XXX I'm still working on this, I keep on re-wording it to be more polite instead of specific, but I want to get it better.
It is a mistake to act in a non-sportmasnlike manner. Long term it will hurt you, even if you get ahead by wins. Winning is OK, but being poor sport is not.
Point Whore -- a player who points up excessively in cricket.
I wrote a piece on ScumBags and Politeness In the Bar about people being asses about "owning" the pool table. To my detriment, I recently found an acquaintance doing the same thing -- which put him down a notch in my book.
I am working on getting my darts game together. Courtesy of shooting with Laps, and keeping up with him as he got better... I wrote a bunch of this stuff as a strategy guide because I needed it -- I could keep up with some of the best players in the league ... every once in a while. Strategy really matters.
Something brought my game down from that high in 2013. A slump is one way of thinking about it. I think that I screwed up my body a bit between some pneumonia taking away muscle mass and throwing disc hard over the summer. It is a slump, though, either way you look at it.
I'm working on getting it back together. I'm actually playing a lot more, working hard on it. I'll shoot against more people, just to practice my strategy skills, not only my throwing skills. You can checkout Dartbase's Article on Slumps for a few hints on getting out of your own slump. It's more grueling than it was before ... because you know you shoot better than you do now ... and that accurate throwing is just eluding your grasp.
I practice a lot, but also try to get in games against people to work on the strategy and pressure aspects. Shooting people of similar caliber is hard enough -- a few bad darts and you are out of the running unless they get some bad darts in too. I'll carefully shoot better players; I know they are favored to win, but one way to get better is to play better players. It forces you to hone your strategy -- and make sure you follow it -- even when you "know" you'll lose.
The thing is, some of those better players just don't shoot to win. They shoot to embarrass you and rub in (in a big way) the difference in skill levels between players. Most Emphatically, all I can say from both sides of this -- as both a lower and higher level opponent -- is Don't Do That!!!.
The purpose of a game is to win. The purpose of practicing a sport is to act in a sportsmanlike manner. If you want to keep your opponents around, even if you are beating them, just shoot well and win. Follow your strategy and get out. This is especially important if you are the better player.
What it isn't
is being a poor sportsman and not bothering
to win, but making it so your opponent has no possible way to
win.
Once that happens they might as well walk away from the game.
As a player you have done nothing to encourage
that other player who took a chance on playing a much better
player just to see what would happen.
And there that better player acts like a total ass.
Do you think they will respect you or your skill for acting
that way -- Hell No!
Do you think that
Don't rub in the difference in skill levels by shooting,
not to win, but to embarrass your opponent.
by making it so that they
can't win the game in any way.
If you have that skill, use it to win and show of your skill
and let the opponent have a chance to show off their skill.
They know you are likely to win, being the better player,
but they want to try playing you to see what happens,
to improve their game.
You see, the thing is that both people are paying money
to play a game.
You can act like an ass once or twice, but once word
gets around, who's going to bother playing someone
who is a jerk?
There is a big difference between shooting with a friend who so out-classes you that he is shooting other parts of the board so you can work on your game and have a chance to get better .... And shooting with someone who is doing what I described above!