Match of the Day

Posted: 19.07.11 in Tournament Analysis Blog category

We are on the ball for night 4 of the Matchplay- We have two wingers for you today - a right winger and a left winger, Kirsty-an exponent of the beautiful game and a challenge for Sid!

Middle for Diddle

The John Henderson V Colin Lloyd match did not just add drama, excitement and another technique that is unconventional but effective (Hendo`s rocking style ) to the PDC Matchplay last night. They also showed they are both exceptions to one of our coaching rules. They both defy a “pet” coaching point of The Darts Performance Centre which is where a player should stand on the oche. The commentary team pointed out that Henderson stood on the far right of the oche and Lloyd the far left. “It’s just personal preference-there is no right or wrong way to stand on the oche,” suggested Wayne Mardle. He then listed several other players who preferred to throw from the right or left.

My twitter pal Krispy from @DartsBeersandCheers was immediately concerned for my sanity, "don't let @DartsCentre hear Mardle say there's no right or wrong about where to stand on the oche!!” he tweeted.

I have had time to reflect on Wayne`s comments and I suppose it is personal preference when you consider it.. However, players are rarely given any advice on such matters- coaching is not anything like as prolific in darts as it is in other sports. If coaching had been available to Colin Lloyd and John Henderson they would most likely have started their darting journey being plonked in the middle of the oche.

I was involved in filming a video to promote “SightRight”, a training aid invented to assist dart players in locating the exact centre of the oche. There are three videos that tell you exactly why you should stand in the centre to throw. I do get a fair amount of stick from some people who view the videos. I had one rant just the other day

“Rubbish (I have toned down his exact thoughts), Rubbish, Rubbish, are you saying all the best players stand in the middle of the oche!"

Well no actually we're not, we never mention anything about the best players standing in the middle of the oche. What we do argue is that there are a number of valid reasons why players should and they are all contained in the videos.

You may notice at the end of the third video Steve Feeney, the inventor of SightRight, quotes some feedback he received from a player whose name wasn’t mentioned when Mardle reeled off a list of good players who stood to the left or the right. The reason 501 didn’t mention this player is because he throws from smack bang in the middle of the oche. Mind you Steve doesn’t mention his name either-he just describes him as “the greatest darts player ever”!

The Beautiful Game

Sid copped some negative feedback for “complaining” about the bio-mechanics of Mark Hylton’s throw. He is right of course, it shouldn’t work and much like Hendo and Jaws playing out on the wing, he has, due to his skill and hours of practice found a way to make his technique a success and play to a very high standard.

On the other side of the coin we have Kirsty. We met Kirsty at the EDO tournament in Blackpool at the weekend; we were running a video analysis zone. Please take a look, Kirsty has the most elegant technique we have ever seen. I would love to hear Sid wax lyrical about this player's throw!

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