Coaching Clinic 27 - Be Prepared

Posted: 17.10.13 in Coaching Clinic Blog category

Just say you were planning to take part in our tournament-The New Forest Masters, how would you prepare?

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We are getting excited about the first Darts Performance Centre Masters Tournament-The New Forest Masters. Our preparation has begun already and the tournament isn’t until November! That is normal of course as there are posters to send out, boards to organise and all the other jobs that running a tournament involves.

We were thinking about the players taking part and wondering when they would start preparing for it? Does any player believe they can just rock up to an event and play to the best of their ability without getting properly prepared? You only have to look to the The Power for guidance, he often points out that his tournament preparation (especially for the World Championships) starts months before the event.

Here are some of our tips for getting yourself ready for any tournament:

Phase 1 Preparation! 4-6 Weeks before the Event and Up to the Night Before

Entry booked and paid for

Travel and Accommodation booked

Write a weekly practice plan with some practice goals to keep you motivated and interested. Hone your practice to suit the tournament-if you are playing best of 5 make sure your practice games are best of 5.

Set some tournament goals-go for a mixture of what you think you can realistically achieve and what you would like to achieve.

Phase 2 -24 Hours and counting

On our full pre tournament preparation plan on our website we have used some work by a sports psychologist Stephen Bull who describes the 24 hours before a competition as like a NASA rocket launch countdown. We haven’t got room to go from 10 to blast off but here are some examples of what to do in the crucial time before the tournament starts:

The night before

Prepare your kit, paperwork and bag and go to bed at a normal time.

Launch Day

Find a “base camp” at the venue where you can leave any food or drinks you have brought along.

30 minutes before your match start thinking about your condition- are you too relaxed, too hyped? Start working towards what is the right level for you.

10 minutes before - imagine the start of the game. Imagine yourself on the oche, the dart flying towards the treble.

5 Minutes - tell yourself you cannot have done any more to prepare and think about a recent high, a crucial 180 or a nice finish.

Blast Off  -throw your darts and see what happens-what can possibly go wrong!

Hmm, what indeed can go wrong? We will cover that next month!

The New Forest Masters is being held in New Milton in Hampshire on 23 November – Full details on our website-

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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 online 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. You also get an invite to our free but exclusive members only events and acess to our members only darts coaching app! Membership is £25 per year!