Whether you're a casual darts player or an aspiring darts champion, improving your accuracy can elevate your game and make every match even more thrilling. Here at Seaham Darts academy, we know that a good competitive challenge can really elevate your experience, so here’s some expert advice and training routines that will help you hit those bullseyes with precision and consistency. Ready to sharpen your skills and impress your friends? Let’s get started!

The Basics of Dart Throwing: Perfecting Your Technique

Stance and Balance

The foundation of accurate dart throwing begins with your stance. Here’s what the pros recommend:

1. Stand Sideways: Position your body sideways to the dartboard, with your dominant foot forward. This stance provides stability and cuts down on any unnecessary movement.

2. Distribute Your Weight: Keep most of your weight on your front foot while maintaining balance with your back foot. Avoid leaning too far forward or backward.

3. Relax and Align: Keep your body relaxed but aligned. Your shoulders should be parallel to the floor, and your eyes should be directly in line with the target. Keep your eyes on the board.

Grip and Release

Your grip and release technique play a pivotal role in dart accuracy. Follow these tips:

1. Hold the Dart Firmly, Not Tightly: Grip the dart as if you're holding a pen—firm enough to control it but not so tight that it affects your precision.

2. Use Three Fingers: The most common grip involves using your thumb, index finger, and middle finger, allowing for a controlled release.

3. Smooth Release: Aim for a smooth, fluid release. Avoid abrupt movements or flicking your wrist excessively.

Aiming and Throwing

Aiming is where your practice pays off. Here's how to nail it:

1. Focus on the Target: It sounds obvious, but keep your eyes locked on the segment you want to hit. Imagine the dart hitting the target.

2. Follow Through: After releasing the dart, let your hand follow through towards the board. This helps maintain accuracy and prevents your dart from veering off course.

Practice Makes Perfect: Training Routines

Warm-Up Drills

If you really want to wow the crowds, why not warm up with these drills at home?

1. 20-20-20 Drill: Throw 20 darts at the 20-segment, 20 at the 19-segment, and 20 at the 18-segment. This helps improve your focus and accuracy on different parts of the board.

2. Bullseye Challenge: Spend 10 minutes aiming solely at the bullseye. This drill improves your precision and builds muscle memory.

3. Around the Clock: Aim for each number on the dartboard in sequence, starting from 1 and moving around to 20. This drill helps you practice hitting specific targets consistently.

4. Double Trouble: Focus on hitting doubles. Start with double 1 and work your way up to double 20. Consistent practice on doubles is crucial for finishing games.

Advanced Drills

For those looking to take their game to the next level, here are some advanced drills:

1. Treble Twenty Marathon: Aim for the treble 20 segment continuously until you hit it 10 times. This drill sharpens your accuracy and consistency in high-scoring segments.

2. Checkout Combinations: While not every game will require a high scoring checkout, you should still practice common checkout combinations. For example, work on hitting treble 20, single 20, and double 10 to finish on 90.

Expert Tips and Tricks

2. Visualise Success: Before throwing, visualise the dart hitting the target. This mental imagery can significantly improve your accuracy.

3. Stay Calm Under Pressure: Practice in various environments to simulate pressure situations. The more comfortable you are under pressure, the better you'll perform during actual games.

4: Building Friendships and a Community Through Darts: One of the best parts about darts is the sense of community and camaraderie it fosters. Seaham Darts Academy sessions is a great way to practice and enjoy some friendly competition.

5. Celebrate Together: Whether you win or lose, celebrate the effort and progress with your friends. A supportive environment makes the game more enjoyable for everyone

Final Thoughts

The lovely thing about darts is that you don’t need to be a pro to have fun. That being said, if improving your darts accuracy is something you’d like to explore, this combines technique, practice, and mental fortitude. By following the expert advice and training routines outlined here, you’ll see noticeable improvements in your game. Remember, the key is to enjoy the process, stay motivated, and embrace the competitive spirit. So grab your darts,, and head over to Seaham Darts Academy. Let's make every throw count and have a fantastic time doing it!

Dart Practise Games for Doubles

Since darts doubles are so important to practice, there are several different games for doubles available. Switching up the games is also important to keep your doubles practice routine fresh.

Around the World Doubles

A great way to practice your darts doubles is by playing Around the World. Around the World (aka Around the Clock) consists of hitting all the doubles from numbers 1 through 20 in order and capped off by hitting the center bullseye. Each darts double in Around the World must be hit once, along with the center bullseye. Once you hit each double and the center bullseye, count how many darts it took you to complete the entire dart game and try to do it in fewer darts the next round.

50

Another great darts doubles practice game is 50. In this darts doubles game, you start with 50 points remaining and shoot at the center bullseye. If you hit the center bullseye, great! You just took it out and can continue trying to hit the bullseye with your remaining two darts. However, say you miss the center bullseye with the first dart and hit a single 18. You will then have 32 points remaining and will need to hit a double 16 to take out the 50 total points. If you end up taking out the 50 points in two darts, you can then go back and throw at the bullseye for more practice.

Bob’s 27

Bob’s 27 is another great darts doubles practice game to play. In Bob’s 27, the player(s) would start the darts doubles game with 27 points. You would start Bob’s 27 by throwing 3 darts at the double 1. For each dart that hits the double 1, you would add those points to 27. For example, if you hit 1 out of 3 darts thrown at double 1, you would add 2 points to 27,which would give you a score of 29. However, if you were to miss all three darts thrown at the double 1, you would lose an equal amount of points, meaning you would have a score of 25. If your score were to hit zero or below zero, you would be out of the game and need to restart. The goal of Bob’s 27 is to make it completely around the board by only hitting doubles while gaining the maximum number of points possible.

Splash

In the game Splash, you take your three darts in one hand and throw them at the board at the same time. Once the darts land, you add up the total amount of points that your darts hit. For example, if your three darts hit a single 5, a treble 5, and a single 11, you would then have a total of 31 points to take out. Once you have the total points from the three darts, you would then take out that score by either getting yourself to a double or taking out the total points with a double.

Practicing your darts doubles can be frustrating at times, but you’re not alone in this feeling. A great way to keep it fresh while practicing, is to mix it up between different games for doubles. Doing so will take out the monotony of dart doubles practice and allow you to get better faster. Being good at darts doubles takes a TON of repetition, so don’t be too hard on yourself and keep throwing!

A popular saying among dart players is “trebles for show, doubles for dough.”