If you broadcast though then we can help you or give advice etc, Always better to share with people that want you back on your game and can try aid when we can.

Have you tried Priestley darts? Maybe not the best in terms of grip but the wee bulb at the front feels great, maybe a set of customs would do the trick buddy

I strongly advise gold fittons.... hahaha

Yeah, tried Priestleys and Klaasens, but again, the bulb seems to become redundant after a few legs as I cant really feel it.

I am thinking a break although it the league individuals next Wednesday and I have been drawn at home. I considered not going as I dont want to make a fool of myself but maybe the best thing is to just go and get it out of my system.

I can point to time in July last year where I strained me throwing arm at work, had a couple of weeks off and in that time my grip changed, ever since then I feel I have gone backwards.

The frustration stems, and it happens to us all, from consistency, I have had times where I cant miss the doubles, high scoring and feel great and then the lows where i cant hit a thing.

Over the last month or two those good days have slowly dissapeared and its affected my confidence to the extent I am struggling to hit big 20 on some days.


I agree with the point, I am over thinking things, trying to play well all the time instead of just accepting you play well in bursts.
All the tinkering to try and get better has in fact chipped away at my confidence, I found negatives in my game that I used to just dismiss and ignore, things that once in the zone went away, now due to me trying to fix them I have magnified the little problems into a huge problem.


I normally say, stand at the oche and just throw for 15-20mins, dont aim or think about your grip or stance, just throw and your brain will kick in and find your best (natural) grip and stance, once this happens then start to aim and your natural ability will slowly take over - maybe I should listen to my own advice as well as that of others

Give it a few days mate and im sure it will come back.

Same sort of things happened to me recently as I staved my knuckles and my wrist and i feel my whole throw has changed, got rid of all my darts and got new ones that i still cant throw.

A break is needed for me as well

Once you let it get in your head it wouldn't matter what darts or set up you use it just wouldn't feel right. Accept it's a bad spell as we all have them and go back to just throwing & enjoying the darts. It appears you are over thinking the whole situation here and there is no need. The bottom line is it's a game you enjoy playing so stop being so hard on yourself. Think of it like this is darts your only form of income if no then you don't have to worry if you lose a few. You can try new things at your leisure, I do and I use my matches to test new set ups and all sorts. I lose a few but the worst is it costs me a half pint for my trouble. I will never be world champion so I need not put myself under the same pressure he does, makes sense really eh. Either have a break or just try new things but most of all enjoy the choice you make as regrets just spoil good times. I tried the Dellers & still have them here as they didn't suit me at all but I would love some phase 5's in 23g but you can't get them, so may look at Lowe's. I have been given a few sets by Darts Performance Centre to use so will go with them for a little while until I design my customs.
As I write this my head is saying I don't know about the break route as you will still come back to the same dilemma in a month or so so be pro active and play through it, a day or 2 away wouldn't hurt but no longer. Good luck with it buddy.

Thanks Kev, as always I appreciate your words of wisdom.

And you make a good point, darts for me is about enjoyment not income so why should I bother if I lose a few - spot on.

I am not a bad loser, in fact I take it well (must be all the practice I get ) so maybe I am putting too much pressure on myself to win.
Its my first season back playing darts for along long time as I have played pool for almost 20 years with only the odd season of darts in between and so its a new team.

I beat them all in practice but in my matches I just cant seem to do it, like I say, I think I am trying too hard.

Wednesday is league individuals and so I am playing for myself, no team mates to try and win over so hopefully something will click, I will notice myself doing something a bit different.

I have never been one for the breathing techniques but reading up it seems they do help (not just in darts) to calm the nerves, focus and concentration - 3 things I feel I am sadly lacking on the big nights - so a bit of chi before my match(es) on Wednesday may be in order


Thanks for all the advice guys, appreciate your time

Old faithful.......

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Better the devil you know maybe......

Went back with the Lewis' earlier on a bagged another 180.

Got to stick at it, I know its all in me head and I know I can play well, just a case of improving consistency.

Thanks again for all the advice, appreciate it

nice ! well done mate. hey even lewis himself can't throw those darts well all the time lol

Hahah cheers Jamie, and yeah you are spot on, I seen him using his old Unicorns a couple of times recently so I am going to keep them for a bit as they do feel different and they seem to react differently to your hands, kind of feel stickier than the silica's, may be the silica coating.

Maybe the way to go, take the unicorns as me spare set Wednesday and see how i get on.


Thanks mate

I went thu a bad patch for id say not far off a year and my thow changed a lot went from hitting regular 180 to being like a beginer but im back on the up new thow and feeling good not quite there but it must be improveing as ive hit a few 180 s the last week and 2 near 170 s just need to master it and make sure im holding the dart the same everytime cos l tend to rush gripping me darts sometimes, l class mine as matureing my game as ive only played a few years and think it always takes time, but anyway good luck and like biggun said just enjoy it no pressure

Thanks Jeff, hopefully its just another blip.

I was the same, used to be much better but it seems to coincide with joining the team again that my form has dropped like a brick.

I know that since I got injured last year I have not felt 100% I was still throwing decent darts, however by joining the team I feel I have heaped pressure on myself to impress, and I need to sort it out ASAP.

The will to win can sometimes override the enjoyment, I think I need to find the enjoyment again and let the win's come naturally.