Are you a recreational player who enjoys the social aspect and winning or losing doesn't come into play really. Winning is not necessary for your enjoyment of the game?

Or the Shooter whose enjoyment depends on winning?

Both enjoy the game but differs in what makes them enjoy it.


I personally am the latter. I cannot enjoy the darting experience if I'm being thumped around. I want to be the thumper so to speak.
There's nothing wrong with being either one its a matter of choice and or personality. And that choice may change as time goes on from one to the other IMO.

30 years ago I was the second one - I hated losing and rarely did.

Nowadays I'm only around 70% of the player I was - as long as I play ok then I don't have a problem losing (although winning is far better). If I play garbage though I get severely peed off.

mc1958 wrote:

30 years ago I was the second one - I hated losing and rarely did.

Nowadays I'm only around 70% of the player I was - as long as I play ok then I don't have a problem losing (although winning is far better). If I play garbage though I get severely peed off.

I would personally say your a shooter at heart! A Shooter practices much more than the recreational player and takes his game seriously enough to practice to improve. The connotation of being classified as a Shooter gets misconstrued sometimes as being bad. Its not IMO - IMO all pro's are in the shooter category.

Now this is me! I hate losing, I take it as a personal affront ! And will practice much more after a defeat than normal. Thats my psychological makeup! If defeated I shake the other persons hand and in my mind am thinking to myself " Larry you can do better than this"

on a crappy scale of one to three I`m a 2 and a half

SilverSaber wrote:

mc1958 wrote:

30 years ago I was the second one - I hated losing and rarely did.

Nowadays I'm only around 70% of the player I was - as long as I play ok then I don't have a problem losing (although winning is far better). If I play garbage though I get severely peed off.

I would personally say your a shooter at heart! A Shooter practices much more than the recreational player and takes his game seriously enough to practice to improve. The connotation of being classified as a Shooter gets misconstrued sometimes as being bad. Its not IMO - IMO all pro's are in the shooter category.

This is me to a tee except for the 70% part. I hate to lose but I accept defeat when beaten by better darts. Hate losing when I have tossed absolute garbage.

I just like the challenge.

Quote :

Are you a recreational player who enjoys the social aspect and winning or losing doesn't come into play really. Winning is not necessary for your enjoyment of the game?

Or the Shooter whose enjoyment depends on winning?

Are these two opposites the only option? Do we have to be just one or just the other? Myself I lean towards the shooter who wants to win, but that doesn't stop me from very much enjoying the social aspect of the game.

Mostly I just love darts!

davidsproull wrote:

Quote :

Are you a recreational player who enjoys the social aspect and winning or losing doesn't come into play really. Winning is not necessary for your enjoyment of the game?

Or the Shooter whose enjoyment depends on winning?

Are these two opposites the only option? Do we have to be just one or just the other? Myself I lean towards the shooter who wants to win, but that doesn't stop me from very much enjoying the social aspect of the game.

Mostly I just love darts!

Good question ! IMO your the first one because losing doesn't hinder your enjoyment of the social aspects of the game. Whereas I for example would not. I envy those who can do that btw.

I'd say I'm a bit different then most.

Winning isn't my number one goal. I know that every time I step to the oche, chances

are I'm going to shoot really well. I've put in my practice, have a few big wins under

my belt, etc... If you're going to beat me, ya just gonna have to shoot good. So I really

don't even give much thought to winning or losing. I simply just want to put on a show.

Big finishes, pressure shots, 9 marks, 180's, I love hitting those when needed.

I could honestly go out and hit 2 marks all night long, wouldn't bother me in the least

bit. Chances are, that really won't happen. But I've gone through some really bad

hardships in the past few years. Really bad. There is nothing in the world that could

bother me while I'm playing darts. Even if I'm getting pounded and losing, I'm still

out playing darts. Which is WAY more fun then some of the things I've gone through

recently. Darts is fun for me. A way to escape other things. Being able to play well

makes it all the more enjoyable.

I hate losing at EVERYTHING!! If I get beat I want to play again straight away in order to rectify the balance. If I'm constantly losing to the same person, I'll carry on playing them so that I can get better and beat them eventually. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a bad loser, I always, but always take defeat graciously and if someone's truly outplayed me they get told so, but it doesn't stop my hunger to get straight back on the horse, so to speak.

I never take it easy and try to play the best that I can every single time. The number of people that I've played (not just at darts, but everything I try) that have been better or a similar standard to me that I have simply progressed past is a lot!! It takes time and it takes dedication, but I'm a firm believer in the saying, "If you're going to do something, then do it right".

I still get plenty of enjoyment out of the learning, the practice and the playing.

Well I cant say that I enjoy losing, but I think my category choice is dictated by my ability, but if I was playing someone who was the same level as me I would want to win, but wont beat my self up about it if I dont. But I enjoy lots of other things about darts, so ultimately I probably fit into the first category.

I am definately a shooter.. I put in a lot of time on the practice board to be able to play as well as I do. If lost all the time I wouldn't see the purpose of playing but then again thats why I put in my time. Now there are 2 different me's when playing there's the league night me which is still competitive and wants to win but I am ok losing as long as I lose to better darts I dont like to play like crap!! To me league nights is just more practice just against other people. Then there's the other me that goes to tournaments and wants to win every single game I play and I play with a killer instinct!! There are no friends at comps when I step up to the oche. Don't get me wrong I'm not a jerk to play against, I'm not mean in fact I'm very congratulatory to someone who throws good darts it's the assholes who do anything to try and distract you that get to me then I'm a jerk.

Hat

Well i'm only starting my second league season so it's a hard one for me to call. I love the social side of it and all the banter that comes alonside playing. But at the same I hate being beat and if i throw crap and am beat it will annoy me after and play on my mind for the rest of the nite or until im drunk enough to forget it The reason I practice is to better my game and be the best I can

Quote :

IMO your the first one because losing doesn't hinder your enjoyment of the social aspects of the game. Whereas I for example would not. I envy those who can do that btw.

Good point, although I wonder if it depends at which end you look at things from, as I also spend about six hours of solitary practice for every hour of playing (give or take).

In the end though it is more about the darts (and getting better) than it is about winning/losing per se.

losing is not an option and if i lose i go back to the practise board and improve

I think im a mixture of the two tbh, I love the game and everything about it. But at the same time i love winning and do get a bit miffed if i lose.

chrisbamb wrote:

I hate losing at EVERYTHING!! If I get beat I want to play again straight away in order to rectify the balance. If I'm constantly losing to the same person, I'll carry on playing them so that I can get better and beat them eventually. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a bad loser, I always, but always take defeat graciously and if someone's truly outplayed me they get told so, but it doesn't stop my hunger to get straight back on the horse, so to speak.

I never take it easy and try to play the best that I can every single time. The number of people that I've played (not just at darts, but everything I try) that have been better or a similar standard to me that I have simply progressed past is a lot!! It takes time and it takes dedication, but I'm a firm believer in the saying, "If you're going to do something, then do it right".

I still get plenty of enjoyment out of the learning, the practice and the playing.

Shooter

lion180 wrote:

losing is not an option and if i lose i go back to the practise board and improve

Shooter

Thefox180 wrote:

I think im a mixture of the two tbh, I love the game and everything about it. But at the same time i love winning and do get a bit miffed if i lose.

Shooter bub.

Lots of Shooters on this forum.

I used to practice a lot but not any more - and to be honest it shows. I play county but I am not as good as I once was. I used to take a pride in always being in the top 100 in the UK - I even got as high as 17th one year - but now I never even check. I never bothered about losing - ever. All I ever used to worry about was not making myself look foolish. This attitude allowed me to play well against some really good players and I have takn my fair share of 'scalps' in the past....

I have to admit I don't like to lose, but generally when I do lose it's because the player I have played is better than me. I play league 3 nights a week and I have to be honest I just enjoy being out amongst friends.

However, I have over the last couple of months made a promise to myself that I will do all I can to improve my game, I have signed up to the county/superleague set up, have been putting in the practise regularly and I feel all the better for it.

So I guess you could say I'm a shooter

There were occasions where I would be in a bar and someone would ask to play for a beer. I would say " sure I will buy you a beer". I knew I was going to lose, just wanted to play for something different to do.
Now I am learning all I can and practicing 1-3 hrs a day. I want my beers back.

Shrek, if that isn't motivation, I don't know what is!!

Nucky wrote:

Shrek, if that isn't motivation, I don't know what is!!

I am motivated and thirsty.

I'll drink to dat!!!!

So Shrek, do you miss Payton?

Nucky wrote:

So Shrek, do you miss Payton?

Yes, but his career is coming to an end real soon anyway. Hopefully this Luck fellow can make things happen.