Coaching Clinic 41

Posted: 12.12.14 in Coaching Clinic Blog category

This month we follow up from last month's fault finder with the most common errors we spot in a darts throw!

Last month we gave you a fault finder chart to give you an idea of common technique errors that will have a detrimental effect on your game. Shortly after the article was published we held our annual tournament, The New Forest Masters. I was in a most advantageous position to be able to watch, close up, a good few of the games. This helped me detect which errors seem the most common amongst dart players.

STANCE – The golden rule here is to set up the same way each time. I saw players positioning themselves on the oche in what appeared to be different spots during their game. Yes, you do need to move on the rare occasion a dart is blocking a bed but please go to the same spot at the start of every throw otherwise it will affect your accuracy.

BODY MOVEMENT- The first thing to say is that all players do move when they throw. There is (usually) a forward movement which is the momentum of releasing the dart.

However, there are also players that sway from side to side, lurch forward or do a bunny hop on release. There are two main issues here. First of all you will struggle to get consistent accuracy if you are moving or jumping. The second thing is that are you sure you are landing back in the same position after each throw if you are swaying or jumping or both!

Like lining up in the same place on the oche, if you throw with your body in a different position then this is another factor that will knock your chances of throwing precision darts. 

RELEASE - A jerky release or pulling the dart can cause all kinds of problems, sometimes it can be caused by something as simple as gripping the dart too tightly. The release should be smooth and fluid like. Some players count down their throw to get a rhythm going to help with releasing smoothly: One, Two, Three Release, One Two Three etc 

FOLLOW THROUGH – Your arm needs to be on the same plane as the throw and the flight path of the dart. To practise this try following through by pointing your finger at the target you have aimed for. Like this:

Photo of Alan Norris and his excellent follow through courtesy of DG Media

A full extension of the arm is better but if this is painful do not force it.

If you do get pain when you are trying to get your arm to extend fully on release try some stretching exercises to allow you to straighten the arm.  You would need to do these every day to start building up your flexibilityas it needs constant maintenance and is not as enduring as strength training without keeping it up.

Please do give yourself the once over (or get a friend to check you over) as we cannot emphasise enough how vital a solid technique is.

We would like to wish all our readers a Happy Christmas and we will be back in 2015!

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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!