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!