Coaching Clinic 10

Posted: 19.04.12 in Coaching Clinic Blog category

This month we have a suggestion on how you can BEEF up your game!

Welcome to our April Darts Coaching Clinic. If you enjoy our monthly coaching tips please sign up for advanced notification and exclusive competitions for all our registered members at The Darts Performance Centre. It is free to register and you can also download one of our darts philosophy posters too. We promise not to bombard you with emails, just our coaching tips, once a month!

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To gain inspiration for our darts coaching we often look at other sports and borrow ideas from them. We have discussed before how some of the key principles of golf can also be very valuable in darts for example. Recently we got some inspiration from a sport you would not automatically think would be relevant; basketball!  

Now this is the April edition we know but this is no joke! One of our Darts Performance Centre members was at his local gym whilst a basketball coaching session was in progress. The coach was using a valuable weapon in a coach’s armoury to help his aspiring basketball stars to remember the key points of successfully throwing the ball through the net. The useful weapon he was using was an acronym, in other words a short, easy to remember word whose initials spell out the important points to remember. The acronym was:

B.E.E.F.

Our member reported back this discovery to me and I had to agree it was perfect for us to “borrow” for our darts coaching.

B - Stands for Balance- absolutely vital before you release the dart

E - Stands for Eyes- ensure you are focused on the target area you are going for

E - Stands for Elbow- this is a great reminder to ensure your arm feels right and your elbow is in its usual pre-throw position

F - Stands for Follow Through – another fundamental skill that ensures a smooth release of the dart.

So next time you step up to the oche, think B.E.E.F. !

Losing the Hunger

Another one of our members (male) contacted us recently with a dilemma that all dart players have gone through at some stage. He had completely lost the hunger and motivation to practise and he wanted some advice.

First of all we reassured him he was not the first and there were many reasons for falling out of love with the game of darts. Many things can contribute; family commitments are high on the list, darts interfering with other aspects of your life (wife, kids, work, college or university) or simply you have played too much and have got bored. Another reason is sometimes that you reach a plateau in your performance (you don’t seem to be getting any better regardless of practice). Many athletes in other sports go through this.

Some Solutions:

Plan Your Practice – Get a sheet of paper and put in the seven days of the week , the 24 hours in a day and put all your commitments down. If you see a gap, no matter how short a time, book it for darts practice! Even better, plan what you are going to do during the session too.

Get some shiny new darts (or flights Red Dragon have one or two) - Another very simple way of getting a bit of inspiration is buying a new set of darts or flights or stems. If you are like most men (I’m sure this will work just as well for women players too) the lure of new shiny things soon gives you the inspiration to pick them up and have a chuck.

Get a new board-We have a snooker and golf practice board. They are great fun to play, somethng different and may just help to get your motivation back.

Goal Setting- Set yourself some targets to beat during your practice games and keep track of your progress. See if you can beat your round the clock score from last time or better your 9 dart power scoring average. A bit of competition, even with just yourself can give you the push to get on the board.

Variety- Is the spice of darting life. Get yourself a practice partner, this will motivate you as you don’t want to let your mate down and makes a great change from practising on your own! Play a game on-line if you can’t get out of the house, you need a web-cam and a laptop computer but it is great fun and good practice!

We hope our ideas this month have given you some “food for thought”! 

The Darts Performance Centre is a resource to assist dart players of all standards play better darts. The site is arranged as an on-line coaching manual.

There is advice on technique, nerves, psychology, goal setting, practice games, an area to log your statistics and an interactive area where your darting questions are answered by two sports scientists, one with 30 years dart playing experience! Membership is just £25.00 per annum!