We had a good time Monday night in managing a clean sweep. In American Baseball darts, that means we won three four-person team matches. Man of the match has to go to Mike Lazur, who scored 41, 41, and 42. Now that's consistency.
Gary and I usually lead off for the team, with Mike and Tom bringing up the rear as our stronger players. Gary, who has a 19 average, managed high 20's in the first 2 games, fortunately lifting up my own lackluster performance. When Gary fell off in the third game, I picked it up, putting in an above average performance for me with a 34.
I ran into a situation in the first game which reminded me of the virtue of Winston Churchill's famous quotation "Never, Never, Never give up!" (he might have included a few more nevers in there). It was one of those close matches where you have to figure every mark counts. All the way through the eighth inning, I was having an awful game, looking to come in at about 9 under average. The other team shot first and left us needing to hit well in the final inning to win. I was up first, and if memory serves had hit no better than a four mark in any inning that game, with several 1's and 2's.
Something clicked as I toed the oche for the ninth inning. The board seemed closer, and the doubles and trips stood out like the broad side of a barn. I let fly a trip-trip-double for a nice 8 mark and sighed with relief. Gary, Mike, and Tom mopped it up for a close win. Whew. No more 8 mark innings for me the rest of the night, but that shot gave me the confidence to shoot better in my next two games.
The team is currently in first place but we still have some challenging games coming up. Until then, good darts.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Back in the saddle again!
After a long time away from the blog, I am finally back! Why was I away? Simply put, work and an injury conspired to leave me with little free time. Several months ago, I ruptured my achilles tendon while exercising. The injury severed the tendon that connects my calf muscle to my heel. The daily rehabilitation exercises for that are pretty time intensive.
I am back to playing league darts, since I don't have to stand too much. Function is slowly returning with the guidance of some good physical therapists (shout out to Craig and Jen at St. Peters in New Brunswick). I am hoping another two months and I will be back to my normal activities and work out.
Currently I am playing American Baseball darts once a week at an in-house league in Neptune, NJ. Kelly's Tavern treats us right, feeding us a nice dinner with some good drink specials. Like most American Baseball leagues, it is handicapped to give everyone a fair shot at winning. Our four man team includes me, Tom Waterman, Mike Lazur, and Gary. I'm not used to being the team noob, but I still don't yet have the hang of the "Widdie" darts. It will be a continuing learning experience.
Keep looking for more posts. I will report the team results weekly, and as I become better able to venture out and maybe hit some steel tournaments I will cover those as well. Until then, good darts!
I am back to playing league darts, since I don't have to stand too much. Function is slowly returning with the guidance of some good physical therapists (shout out to Craig and Jen at St. Peters in New Brunswick). I am hoping another two months and I will be back to my normal activities and work out.
Currently I am playing American Baseball darts once a week at an in-house league in Neptune, NJ. Kelly's Tavern treats us right, feeding us a nice dinner with some good drink specials. Like most American Baseball leagues, it is handicapped to give everyone a fair shot at winning. Our four man team includes me, Tom Waterman, Mike Lazur, and Gary. I'm not used to being the team noob, but I still don't yet have the hang of the "Widdie" darts. It will be a continuing learning experience.
Keep looking for more posts. I will report the team results weekly, and as I become better able to venture out and maybe hit some steel tournaments I will cover those as well. Until then, good darts!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Fun Darts in Philly
I had a blast this weekend in Philadelphia at the Rae Chesney Dart Tournament at the Raddison in North Philly. It's always good to catch up with my old friends from Philly. This year we made it a family trip, and I took Margaret and my eight year old, Oliver, along to throw in the youth events.
Oliver likes to swim so we spent a fair amount of time inbetween events in the indoor swimming pool, playing games and watching the snowflakes fall outside. On Saturday he threw in the 6-12 year old division. The young kids throw on a standard board, and play single in, single out 401. Oliver was much younger than his competition, but had some good rounds throwing my wooden American Baseball darts. He managed to take one of three legs off his opponent Edgar, which was a good confidence booster.
The next day was a youth-adult event, and Oliver again managed one leg off his opponent Tyler in a best of three legs event. The youth-adult event has the same format. The youth diddles and starts, and the adult cannot take the out. The adult basically drops out after score gets low enough for the youth to hit the out. At one point Oliver was looking at a 116 out. He hit the double bull, and then a 16. I held my breath as he lined up the bullseye with his third dart. It was off in another zip code, but then I laughed at my expectations. Hey, the kid is eight years old, after all!
The winner of both events was a 12 year old named Ed, who had a great game and deserved the win. Congrats Ed!
The only event that I threw in besides that was the singles cricket event. It was one of those days when I was distracted and the darts just would not go where I wanted them. My opponent took good advantage and I was a first round casualty.
As a reminder, the New York New Jersey Open is this coming weekend. I have some family obligations so will unfortunately miss it this year, but don't let that stop you from going.
Oliver likes to swim so we spent a fair amount of time inbetween events in the indoor swimming pool, playing games and watching the snowflakes fall outside. On Saturday he threw in the 6-12 year old division. The young kids throw on a standard board, and play single in, single out 401. Oliver was much younger than his competition, but had some good rounds throwing my wooden American Baseball darts. He managed to take one of three legs off his opponent Edgar, which was a good confidence booster.
The next day was a youth-adult event, and Oliver again managed one leg off his opponent Tyler in a best of three legs event. The youth-adult event has the same format. The youth diddles and starts, and the adult cannot take the out. The adult basically drops out after score gets low enough for the youth to hit the out. At one point Oliver was looking at a 116 out. He hit the double bull, and then a 16. I held my breath as he lined up the bullseye with his third dart. It was off in another zip code, but then I laughed at my expectations. Hey, the kid is eight years old, after all!
The winner of both events was a 12 year old named Ed, who had a great game and deserved the win. Congrats Ed!
The only event that I threw in besides that was the singles cricket event. It was one of those days when I was distracted and the darts just would not go where I wanted them. My opponent took good advantage and I was a first round casualty.
As a reminder, the New York New Jersey Open is this coming weekend. I have some family obligations so will unfortunately miss it this year, but don't let that stop you from going.
Dave Who?
Dave Hascup was out last night in our American Darts League match against the second place team at Kelly's, so Howie kindly subbed. The last time we played that team we won but it was a nail-biter. That time each game came down to the last inning and a stray dart or two could easily have determined the outcome. With Dave out, we knew we would have to hit well.
Maybe it was a weekend of throwing darts in Philly, but something picked my game up big time. In the first game everything seemed effortless and I hit a nice 45 game. The rest of the gang was a bit off that game, but it was good enough for a team win. I settled back to a more typical 33 and 34 the next two games, and had to count it a good night because Howie, Tom, and John picked up the pace. We managed a sweep, which puts us out in front by a comfortable margin at this point. After the win, Howie said "Dave Who?" (Just kidding Dave!)
When I have a good night I try to think about what was different so I can try and reproduce it. I definitely felt relaxed and focused. I was not thinking too much. When my turn came I would just walk up to the line and throw. That's not much to go on, but it's something.
Maybe it was a weekend of throwing darts in Philly, but something picked my game up big time. In the first game everything seemed effortless and I hit a nice 45 game. The rest of the gang was a bit off that game, but it was good enough for a team win. I settled back to a more typical 33 and 34 the next two games, and had to count it a good night because Howie, Tom, and John picked up the pace. We managed a sweep, which puts us out in front by a comfortable margin at this point. After the win, Howie said "Dave Who?" (Just kidding Dave!)
When I have a good night I try to think about what was different so I can try and reproduce it. I definitely felt relaxed and focused. I was not thinking too much. When my turn came I would just walk up to the line and throw. That's not much to go on, but it's something.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Getting Out of A Slump in Darts?
Dave, Tom, John and I had a great night in the Kelly's League last Monday in what is known as the "Bumper Week." The idea is that the first place team plays the second, third against fourth, and so on, which can give a team a chance to close the gap with the one in front of it. We were in first by about a half dozen points.
We had a monkey to get off our back. In the last several weeks, we had uniformly shot terrible in the first game of the match, usually losing it. Some weeks, we picked it up a bit in the next two and won, but we did lose two of our weekly matches. This week however, everything clicked and we managed a sweep, placing us well out in front in the league standings. Everyone played solid for the whole match.
That got me thinking about what people do to get out of a slump. When I say slump, I don't always mean just a decline in your general level of play. It might be some small aspect of your game. Maybe your third dart is always off. Or, like us, your first game was always off. How do you adjust? Do keep just plugging away and hope things will get better?
I always like to see what other people have to say so I searched around. A guy named Karlheinz Zochling had a detailed and interesting way of looking at declines in a dart player's general level of play. He views them as inevitable stages in gaining expertise, with the key being working through the slumps. His theory is that talented dart players progress quickly at the beginning, but then often hit a big slump. Some give up at the point, but others keep playing through the ups and downs, with a general, gradual trend towards better darts. That can be frustrating for someone used to their earlier rapid improvement.
Zochling's theory makes sense to me. Let's say you started out averaging about 10 or 12 points per dart (30 to 36 points per turn), and after six or eight months you are averaging a respectable 20 points per dart (60 a turn). Should you expect to be averaging 30 points per dart (90 per turn) in another six months? While anything may be possible, it's not very likely to happen. However, from the perspective of the talented beginner, they are thinking "Why am I improving so much slower?" They may start thinking much more about their game, trying different things, and their average slips to 15 points per dart. The real frustration sets in. Zochling's idea is that the darter who keeps at it will gradually regain that loss, and go through a series of ups and downs, generally trending upwards, improving overall.
Another writer at nicedarts.com cautions dart players against considering a few bad nights as a slump. His advice boils down to staying positive and not overthinking the problem. He advocates for calming your nerves, and against changing your throwing style. I agree in part. Sometimes you might be off because you are tired or distracted by something going on in your life. If that is the diagnosis, the cure is sticking with your regular throw until your head gets straight.
All I would add to the nicedarts.com author's point is to check your throw when you feel your game is off for more than just a few days. Do a video recording of yourself throwing a practice. Are you doing something that would clearly hurt your accuracy? If so, the video should reveal it. Otherwise, it's sometimes difficult to notice bad habits that can creep into your throw. If your throwing style and fundamental form looks good, no changes should be needed. On the other had, if you notice some bad habit cropping up, best to nip it in the bud.
After taking all of that in, it seems likely that our Kelly's team slump was likely the result of all of us being tired. Dave, John, and Tom have been hitting the weekend tournaments a lot lately and have come in exhausted on Monday night. Work has been keeping me more busy than usual so I have usually come in tired. We were fresh last week, and we all shot well. No need for any big changes.
We are off next week for the holidays and I am writing from New Orleans. Happy Holidays to everyone and I will look forward to posting again soon!
We had a monkey to get off our back. In the last several weeks, we had uniformly shot terrible in the first game of the match, usually losing it. Some weeks, we picked it up a bit in the next two and won, but we did lose two of our weekly matches. This week however, everything clicked and we managed a sweep, placing us well out in front in the league standings. Everyone played solid for the whole match.
That got me thinking about what people do to get out of a slump. When I say slump, I don't always mean just a decline in your general level of play. It might be some small aspect of your game. Maybe your third dart is always off. Or, like us, your first game was always off. How do you adjust? Do keep just plugging away and hope things will get better?
I always like to see what other people have to say so I searched around. A guy named Karlheinz Zochling had a detailed and interesting way of looking at declines in a dart player's general level of play. He views them as inevitable stages in gaining expertise, with the key being working through the slumps. His theory is that talented dart players progress quickly at the beginning, but then often hit a big slump. Some give up at the point, but others keep playing through the ups and downs, with a general, gradual trend towards better darts. That can be frustrating for someone used to their earlier rapid improvement.
Zochling's theory makes sense to me. Let's say you started out averaging about 10 or 12 points per dart (30 to 36 points per turn), and after six or eight months you are averaging a respectable 20 points per dart (60 a turn). Should you expect to be averaging 30 points per dart (90 per turn) in another six months? While anything may be possible, it's not very likely to happen. However, from the perspective of the talented beginner, they are thinking "Why am I improving so much slower?" They may start thinking much more about their game, trying different things, and their average slips to 15 points per dart. The real frustration sets in. Zochling's idea is that the darter who keeps at it will gradually regain that loss, and go through a series of ups and downs, generally trending upwards, improving overall.
Another writer at nicedarts.com cautions dart players against considering a few bad nights as a slump. His advice boils down to staying positive and not overthinking the problem. He advocates for calming your nerves, and against changing your throwing style. I agree in part. Sometimes you might be off because you are tired or distracted by something going on in your life. If that is the diagnosis, the cure is sticking with your regular throw until your head gets straight.
All I would add to the nicedarts.com author's point is to check your throw when you feel your game is off for more than just a few days. Do a video recording of yourself throwing a practice. Are you doing something that would clearly hurt your accuracy? If so, the video should reveal it. Otherwise, it's sometimes difficult to notice bad habits that can creep into your throw. If your throwing style and fundamental form looks good, no changes should be needed. On the other had, if you notice some bad habit cropping up, best to nip it in the bud.
After taking all of that in, it seems likely that our Kelly's team slump was likely the result of all of us being tired. Dave, John, and Tom have been hitting the weekend tournaments a lot lately and have come in exhausted on Monday night. Work has been keeping me more busy than usual so I have usually come in tired. We were fresh last week, and we all shot well. No need for any big changes.
We are off next week for the holidays and I am writing from New Orleans. Happy Holidays to everyone and I will look forward to posting again soon!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
2010 Darts Gift Review Part 2, Incredible Edible!
There are many dart gift ideas out there, and I like to point out what I find. Before saying more, I need to give my usual legal disclaimer. I have not tried out many of these products. I list them because they look interesting. I'm not vouching for the quality of the products or the vendors by listing them. So, caveat emptor. Also, I have not accepted any money or other benefit from any of the vendors. I do this blog because I enjoy darts and I like to write! If you have experience with any of the gift ideas that I have mentioned, good or bad, feel free to leave some comments.
With all that out of the way, its time to wander with me through the web's offering of edible dart gift ideas. The Chocolate Vault still sells nice looking chocolate dart boards and darts. They even have a dart lollipop.
Homemade gifts are nice, and Christmas is the season for baking and decorating. Check out these interesting ideas for making dart cakes. This one particularly caught my eye. As another sign that the British know how to do darts right, one London bakery makes a giant dart cake that serves 35. I found a Georgia bakery that makes a delicious looking dart cake as well. Got a sugar craving yet?
Let's go from sweet to salty. Some clever folks have made dart gift baskets using a dart board as a base. One popular one features salami, beer cheeses, crackers, and cookies, and there is a less expensive basket with just the cheese. Of course, there is no reason not to let your own creativity loose. Buy a dart board, pick a theme, and add your own items. There is plenty of advice out there on how to make a good gift basket, and you can customize the goodies to things you know the recipient will like.
No gift review is complete without a truly strange idea, and I found one for you. One of my favorite websites to browse is worth1000.com. The idea of the site is to have photoshop contests around a theme. People come up with some creative or just plain zany ideas. They post the results for all to see. Imagine my surprise when one creative genius came up with the idea for a dart pizza. I have not yet found a pizzeria that will make one, but what a great idea...so just imagine your perfect dart birthday party.
1. You go to the pub, order some dart pizzas and play a few games with your dart buddies.
2. The PDC Dart Girls join your friends in singing happy birthday, then you eat your dart birthday cake, and open your dart gift basket.
3. Pinch yourself to see if you have died and gone to dart heaven.
A special shout out to the guys at Darts Around the World. They were kind enough to interview me last night along with my friend Rags, my favorite darts graphic design guru. If you have not already checked out the Darts Around the World podcast, get with it!
With all that out of the way, its time to wander with me through the web's offering of edible dart gift ideas. The Chocolate Vault still sells nice looking chocolate dart boards and darts. They even have a dart lollipop.
Homemade gifts are nice, and Christmas is the season for baking and decorating. Check out these interesting ideas for making dart cakes. This one particularly caught my eye. As another sign that the British know how to do darts right, one London bakery makes a giant dart cake that serves 35. I found a Georgia bakery that makes a delicious looking dart cake as well. Got a sugar craving yet?
Let's go from sweet to salty. Some clever folks have made dart gift baskets using a dart board as a base. One popular one features salami, beer cheeses, crackers, and cookies, and there is a less expensive basket with just the cheese. Of course, there is no reason not to let your own creativity loose. Buy a dart board, pick a theme, and add your own items. There is plenty of advice out there on how to make a good gift basket, and you can customize the goodies to things you know the recipient will like.
No gift review is complete without a truly strange idea, and I found one for you. One of my favorite websites to browse is worth1000.com. The idea of the site is to have photoshop contests around a theme. People come up with some creative or just plain zany ideas. They post the results for all to see. Imagine my surprise when one creative genius came up with the idea for a dart pizza. I have not yet found a pizzeria that will make one, but what a great idea...so just imagine your perfect dart birthday party.
1. You go to the pub, order some dart pizzas and play a few games with your dart buddies.
2. The PDC Dart Girls join your friends in singing happy birthday, then you eat your dart birthday cake, and open your dart gift basket.
3. Pinch yourself to see if you have died and gone to dart heaven.
A special shout out to the guys at Darts Around the World. They were kind enough to interview me last night along with my friend Rags, my favorite darts graphic design guru. If you have not already checked out the Darts Around the World podcast, get with it!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
2010 New Jersey Darts Holiday Gift Review, Pt. 1
Christmas and the New Year are close, and it's time for the New Jersey Darts annual gift review! Those familiar with past reviews will remember that I like to focus on extraordinary dart-related items. Don't look here for your standard gear, as there are already plenty of places for that.
My first installment will review two great places to find a variety of dart gift ideas: Zazzle and Cafe Press.
The basic idea of these online shops is simple. People submit graphics, and they will put them many types of items. Lucky for us, they have many interesting dart graphics to choose from. In the past, they were limited to things like shirts, mugs, keychains, and carry bags. However, technology has marched on and now you can get a dart i-Pad or dart i-Phone case. Want to take some footage of your next ton-eighty? Do it in style with the Darts Flip Mino HD Camcorder.
If you know someone with a new future doubles partner coming into the family, there are many items to pick from. Cover mom in some darts maternity wear and then follow up with a dart baby onesie and even a dart Teddy Bear. Don't leave Fido out, they have dart pet food bowls, and even dog T-shirts. They really do think of everything.
True fanatics might like dart shoes, which they could use to ride on a dart skateboard. Dart Christmas stockings and some holiday ornaments are there for those who have almost everything. If that does not work, consider the selection of dart ties, which is expanded from previous years. You can even send your dart buddies holiday greetings with dart postage stamps. Hoping to learn darts by osmosis? Try the dart pillows.
Each site has over a thousand interesting dart-related designs, and when you find one that you like, presto! You have a gift. They even allow you to customize and personalize some of them.
I have been following the dart offerings on these sites for a few years, and they have certainly improved. It will be a rare case where you won't find something to get for a dart player there.
Part of the fun of these sites is just browsing through the graphics. Sure, they have some lame ones, and they need to refine their search engine a bit. You will have to scroll past some poison dart frog and lawn dart graphics at times. However, they do have some good ones too. I won't spoil your fun. Check them out.
In my next installment I will reach beyond these sites to find even more rare and custom items. Until then, good darts!
My first installment will review two great places to find a variety of dart gift ideas: Zazzle and Cafe Press.
The basic idea of these online shops is simple. People submit graphics, and they will put them many types of items. Lucky for us, they have many interesting dart graphics to choose from. In the past, they were limited to things like shirts, mugs, keychains, and carry bags. However, technology has marched on and now you can get a dart i-Pad or dart i-Phone case. Want to take some footage of your next ton-eighty? Do it in style with the Darts Flip Mino HD Camcorder.
If you know someone with a new future doubles partner coming into the family, there are many items to pick from. Cover mom in some darts maternity wear and then follow up with a dart baby onesie and even a dart Teddy Bear. Don't leave Fido out, they have dart pet food bowls, and even dog T-shirts. They really do think of everything.
True fanatics might like dart shoes, which they could use to ride on a dart skateboard. Dart Christmas stockings and some holiday ornaments are there for those who have almost everything. If that does not work, consider the selection of dart ties, which is expanded from previous years. You can even send your dart buddies holiday greetings with dart postage stamps. Hoping to learn darts by osmosis? Try the dart pillows.
Each site has over a thousand interesting dart-related designs, and when you find one that you like, presto! You have a gift. They even allow you to customize and personalize some of them.
I have been following the dart offerings on these sites for a few years, and they have certainly improved. It will be a rare case where you won't find something to get for a dart player there.
Part of the fun of these sites is just browsing through the graphics. Sure, they have some lame ones, and they need to refine their search engine a bit. You will have to scroll past some poison dart frog and lawn dart graphics at times. However, they do have some good ones too. I won't spoil your fun. Check them out.
In my next installment I will reach beyond these sites to find even more rare and custom items. Until then, good darts!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
New Jersey Dart Calendar November 2010 to January 2011
The weather may be getting cold in New Jersey but the dart action is getting hot! Check out these upcoming events.
-Saturday Nov. 20, 2010, USA Dart Club open qualifier for the ADO Cricket Regional, The Rock Bar, 414 Main Avenue, Clifton, NJ, 973-916-1888. The qualifier is noon sign ups and 1:00pm starts/$20 dollar entries. Contact Mark Onsdorf 973-207-9512(prodigyds@aol.com) for more details on the qualifiers. Thanks to Bob Race for the report.
-November 26-28, 2010 the $10,000.00 Long Island Fall Classic, at Holiday Inn Airport, 3845 Veteran’s Memorial Highway, Ronkonkoma, NY. Click here for the flyer. This is an open steel-tip tournament.
-Bob Race reports that immediately before the Long Island Classic, at the same location, the ADO V-III Cricket Regional will be held. This will be open to ADO members in the region, on Friday Nov. 26th, with 10:00 AM sign-ups 11:00 AM start. $110 entry, unless you qualified at an event (see above). Winners get a trip to the ADO Cricket Nationals.
-Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010, the $1,000+ USADarts.com Open, at The Rock Bar and Grill, 414 Main Avenue, Clifton, NJ. This is a 100% payout open steel-tip tournament. Click here for the flyer.
-Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010, Johnny K's 3rd Annual Toys for Tots Soft Tip Dart Tournament, at Tower's Bar, 1478 Tomhicken Road, Fern Glen, PA 18241. Click here for the flyer. This is an open charity event.
-Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010, Toy Drive and Dart Shoot, Tacony Billiards, 6201 Keystone St., Phildelphia, PA. Registration Noon - 1:45 p.m., start at 2:00 p.m., bring a new unwrapped toy. This is an open charity event. See phillydarts.com for more information.
-January 7-9, 2011, the $25,600+ Rae Chesney Dart Tournament at the Radisson Northeast, U.S. Route 1 at Lincoln Highway, Trevose, PA (just north of Philadelphia). This is an open steel tip tournament with youth events as well. Click here for the flyer.
-January 14-16, 2011, the $10,000.00 New York New Jersey Open. This is an open steel-tip event (more information coming).
If I missed any please let me know.
-Saturday Nov. 20, 2010, USA Dart Club open qualifier for the ADO Cricket Regional, The Rock Bar, 414 Main Avenue, Clifton, NJ, 973-916-1888. The qualifier is noon sign ups and 1:00pm starts/$20 dollar entries. Contact Mark Onsdorf 973-207-9512(prodigyds@aol.com) for more details on the qualifiers. Thanks to Bob Race for the report.
-November 26-28, 2010 the $10,000.00 Long Island Fall Classic, at Holiday Inn Airport, 3845 Veteran’s Memorial Highway, Ronkonkoma, NY. Click here for the flyer. This is an open steel-tip tournament.
-Bob Race reports that immediately before the Long Island Classic, at the same location, the ADO V-III Cricket Regional will be held. This will be open to ADO members in the region, on Friday Nov. 26th, with 10:00 AM sign-ups 11:00 AM start. $110 entry, unless you qualified at an event (see above). Winners get a trip to the ADO Cricket Nationals.
-Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010, the $1,000+ USADarts.com Open, at The Rock Bar and Grill, 414 Main Avenue, Clifton, NJ. This is a 100% payout open steel-tip tournament. Click here for the flyer.
-Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010, Johnny K's 3rd Annual Toys for Tots Soft Tip Dart Tournament, at Tower's Bar, 1478 Tomhicken Road, Fern Glen, PA 18241. Click here for the flyer. This is an open charity event.
-Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010, Toy Drive and Dart Shoot, Tacony Billiards, 6201 Keystone St., Phildelphia, PA. Registration Noon - 1:45 p.m., start at 2:00 p.m., bring a new unwrapped toy. This is an open charity event. See phillydarts.com for more information.
-January 7-9, 2011, the $25,600+ Rae Chesney Dart Tournament at the Radisson Northeast, U.S. Route 1 at Lincoln Highway, Trevose, PA (just north of Philadelphia). This is an open steel tip tournament with youth events as well. Click here for the flyer.
-January 14-16, 2011, the $10,000.00 New York New Jersey Open. This is an open steel-tip event (more information coming).
If I missed any please let me know.
A String of Wins And Some Talk About Stance
Our Monday night team at Kelly's in Neptune, NJ, has enjoyed a string of wins in the past few weeks. Last night I had the rare distinction of the high score in the first of three games, with a 43. Tom, Dave, and John all have higher averages than I do in American Baseball darts, so that felt good. They got their games on in the next two, which was good because my performance fell off. Overall it was good enough for a team win.
In the previous week, in which Dave was off to England, Howie Dirks filled in well with a nice 36 average. That performance helped us win, and put us in first in the league standings. So far so good!
I have put more time on the board in the past few weeks and my steel tip game is picking up. I needed to alter my stance to fix a problem. I had been leaning my body weight more forward on the ball of my front foot, with bad results. This put more pressure on my ankle, which was getting stiff and sore after about 45 minutes of play. I needed to eliminate that distraction from my game.
My new stance still has much of my weight on my front foot, but it is centered more towards the middle or heel of the foot. The net effect is that it does not stress my ankle. As with any fundamental change, it feels awkward at first. It is starting to feel more comfortable which is paying dividends at the oche.
I am busy researching for my dart gift review, which should be coming out in the second week of December. I will be out next week for Thanksgiving holiday, with Howie filling in as I visit some family in Texas. Who knows, maybe I can find a good game out there.
Later today I will post a calendar of upcoming dart events in the New Jersey area. Until then, good darts!
In the previous week, in which Dave was off to England, Howie Dirks filled in well with a nice 36 average. That performance helped us win, and put us in first in the league standings. So far so good!
I have put more time on the board in the past few weeks and my steel tip game is picking up. I needed to alter my stance to fix a problem. I had been leaning my body weight more forward on the ball of my front foot, with bad results. This put more pressure on my ankle, which was getting stiff and sore after about 45 minutes of play. I needed to eliminate that distraction from my game.
My new stance still has much of my weight on my front foot, but it is centered more towards the middle or heel of the foot. The net effect is that it does not stress my ankle. As with any fundamental change, it feels awkward at first. It is starting to feel more comfortable which is paying dividends at the oche.
I am busy researching for my dart gift review, which should be coming out in the second week of December. I will be out next week for Thanksgiving holiday, with Howie filling in as I visit some family in Texas. Who knows, maybe I can find a good game out there.
Later today I will post a calendar of upcoming dart events in the New Jersey area. Until then, good darts!
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