Darts Practice Plan

Posted: 17.09.20 in Darts Performance Centre Blog category

Dart Player Marcus Hawkins discusses how the Performance Darts Practice Plan has helped him!

Just over two months ago, I wrote a review of the Performance Darts Practice Plan alongside ‘Rusty Pebbles’, Marcus Hawkins. In that blog, I delved into his experience using the plan; what he enjoyed and what he didn’t, what he found easy and what he found difficult, and ultimately looked at whether the plan had appeared to be beneficial to the back-to-back Blaina singles champion.

We decided to leave it a couple of months, to see how the plan had helped him, and how his game had developed as a result, focusing on his performance in both practice, and in online matches.

I firstly asked Marcus how he felt the plan had improved his overall darts ability, in terms of hitting whichever segment he’s aiming for. He said that his doubling ability was more ‘‘solid’’, and that he was “learn[ing] more ways to checkout and learn certain [out]shots”.

This in particular would’ve been primarily down to the two games “Checkouts” and “121 in 6/201 in 9”, in which you aim to finish from certain numbers in as few darts as possible. In the game “Checkouts”, the finishes are oriented towards the numbers that the day's session is on. So when focusing on 20’s, the finishes will encourage you to utilise those segments, for instance finishing 60, or 120. When focusing on 19’s, you are encouraged to use that area of the board, taking out finishes such as 95, or 126.

Marcus didn't need a giant dart to notice his improvement!

Marcus further informed me that his scoring had also improved over recent weeks since the completion of the plan. This was due to the nature of the scoring routines in the plan, and the way progress is recorded. By having a set total of points in the game “Treble 20 scoring”, he could track his score from past games, competing with himself to beat his own personal highest score. This competitive nature has transferred to his usual practice routine, which has in turn helped Marcus continue his development as a player, and to better himself with every practice session he partakes in.

One major part of Marcus’s practice over the last few months has been playing matches on the Webcam Darts website, which allows him to face off against darts players around the world in competitive matches, from the comfort of his own home. Since completing the Performance Darts Practice Plan,

Marcus has found he is “more confident playing online”, and that his development has been statistically noted, as shown in his averages obtained during matches, in which he has been recording well into the 70’s, as well as a couple of 80+ averages, including one in a International Friendly match against South Africa B, in which he hit a 82.36 average in his 4-0 win. Amazing darts!

As is in most sports, confidence is key, which since the completion of the Performance Darts Practice Plan, Marcus has felt a change in attitude from himself. He says that “since this Practice Plan, I feel more confident [as] I feel I am going to hit any outshots from 140 to 170 every time I [get] a chance at them”. As well as this, he now feels more confident in less frequently hit doubles, such as D1 or D3, stating that he feels “more confident going for them”, due to the way the plan forces you to incorporate all doubles in sessions, preparing you for any eventuality.

This confidence in his own ability, stemming from the plan and his performance during it, is crucial to his success as a player, and will only aid him in his dream in becoming a fully fledged PDC professional player.

I hope you all enjoyed reading the second and final part of my blog surrounding the Performance Darts Practice Plan. Thank you to Marcus Hawkins for sharing his experience using the plan! Make sure to head on over to his Facebook page, and enter his fantastic giveaway for your chance to win one of these plans for yourself! If you’ve used the practice plan in the past, or are in the process of using one, let me know how you got on/are getting on over at Twitter, @JoeReid180!

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The Performance Darts Practice Plan - Available from a number of retailers!