Does consistency come with time or is it more natural?

[TheBFG]

Hi all, Im new to the forum and was hoping for some advice, I guess my question is aimed more towards experienced players.

First a bit about me, I've been playing on and off now for approx 4 years(the last 2 being constant) and using dartpro to chart my progress my average has gone up from a starting 3 dart monthly of 48.5 to at the end of last month 68.8. I must admit I do cancel the odd really bad leg but I have been doing that since I started so it is a quite accurate record of my improvement. I have also played in a local league the last 2 years.

Im throwing alot of 501 legs between 16-21 darts but I still have quite a few games where its up around 25-27. On my bad legs I really seem to lack consistency on the scoring for no apparent reason and was wondering whether to those of you who have reached a high standard do those sorts of legs get fewer as you get the years behind you or is it more a case of still throwing bad legs here and there but the good legs just get even better so your still better overall?

I've just read thast back and realised its not worded very well but I hope you see what Im getting at, to put it another way does practise create consistency or does it more so get you to a better standard overall so the bad legs dont have such an impact?.


Cheers.:smileodf:

[Steve Metalman]

Hiya BFG.
First of all welcome to the forum.
A certain amount of consistency will come as you develop a repeatable technique.
Even the top pros have to work at this.
But remember it's likely to be handed back to you when you play off the practice board.

I guess the question could also be, 'how can I bring consistency to my game'?

Thats a bit harder to answer.
The main thing is being able to have a repeatable technique as said above.
This comes from practice, being able to stand in the same place each time, knowing how to aim or having the right timing in the rhythm in the throw.
Not chopping and changing the set up of your darts once you've settled in to a good set up ( other than minor tweaking).

I think its a never ending learning process of trial and error, theres always room for improvement even at the top level, we've seen this recently at the last two major events on the TV.

68 avg I think you could be happy with that,and could even improve on it quite easily if you can put in the quality practice.
but that changes in a pressure situation of a match or competition.
Work on you weaknesses and you should see a significant difference.

[mattav1]

Oh consistency how I strive towards achieveing you but just can't seem to do it! I thought that spending a few months playing regularly would help with my consistency but I still have the odd week or so when I can't seem to hit anything and my game goes to pot, which is happening at this very moment. Personally, in addition to practicing regularly (and I mean good practice sessions not just spending 30 mins throwing at treble 20) I think you need 3 things to achieve consistency

1. Confidence (I've found that when playing well I tend to hit the big scores and the doubles, but when I'm struggling and my confidence is low I'm that negative and convinved I'm going to drift into the 5's etc that I more often than not do)

2. A steady, solid and consistent action (This is one of the other things holding me back in that on any given day without realising I can change my throw, I know this because my darts stick in at different angles, I change where I bring the dart back to and how I release the dart, I've tried to stick to one action but it seems when I go to sleep I forget how I do it and seem to change it!)

3. I think you need a certain amount of natural ability, I hear that Gary Anderson's first ever throw at a board was a ton followed by a 140. I'm reasonable good at most other sports because I think I have some natural ability, unfortunately darts doesn't seem to be 1 of these.

That's my thoughts anyway :confusedodf: