How To Become A Better Dart Player? 10 Tips From Pro

Many hobby players and beginners keep asking themselves how can I become a better dart player? And improve the game of darts.

Especially new and inexperienced darts players often need a long time to improve their darts, because they miss effective darts training. Often, without the right darts, training tips on the wrong screws turned.

Table Of Contents

How to Become a Better Dart Player?
Final Word

How to Become a Better Dart Player?

Below we have put together 10 points that will make you a better darts player. As with any sport, it’s the most fun to be good at. Therefore, we would like to help you to become even better at darts!

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#1. Accept Your Daily Form

An important step in becoming a better dart player is to accept that you do not play equally well every day. Almost everything works in one day. You hit a lot of triples, and the finishes run like clockwork. It seems like nothing can go wrong, and like a dart player, you are totally happy, and your game is just working.

But then another day comes, and your darts are constantly landing on the wrong side of the wire, maybe you even get some good scores off the board. Then you also miss some double fields, and you are annoyed. Maybe you’ll even switch back and forth between your darts. In short, nothing works, and you are frustrated.

And this is exactly the problem. It is absolutely unnecessary that you are annoyed! In the darts, which is a lot of head thing, there are just good and less good days. Remember, yesterday you played great with the same darts, everything went well.

So, it will not be the darts today. Neither is it on the board or your opponent. It’s just you! – Maybe you’re in a bad mood all day or something is annoying you. Many such minor things can affect your game. If you get annoyed, then you pull yourself further down.

As a dart player, you just have to understand that there are good and bad game days. That’s the same with the pros of the PDC!

Check out the WC Semifinal 2017/2018 by Michael van Gerwen against Rob Cross. MVG has missed so many darts on the double, and the scoring did not work optimally. And although he has played a great World Cup until then.

That’s why it’s so hard for pros to win such big tournaments as they need to get their best at every single game. And with you as a hobby player, that’s no different.

It may take a long time to learn this, but once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to play more relaxed and less pressure on yourself. This will help your game, and you will be able to play more consistently as you will not be annoyed and put you under unnecessary pressure.

And, this thought will play a vital role to become a better dart player.

#2. Train Against Stronger Players

You will not become a better dart player if you play against weaker players. If you realize that you will win almost every leg in training anyway, then this training will not help you at all. You do not have to make an effort or learn anything in these games!

Especially against stronger opponents, it is always difficult with the highest concentration to play. Also, the opponent will penalize your mistakes for double or your bad scoring. That does not happen to you if you play against weaker ones.

It does not matter if you need one or ten darts on a double field to end the leg or if you play an average of 40 or 80. Because you know that you have time and you are too sure that you will win anyway. And above all, you will adapt to the game of your opponent!

So, try to play against others who are better at darts than you! So, you will increase your performance and remember after the training evening how fell you are. Simply because you always have to give your best and always have to be 100 percent in the game.

Also, you learn to deal with frustration because you just do not always win! And, slowly you will learn dart, and you will become a better dart player.

#3. Find the Optimal Setup for Your Throwing Style

You must find a setup that works for you. It starts with the dart barrel. What form do you like, and what weight do you want to play? Which grip of the darts do you prefer?

Here you will test in your Dart carrier many different models and find the perfect dart for you. But also, the shafts and flights have to suit you. There are countless forms of flights, which can consist of various materials. It is the same with the shafts.

Here you have to take a lot of time and find out for you what suits you and your game. But that does not mean that after each game, you have to assemble other flights and also change the rest of your setup.

Over time, you get a feel for what you have and what set screws you have to turn to get the most out of your game. You just have to keep reminding yourself: it’s not necessarily about the dart if you play badly. It may also be due to your daily form.

#4. Train Steel Dart

If you’re soft darts player, buy yourself a soft tip dartboard – because, with it, you train yourself a much cleaner throwing style, as with Soft dart. In the Steel dart, it is very important that the darts are at a good angle on the board and do not tip over to the left and right.

Also, count only the points of the darts, which get stuck in the board. Here you cannot just throw on already stuck darts to score points. Besides, you will learn arithmetic and your finishing ways at Steel dart.

#5. Learn to Calculate

It is very important to know which ways to go to win. It disturbs your rhythm in the dart game massively, if you have to look after each thrown darts, after that you should throw next. This tears you from your concentration and gets you out of the rhythm. This is very counterproductive for your game.

Besides, there is nothing more annoying than robbing yourself of your chances! So, a good dart player at 119 never starts recording on the 20 or puts himself a bogey number. These are the numbers that cannot be checked with 3 darts but are below 170: 159, 162, 163, 165, 166, 168, and 169. Here you should calculate and give yourself at least the chance of a finish, rather than the Opponent 6 safe darts to leg victory!

There are countless small calculation games, with which you can play out one or the other advantage. For example, in the 90-95 range, you can throw your first dart at the Bulls Eye, and then, if you hit only the 25, have a dart on the double – The Bulls Eye with another single field. If you start at 91 on the T17 for D20 instead, then you need at least a triple or double field to get a dart for the leg.

So, first, learn to calculate, and it will help you to become a better dart player.

#6. Participate in Tournaments

As the number 1 of the world repeatedly emphasizes: MVG trains very little. He tries to participate in all possible tournaments and to play exhibitions. The best training for Michael van Gerwen is the darts game itself. There are so many training world champions and dart players who can play great darts at home in their comfort zone.

Unfortunately, this does not really mean much in tournaments where prize money, trophies, and certificates are concerned. The achievements in tournaments are those that count and advance you as a dart player. In your comfort zone, where it is quiet, the lighting is optimal, no one is watching you, and where you feel just fine, everyone can play darts better.

#7. Learn from the Top 10 of the PDC

Look closely at your favorite player – watch his body language and how he behaves on stage. This does not mean that you should imitate his throwing style. You should definitely not do that, because everyone has their own way of playing darts and copying a throwing style is usually not recommended! But what you should look for is body language!

Take Michael van Gerwen as an example: after his throw, he runs back upright, symbolizing strength. Many dart players look at the way from the oche to the ground and thus show weakness. Another peculiarity of MVG is that it pulls up its socks in difficult situations.

This is a trained behavior – It brings him into his comfort zone and motivates himself. When you observe this, you soon realize that van Gerwen throws 180s and turns them on again very often after doing so.

But other players, such as Rob Cross: Before he throws on an important double field, he takes another step back to focus again and go with full concentration to the oche. He also often smiles when he does not do what he wants. So, he prevents negative thoughts!

Watch the pros at the next PDC tournament and learn from them. Look at what they do and what you can take for your game! Because these players are not without reason at the top of the Order of Merit!

#8. Operate Mental Training

Dart is about 95% in the head! So, it’s incredibly important to be mentally fit and always in control. As an example: There is no pressure; the pressure only arises through the evaluation of a situation in your head.

You have to play the board and not the opponent. That’s a popular saying, but he’s right. In the end, it does not really matter what your opponent is playing – it’s just important that you get your game together in the best possible way.

Unlike in football or other sports, your opponent can not do anything actively against you when darts. The winner of a leg is the one who hits the double first. So, make sure you’re the first one! – It does not bother you if you know what your opponent threw, so you put yourself under pressure.

Try to get into your “tunnel” and just play your game in it. Always think positively and motivate yourself. Even if the first dart lands in the 1, the shot can still be a 121! Fight on and do not give up.

Often you get chances to win the leg where you would never have believed it. However, the topic of mental training is extremely extensive and, therefore, impossible to fully treat here.

When you believe that you will do better at darts, you will be a better dart player insure.

#9. Train Regularly and Consistently

Only through regular training, you will improve yourself and your darts! The professionals of the PDC practice several hours daily, sometimes even 8 – 10 hours a day! Granted, that’s really hard what the boys from the PDC do, but it’s their job, and they have to live on it. As an ambitious player, 1 to 3 hours a day should be sufficient, depending on your personal goal and time.

There is no other option to become a better dart player without train regularly and consistently.

You must practice the training regularly and make it very conscientious. It does not do much just to play 501 for one hour. Training is not a game! – Training is diligence and has the sense that you are better. So, you should create a training plan. This should include all areas of the dart game and be tailored to you. Therefore, you should train the scoring, work on your checkout quota, and acquire a clean litter.

As I said: It’s not about having fun while training! It is important to work with full concentration on you and consistently tackles the points where you have some catching up to do. That’s the only way you’ll get better and rely on your training in tough matches.

#10. Use Training Aids

There are special training boards where the triple and double fields are only half the size of a normal tournament board. In these boards, the narrow fields are instead of 8 millimeters, even only 4 millimeters wide.

Of course, therefore, the Bulls-Eye is smaller, and the Winmau Champions Choice Board is also provided with a brighter color. This color is designed to train your eye and to improve the focus on these fields. Due to the smaller double and triple fields, you have to concentrate even more to meet them.

Another very cool effect: If you have been playing for some time on such a training board, you will feel the fields of a normal board a lot bigger. Almost like playing automatics on a ball shooter.

Another option would be practice rings like Peter Wright’s. With their help, you can specifically train specific fields. So, it seems like you’re throwing into a tunnel. Also, your eye focuses on the ring as the target and not the particular field.

There are always different colors and sizes in a set of these rings. So, you can customize the training setup to your needs.

Final Word

There are undoubtedly many more ways you can optimize your game and become a better dart player. However, these 10 points should give you some essential tips on how to progress in darts and get a better dart player.

If you are good at dart, please tell us how you have become skilled. Many newbies can learn from that.