Darts is Like Wine !

Posted: 25.10.12 in Throw Like A Pro Blog category

Aidan considers what is the right blend of ingredients that will create, over time, the winning formula for darts!

Darts is like Wine...

There is a lot to a game of darts. Your performance is not determined solely upon what barrel you chose, or the stem or the flight. Indeed, you won’t be guaranteed to win if you stand perfectly at the oche, or follow through seamlessly each time. Practice until the many cows come home, but at the end of that you will receive no warrantee suggesting you will win your next game of darts.

     The ingredients:Darts, stems, flights, practice, experience, commitment, focus, self-belief, consistency, patience, ability, bottle !

I see this sport as a big wooden press, like the ones the French and Italian use to make their wine. 12 months ago, my press was empty. No contents whatsoever, a freshly delivered box of emptiness for me to fill.

How a dart player fills their press will determine whether the wine is sweet, pure, and destined to tickle each taste bud individually or sour, and bound to have you sitting on the loo for a while after.

In the short space of time I have been playing darts, I have done my utmost to go about filling my container with what I believe are the necessary ingredients to become a professional. A dart I am comfortable with (Darts Performance Centre 21g), a stem and flight that accommodates my darts to land comfortably in the board.

So I am stamping away in the press for a couple of months, excited to taste the rewards of my hard work. I hop out, dry my feet and pour a glass. It’s red, it looks the part. And the initial taste test tells me I am on the right track. But as the seconds go on, a more sinister after taste begins to linger. I have some work to do yet.

To all intents and purposes, I look like a dart player. I step up to the oche, and throw darts. I can hit a 180. I can also hit a rotten 26. No one wants to buy a bottle of wine, not knowing are they going to get the 180 or the 26! They want consistency each time.

I decide on a couple more ingredients which should help with the taste; I throw in some practice, a huge amount of patience, and a willingness to work on other areas of darts performance, such as a consciousness on how I approach the oche, same routine when I throw the dart etc. I plod away in the press, convinced my product will be on the shelves of every major shopping centre in no time.

In darting terms, this was me a couple of weeks ago. I had broken the 60 average for the first time. This is a marked improvement on 45/50 during the summer. The hard work and major self-discipline was beginning to pay off. I was enjoying my darts, and confidence was high. But the after taste, all be it somewhat lessened, was still present.

Having now played in a couple of league games, I realise there are yet more ingredients to be added, hoping that one day I will produce a product worthy of an award. Battling my nerves once the marker announces ‘Game On’, maintaining focus despite losing and feeling out of it, and the ability to train my brain to visualise the dart landing in or close to the intended target are the final elements of my chardonnay.

Alas, like every fine wine... The older it is, the more experience and time it has to ferment, the better it will taste. It won’t be today or tomorrow that I become a professional, but it could be today or tomorrow that I hit 3x100s in a row, or hit the double once in each visit on Bob’s 27. The journey continues, the milestones might change but the goal will remain the same: To Throw Like A Pro! 

Meet Aidan:

Aidan has been a fan of darts since a young age, although he didn't pick up his first set if arrows until he was 23. In that time, Aidan has been dedicated to finding out what it takes to become a professional. He plays with two club teams in his County in Ireland.

Aidan documents his ups and downs of improving his game, and explores some of the unknown, yet crucial elements of darts such as nerves, confidence and much much more.

Aidan teamed up with the Darts Performance Centre ahead of his battle with Raymond van Barneveld 12 months ago, a relationship which he admits has "helped me to focus on certain areas that needed improvement, and the support from Paul and Andy guarantees will make you a better dart player".

Aidan throws a 21g DPC dart. He loves to tell people that he has now lost count of the amount of 180s he has thrown. His highest checkout in a competitive leg is 130, and the closest he has come to a perfect leg was two maximums before crippling under pressure to finish out with a 15 dart leg.

His plan is simple: to be a Pro! Follow his journey right here!

Aidan welcomes any feedback, advice or questions. You can find him on twitter:

@A_Farrelly or email: throwlikeaprodarts@gmail.com