inning games with the entire 1968 Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tiger lineups. I would toss the ball up and hit it. Based on where it landed I would determine whether is was a hit or out. I had ghost runners running the bases, ghost fielders in all positions and I hit for everyone. But, I always had some kind of target game going where I played for multiple players. Ballon into the laundry basket or some such. With darts, like Cy, I tend to compete darts against each other. I do try to win with both and give my best effort with all darts. Did it the other day. But really not so much anymore. I score a single game of 501 once in a while, but mostly play cricket against an electronic scorer. I have started using ProDarter some. I would more, but it requires lifting my desktop into the next room.

[Banned]

I'll throw this out there. No disrespect meant AT ALL. But George is old school. His knowledge is vast... BUT... things have changed greatly in the last couple years as far as practice goes. A lot of us could only practice against people in our local area or spend countless boring hours at home alone. Now the world has shrunk with online darts. We're able to play people from all over the world in actual matches.

How do you think the oversea's players got so damn good? Because they could play high caliber opponents without having to travel far. They also played 01 games only. Now we have that option of practice right in our own living room. It's a MAJOR new tool to improving your dart game. Problem is, you have to treat it as a tool and use it correctly to see benefits. Point is... things have changed in darts recently. Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

[181-3dartout]

always play 2 player
play it just like a real game
yelling, cussing ,under my breath saying (point whore)lol
i dont know why ,i know who going to win .Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

[Black Dog]

I have several practice games and routines... but my main practice routine is to play games of 501 and cricket against myself.
There's player 1 and player 2. They are both me. And they are both out to kick the other one's butt.

Is there anyone else out there that does this? If you don't do it you should give it a go. When I started doing it I really started to make gains in my skills. You are your #1 worst enemy. You know exactly how you play. You know your strengths/weaknesses. When playing others I find the most satisfying games are against people whose averages are closest to my own. When you play yourself you are playing someone with the exact same average as you. It's the ideal competition. I find that I often have epic battles, especially in cricket.

Darts is one of the few games you can play yourself and it's easy to not be biased (you can't play poker against yourself). Every turn your goal is to throw your best darts. Whether in the lead or making a comeback... you throw your best. If Player 1 is ahead, my mentality is to continue to build the lead and put pressure on Player 2. As Player 2, my mentality is make a comeback, retake the lead. Those are the two mentalities I use in actual competitive play. Playing against yourself you're always practicing both.

You also encounter many game situations that prepare you for when they actually happen in league or a tournament.

Anyways, just wanted to share that. If you have never done it, give it a try. Maybe everyone already does this... but I had been playing darts for about 8 months before I thought to do it. Now it's my favorite way to practice and gauge my ability.

I use an app on my phone that keeps stats for both versions of myself. I use it to track my progress.

Great way to practice IMO, I do it and it really is a great way to get better at it....Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

[ElusiveDouble85]

I used to do this all the time as my main practice a few years ago. Now I mainly play computer opponents or set myself a target number of darts to win the leg or it goes down as a lost leg. I think I'll have to try incorporating this back into my practice for some variety and a means of solo competition

[Dorian]

I used to do this ALL the time. The only diff is that I'd use 2 sets of darts. So basically it's one set of darts against the other. I'd always get bummed out when I'd lose with my match darts. It made me want to switch lol

Even recently I'll play against myself with 501 and 2 scores. It really keeps the math sharp having to know 2 scores. The only downside is, and I'm not sure if it's true, but playing against yourself causes blindness? Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

I wear glasses now lol.

Yes you're right about the glasses ....remember Dirty G ...he was always playing with himself Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.

Cheers Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.