Coaching Clinic 45

Posted: 16.04.15 in Coaching Clinic Blog category

Can we count on you to practice your darts?

This is the 4^th month now of our Practice Makes Progress campaign and we hope you are progressing! We have looked at power scoring and finishing, it’s time for that bit in the middle!

Counting!

Sorry if that word sent a shiver down your spine but counting is of course a big part of being a successful dart player. Some ExPro’s claim The Power is a poor counter which causes a little confusion but there is no doubt an ability to count is an advantage!

So how do you learn to count? One of the best ways is to get chalking some darts matches, get your brain working out the mental maths scoring a match and then it will think in the same way when you are playing.

We have packs of outhsots cards with all the finishes on! They are a brilliant idea and a great “old fashioned” but very effective way to learn what the best route to take is.

Counting Practice Game

Start at any random number between 300 and 350 and work out your route as you throw. If you have a practice partner get them to write down the route you took and sit down afterwards and study what you did! Compare it with the outshots cards, what the Pro’s do or any of the many outshot cards darts manufacturers issue and see if you went the best way.

When you check over the way you went don’t forget to ask yourself the golden question- what else could I have done there?

The Business End

The ultimate benefit of clever counting is to get you to 170 or fewer in the minimum amount of darts possible (avoiding those bogey numbers of course). Once you are on a 3 or 2 dart finish you still need your counting skills.

We have a nice little practice game that you can play solo or with a partner. Both have 6 3 dart finishes randomly selected and play each other one finish at a time-1 point for the player that gets out first and taking it in turns to have the advantage of throwing first.

The key thing here is learn from your mistakes. If you need a 20 to get yourself on double top but hit 5 make sure you know exactly what you have to do next. Try and eliminate the stop/start finishing you see so often. If you stop this affects your rhythm and concentration and makes a difficult job, much harder.

You can also play this with 2 dart finishes or a mixture.

Fat Numbers

The last word on this section is the nice easy fat number to get onto the double-so easy isn’t it! But we all know it’s not, they even miss them in the Premier League! DON’T take hitting the single number for granted, play round the world on the singles, aiming to get there in 20 darts of course!

Spring Clean

Pleae do check out our Spring Clean section on the shop website for some genuine bargains! 

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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!