Tuesday, November 15, 2005

The New Grip

This has to be the most difficult picture I’ve ever taken; addressing an imaginary board then "freezing" the right hand and photographing it with my left hand.

As mentioned, I’m stuck with this new grip now, and after a week of using it I can’t even remember how I used to hold the dart. The results continue to impress and infuriate in equal measure; I’ve had another ton eighty with it but I’ve also placed a high percentage of my first darts in the Big 5 and needed to cover on the 19's.

In a game of confidence and nerve like darts this is not a change I wanted to make mid season, but if you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you always get what you always got. That’s easy for me to say :o)

The point may look a bit painful, but it only rests on the finger, and there is no pressure on it. It acts as an anchor for the other fingers to have a consistent position and provides a final adjustment of the dart's attitude before throwing. Well, that's the theory.

3 comments:

Tommo said...

I've noticed the finger touching the point seems to lift just before the dart is thrown, but it helps greatly in getting the other two fingers and the thumb in a consistent position. They're definately hiiting the board harder and truer, but accuracy needs working on.

I suppose I drifted to this way when honing the original grip - I found that the further up the barrel I gripped the better result, and I suppose this is just an exageration of that.

Further mixed results today, but just enough highlights to make me want to stay with it.

Zeeple said...

You stated: "I found that the further up the barrel I gripped the better result" and I couldn't agree more. This is why I like tapered darts so much. Especially heavily tapered darts. The center of gravity is SO far forward that you end up gripping the barrel at the very front. Makes for more of a "pull" throw as opposed to a "push" throw. I never go as far forward as you are doing though. I have one finger barely touching the point but just barely.

Tommo said...

My DartPro stats for this month are just average, but I supose we'll see if the stats imporove over the next few months using this grip. I hit two consecutive 140's on the practice board last night, immediately followed by several "decent" throws, so I know this can work. I'll keep working on it.