How do you control anger during a game?

padr81

Just wondering cause its happening to me alot these days, I've being in a bit of a slump last 2 months and now its even happening when I practice.

2 bad scores and I completely lose it with myself (not to the point of roaring and shouting but to the point of shaking my head and getting so annoyed that I can't play). Happened in my last 2 team games as well where I lost to inferior players and missed about 15 darts at a double against each, but its not just my finishing my scoring is gone to hell too. I opened my singles yesterday 11, 7, 41, 26. Same at the county qualifiers. Gettin to the point where I'm considering not playing out of the house at all.

ratinakeg

Sounds head wrecking! About a year ago I was in a simarlar slump, and I was getting to a point of not playing at all! So I practised for longer, tried differant throwing styles but just went back to my normal throw but changed stance which helped me out alot! I practise for for longer than I did then so hopefully this won't happen again!;) When practising do you have a routine? do you practise doubles?

Lazarus2.0

It's hard to keep (or regain) concentration when you have a few bad throws - that can happen at any point in a game and is really frustrating . I couldnt even guess at how many times I lost matches by beating myself !

I find that practising around the board (3 darts per number and all darts count , be it doubles or trebles ) is good for improving concentration as you obviously have to switch target and refocus after every throw .

A lot still falls to experience though . Your next throw is the one you need to be thinking about . The last one is gone , whether it was 26 or 180 .

padr81

Cheers guys, dunno how to explain it when I'm in I'm in. I can go round the board on doubles in 60-70 darts. Warming up for my game yesterday I hit 140, 121 and a ton, than in the game nothing. I practise the same as before bout 3 hours a night and do doubles and trebles on the pro trainer (not 60 darts) than proper board.

Its sickening cause I was playing best darts of my life until 2 months ago, than when the county qualifiers and a big local comp came up I just lost it for no reason and can't find my form at all in competition.

I guess Nessy is right, its a matter of leaving the last throw as the last throw and just playing.

ratinakeg

padr81 wrote: »

Cheers guys, dunno how to explain it when I'm in I'm in. I can go round the board on doubles in 60-70 darts. Warming up for my game yesterday I hit 140, 121 and a ton, than in the game nothing. I practise the same as before bout 3 hours a night and do doubles and trebles on the pro trainer (not 60 darts) than proper board.

Its sickening cause I was playing best darts of my life until 2 months ago, than when the county qualifiers and a big local comp came up I just lost it for no reason and can't find my form at all in competition.

I guess Nessy is right, its a matter of leaving the last throw as the last throw and just playing.

You maybe thinking too much about these big tournaments before you play.

paulcorr

ratinakeg wrote: »

You maybe thinking too much about these big tournaments before you play.

dont worry about it we all have a dip in form now and again its the ones that worry about it all the time that never recover if you were a good player afew weeks ago your still a good player today you have the same darts the same arm to throw them wit aiming at the same sized board wit the same sized doubles and trebles throwing from the same distance get on wit it and forget about playing badly before think about how your going to whip the fella your playing next and get angry if you play badly it means you care your playing badly if you didnt care it would be differant but dont worry about playing badly every one does sometimes

Evolution Enter

I was like a bull today, before I even got to the board! Threw pure dirt and found myself throwing my last dart on the ground in frustration....all against a guy that I used to tell to control his own temper

Threw my first 180 in about 6 weeks despite throwing really well for the last two months, now I'm gone to crap

Deep breath, a fag, few frames of pool and maybe a half hour on the board later. Try calm down

Kingp35

I suffer from this a lot, it's not really anger that gets me but frustration that I know I can hit these shots but it's just not going for me. I went through a month of not being able to hit a double at all and it was really playing on my mind. Confidence totally gone to the point that I knew I wasn't going to hit the doubles.

What I do now is whenever I feel the frustration boiling up in practice I stop throwing for half an hour or forty minutes. Sit down, relax and clear the head. When you get back up to the board you will be fine. This way it doesn't all pile up and you went start beating yourself up.

When it comes to a tourament you are going to have to the same thing but in smaller doses, step back from the oche for a minute whether it annoys your opponent or not and clear the head. The worst thing you can do is let it all build up because it can drive you mad and you will be thinking about it even when you're not throwing.

If all else fails you can hire Barneys zen master

pot shot

a lot of people starting out in darts will go for 20s am i rite the way i started was i threw my first dart then i aimed my next 2 at the first its all about grouping ur darts when u master the grouping then ul hop off everything with hours of pratice

dionsiseire

To be honest a lot of players put un-needed pressure on themselves

I can hit this
ive taken this out before
i should be scoring ton's

Lets face serious facts, nobody has the devine right to be in the double or treble, even taylor and barney struggle, watching barney playing at an exhibition recently proved such to me. What the professionals have that we dont is CALM

If you have 120 left and you go for the treble and hit 20, then 20, you shouldnt be annoyed because you "CAN" take it out, of course you can, if you hit the treble but its impossible to do at will, you need a bit of luck too

if you have 120 left and you hit a 1, dont be going nuts at yourself over it, its done, you now need to leave a finish, (19 T20) (T19, T10) either way Pro's dont beat an amateur taking out huge scores all the day, they do it by leaving themselves the shots that are possible

shots like 110,120, 130 give you 2 chances at the double, similarly 112,116 leave useful doubles

To say you hit 140's and Ton's before a match and nothing in the match, well of course, no pressure before, pressure when your in the match. Again, professionals are calm, relaxed, not thinking about the match, they are just playing their numbers

Its a fact that EVERYONE looks at their opponents score, why? you cant change it, you cant block him, you cant slow him down, if he's on 32 and your on 220, you score as big as possible and leave yourself an outshot

By thinking you "Shouldnt be so far behind" "Should be scoring heavier" "Should be checking out quicker"

All those statements are in an ideal world, at home, in your shed, playing with mates, there's no pressure, but by thinking all those things when you are playing or practicing you are putting yourself under extreme pressure to be better than you are

The thing to remember is that your not a pro, your still learning and the game with continue to frustrate you even after you reach the ability of a professional.

Just gotta keep up the work on the game, make sure you practice regularly and you'll eventually become what is the keyword that is missing from all the posts

CONSISTANT

Lazarus2.0

dionsiseire wrote: »

To be honest a lot of players put un-needed pressure on themselves

I can hit this
ive taken this out before
i should be scoring ton's

Lets face serious facts, nobody has the devine right to be in the double or treble, even taylor and barney struggle, watching barney playing at an exhibition recently proved such to me. What the professionals have that we dont is CALM

If you have 120 left and you go for the treble and hit 20, then 20, you shouldnt be annoyed because you "CAN" take it out, of course you can, if you hit the treble but its impossible to do at will, you need a bit of luck too

if you have 120 left and you hit a 1, dont be going nuts at yourself over it, its done, you now need to leave a finish, (19 T20) (T19, T10) either way Pro's dont beat an amateur taking out huge scores all the day, they do it by leaving themselves the shots that are possible

shots like 110,120, 130 give you 2 chances at the double, similarly 112,116 leave useful doubles

To say you hit 140's and Ton's before a match and nothing in the match, well of course, no pressure before, pressure when your in the match. Again, professionals are calm, relaxed, not thinking about the match, they are just playing their numbers

Its a fact that EVERYONE looks at their opponents score, why? you cant change it, you cant block him, you cant slow him down, if he's on 32 and your on 220, you score as big as possible and leave yourself an outshot

By thinking you "Shouldnt be so far behind" "Should be scoring heavier" "Should be checking out quicker"

All those statements are in an ideal world, at home, in your shed, playing with mates, there's no pressure, but by thinking all those things when you are playing or practicing you are putting yourself under extreme pressure to be better than you are

The thing to remember is that your not a pro, your still learning and the game with continue to frustrate you even after you reach the ability of a professional.

Just gotta keep up the work on the game, make sure you practice regularly and you'll eventually become what is the keyword that is missing from all the posts

CONSISTANT

Wise words indeed !

If there's ever a Top Tips thread created this should be #1

greened

Wise words indeed.


Slow and steady will win most dart games for you. I was playing in final of our league and had a bad night at the oche...but I still won my singles game. In the deciding leg I was still on 225 and he was throwing for d15 with his last dart for a 95 out shot. He missed and I smiled. Guess who won...I did. HE bet himself up over missing the double after going for a bad out shot. He had 95 hit 20 with his first had 75 left and decided to go for it in 2, T15 and D15 when he should have set up a nice out shot for himself with me far behind on 225. HE BET HIMSELF once he missed the double.

As dionesse said CALM wins games.

My advice for a slump...stop playing for a few days. Go back to basics and practice single numbers for a few days. Resit the temptation to go for triples and out shots. Stay with single numbers and get your confidence back. Dont practice any triples or games on your own. Head to the pub and have a few friendly games and pints with a mate and remember why you love darts...fun. The scores and triples will come back because you are enjoying yourself and your confidence will come back.

Double Top

i get very angry when i'm practising. hit a 180 followed up by a 3. i start cursing my head off. but in a real game (league,tourney) a wave of calm comes over me. i don't talk,look at my oppnent. if i hit a bad score just goes over my head and i'm just thinking of the next score. most of my best games i can't remember because i am so focused i don't know what i'm doing but i always remember the bad games and i think thats what keeps me practising knowing that i can play very bad.

think greened had the right idea about the slump. just have fun with yours darts and your form will come back. the more you focus on your dip in form the moreit will affect you

Evolution Enter

Had a much better day today despite throwing crap, missus keeps beating me but copped on and calmed down!!

Never a good idea to start throwing when already in a mood

jamesbere

relaxing and taking your time in practice is very important, if you start losing the rag in practicing then its a waste of time.

But i find when im playing a big match it helps me to get angry cos i find i concentrate better, a bit weird but each to his own:D