Good and bad practice

By Wayne Weening

Hi All,

The last time I wrote about dart board placement, and I touched on this month's subject "Good practice / Bad practice". As much as any pro will tell you that practice makes better, there is a difference in the types of practice you do. I worked out early in my career that if you practice whilst not focused properly, you only promote bad habits. Practicing badly is the same as practicing to play bad!

I found that by starting my warm up on the middle of the board, not so much the bull at 1st, but the general area of the middle, it helps just to extend the arm and get the darts sitting comfortable in the hand. 5 -10 minutes of this is enough. Nearing the end of this warm up session the focus should start to intensify on the bull itself. I have found that warming up on the bull allows my mind to relax into darts. Of course you can use any number you like, but I prefer not to throw at numbers that are my usual scoring numbers until I have warmed up. It is by this stage that you should have a good feel of the dart in your hand and if not, put them down for 10 min and start again. You may have to repeat this a few times until it feels just right.

Now we are getting into the good practice which is practicing to play well. I know many people would say, "well, what`s the point of that, you just can't walk away from a game if you`re not playing well!", and that is true. Even the best players have moments where they struggle, but those occasions are rare rather than the norm. The aim of practicing to play well is to make it a habit to play well rather than the opposite. Now that we have got you practicing well it's time to work on the mental side of your game... well that could be the subject of my next tip.

Until then, practice well,

Wayne Weening