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A personal account of dartitis and my recovery from it.
I decided to add this page to the site after playing a recent match in our local league against a player who has been suffering with dartitis for the last few years. It was the second time we had played each other in two weeks and should have been a good game like the first one was. Sadly, his dartitis kicked in.I personally have returned to darts after an absence of 16 yrs. Although not the player i once was in 94 when I played my best darts, I'm a long way from the player who had dartitis in 93 and couldnt let go of a dart. The following is my personal account of how I believe I got dartitis and also how I overcame it. I'm not saying this is a cast iron guaranteed cure for dartitis, but it may just be a way forward for anyone who is in its grip.
I started out playing darts in 1992 for a team called the Heavygate inn over in Sheffield. I was 24 years old and had a confidence level that far surpassed my skill. Consequently I was playing and losing on a fairly frequent basis. I had recently been laid off from work and so had ample time to practice. At the time I was putting a good four hours practice in a day and was progressing quite well. Unfortunately I was a touch impatient and felt I was not progressing quickly enough. Looking back, if I had just kept on doing what I was doing everything would have worked out fine.
This was the time when I started tweaking and changing things in an effort to improve my game. My normal fluent throwing style was getting slower and more measured. Within two weeks I had gone from a very fluent and relaxed throwing style into a very slow and robotic technique. The results were coming too. Lateral drift which I had always been prone to had evaporated. I was hitting a ton or better virtually every time I threw. It lasted for roughly a week. The first round of the singles were drawn and I was up against a man who should have been an easy draw. Heavy scoring saw me get to the double against an opponent who was more than 300 points back. It was whilst throwing at double 16 that the first vestiges of dartitis were setting in. Within three days I could not let go of the darts at all.
I began analysing what what was going wrong and what was causing me to lock up before releasing the darts. I soon came to the conclusion that the pause at the back of my arm swing was where the lock was setting in. I wondered if eliminating the pause and going back to a fluid one movement technique would allow me to get back to being able to throw the darts. I didnt really want to change techniques again as I had proved to myself that throwing this way was getting me heavy scores. However, scoring heavily can only occur if you can let go of the darts. The way I was currently performing was of no use to anyone. It was time for a reality check. I decided that starting again from scratch and building on a fluid technique was better than standing before a dartboard that I couldnt bring myself to throw at.
I changed techniques and started throwing with one fluid seamless action.There was no pause at all on the backswing for a lock to set in. The early stages were both grim and promising. The darts were going everywhere, but, THEY WERE GOING.
Within a few weeks I was grouping pretty well around the twenty area. Within a year I was playing on a team again and I was getting picked and I was winning my matches.
Within a few months of this happening I met the woman who would become my wife. We settled in together and had four children. Darts was forgotten about for 16 years. I started playing again 18 months ago in the Gawber league in Barnsley. This season has seen me join the Rotherham Friday night 701 league. To this day I can still play darts without worrying about dartitis. I put it down entirely to changing my throwing technique into one that doesnt have a pause in it that gives your mind time for doubts to set in. Some people might think that this kind of throwing is ok for some but probably not good if your serious about your darts. My answer to that is quite simple. It's not done 2 x BDO world champion Ted Hankey any harm has it?
Try it. it could just be the answer for you. Worst case scenario is nothing changes and your still the player who cant let go of his darts. What have you got to lose?
Lee
Rotherham Dart Shop
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