I try and help New Players after I beat them up lol. Some players don't want advice so am very careful in this area. How about you?

can't help anybody really, if they don't wanna practice their is no helping. Everyone has their own stance, throw, setup etc... You can explain the basics but beyond that I am a firm believer that hours on hours of practice is the only thing that will improve ones game

I find many new players and younger lads are very appreciative of any advice, I still listen to the old boys as I am nowhere near some of their standards.

The young lads seem to prefer to talk darts and equipment rather than technique and tips though, I am equally happy talking either, aside from actually playing league darts again I absolutely love talking darts with young and old alike.


In direct response to your question though, I find the new players will listen and be more responsive if you give a little bit of advice here and there rather than pound their heads with huge amounts, and they will also take more notice of the advice if they are fresh from a good hammering by you on the board.

When I was starting out I went to luck of the draws in my area. Unfortunately for me there were a handful of nationally ranked players that went there every Thursday, Saturday, & Sunday. One was even in the top 10 ADO. They NEVER showed any mercy and pounded on me relentless. Week after week. The only way to beat these guys was get on the practice board and put HOURS in. Eventually I started winning here and there. I had to climb my way up the ladder. Getting knocked down a few rungs along the way.

I do the same thing now at the Bosnian bar I go to. I pound the dear life out of those guys. I'm awful. I take it personal if it's a close game and point them even more (cricket). One of the guys, his name is Suad, is the best Bosnian player around. I would beat him so bad all night he used to get so frustrated. But I see that he had a lot of potential. He used to be a professional soccer player for Bosnia and played in front of 70-80,000 people. A true star. So he has talent. After weeks of getting beat he started to take some games off me. We played all summer. Now we have some decent games together. He learned the hard way but it payed off. He's now winning luck of the draws and is one of the best in the local soft tip league.

I would NEVER say anything to help during an actual game though. If he shoots at the wrong thing, so be it. But after the game was over I'd ask him why he made that shot. Maybe tell him he should of done something different. Anyway, he learned how to point and point heavily. A great player now.

Some new players accept advice and others just shrug their shoulders. Had a mate who had 41 left and 2 darts in hand, simples right! he asked me what to shoot at " I said I would probably shoot 9 leaving me 32 or maybe 1 since my fav is tops. He shot at 3 then hit the big 19 He then turned to me and said " Sorry I should have listened" ( he lossed btw )
Why did he ask?

I show them no mercy and frequently beat them heavily. They'll still take some legs as sometimes you do throw a shocking leg, but I do them no favours.

2 guys I play against regularly ARE getting a lot better though and are getting closer to me and that shows they're learning.

More times than not all 3 of us play together and we have a good bit of banter. We do talk about throws etc and I try to pass on what I learned as I started out.

One of the guys has lots of potential but his main fault is that he listened to too many players when he first came to Plymouth and his game has altered dramatically from when he first came down to the extent that I felt that his game went backwards for about a year. The other guy just changes his darts to the latest fad every other week.

I was trying to explain to him that he'll never get any consistency if he keeps swapping weights and style of darts as he's constantly having to re-adjust to the new darts. He listened and said, "Yes, I suppose you're right, it doesn't help me, does it".

Then that night went and swapped the darts he was playing with at the time with someone else for a different weight and style because he liked the look of them!!

Can't Win sometimes. ;)

Yeah I beat them all up, I just like fighting, oh.. wait... I think I misunderstood the title!

Chris the guy changing darts awwww was his name Darren by chance

i get asked for help alot and always spend the time to help them with their game. most of the time is just bad technique or a refusal to change. i play weekly high/low blind draws and always help my partner to improve their game. of course there are those who refuse to take the help, at which point i don't offer it unless they ask again.

theres no point ignoring people, what fun is it to beat someone over and over again with no competition? plus the more you help others the more you notice minor error when youre throwing yourself

ive also participated in "learn from the masters" nights to help others. the more you get people to enjoy it the longer they play instead of getting frustrated and quitting

If only there was more people like you about nnj.... and +1 from me

nnj wrote:

ive also participated in "learn from the masters" nights to help others. the more you get people to enjoy it the longer they play instead of getting frustrated and quitting

Good man- thanks for the post.