How long to take your "A" game out of the bedroom...

padr81

and into competition or team games. I've being throwing out in public for bordering on a year now and still can't bring my "A" game. My average at home is 60 on a bad day, 70 on an average day and 75 or so on a good day.

My average in singles comp is borderline 60, 65 on so when my doubles are in which i think is ok but for the team I struggle to 50. I'm losing to players in 27-30 darts all the time. Doing my head in.

So to the more experienced players, how long did it take you to bring your game to competition? Was there a moment where it just clicked and you just started to play your best or did it come with gradual improvements as you got more and more experienced?

ratinakeg

padr81 wrote: »

and into competition or team games. I've being throwing out in public for bordering on a year now and still can't bring my "A" game. My average at home is 60 on a bad day, 70 on an average day and 75 or so on a good day.

My average in singles comp is borderline 60, 65 on so when my doubles are in which i think is ok but for the team I struggle to 50. I'm losing to players in 27-30 darts all the time. Doing my head in.

So to the more experienced players, how long did it take you to bring your game to competition? Was there a moment where it just clicked and you just started to play your best or did it come with gradual improvements as you got more and more experienced?

I'm no help here Padr but I was talking to a lot of people about this, most say about a season of league compitition, reason I was asking this is I'll be joining a team in October. Hopefully by playing in a big compitition next week I'll settle in faster to produce my home form.;)

ciarraibhoy

Never played in my bedroom ;)

padr81

well than the kitchen lol

dionsiseire

i play in my shed.

To be honest ive a season under my belt (tho to be fair i only took up darts 16 months ago) and ive entered numerous competitions, dublin opens, players championships, local tournaments and the sheer amount ive jammed into 1 year and im still nervous and less prolific than at home alone.

If ur only starting to do tournaments and league enter as many as you can as only experience against real players will prove the difference.

Daffy501

I personally think that the problem about not taking practice darts onto a match lies with the ability to be able to control the nerves !!

Over the years and numerous tournaments later im at the stage where i dont get any way near as nervous as i used to and its all down to getting as many tourneys and matches under your belt as possible mate.

Take Martin Adams for example , not saying he is fantastic but if you watch him throwing under pressure his hand shakes like a piece of jelly yet he can still pile in the big scores and take out the finishes. He can deal with the nerves due to many years of playing competitive darts

Keep entering as many games , matches , tourneys as you can and it will fall into a place where it wont matter where , who you are playing. All that will matter is you feeling comfortable with your game and being fit to deal with the dreaded Nerves

greened

padr81 wrote: »

and into competition or team games. I've being throwing out in public for bordering on a year now and still can't bring my "A" game. My average at home is 60 on a bad day, 70 on an average day and 75 or so on a good day.

My average in singles comp is borderline 60, 65 on so when my doubles are in which i think is ok but for the team I struggle to 50. I'm losing to players in 27-30 darts all the time. Doing my head in.

So to the more experienced players, how long did it take you to bring your game to competition? Was there a moment where it just clicked and you just started to play your best or did it come with gradual improvements as you got more and more experienced?

I have played darts for a long time (much longer than my age would suggest) Our lague will be starting again in a few weeks and this I think will be my 10th year in a row playing on the same team. Anyway, to take you A game into a competition is about the following:

• Confidence
• Self belief in your own ability
• experience
• concentration
• ability to think under pressure
• and most of all Controlling your emotions.

If you can master the above you will have eliminated all the things that usally make you game disapear. Now typing it was the easiest part...doing it is the hard thing. Concentrate on one thing only..hitting the target and everything else will fall into place.

ratinakeg

greened wrote: »

I have played darts for a long time (much longer than my age would suggest) Our lague will be starting again in a few weeks and this I think will be my 10th year in a row playing on the same team. Anyway, to take you A game into a competition is about the following:

• Confidence
• Self belief in your own ability
• experience
• concentration
• ability to think under pressure
• and most of all Controlling your emotions.

If you can master the above you will have eliminated all the things that usally make you game disapear. Now typing it was the easiest part...doing it is the hard thing. Concentrate on one thing only..hitting the target and everything else will fall into place.

I'll follow them steps, more sound advice tonight!:)

Thank You.

Paul.

padr81

dionsiseire wrote: »

i play in my shed.

To be honest ive a season under my belt (tho to be fair i only took up darts 16 months ago) and ive entered numerous competitions, dublin opens, players championships, local tournaments and the sheer amount ive jammed into 1 year and im still nervous and less prolific than at home alone.

If ur only starting to do tournaments and league enter as many as you can as only experience against real players will prove the difference.

This is pretty much me as well mate, dept i still bottle the team games. Playing about year and a bit, in public for about 9 months. Most of played 100 comps this year but still can't settle at team games.

dionsiseire

I was the same and then i won my first game 2-1 with a 104 checkout and everyone on the team was all over me congratulating me, a few weeks later i went to the final of a local tournament

recently ive been playing well but drawn against some of the best players in the first rounds of tournaments, ive had Mick Barry in the first round of 3 of my last 5 tournaments, so im a bit lower on confidence at the moment as ive not had a win in a little while, as andy poole will tell you, i could have and probably should have beaten John Burke (i think) in the world championship qualifiers, and my form just deserted me, my arm got lazy and was coming across my body and i was hitting 1's and 5's like a demon, but when your confidence isnt sky high these things can happen

ive a tournament sunday, i'll be going into that aiming to win my board, i know i can do this task, and thats what i want to achieve this weekend

death1234567

One thing that might be catching you out is the time between throws. I'm a bit of a ronnie baxter when it comes to throwing speed (~5 seconds to throw 3 darts) and when I am playing at home I throw, pick me darts, throw again, repeat. The total time between me actually aiming/throwing is about 5-10 seconds. When your play comp's and you have to wait for another player to take his throw then if your not used to it, it can upset your usual rhythm. It one of the reasons I find it hard to get in the groove when I am playing against others, especially slow throwers.