Practicing too many variations of your motion

[expos1994]

Sometimes when my game takes a dip it usually feels like I'm doing something differently, and the answer is to get back to doing what works. It's not always easy. I think for me it's because I practice too many variations of my motion. That I no longer can remember which one was the 'right' one.

I feel like during practice for whatever reason I'll try slight variations to my throwing mechanics, get some decent results, and then continue to practice to see if I've 'figured something out'. For example... about a month ago I started putting a little more than usual motion on my hand/wrist during the release of the dart. For a while this seemed to work. The darts were flying right at the target almost every throw. But then I woke up the next day, or a few days later and I just kinda lost it. It wasn't working anymore. Maybe I was over exaggerating the wrist/finger motion. Whatever it was I needed to remove it and get back to my 'normal' motion. But then I found it hard to go back to what I was doing before.

This also happens with variations of my back stroke. Sometimes short works good, sometimes, to my ear works good, sometimes to my nose get's me back inline with the target. Also the aiming point. Right between the eyes, beneath the nose, to the side. Point tip up, point tip down, keep tip level... lean in really far, lean a little, stand up straight, lol. I've tried em all... I've thrown hundreds using each different style, maybe thousands. Mixing it up to see what works. And through it all I've gotten a lot better. I consider practice at times to be like a mad scientist in a lab... experimenting. But there are drawbacks...

I find it's hard to be consistent having had some measure of success with so many different techniques. It's confusing. I may get in the zone in practice, and it feels good. So I walk away confident that I'll return to that form next time. But sometimes a new day kind of wipes the slate clean and I have to remember what I was doing before. And I forget... or it takes me awhile. And I gotta cycle through all the different variations again.

Sometimes it just makes my head hurt. Anyone else ever feel this way? I'm going through a hopefully 'mini' slump following a shoulder injury. The shoulder is fine now, but the darts haven't fully returned. So I'm trying to analyze my mechanics while at the same time trying 'not to think about it'.

[Balin]

Sounds like you could benefit from Flight School. Look up the corresponding threads in the forum.

Try not to think too much about "how you are doing it". Let your throw develop naturally. What your hand/wrist is doing is none of your business. Just focus on where you are sending the darts, and everything else will follow in due time.

[brenthahn]

Long, thoughtful post that deserves an equally thoughtful reply that I don't have time for right now. But… I hear ya, bud.

[davidsproull]

A part of the problem is that what the pros do is so amazing (well amazing to me at least) is that it seems like there must be some sort of trick to it.
While it is true that at the end of the day all good throws will have some common elements, such as follow through, none of these should be 'forced'. The way you learn to throw a dart is by throwing a dart, and the more you think about how you do it, the more you are function in your rational front brain and the more you are likely to get in your own way and develop little hiccups in your delivery.

I highly recommend Flight School.

[Adams]

+1 on doing Flight School. I also have George’s book and I’ve found it it to be helpful. It’s led to me changing my stance, which made for a noticeable improvement. It’s also helped me to focus and concentrate better on the elements of grip, stroke and release. Overall, I count my FS efforts and the book as having helped me achieve noticeable self-improvement.

All that being true and having been said... Don’t drive yourself crazy over-analyzing every twitch of every muscle in your body every time you throw a dart. Little is more discouraging or exasperating than when you get into doing that. Maybe reserve some practice sessions for being the analysis sessions and others for the “just shoot” sessions, with no analysis or deep thinking allowed. Above all else, remember that this is supposed to be about having a good time. If you’re not having a good time, you need to change something so that you are. Good luck with it.