Practice

The trick to practicing darts is keeping it interesting.   So you're not just aimlessly throwing darts at a dart board.   Here are five great dart games that can make dart practice fun again.

Dart game: 80 shot How many times out of ten can you score 80 points with three darts? There are many different ways to do it, but it can be more challenging than you imagine.   Keep track of your scores: Beginners 3, Average 5, Expert 9+.

Dart game: Five Shots A great '01 practice game for an individual as well as a large group, each person takes five throws to accumulate as many points as possible.   The winner has the most points.   When practicing alone keep the total score for each throw, add all five throws together and divide by five that will give you your average score.   Keep track of your average score over the course of one month and you should see it increase.

Dart game: Pinpoint Accuracy For players of all skill levels, this game works on becoming reliable at hitting what you are shooting at.   Start off shooting for the single area of each black number.   Give yourself one point for each hit and subtract a point for each miss.   Keep practicing until you can score 8 or more points and then shoot for the double area for each black number.   And after that shoot for the triple.

Dart game: Flim Flam A great group game as well as an invaluable Cricket practice game, everyone starts with 40 points and the objective is to score as many points as possible.   You start at bull's eye and work your way up from 15s to 20s, throwing only three darts per number, per round.   But there's one catch.   You have to shoot for doubles in round three and triples in round six.   Any number's double or triple will work.   Every time a player misses on all three darts that player's point total is cut in half.   And yes, you can end up with a negative total.   When you practice alone you should try to achieve 500+ points.

Dart game: 21 points This is a great practice game because you can play it alone as well as against competitors.   Similar to standard Cricket, you shoot for 20-15 and the bull's-eye.   However, you only get three darts on each number to shoot as many of that number as possible.   You start on 20s and work your way down to bull's-eye.   Darts only count for the number you are shooting at no slop counts.   The objective is to hit at least three of each number (7 total numbers), totaling 21 points.   Anything over 29 is considered expert throwing.

Practice techniques for the game of darts.   Practice makes perfect.   That is as true for darts as it is for any other sport.   If you want to play consistent and competitive darts you need to practice as often as possible.   Some people recommend shooting at least one hour per day.   However the amount of time you practice is irrelevant.   How you go about practicing and sticking to a schedule are the two most important aspects of practicing.   Here are a few pointers to consider.

Take it seriously.   A practice session is not time spent throwing a few darts with friends, dart practice is serious business.   You should approach practicing just like you would a match.   Make sure to stay focused and work on a specific goal for each session.   This is where the amount of time you spend practicing becomes irrelevant.   If you set specific goals for each practice session then once you achieve those goals you can stop practicing.   It isn't about quantity, but rather quality of practicing.

Simulate a high-pressure environment.   One of the best things you can do when practicing is to try to simulate the high-pressure situation of a real match.   You can do this by shooting with someone who is also serious about practicing.   You can also create pressure situations by using the clock.   For example, give yourself 10 minutes to shoot as many double 20s as possible.   Keep track of your high number and try to beat it.   You can also replay an old match you lost, trying to change the outcome by shooting differently.  

Focus on your weaknesses.   You know where you are weak.   If not, pay attention to what happened to you the next time you lose.   Did you take too long to close out your '01 game? Did you choke on your out shot? Whatever your weakness, choose practice games that help you.   Click here for a list of great pratice games.   For example, the game of 21 is great for Cricket practice.   If you need work on your outs, try a game called 170.   You need 170 points to finish and you count the number of darts to do it.   The fewer the darts the more points you get.   It starts with a three dart finish worth five points and decreases by one point for each additional dart, including negative points.   The first one to close out 170 stops the round.   The first one to 15 points wins the practice session.

Change things up & keep track of your progress.   Let's face it, practicing can get boring.   The excitement of a match is what makes the dart game so intriguing.   You can help stop practice from being a chore by changing your surroundings.   Maybe you could practice where you just had a close match? Or go to a friend's house to practice.   Another great idea is to throw at a popular dart bar and challenge one of the local throwers, but use it as a practice session by focusing on your weakness throughout the match.   The other important thing to remember is to keep track of your practice routines.   Write down your results after you practice and track your progress.   This can also help to reveal parts of your dart game that need special attention if you aren't progressing over time.