I sometimes feel uncomfortable in this forum because I feel a bit like an inbetweeny. Just made that word up. What I mean is that I am a fairly serious amateur who is here in the midst of shooters with amazing credentials with all their 180s and the like. I practice about two or three hours a day at short intervals and sort of follow George's advice but feel a bit lost in my progress. I have an average of weights and designs in my collection and have an unofficial PPD average of about 22 but my frustration is in the feedback from fellows on this forum who seem to be so far ahead of the game. I guess what I am looking for is a bit more of advice on we who are struggling.

Hopefully I'll be there with you soon.

Gary

Hey, don't beat yourself up sir, I am in the lower echelons of the darts world and I love it here.

I think we have all sorts of levels of experience and levels of skill, I am sure Darren wont mind me adding that he (Getagrip) and myself are not the greatest darts players in the world but we enjoy the game, there are some really good players here too and there are some legends of the game (George being the main man!).


I am unhappy to hear that you feel uncomfortable here, we are all here for the same reason, we all love the game of darts, nobody is judged upon how good they are - whether we are good darters does not matter at all - we are all here to share and give advice and just as equally take on the advice, we share out thoughts, concerns and ideas and that's what makes DartsNutz a great forum.

Please do not feel out of your depth, believe me I am not at all a good player but I love the atmosphere here, love the banter and all the members - this is a great place to be a part of if you enjoy the game of darts, whatever your skill level is.

Regards,
Greg

thats a 66 points per round avg my friend and thats good for any amateur ! the 180 will come my friend. And your at the right place me friend. I'm a decent shooter but we have some members here who are top notch shooters so lets use their experience to help us mere mortals. You most definitely could play on any team in our league.

Mr. Gary -my hats off to ya sir. My ppd is well below yours. the maximum will come when you least expect it. I spent countless hours working for my first. Finally, after forgetting about the 180, one night i was just working on tight groups it happened and then i scored my second about an hour later. for the few months my focus has been on finishing and not rushing my shots when im in a position to finish. I can relate to your position as i felt out of place in some of the other forums. Luckily i found this one which i feel right at home with. guess what im sayin is forget about the numbers they're all just decorations. I'd rather be the sleeper anyways.

I myself am in the lower echelon. I might be scoring high in practice and for fun but when match play comes that goes out the window. With constant practice I know that will start changing. Also, with a 66 avg you can be my partner anytime. Granted some of these guys Bov, Hat, Mcinnis, Venigoor and the rest of the crew will kick all our asses. But these are the guys we learn the most from.

180's aren't worth a dam if ya can't finish the game. Consistent 60's and 80's with a double in 3 darts or less will win em for ya in the majority of pub leagues.

As others have said a 22 ppd average is none too shabby and will get you into most pub darts teams. In my team in the League we're in you'd be one of the Top shooters easily, trust me!! I've seen games this Season that haven't even reached a 13 ppd average, so you're well ahead of those.

Got to echo the above Gary, please do not dishearten yourself and try to compare your skill level with people who are above you. Some of the really good players have been playing for years often since a very young age, and others are just luckily blessed with a natural ability.

I kind of know what your frustration is as I feel it myself sometimes, it's like looking for an answer that will suddenly make everything click into place. Problem is for us who are lesser gifted it will not come so easily, but with persistence it will improve.

I often feel I am hopeless and will never get better, I might have a few weeks were I can't hit anything of note. Then suddenly I will have a good run, might hit a few 140's, but will generally be more consistent. So I say to myself if I can do it once then I can do it again, so I keep trying.

I have pretty poor eyesight, I even have very slight double vision which can really bother me sometimes, I have achy knees and wrists but I wont let any of that stop me from enjoying the game and trying to be the best I can be.

Following George's advice should be of great benefit, so keep doing that, when you finally hit that 180, then the next, you will wonder what the fuss was about!

these averages are good to be honest..keep going and it will come im sure.
its a frustrating game and a waiting game.
you will get up one day and they will arrive..
180s dont really mean alot its finishing the game what matters really and this is what i need to brush up on too.
good luck and keep on throwing

See Shadow,
we behind ya buddy ! Trust me I will throw a 100 and next throw 41, throw a 95 next throw 26 and on and on. I'm a FS myself and like George says your building a brick wall one brick at a time buddy.

Don't feel like you are in a lower echelon. You see lots of talk about big scores because no one likes to celebrate when they throw single digits in 01

I am in the very low echelon. I would be pleased to find my average be in the 60 range. I am the captain of my dart team and I always try to reassure my players that 60s win games. So, you are in no way at the bottom of the totem poll. I still have yet to hit my first big score, but that doesn't keep me from trying.

Also, as you browse the forum you will find other members who discuss hardships they have encountered while trying to improve their game and the ever so popular "dartitis" topics.

I encourage you to not feel dwarfed by the members that we have that excel but instead use their experience of years at the oche to try and advance yourself at a more rapid rate than what may have been by finding things that work for you that have also worked for others. I'm also sure that you can offer valuable advice of things that you have found to work and not work for you.

Persistence is key.

Wow, so much support! I now feel like a silly whiny kid. I guess I was in some kind of mood when I wrote the post and made things sound worse than they are. I used the word "uncomfortable" wrongly. Actually I am very comfortable here in this forum and I guess I was just sounding off. I love the game and will not be giving up any time soon. I still like the thunk of the dart and all that stuff. Thanks again guys for all the encouragement. I'm now ready to turn around and kick butt.

ShadowNotes wrote:

Wow, so much support! I now feel like a silly whiny kid. I guess I was in some kind of mood when I wrote the post and made things sound worse than they are. I used the word "uncomfortable" wrongly. Actually I am very comfortable here in this forum and I guess I was just sounding off. I love the game and will not be giving up any time soon. I still like the thunk of the dart and all that stuff. Thanks again guys for all the encouragement. I'm now ready to turn around and kick butt.

now ya talking buddy!!!!

one thing I would add is to just enjoy what your doing and try not to focus too hard on getting the goals, relax and enjoy it and as George would say: "Let it happen"

Today I never hit any big scores, but I really enjoyed my practice because the darts where leaving my hand nice an smooth and flew well if not totally accurate, I just enjoyed that feeling of free flowing.

getagrip wrote:

one thing I would add is to just enjoy what your doing and try not to focus too hard on getting the goals, relax and enjoy it and as George would say: "Let it happen"

Today I never hit any big scores, but I really enjoyed my practice because the darts where leaving my hand nice an smooth and flew well if not totally accurate, I just enjoyed that feeling of free flowing.

Those really are some of the best days of practice. Where it just feels natural and fluid. Regardless of whether or not you are hitting your mark.

To use another of George's quotes "Enjoy the journey"

HowlingMonkey wrote:

To use another of George's quotes "Enjoy the journey"

Yes, I really do HowlingMonkey.

HowlingMonkey wrote:

To use another of George's quotes "Enjoy the journey"

Its very true though.

Well had me worse outing in a long time mates. I lost 3-1 and had me head handed to me, A sorry display of darts I had for sure. gotta put this one behind me and march on. No excuses just played bad.

Shadow, I would say pretty much the same to you as everyone else here has, you are doing FINE!! All I can say is, Darts is a funny game. I remember a month or so ago thinking that I hadn't hit a 180 in a while and was throwing all over the place. Took the darts out of the board and fired and viola!! One hundred and eighty!!!!!! Believe me, it will come.

As far as myself goes, I am an average shooter (hit tons, decent scores and occasional 180), not a top shooter but know my board well enough. My only advice would be to pick a set of darts/stems/flights and stay with them!! I have fallen into the trap of constantly changing my setup (wish I could find THE setup). My game has been all over the place since I've started this (used to finish high percentage of league matches) but since I've gotten this swapping/changing addiction, consistency has gone out the window.

Anyway, good luck mate. And remember....the pointy end goes towards the board!!

Cheers!!!

Thanks again to all on this subject. I have come out of my funk on this issue and believe I have settled down and found my proper setup. I really appreciate canuckdartnut's advice, "the pointy end goes towards the board".

I agree with everyone above, it will come and alot of the time they come out of the blue when your not expecting it. I remember before i hit my 1st i was always thinking way to much about it when the first 2 trebles went in and this made my last dart wild. After I hit the first few the pressure i had put on myself about getting them left completely and they started to come more regular.

Don't get me wrong, I still get the buzz when I hit 180 but as said above it isn't the be all and end all. Alot of people i have seen follow it up with a 26 or similar. its following the 180 up with a solid score or finish thats more important IMO.

Keep plugging away, try not to think about it too much when the first two go in and it won't take long with averages like your's