Darts: a game where participants compete with one another by throwing small arrow like devices at a target that is round and has numbers and sections and an inner bull with an outer bull and so on. Darts now refer to the standard game with a specific bristle board design and a set of rules. Rules that are general to the game and rules that govern games like, “501,” “301,” and “Cricket.”


Darts is a traditional pub game that was and is commonly played in the United Kingdom as well as other places in Europe and across the pond here in the America’s.


Wikipedia tells hits history in a terse form, i.e., “The dartboard may have its origins in the cross-section of a tree. An old name for a dartboard is "butt"; the word comes from the French word but, meaning "target". In particular, the Yorkshire and Manchester Log End boards differ from the standard board in that they have no treble, only double and bullseye, the Manchester board being of a smaller diameter, with a playing area of only 25 cm across with double and bull areas measuring just 4 mm. The London Fives board is another variation. This has only 12 equal segments numbered 20, 5, 15, 10, 20, 5, 15, 10, 20, 5, 15, 10 with the doubles and triples being a quarter of an inch wide.”


There have been a variety of darts created over the years but the most common today is the tungsten dart. There are electronic darts but for this blog and for my efforts in tossing darts I remain a steel dart fan and enthusiast. I am recommending a book for novice darters but only because it appealed to me and my studies and rest assured most of the dart books out there are outstanding. In short, find one if this one does not fit your needs and get it. I can tell you when I started to play over twenty years ago, before I laid down my darts in 96, I tossed darts for several years without knowing some very important and critical mechanics, etc., of the dart game. As I take up once again my steel darts I have found a fountain of information to help make the game both enjoyable and competitive. Enjoy, diddle for the middle and let the darts fly!

Friday, June 2, 2017

DARTS: Fingers

Dart Arts Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)

The d’artists fingers are important to the throw. They provide the final thrust and contribute to a more relaxed arm, i.e., shoulder, upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist, hand and fingers. Finger positioning on the dart especially as they cock and push the dart throughout the entire toss. 

As the d’artists begins his throw the elbow remains steadfast in proper position, the hand and forearm begin its journey back toward the eyes while the wrist and hand gently float backward while the fingers, flex and bend, back into the palm of the hand as if coiled springs being compressed building up energy so when the arm, hand and fingers reach the tipping point the mind releases energy so that the entire arm flexes, stabilizes and extends until a point of no return when the fingers spring forward and out, past the release point and in the follow through so the dart, arrow, can travel the proper trajectory to the target of the board. 

The key is the fingers for if they don’t do their job no matter how well the rest is done the arrows will miss, by sometimes the very width of the board spider-wires, the target. It is the fingers as springs, spring boarding the arrow on its path and way, that launch arrows true. It is the fingers that allow the arm, body and mind to remain in a positively relaxed state combating the adrenal effects of competitive stressors so the arrows, the darts, will fly as if born with wings on air currents following through to any, any, intended target of the board. 

The fingers are the controls not just the spring board for their position and tension along with stabilization hold the arrow true and straight into the path that leads directly to the target. It is the toughest to discover and the toughest to train toward a consistency that makes the d’artist a great dart arts practitioner. 

It takes often months to years for a true d’artist to find not just their throw but to train the fingers to do their part controlling everything in that moment of spring release, launching the dart and hitting the objective - the intended target. 





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