Practice Session - Look Ok?

el_duderino

Hi Lads,

I'm new to darts(less than 3 mths) and was hoping I could get your input on my practice sessions. Going by the posts on this forum most of you are much, much better than me so your guidance would be much appreciated:)

At the moment I practice daily for about 60-80 mins with the following routine

Warm up - 30 darts thrown at random singles doubles and trebles.

1. Round the clock
Hit each single once then move on to the next. Try to get it done in fewer darts each day.

2. High Scoring
Pick a score (e.g. 40+ dont laugh im only new to this:D) each time I get it I get a point, each time I miss my imaginary opponent gets 1 point. First to 10 wins.. 5 wins in a row and the score moves up (e.g. 45+)

3. Doubles -
30 darts/10 visits to the oche at each of the following doubles 20,10,5,16,8,4,2,1. Try to improve the amount I hit each day.

I plan to move on to different doubles when I've gotten better on these

4. Bull
30 darts/10 visits to the oche at the bull. Try to improve the amount I hit each day.

5. 501
A game of 501 where I try to finish in as few darts as possible.

Does this sound ok to everyone? Am I doing too much/too little?
Sound I concentrate on one of the above areas at a time?

Also I find sometimes my mind wanders a little, i.e. i'm aiming for a double but not fully concentrating on hitting it. Does anyone have any tips to help me improve this area?

Im trying to improve in all aspects of my game without neglecting anything
so any hints, tips or techniques you use yourself would be greatly appreciated.:)


Thanks in advance,

el_duderino

MBC

That practice session looks very good mate.......but your missing one main ingredient my friend.......playing against someone.........you can practice that routine every day but unless you go to a boozer and play games or play friends you wont get half as good.

I was like yourself practicing quite a lot and hittin trebles and doubles at will......so i joined my local pub team............at first I found it very hard as i hadnt played many games against other people..........i lost my first 5 games in a row.........am really only gettin the hang of it now after about 14 games played.

Mr Moon

I sometimes play 501 against an imaginary opponent. He scores 60 each time and I have to try and beat him! Depending how good/bad you are either lower the 60 or higher it.

You should practice checkouts, start from 170 and check out in less than 6 darts, this also helps you learn the different combinations so you don't have to stop and think about your next shot which can put you off!

Rented Mule

It is really cool that you can dedicate that kind of time to practicing.

When you play 'around the clock', try to put three darts into one number (or one piece of the pie. Use the upper (fat) part of the number and go around. When you can go from 20-1 and bull then try and work the inside of the numbers.

We used to practice with 'around the clock' with doubles as well. Once you hit one of the doubles you got to move onto the next one.

MBC is dead-on when he says that you need to get games against 'real people' who will push you.

The only exception is you can find something like the Dartmaster



This 'scoreboard' actually plays against you in three different games (501, 301 and Cricket) with multiple different skill levels.

I used to throw in a place in Chicago that had one of these on every dartboards (they had 14) so you could also get a game when you wanted to.

Nole

Rented Mule wrote: »

The only exception is you can find something like the Dartmaster

How about a much cheaper, easier and faster option such as some darts software. I play with one called N01, http://www.nakka.com/soft/n01/index_eng.html. It was free to download and keeps tracks of all the usual averages, plus it gives you an imaginary opponent which can be set at different levels. I find it really good as the opponent is human like, missing and hitting doubles invariably while maintaining a commonish average.

There are many of these out there such as dartpro, some you have to pay for, some are freeware.

MBC

Is it true that on dartspro you can play against other real people via a webcam.........anyone use this?

Now that I think of it I remember a few lads on hear use to play against each other on dartspro

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055128224

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-2055056638.html

Will have to get me laptop back up running again and get this software on it seems very good.

Kingp35

MBC wrote: »

Is it true that on dartspro you can play against other real people via a webcam.........anyone use this?

Now that I think of it I remember a few lads on hear use to play against each other on dartspro

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055128224

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-2055056638.html

Will have to get me laptop back up running again and get this software on it seems very good.

Yeah myself and Ronan|Raven had a few games against each other on Dartspro and it works perfectly. Great way of practicing against human opponent when you dont have the time or whatever to go someones house or the boozer.

For playing against an imaginary opponent I use software called "Lets Play Darts". I had to pay €20 for it but it was money well spent. Keeps track of your average and very detailed stats on each leg played. You can also set different levels for your imaginary opponent. Well worth it.

Other than playing matches your practice routine looks great el_duderino. I wish I had the time to do that everyday!

Ronan|Raven

Indeed we did it worked grand. To the OP, get out and play games and other people it is the only way to properly improve. You cannot recreate the pressure of hitting that double even against a virtual opponenet.

el_duderino

Hi Lads,

Thanks for the great responses. Glad to hear my practice routine looks good

My brother lives pretty close and plays to a much higher standard so I usually get a couple of games against him every week as well. I'll try to increase the regularity of these games. I'll get whipped but its all good practice isnt it

That software looks dead handy also, I'll take a look around and see if I can find one that suits.

Thanks again lads,

el_duderino

AndyP

I would strongly suggest you play more 501. Its the best way to sharpen your counting, the area where most average players mess up, there is nothing worse than having to stop to work out what is scored and what is left. Another thing its helps you with is setting up shots. Pros are thinking all the time about leaving finishes. Example, you are left with 250 and your first dart is t20, second is s5, the next dart should not be at 20 or 19, it should be at 18 or bull(25) to leave an out. That is just an example but it is crucial to know where you are going as so many games are lost due to simple errors.

phil'ios

27. the best practice game there is. this game is focused on doubles( my opinion the most important part of the game). you score all the 180's you want but if ye can'tfinish your ducked.

the game goes as follows, you start on the score of 27, your first target is d1 3 darts ,nd target d2 3 dart ect all the way to d20 and d.bull.
evey time tou hit one of your targets you get those points i.e. very first dart hit 0 2nd hit d1 3rd hits d1 = -1+2+2=4 4+27=31 then miss all three at d2 -2-2-2=-6 -6+31=25. ect.

winner is who gets most points( if your that good) or last to zero. this game A: works your double
B: practices grouping( helps alot for scoring)
and C: pressure play. this game forces you to get at least one in the target.
this game helped my doubles alot, it hard to get other people playin it but it works, that or 301 doubles in and out. great equaliser of a game.:cool:

leuler

phil'ios wrote: »

very first dart hit 0 2nd hit d1 3rd hits d1 = -1+2+2=4 4+27=31 then miss all three at d2 -2-2-2=-6 -6+31=25. ect.

I don't get this scoring at all.
You hit d1 twice, so get -1+2+2. Do you get -1 for missing and 2 for the double?
Then you have this -1+2+2=4 (should this be 3?)
Then for d2, you miss all and get -2 for each miss. Would you get 4 for a hit?
Also, for d3, what would you get for a miss and a hit? and so on....

cheers

MBC

leuler wrote: »

I don't get this scoring at all.
You hit d1 twice, so get -1+2+2. Do you get -1 for missing and 2 for the double?
Then you have this -1+2+2=4 (should this be 3?)
Then for d2, you miss all and get -2 for each miss. Would you get 4 for a hit?
Also, for d3, what would you get for a miss and a hit? and so on....

cheers

Its a tough game to try and explain heres an example because its hard to put down on paper ahem screen:

Ya start off with 27

You throw 3 darts at double one......you hit it with 2 darts......add 4 to 27 = 31 (4 being double 1 which is 2 hit twice)

You Throw 3 darts at double two.......you hit it with 2 darts.......add 8 to 31 = 39 (8 being double 2 which is 4 hit twice)

You Throw 3 darts at double three......you miss with all three......minus 6 from 39 = 33 (-6 being the amount of the double missed)

You throw 3 darts at double four.......you hit with all three.......add 24 to 39 = 63 (24 being double 4 which is 8 hit 3 times)

You get it now?

BTW this is a cracking game for doubles practice.

leuler

Sort of, thanks.

So, I can only lose points by missing all 3 darts. And then the value of one double.

To abstract, taking x as the double. I can only hit 0, 1, 2, or 3 on each go.

0 hits = -2x
1 hits = +2x
2 hits = +4x
3 hits = +6x

so for 1 I could have -2, 2, 4, or 6
for 2, I could have -4, 4, 8, or 12
for 3, I could have -6, 6, 12, or 18
and so on.

Does this make sense?

Cheers.

phil'ios

0 hits = -2x
1 hits = +2x
2 hits = +4x
3 hits = +6x

so for 1 I could have -2, 2, 4, or 6
for 2, I could have -4, 4, 8, or 12
for 3, I could have -6, 6, 12, or 18
and so on.

Does this make sense?

yep MBC right because that was always somethin i was not sure of, sorry.

Rented Mule

Nole wrote: »

How about a much cheaper, easier and faster option such as some darts software. I play with one called N01, http://www.nakka.com/soft/n01/index_eng.html. It was free to download and keeps tracks of all the usual averages, plus it gives you an imaginary opponent which can be set at different levels. I find it really good as the opponent is human like, missing and hitting doubles invariably while maintaining a commonish average.

There are many of these out there such as dartpro, some you have to pay for, some are freeware.

I downloaded n01 this afternoon and I can't stop playing against it. lol

Thanks for this. I can now stay at home and drink and get a few matches in lol