Alternating between heavier and lighter darts

[sydneycarton]

Is there any value in spending some time practising with heavier darts as a means of ingraining muscle
memory? In golf, you can buy heavy-shafted clubs as training aids with the rationale that the extra weight helps promote quicker assimilation of whatever technical fix you’re working on. I assume this would transfer to darts throwing technique but I’d be interested to know if it’s already a recognised practice drill.

[Jefferz]

A lot of people believe so. I think it's always useful to have one set of much heavier and one much lighter darts than you're used to.

[Brandon26]

The answer is Yes. For the same reasons you mentioned and more, every sport and endeavor are improved by increasing your maximum potential and then pulling off the gas.

Racecar drivers are much more accurate at 100khm then at 200khm no matter what course. In many sports, the sweet spot for power and efficiency is 75% of maximums. Therefore, if you like 21g darts, try a set of 28g darts. No need to go to the 40g max, unless you are Ryan Searle.

[WoodGuy]

I throw 21g darts.  When my throw starts to go awry, it is usually because I'm not following through, or my pace is off.  When that happens, I'll practice for a while with my son's 24g or my wife's 26g darts.  It helps me re-set my throw.

[Pidge]

Going too heavy can lead to bad habits. A bit of extra wrist action or a bit of shoulder involvement is fairly common if you go too extreme.

My darts are 24g, my preferred weight would be 25g and I can keep my standard up to around 30g. Anything more and my standard drops off.

So, I wouldn’t recommend going more than +5g on your preferred weight. But yes, heavier darts can provide more feedback and feeling and speed up the muscle memory process. How much it’s sped up by I don’t know, but I doubt it’s by much.