Hi guys
As I have posted on this blog before, I have a catalogue
of injuries (lower back, right shoulder, right hip and right wrist) which I brought
with me into playing darts from previous activities.
I can’t stress enough to you that when you start playing
you need to think long-term whether you are going to be able to maintain that
style of 1-5-10 years.
This is a cautionary tale as darts may appear to be a physically
undemanding sport however the reality is actually far different.
The classic example is stance. Obviously leaning over
makes logical sense as you are closer to the board, however you have to look at
the pressure that is going to put on your back and hip when done for long
periods of time.
When I started I adopted the Bobby George leaning over
stance:
Now this is great for moving you closer to the board however
at 16 stone (220 lbs) this played havoc with my back and right hip. After 1
hour of practice I was a mess. Now some of it is due to old injuries, however
it is not a naturally comfortable position to adopt and hold and it caused me
to have to take regular breaks from playing such was the discomfort after (it
should be noted that Bobby George has actually had to have a hip
replacement).
Now this may not necessarily apply to you early on, however
it will take its toll, and it may be an inopportune moment:
Picture
the scene, it’s the first leg and I’m playing a blinder, hitting decent darts,
not scoring below 60 and have hit a couple of 100’s. I’m on d16, and I outside
wire 2 darts. The third I overextend and force it, it goes in but my back goes
with it! My right leg is now wobbly due
to my back, and every time I throw I get a back spasm. Of course I lose the leg
so now it’s the decider and I’m sweating buckets due to the pain. I’m frustrated
with myself, however I win the bull and somehow manage to stay ahead, until
stupidly I miscount and leave d16 again where I should have left d20. I do the
usual
D16 –hit 16
D8 –hit 8
D4 –hit 4
And then
D2-hit
2
And then
onto D1.
It
then became a farce as my opponent had got into the match, but had equally
messed his finishes up and was now on d1 himself. It became the definition of bad pub darts as
we both through pineapples at the board and missed about 30 darts at D1 before I
hit it and won!
I could barely walk the next day and every time I tried
to practice my back and hip killed me.
The end result is that I had to then take several weeks off of playing.
I struggled for the longest time to change my mindset on
stance as whenever I tried to change it I was less effective as I was further
away and this went with the path of least resistance.
The older I have got though, it has become more apparent
that if I want to play this sport into an older age and what’s more take it to
the next level I need to adopt a stance that will enable me to practice for
long periods and play longer matches.
John Lowe told me a comfortable stance and clean release
will keep your game good for decades and you only have to look at how good he
still is at 70 odd to realise this.
I therefore decided to look at other players who stance isn’t
as lean centric and you only have to look at the stance of:
Phil Taylor
John Part
Gary Anderson
Who have a combined 21 world titles between them to see
that you don’t have to make yourself as close as possible (yes MVG at the
moment is winning everything with this stance but at 27 he is already
experiencing hip, wrist and back issues – and injury rather than an opponent
may be what ends his run at the top) With that sorted I have had to look at my throw I was and
still do get shoulder problems and I
have had many occasions whereby I haven’t been able to throw with any kind of
accuracy whatsoever which can be both incredibly frustrating and
disheartening.
This has usually been the
result of:
- Throwing to hard
- Over extending
- Ignoring fatigue
- Sloppy technique
I have found that for me it is far better to have 1 hour’s
good quality practice than 3 hours rushing every dart at the board. For the longest
time my form would dip after the first hour and this would lead to frustration
and poor results. Stepping away is the hardest thing to do however you are
getting NOTHING from 2 hours of
practice if your arm is tired and your technique has gone! Building up stamina and
taking my time is the key thing that I continually ignored and I have wasted
hours and hours of my life practicing with zero benefit.
So the key thing is to not ignore pain and discomfort. This
is one sport where it ISNT no pain
no gain and for longevity it is important to absolutely minimise the wear and
tear on your body.
Listen to your body, pay attention to any pain or
discomfort and don’t be afraid to step away from the board when your body tells
you (pain, loss of accuracy).
Anyway I hope this helps guys
Luke
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