Coaching Clinic 19

Posted: 24.01.13 in Coaching Clinic Blog category

This month we show you how you can focus in on the areas that need improvement in your game and we have a competition!

In 2013 I am going to ...

Another January, another new year!  January is traditionally of course the month when we resolve to improve our lives in some ways. Last year we discussed dart players setting goals to aim for to help improve their darting lives. Goal setting is a very powerful weapon to have in your armoury if you really do want to make improvements, whatever it is you are trying to achieve.

  Image courtesy of  FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I was making some changes to our website the other day and I came across one of my favourite features on the site, the performance profile section. It made me realise that perhaps just advising players to set goals was not giving out enough information. How do you decide what areas you need to focus on?

In the performance profile area we have created a feature where players can grade their current performance in a particular area out of 10. There is a varied selection to choose from, from hitting a double through to concentration for example.  Then using the slider controls players can select what level they would like to be in 2 months or 3 months time.

This then makes it nice and easy to see the areas that are not just the most important to you but the areas that really need work as they are the ones with the biggest difference in score. For example a player who gets distracted all the time may mark his current level at 1 and the level he would like to be at 8. A difference of 7 and a lot of hard work ahead!

You could of course join our site and play around with the interactive performance profile, it is one of the many features that can help you to play better darts.  You could also get a pencil and paper and list down as many attributes you can think of that make a dart player highly competent. Then, and you need to be honest with yourself, mark out of 10 where you feel you are in that particular area. Then mark each area with where you would like to be on 1 June 2013. Select the three with the highest points difference and you have your goals for 2013.

All you need to do now is find the article on goal setting strategy on our website coaching blog area and you have made a big step forward towards playing better darts in 2013.

Eye Eye

The biggest thrill for me and my colleague Andy H is when players tell us we have helped them. I met a player recently who has religiously been following our blogs and is convinced that one in particular put him back on track and significantly improved his game.

      Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The advice he followed was one of the first areas that struck me as amazing that all players didn’t do it; aiming the dart with your eye. This was long before I helped create the video for SightRight for Winmau and SightRight inventor Steve Feeney but Steve came up with the best argument for aiming the dart.

He used the analogy of someone aiming a rifle at a target. The principles are the same for darts; pinpoint accuracy is needed to hit a small target. He asked who in their right mind would aim a gun at a target and hold it to the right, left, above or under the eye? If you do this, make sure changing this is the first of your goals for 2013!

Competition

If you have resolved to play better darts in 2013 then we are here to help you!

We have a set of our Performance Darts (21g, 23g or 25g) and a membership to the Darts Performance Centre up for grabs! 

Our darts have had tremendous feedback from players of all levels. They have many features to give your game the edge, an excellent grip, a tapered nose designed for tight grouping and perfectly balanced! You can find out more about them here.

Our website is packed full of advice, tips, practice sessions and interactive areas that really can help your darts move up a level or two, we know this as our members keep telling us!

Next weekend is the Darts World cup! To go in to the hat to win our prize, select one player out of the group of four who you think will hit the most 180's over the course of the tournament.Everyone one who selects the winning player will go in the hat!

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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.