Dart Throwing Tips
stumbling through youtube today, i came across a video from “the Mirror” in the UK. it was Phil “The Power” Taylor’s Top 5 Tips to Darts Success. and i thought, hey, that’s pretty cool. considering he’s probably the best dart player on the face of the planet.
turns out a bit of it is tongue in cheek. and, even though the announcer speaks English, his accent is so thick i did a lot of rewinding to figure out what he was saying during the first 30 seconds. Phil on the other hand, speaks clearly enough for my ears.
anyway, here’s the video . . .
1. Always Have the Right Gear - which makes sense, especially for English darters where every part of the dart seems to be customisable. the flights, the weights, the barrel shapes, and on and on.
on the American side, the choices are really limited to whether you want to use Widdy’s, Darto’s, or Apex darts. Phil says that it’s all “experimental really”, so experiment with the different darts that are available, and find the one that suits you!
and “equipment” doesn’t end with the dart itself, it also extends to the clothes you wear. i know that some players simply won’t wear sleeved shirts. they cut the sleeves off completely. other won’t wear long sleeves. it doesn’t matter what you prefer, but it might be worth paying attention to for a moment to see if your choice of shirts for the evening has a little something to do with your dart game.
Phil mentions shoes as well. i suppose anything you could wear that might make you more comfortable and stable at the line is worth thinking about.
2. Play the Name Game - ok, this made me chuckle. but, english darts is not the team game that american darts are. i see this in the bar pretty often when a newcomer wants to join in the dart games and someone says, “get team, we’ll shoot” and he looks at them like “what the hell are you talking about, a team?”.
heh, looking through our scoresheets though, it does seem like a lot of shooters have a nickname: Cookie, Biggie, Mutzy, Z, Zig, Trout, Muff, Mall, Zippy, Fatty, Pizza, and the list goes on.
3. Take a Stand - as in “how to stand at the oche” (rhymes with “hockey”).
- put your foot sideways
- lean in
- aim your dart “a little bit like aiming a gun” (he seems to be shy saying that, which makes me chuckle as well. i suppose he’s not from hunting country 
)
- pull back and fire
he doesn’t say much about a “follow through”
4. How to Throw - couldn’t make out all the words, but he says he gets his thoughts directly in line with whatever he’s aiming at. imagine there’s a plum(?) line that comes right across the floor. that’s where he stands, and keep everything level.
5. Feel the Pressure - he says it’s “not easy”.
Well - for better or worse, those are the words from the man himself!
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