Wasted Darts

I think I use the following two terms a lot when talking about darts. I don't hear anyone else speak them, perhaps they are bolo-ese. The thing I see is that they are things to avoid in darts at all cost. They usually are things you can fix by thinking, but they are also things that happen as a result of throws that you have to live with. The thing is ... the are usually things you can avoid. The are also things that give you a chance to get back in the game when an opponent does them!

You can checkout my page on mistakes to look for some particular strategy mistakes. These more refer to generic problems, and serve to illustrate my terminology.

• Wasted Dart
• Wasted Round

Wasted Dart

What is a Wasted Dart?

• A dart thrown on someone else's score ... oops.
• A dart thrown off the board (or misses the board) -- no score.
• A dart thrown by purpose at the wrong thing. A closed-by opponent cricket number is a great example of a wasted throw that could be avoided -- check the scoreboard!
• Throwing a dart that helps you .. but helps your opponent more.
• A dart just randomly tossed at the board to just not bust in '01 -- there's always something better to try shooting for!
• A dart thrown at a bull when you need to guarantee points in '01; Go for the left side of the board to guarantee points!
• Going for a triple and missing when all you needed was to close a number -- Go for the outer single -- much larger target area to close something.
• Throwing before thinking -- throwing your first dart at a target for a different game than you are playing.
• Not taking the time for that game winning dart ... or taking too much time for the same. Both are a result of impatience; one is to take the time to do it well; the other is to say this is taking too long, and then to back off and take the time to do it like you normally do it. Another way of looking at it is that your throwing has a rhythm; when you change up your rhythm things won't work like the usually do.
• Worrying about getting out of a tough situation with the next dart -- relax and throw like normal. If you get tensed up, it can mess you up. Once you get used to tough situations, they won't be so tough!

Wasted Round

The easiest way of looking at this is a wasted round is a round full of wasted darts. A wasted round is usually a result of not recognizing what's going on, or trying harder with worse results.

• The thrower made a mistake and then compounded it by not changing up what they were doing.
  Unless the thing you are going for is the only thing you need -- you need to re-evaluate if it went that bad!
  The funny thing is that IMO the better players often end up with wasted rounds ... because they are trying too hard, instead of going to a fall-back strategy for the remainder of the round.

A wasted round is often a result of putting too much pressure on yourself:

• Not relaxing to enjoy the throw and trying too hard -- which makes your body act all funny and it throws bad.
• Letting your mind or ego get in the way of good strategy.
• Trying to get out from too high a count for your skill in '01.
• Trying to get out cricket by closing with 3 perfect darts instead of playing safe and pointing up.
• Throwing for trips or doubles or bulls when you are all over the place and missing stuff badly because you aren't shooting well right now. Admittedly, though aiming at the bull and missing on the board is the way to go -- you have a chance of hitting a cricket number or triple .. and at least your darts might stay on the board!
• Over-correcting aim again and again.
• Choosing the wrong order to throw at targets; get the important stuff first, then go for the bonuses. If you miss the important stuff, you have more darts to hit it with.