Darts

[Maximus Decimus]

On 11/01/2025 at 18:55, graveyard johnny said:

while not been able to do much due to the bad weather this week I got one of the spare bedrooms cleared out and got the board and arrows back out -did  watching all the skills of the PDC players over the past few weeks have any effect on me? erm no - I  still play darts like a donkey plays the violin!

 

On 11/01/2025 at 20:59, Eddie said:

You have to be natural I think. I was watching a pub league match the other day and they were all pretty awful, like most people are - anyone who says if they practiced all the time they could be in the pro game (which I’ve heard a lot) is a fool. 

As someone who has played quite steadily on and off for a few years, I can definitely second this. Tbh I probably thought it was just a case of playing a lot and I'd get better, and if I had the time to dedicate I could be as good.

There is a guy on YouTube, Ronnie Rickner, who is doing the 10,000 hours experiment with darts. He's currently 2,000 hours in. He has got better but just entered Q school and exited in Stage 1 with an average of 66. He's been better than this, but darts is like that, it isn't consistent improvement.

There are a couple of famous examples of players who say they were good pretty instantly, Gary Anderson and Adrian Lewis being famous examples. I think the number of players who have succeeded despite bizarre throws is testament to how much it is down to natural hand-eye coordination.

[Maximus Decimus]

As for my darts journey, I've tried it all over the years. When I started, I thought I'd just try to figure out a throw that worked but soon got frustrated with the inconsistency.

Then I went down the route of seeing what was good technique alongside proper practise routines and even had my throw examined. This hasn't necessarily helped scorewise (which is important) but I tend to know what went wrong. This can lead to a situation where I can't settle on one stance or style of throw and just keep flipping from one to another.

I'm definitely better than when I first got a board again 4 years ago, but I'm still in the low 50s. There have been some real shoots of improvement over Christmas, that haven't quite transferred into the average yet. For instance, I've hit 12 proper 180s in my life, and 6 of them have been in the last month.

The key is I still really enjoy it. There are times when it's frustrating but they are not nearly as often as the times I've had enjoyment out of it. I've noticed a big difference in the appeal of darts recently with family, friends and colleagues talking about playing a lot more.

[graveyard johnny]

Luke Littler brought right back down to reality - just dumped out of the Bahrain  Masters by Gerwyn Price 6-2 in a very impressive and commanding performance by Price pulling out the best average of the tournament  ever seen 

[ricky]

On 17/01/2025 at 17:26, graveyard johnny said:

Luke Littler brought right back down to reality - just dumped out of the Bahrain  Masters by Gerwyn Price 6-2 in a very impressive and commanding performance by Price pulling out the best average of the tournament  ever seen 

There's a reason why the World Championship final isn't best of 11 legs

[graveyard johnny]

question for the darts fans on here- would Phil Taylor  (in his prime) still be as dominant as he was in this era of players as he was in the previous era of players?

[Maximus Decimus]

44 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

question for the darts fans on here- would Phil Taylor  (in his prime) still be as dominant as he was in this era of players as he was in the previous era of players?

Not as dominant, but still very successful. His numbers absolutely hold up, and his ability under pressure was obviously very good.

For a bit more context, he still holds the record for the highest ever average in a Worlds final, and his lifetime average is over 100.

Edited Sunday at 15:10 by Maximus Decimus

[graveyard johnny]

Littler crashes out of the world masters now to Clayton - the Emma Radacanu of darts maybe?

Edited Sunday at 15:31 by graveyard johnny

[sam4731]

4 hours ago, graveyard johnny said:

Littler crashes out of the world masters now to Clayton - the Emma Radacanu of darts maybe?

Nah. Emma Raducanu fell off a cliff after winning the US Open. Littler won 10 titles last year including 3 majors and followed it up with a world championship win. Also there's no shame in losing to Clayton. He's a good player, a 4 time major winner himself.

Also in his first two rounds he won both matches with an overall leg win rate of 14-1.

He'll be at the top end of the game for a long time to come and will win plenty more of the top titles.