Getting accustomed to a new board

[binohike]

I recently got a new B4 DC that is very nice and much nicer than my old board. I have been using it for five days. Somehow, it seems that my play is not as good as on my old board, even though the old one has round wires and staples. One would think that scoring would improve on the B4. In general, it seems harder to hit my target.

This has me wondering if simple familiarity or some kind of visual/spatial factor has an effect on darts play. In this case, I am referring only to the board itself. Nothing else has changed. I can easily imagine how playing in different venues or environments would have an effect.

I expect that as time passes I will be equally as good (or bad) as I was on the old board. It is also true that I have not yet quantified the difference in scoring between the two boards. Nevertheless, I don't think the feeling that it is more difficult to hit what I am throwing at is entirely imaginary.

What do you think? Add it to my long list of psychological oddities? Illustrative of a general human pattern regarding interaction with the material world? Has anything similar happened to anyone else?

[Scotty Burnett]

I have experienced a similar effect before. Taken a tape measure to the segments, measured the throw line etc... There are some boards that I just visually do not like. Soft and Steel. And it plays with my focus and confidence. So yes, it affected my darts but it was nothing other than my brain getting in the way.

The more I played on the offending board, the easier it got to tune that out and just play.

[Crusher17]

Might be from going to an old dull board to new bright colors ? like scott said might just be an adustment period

[joeriw96]

Never noticed any difference in my play between boards, I did however with different lighting (mainly on outshots). It could be a visual thing, if that is the case you should just keep playing on it a bit more for your eyes to adapt. Most likely it's just a mental thing and I guess it will pass soon.

[Walker]

If anything it's the opposite effect for me. I love a new board and have a nice honeymoon period with it, before gradually dropping back to my normal game lol

[mark-essex]

I always seem to throw better arras at my old staple board in the garage than my Blade 4 indoors! And yes, I've taken a tape measure to both to check too!

Really strange!

[binohike]

Very interesting. No doubt psychological factors play a significant role in darts as in so many other things. It’s quite a different thing, of course, but it occurs to me that I experience something similar when I go to a shooting range. Perhaps it is not surprising that performance in target sports – where hits and misses are determined by the smallest of margins – can be influenced by many factors, both obvious and not so obvious. In any case, it is a great challenge. I think it is pretty impressive when darts players reach a point when they can be consistent on different boards and in a variety of settings.

Thanks for the replies!