Darts
practice
Practice falls into four families: technique, the game played for its own sake, doubles, and reading the figures back afterwards. Half an hour covers all four: five minutes warming up slowly at the treble 20, ten minutes of around the clock over its twenty-one targets, ten minutes of solo 501 with the average read back at the end, five minutes on doubles. D20 and D16 come first, thirty-three routes on the chart finishing on each of them.
Four kinds of practice
Technique
- •Grouping: throw at the same bed every time
- •Control: three doubles in a row
- •Rhythm: three darts without slowing down
- •Accuracy: nine darts at the treble 20
Playing practice
- •Solo games of 501
- •Games with a target average to hold
- •Finishing drills from a set score
- •Playing under pressure, on purpose
Doubles
- •The part of 501 that decides it
- •D20 and D16 first: they finish thirty-three routes each
- •Around the clock on the doubles
- •Alternating doubles: 20, 5, 10…
Reading the game back
- •Look at your figures after every game
- •Three-dart average
- •The beds you keep missing
- •How many darts it took you to finish
A thirty-minute routine
Warm-up
Throw slowly at the treble 20, without rushing
Technique
Around the clock: 1 to 20, then the bull — twenty-one targets, count the darts it takes you
A solo 501
Play a full leg. Look at your average and at what went wrong.
Doubles
D20, D16 and D8 — the three that finish most legs
Six ways to get better faster
Throw often
Twenty minutes most days beats three hours once a month. Consistency is everything.
Read your figures
DartSync gives you your average. If it is not moving, something is wrong.
Work the doubles
A missed double costs the whole visit. Legs are decided at the finish.
Aim at the treble 20
It is the highest-value bed on the board. Own the 20 and the rest follows.
Play better players
Competition speeds everything up. Find people slightly better than you.
Keep your head
Darts is mostly mental. Handle the pressure and keep your rhythm.
Frequently asked questions about practice
How long should you practise a day?▼
Twenty to thirty minutes daily beats three hours once a week. A repeatable throw is built by spaced repetition, not by volume in one sitting.
Which drill should a beginner start with?▼
Around the clock, throwing at each number from 1 to 20 in turn. It teaches you to aim at a bed rather than at the board. Other routines are set out in the best drills.
Scoring or doubles?▼
Both, but separately. One session of pure scoring at the treble 20, then one of doubles: mixing them in the same drill makes it impossible to tell which one improved.
How do you measure progress?▼
By your three-dart average rather than by who won. DartSync gives you the average for each game; note it down after each session — the app does not yet carry it from one game to the next. Everything it does record is on the statistics page.
More questions? See the full FAQ
Start practising now
Set a game up, play against yourself, and read the figures back afterwards.