Disappointing Evening's Practice

I played “best of eleven legs, 501” against DartPro with the AI opponent averaging 60.12 per throw including finishes. I lost 6-1 and only averaged 55.2. The practice session was kept to a strict 60 minute limit, which is the type of restriction I'll have when the season starts.

Highlights : A sequence of ton / ton / ton forty in one of the legs, a 180 for the third time in four days (pictured), and a warm up routine which is taking shape and looking quite effective – despite the result saying otherwise. I’ll tinker with the routine a little further and then post it on here.

Lowlights : Poor finishing, several bounce outs at important stages (at least 177 points and a treble to leave a finish were on the floor), some awful shots when I became rattled and angry, and being too resigned to losing when I was far behind in some of the legs.

I usually just play 501 games where the objective is to finish in as few darts as possible, but these games against an AI opponent are far more challenging. They simulate real match tension quite well, and I’m going to start playing far more of this type of game in the final few weeks before the season starts. I’m considering playing “best of eleven” against the AI opponent, and then “warming down” with a handful of the ordinary 501 games.