Cricketers 8 - 2 Chelmsford

Willie was the man of the match, winning in his Doubles and Singles games to get us the two points to avoid a second white wash against The Cricketers.

I played an average game in the Team Game, but my scoring totally fell away in my Doubles game with John S. In my Singles game I didn't seem to improve, but it hardly mattered as my opponent finished in 15 darts, averaging over 100 with every throw including the finish. Sincere congratulations to him on his performance.

Cricketers Feedback

The Board : A Nodor Supabull. Like ours, it is nothing special.

The Oche : A flat brass strip marks the line. There is a raised area to the right for the pool table, and the marker leans over from here to mark the board. To the left there is a large projector screen and three round tables for the Home team. Quite a nice throwwith nothing to distract.

Lighting : Two halogen bulbs situated quite a long way from the board. Because the ambient lighting is so dim this works quite well.

Food : A huge spread including chicken legs, sarnies, pickles, pizza, pie, the lot basically, and it filled the entire covered pool table. Nice stuff.

Drink : The Guinness(£2.20) was good, but not allowed to settle halfway through pouring, so I switched to the John Smiths (£2). My only wise tactcal switch of the evening :o)

Comments : The Cricketers are a very popular team with our players, and I've enjoyed these two games despite my total lack of success on the board against them. They weren't quite as consitent as in the Home leg, but still managed to beat us at a canter.

League Tables, October 2005

Darts
1) Chopwell Central - 31
2) Cricketers - 28
2) Smelters - 28
4) Commercial - 21
4) Shotley Club - 21
6) Coach & Horses - 20
7) Steel Club - 18
8) Castleside Inn - 17
8) Leadgate Cricket - 17
10) Black Diamond - 16
10) Chelmsford - 16
12) Stanley Masons (A) - 13
13) Jolly Drovers - 12
14) Derwentside - 11
14) Stanley Masons (B) -11



Dominoes
1) Shotley Club - 13
1) Derwentside - 13
3) Castleside Inn - 12
3) Chopwell Central - 12
5) Commercial - 11
6) Stanley Masons (B) - 10
7) Black Diamond - 9
7) Coach & Horses - 9
7) Jolly Drovers - 9
7) Smelters - 9
7) Stanley Masons (A) - 9
12) Chelmsford - 7
12) Cricketers - 7
14) Steel Club - 6
15) Leadgate Cricket - 4

Monthly Draw : £30 Leadgate C.C., £20 Chelmsford
Highest Finish : 140 P. Renwick (Steel Club)
Next Meeting : 26/10/05, The Castleside Inn

Chelmsford 0 - 10 Cricketers

Yet another whitewash to report. It’s warts and all, this blog is.

Real disappointment for me in my Singles game ; I played well and got down to a 115 finish before my opponent was ready to finish. I hit T20, S15, but my shot for D20 got stuck in the D20 staple and was literally the 2mm width of the wire away from a 115 finish. That’s the margin between winning and losing against a team like this. Actually the margin was a bit wider in this particular game, as I still couldn’t hit my double with 6 more darts and I am so annoyed with myself.

Oddly, I’m not too discouraged by tonight. Most of the team played better than we normally do, but just like in the Chopwell whitewash we simply found ourselves up against a team who are far better than us. This will only serve to get me on the practice board next week for the return leg. I think I’ll concentrate on D20’s ;o)

Cricketers Preparation

I haven’t had the time to practice very much this week; I’ve had just one long session on DartPro (awful finishing all night, the monthly average is now low) and some more games of 301 Double Start Double finish in The Chelmsford on Sunday night.

During the week I’ve concentrated mostly on short blasts of warm up darts where the objective is to be comfortable an accurate after the same amount of throws that we normally get in League games. This has gone well, and the picture shows a target shot for T15 after only a handful warm up darts.

Chelmsford are currently 10th in the League, and I’ll post the full info including the doms shortly. The top finish is 140 from a Steel Club player.

The Cricketers start as favourites for tonight’s match, but I’m really looking forward to the challenge if selected to play, and a report will appear here after the game.

Commercial 8 - 2 Chelmsford

Pictured : The Commercial after their win.
Commercial beat us fairly comprehensively tonight. I settled in really quickly in the opening Team game, scoring 100 with my first throw, followed by 60 and then another ton. I then missed my double, but so did the entire team as we let this point slip away.

In my Doubles game I kept the momentum going, scoring a 140 and a 180 (my second of the season). My other shots were decent, but my finishing was poor, and myself and Lena lost this one too.

In my Singles against Alan I had to really scrape out a win with my scoring deserting me. No good scores at all in this game, and I had to rely on Alan messing up his finish. I messed up mine too, twice hitting T16 when I wanted S16 to leave me a double. Luckily, I regained (or actually "found") my composure to finish on 48 in 3 darts (S8, then D20).

The Lowlight was watching my scores tail away in the Singles game, but the highlights were my second 180 of the season, and a valuable Singles win in a game I had to chase.

Commercial Feedback

The Board : Generic with no decals, rounded wires, and loads of bounce outs! It was in good condition though.

Lighting : Excellent ; an array of 4 halogen bulbs giving strong but smooth lighting on the board.

Oche : The wall to the right of the thrower gives a nice enclosed feeling, with strong lighting on the throwers’ hand. It’s a little claustrophobic for the marker though, as he has to stand really near to the darts hitting the board. Only Joe from their team actually seemed to enjoy standing in the firing line! A nice throw which I’d now class as a lucky throw from me following on from last season.

Beer : A good pint of John Smiths for £2. I didn’t mix ‘em for once :o)

Food : Faultless. Andy laid on chicken and dumplings in a spicy broth, with a pasta dish too.

Atmosphere : This is one of the teams I remember vividly from my first season last year - a great bunch of lads.

Comments : Despite the result this is what it is all about. I had a great time playing this team in both legs. They were very supportive and encouraging of all players.

Chelmsford 4 - 6 Commercial

Pictured : Lyndon and Catherine
A bad overall result, but for only the second time in recollection I really was "in the zone" (tm) tonight, and I won my Doubles game with Willie, and my singles game against Sammy.

I was very focused tonight to a high degree, and in all three games I can’t remember anything but solid scoring and good finishing. Loads of 60’s, 59’s, 58’s, and the odd ton too. Not spectacular, but very solid, and that’s almost more satisfying than hitting big shots but the odd poor shot to spoil it.

My lowlight was hitting a D7 instead of the intended S7 when finishing in the Team game (a game we went on to lose), but the highlights were nice tight finishing in the Doubles game (19 = S3, D8 in two darts) and a reasonable finish on D10 in the Singles game. I’m more than satisfied with my performance tonight.

301, Double Start, Double Finish

Heath started a new trend last night when he played me at 301 Double Start, Double Finish. He used to play darts more often, and fancied putting some pressure on me with a Double Start game. It worked well, but I still managed to beat him 2-0 to the disappointment of those watching (he’s a very popular competitor in there, mostly on the Pool table these days).

Alan P then played me at the same format and beat me 2-1. One of his legs contained a 180, so there weren’t many points remaining for him to score in a game of 301 after a shot like that. In the following game I had two in the T20 bed, with the 3rd dart wedged between them but not actually touching the board! A 180 reply from me would have been nice, but I had to settle for the 120 points instead.

Finally, I beat Willie 2-1 in the same match format to conclude a short but enjoyable night’s practice in The Chelmsford. The Double Start aspect on such short games really cranks up the pressure, and I’ll be proposing we continue with this format, as it will make League games seem "easier" on Match nights. We’ll see what the others think.

Harry and Jan Return To Germany

Pictured : Harry
Harry and Jan went back to Hamburg at the weekend. They were great company during their three week stay, and were often in The Chelmsford playing darts and supporting us on Match nights.

Hopefully they'll be back next year, and best wishes to them in the meantime.

Analysis, September 2005

DartPro : September wasn’t a bad month. It started very poorly, but from the 15th onwards I had switched from Short to Medium stems, and this seems to have helped the overall average settle at being my third best on record with a three dart average of over 53 including the finishes .

The score card (above) hasn’t improved much from last month ; my 3 dart average remains at 52 (52.01), scores of less than 60 remain at 68%), scores of 100 and over are now 6.60% (slightly up from 6.54%), and my average finish is now 24.98 (slightly up from 24.90).

League Matches : I’ve made a score card on Lotus 1-2-3 to track my progress in League games throughout the season. My targets before the start of the season were for the team to finish higher than 9th (last season’s placing), for me to win more than half of my Singles games, and for me to score more than one 180 throughout the season.

Friendly : Chelmsford 8 – 6 Moorcock (estimate!)

Another great night with our friends from The Moorcock. Lyndon (landlord) was so pleased with the atmosphere we created on this usually quiet Thursday night that he handed out free slo gin to both teams. A real success, and hopefully more of these nights to come.

Myself and Lena were consigned to The Moorcock’s team to even the numbers up in a 9 a side game consisting of a Team game (1001), 3 Trebles games (701), and 9 Singles games (301). I was drawn against Willie in the Singles game and beat him with a nice finish on double 8, a double which has been causing me problems in the last few weeks for some reason. I won on double 8 on Tuesday night too, so maybe I’ve overcome this problem.

A good spread of food was laid on by Lyndon and it was a really enjoyable evening. I’d love another trip up to the moors to play against The Moorcock, so fingers crossed for a return game before too long.

Practice Music, October 2005

Go West were OK, but a few of the tracks such as "Call Me" had introductions which were a total distraction. Not bad though, and they certainly didn’t stink in the way Kullrad supposed they would.

For October I’ll be practising to "On Every Street" by Dire Straits. I’ve already had a few practice sessions with it, and I sense greatness with this one.

Chelmsford 8 - 2 Black Diamond

Pictured : John S
Already this season there've been a couple of real "lows" on here, but at last a great night’s work to report ; I won all three games I was involved with (Team / Doubles / Singles), and pleasingly I got my first 180 of the new season in my Doubles game with Alan P. What am I talking about "pleasingly"? This was a "Yyyeeesss!"

My scoring in all three games probably only averaged in the mid 50’s, but the shots on the critical path were good, and I finished well in my Doubles and Singles game.

My highlights were covering successfully on the 18’s, finishing well, that all important 180 (thanks to landlord Lyndon for the free pint!) , and not making any silly shots. No lowlights for once!

Moorcock Return

Lena has arranged a return friendly game against The Moorcock (see previous postings for details of the original pre season game). Our guests will arrive at The Chelmsford at 20:00 hrs on Thursday 29/09/2005. A full write-up and pictures will appear here. I'm looking forward to this one.

Black Diamond Preparation (Cont. / Return Leg)

I’m not sure whether I’m playing in tonight’s game, and could well be "rested for the important friendly on Thursday" :o)

Practice opportunities have been a little restricted this week, and I’ve probably only had about 4 hours of practice all week. The highlight was a leg of DartPro 501 in which I started with 2 consecutive 140’s and averaged over 100 per throw, but as usual there were plenty of low scoring legs to "normalise" the overall average.

September is still looking good after a very poor start, and will be either my 2nd or 3rd best month on DartPro 501 to date.

Through The Keyhole

I sometimes order accessories on behalf of other people in The Chelmsford. I don’t know what’s going to arrive on my doorstep from Tommys Darts until I open the package. They’re just serial numbers to me, so lets take a look at the latest consignment and ask ourselves "Who would buy flights like this?"

OK, there are some personalised flights inscribed with "Sander Dikkopp" so maybe there’s a German connection here? There’s also a penguin using an ice hole in a very imaginative way and a wolf giving us "the finger". The "God, help me score tonight" and "69" flights are worrying. Also the "Devil may give a care, but I can’t give a sh*t" flights point towards people with a scant regard for their opponents feelings.

The England and GB flights are a bit of a red herring, and the cryptic clue for the owners of these would be "Would you like fries with them?", and the answer is buried within this month's postings :o)

Black Diamond Feedback

The Board : A good inch low by my reckoning. There wasn’t a noticeable slant on the floor, so I trust my instinct on this. It was easy to adjust to, and this is not an excuse. The actual board was in fair condition and seemed to be a round wired Nodor in average condition.
Lighting : Good strong lighting on the board. Near perfect.

Oche : A strip of metal on the carpet. The left side of the board is blocked off with a wall, so only the scorer and the chalk board are in the peripheral vision on the right. A good throw.

Beer : Adequate, and average priced. The Guinness was probably the safest bet, but as usual I tried a few :o)

Food : A nice spread of hot and cold food. Plenty of it, too.

Atmosphere : The darts area is a large square room with nothing to distract.

Comments : A very sporting team with a great attitude.

Black Diamond 5 - 5 Chelmsford

And absolutely no thanks to me either ; I lost my Team, Doubles, and Singles games to leave me totally flat. It’s not as though I played particularly badly, but I just seemed to play to a very ordinary standard in which my average throw in the three games was probably in the high forties.

No nerves, but some missed doubles, and I could well be dropped for the return leg next Tuesday. Ah well - I’ll just have to concentrate on the practice next week, and no feeling sorry for myself.

The best leg of the match was probably Jean Watson’s, in which she consistently hit high scores and finished well. John S got another Singles win too.

There’ll be a full report on the return leg, but I may be marking the board or playing dominoes at this rate. I’ve got to take at least some positives from this week, and I’d cite the new grip I’m using, which managed to put the first dart just above the T20 wire on many of the throws. OK, the 2nd and 3rd darts could do better :o) No, I’m pretty sure this is the way to go, and I’ll bash the practice board in the meantime.

Black Diamond Preparation (cont.)

I played a handful of DartPro 501 games against an AI opponent averaging just over 50 per throw including the finishes. I lost 2-3 due to some poor finishing, but I purposely chose 50 as opposed to 60 or 70 to ensure I got plenty of finishing practice.

I then played six solo games of 501. By this time I was warmed up and the standard was better. One sequence of scores was 180, 100, 138 to leave D4. What I would give for one of these sequences to occur in a League game! Perhaps typically I messed up the D4 and spoilt the average for that leg. The message from all this is clear – before tonight’s match I need to concentrate on the end game, so I’ll do plenty of 170 legs in warm-up.

I’ve managed to rescue this month’s DartPro stats, and they are now at July’s level. It’s unlikely that I’ll beat the August record, but there is still a marked improvement since June.

Black Diamond Preparation

I had a good night’s practice on Sunday ; an hour in the house, and then a couple of hours in The Chelmsford. There were 7 of us playing darts (myself, Alan, Willie, Lena, Jean, Harry, and Jan). I had a good unbeaten run and then took a break to have a sit down with the non darts players.

Sadly, good form during the week doesn’t always translate into playing well in the League games, but I think this is more to do with the different preparation than nerves. I’ll try and leave work early tomorrow night to get the preparation in. That preparation routine I mentioned on here seems to be effective.

My switch to Medium stems is now coupled with a slight change to the way I hold the dart ; I hold it slightly nearer the front and exaggerate my previous grip. All minor stuff, but it seems to be improving accuracy, and my finishing last night was far tighter, with less sloppy shots. My best game in the pub was an 18 darter (average = 83.5 including the finish).

Medium Stems (Cont.)

I’ve now had a few days to practice with the new Medium stems, and whereas I’m not fully decided about them my DartPro stats seem to have improved with them ; averaging 54.2 per throw (including the finishes) and turning round an awful month’s stats into something approaching average.

On my first night with them the average was as high as 58.9, but this tailed off with some bad finishing in subsequent evenings.

I’ll give them a bit longer and probably use them in Tuesday’s away game at the Black Diamond if I’m selected.

Medium Stems

I was only able to get a brief 30 minutes of practice last night, and I have taken the guy from Chopwell’s advice and switched to using Medium stems as opposed to my usual Short ones. I had 8 spare Medium stems in my kit box and I’ve ordered 10 more sets with an order I placed on behalf of Jan and Harry. They’ve ordered some interesting flights, and I’ll post a picture of them when they arrive.

The initial results are mixed ; as expected the flights now catch the side of my face a bit more than usual, and they actually seem to require a bit more force in the throw when aiming for high targets. However, they do seem to be just a bit more stable and consistent, giving the impression of being better balanced. The accuracy on all targets below bullseye level seemed to improve (T19, D16, D6 etc), but as mentioned I’ll need to adjust slightly for the higher targets such as D20, D5, D1 etc.

I’ll post a picture to illustrate the difference between the two stems, and in the meantime I’ll continue using them and see if they improve my stats. I’ll need to remember that mid way through September the monthly stats were already very poor – I won’t be able to blame the stems for this month’s terrible figures. I seem to have reverted to April’s form, but I’ll do my best to improve this in the final part of the month.

One milestone is looming : I’ll shortly be playing my 1,000th game of DartPro 501. That’s probably in the region of 100 solid hours on this aspect alone since I started using DartPro in late Feb 2005.

Chopwell Feedback

I toyed with the idea of rating all of the venues out of 10, but I’ve settled on just giving some comments in a few key areas :

The Board : Slightly better than our own board (at least it’s "new"), but with the same rounded wires we suffer with (plenty of bounce-outs). A team this good shouldn’t be playing on a £20 board.

Lighting : Strange ; half decent lighting on the board, but very strong fluorescent lighting on the oche, making your darts seem very prominent in your peripheral vision when throwing. This actually helped me, and is not a complaint.

Oche : Excellent ; a detachable wooden ridge to really dig your toe into when throwing, with no distractions in the line of sight. The bulls eye was at exactly the right height, and I loved this throw.

Beer : £1.40 for a pint of John Smiths. One draught beer was even £1. Faultless, and you could not afford to not drink here :o)

Food : Excellent hot buffet (Yorkshires & gravy, chicken, sausages, potato skins etc.).

Atmosphere : European football on the many TV’s tuned in to several games, friendly bar staff, good support from their team ; a very enjoyable evening and a great venue for darts.

Comments : Chopwell’s electronic scoreboard is unusual in The League - very clear and understandable though. Many of their regulars joined in at the end and wished us well. We enjoyed this venue.

Chopwell 7 - 3 Chelmsford

Pictured : Our boy Tommo blags the first point of the season.Yeeeeessssss!

It sounds like a bad result, but we are totally delighted to get off the mark and score some points against Chopwell. Another whitewash to follow the first leg was surely playing on all of our minds, but we gave them a game tonight and competed well.

The points all came in the singles games, with myself, Willy, and John S all winning our games. This beats last season’s aggregate score against this capable team, and we’re relieved with the 3-17 overall score which could’ve been so much worse.

I received some great advice from one of their senior players, and I’ll be training with Medium (as opposed to my usual Short) stems for the coming month. When players you respect take the time to offer tips it is absolutely priceless.

Personally in the Singles, my first four throws averaged over 90 (thanks for the stats, Roger!), which meant I could afford to slip a bit on the end game and still hit a winning double. It was a double 1 after an awful lot of tense "splitting the double" from the pair of us. Sheer relief!

The Chelmsford Welcomes Harry

Harry has joined us from Hamburg for the next three weeks. This is an annual trip he and Jan make to visit family up here, and he is a very keen darts player.

We had a great night last night (Lena, Roger, Harry, Jan) and I’m looking forward to more of these "friendly international" games. We might drag him up to Chopwell for support - we’re gonna need it.

Chelmsford 0 - 10 Chopwell

We’ve had a total disaster in the opening game, losing 0-10 to Chopwell. We always knew we’d be scrapping for any sort of points against last season’s champions, but tonight we were up against a brick wall.

I raised my game and averaged over 60 per throw in the Team, Doubles, and Singles games combined, but this was still not good enough against Chopwell.

The high points for me were loads of 80+’s and very few bad throws. That would have been useful against some other teams, but not much use against this very capable team. Last season the aggregate score was 1-19, so I really don’t know what to say!

You’ll get the highs and lows on this blog throughout the season, and tonight was certainly a low. Don’t forget to come back here for news of the return leg next week - it should be good for a laugh :o)

The Waiting's Almost Over

Loads of self doubt and average darts for me on the last evening before the season starts, but at least I blagged a 180 and a 137 finish to cheer me up. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Practice in The Chelmsford

I had a very poor few games in The Chelmsford on Sunday evening, yet amazingly I still managed to win all seven games and retire undefeated at 21:45. The games all seemed to follow a pattern of poor scores but strong finishing. This just made me feel lucky rather than competent, and I’ll spend Monday evening practicing at home ready for the big kick off on Tuesday night.

I’ll be sure to prepare properly for this first game of the new season. I have a hellish early start the following morning which I'm not looking forward to.

Practice Music For September 2005

Last month’s album from Tony Joe White was a real hit when burning the midnight oil on the practice board. It created a great mood for practice, and I could concentrate without distraction. It was a superb spread of material, all in White’s distinctive style.


This month though I’m going to go for something a bit more dynamic ; "Aces And Kings, The Best of Go West" by Go West. I’ll forgive them for the synthesised bass badness - just this once.

DartPro Analysis for August 2005

As you can see from the chart (above) this was my best month on record, with considerable progress made against my standing in April and May 2005. The trend is certainly "up", and August’s 3 dart average of nearly 56 per throw (including the finishes) will be a tough act to follow in September.
The score card (above) shows modest improvements in some key areas ; my 3 dart average is now 52 (up from 51), scores of less than 60 are now 68% (down from 69%), scores of 100 and over are now 6.54% (up from 6.38%), and my average finish is now 24.90 (up from 24.81).

These improvements may sound very slight, but they are based on 7 months of data, and it is difficult for any single month to make a dent in the average ; as long as the trend is "up" I’m happy with the month’s work.

Practicing on 170 Finishes

This new type of practice is intended to help me with my end game, and it went well last night. After a slow start I hit a sequence of finishing from 170 in 4, 9, 8, 8, 8, and 10 darts. I then played a few games of DartPro local 501 games and found that I slipped into the finishing far better than usual, so I’ll be sure to include a few 170 finishes in the practice routine.

A Beautiful 180

Come on, this 180 from my practice session in the house last night must surely be the most beautiful 180 ever! Look at those flights - it’s amazing.

You simply couldn’t arrange it any better by hand if you tried, which I’m sure will cause a few suspicions, but you’re just going to have to believe me that for one throw last night I really was (temporarily at least!) In The Zone (tm).

I had to hold the camera above the usual height to capture this properly, but it was absolutely breathtaking when the third dart hit the board (I think it was the one at top left).

Fixtures : The 2005 / 2006 Season

The Chelmsford’s fixtures for this season are as follows :

06/09/05 - Chelmsford V Chopwell
13/09/05 - Chopwell V Chelmsford
20/09/05 - Black Diamond V Chelmsford
27/09/05 - Chelmsford V Black Diamond
04/10/05 - Chelmsford V Commercial
11/10/05 - Commercial V Chelmsford
18/10/05 - Chelmsford V Cricketers
15/10/05 - Cricketers V Chelmsford
01/11/05 - Chelmsford V Derwentside
08/11/05 - Derwentside V Chelmsford
15/11/05 - Chelmsford V Coach & Horses
22/11/05 - Coach & Horses V Chelmsford
29/11/05 - Chelmsford V Leadgate Cricket
06/12/05 - Leadgate Cricket V Chelmsford
13/12/05 - Chelmsford V Shotley Club
20/12/05 - Shotley Club V Chelmsford
03/01/06 - Chelmsford V Smelters
10/01/06- Smelters V Chelmsford
17/01/06 - Chelmsford V Jolly Drovers
24/01/06 - Jolly Drovers V Chelmsford
31/01/06 - Chelmsford V Stanley Masons (B)
07/02/06 - Stanley Masons (B) V Chelmsford
14/02/06 - Steel Club V Chelmsford
21/02/06 - Chelmsford V Steel Club
14/03/06 - Chelmsford V Stanley Masons (A)
21/03/06 - Stanley Masons (A) V Chelmsford
28/03/06 - Chelmsford V Castleside
04/04/06 - Castleside V Chelmsford
18/04/06 - League Knock Out 1st Round
25/04/06 - League Knock Out 2nd Round
02/05/06 - League Knock Out Semi Finals
09/05/06 - Singles 1st Round
16/05/06 - Singles 2nd Round
30/05/06 - Doubles 1st Round
06/06/05 - Doubles 2nd Round
20/06/05 - Finals Night
27/06/05 - League Knock Out Final

Poor End To August

My form has dipped, and with only one week to the start of the season too. When I publish the August stats in a few days I still expect August to be my best month of practice on record, but it could’ve been much better if I hadn’t spent so many games fluffing the doubles and ending up on double 1. This all happened in the final part of the month, and I’ll be concentrating on my end game in this final week of the close season.

I think I’ll play a long series of 170 finishes tonight before Team practice Night and see how few darts I can do them in. Of course “3” will be the target (fat chance!), but I’d be delighted to finish as many as possible in 6 darts. I’ll publish the results.

Our team will be stronger now John Sheean has signed up for us, and he was in good form last night. The increased competition for places will add extra importance to the matches held in The Chelmsford between League games.

I’ve seen the teams and fixtures for the new season, and they will appear on here shortly. Also, I’ve got a picture of the most symmetrical 180 I’ve ever scored! The grouping was incredibly tight and the dart flights lined up to make a symmetrical pattern. You’ll think I placed them in the board by hand. As if I would :o)

Teams For The 2005 / 2006 Season

There will be 15 teams competing in this season’s League. They are as follows :

Black Diamond
Castleside
Chelmsford
Chopwell
Coach & Horses
Commercial
Cricketers
Derwentside
Jolly Drovers
Leadgate Cricket
Shotley Club
Smelters
Stanley Masons (A)
Stanley Masons (B)
Steel Club

Welcome to Ebchester Chelmsford F.C.

The link now appears on the left.

Jay was instrumental in getting Broadband in the village, and it's great to be linked to another Ebchester site.

Close Season Progress

I might have made decent progress over the last few weeks of the close season, but so have my team mates ; Roger, Alan, and Willie have all been on great form over the weekend and I’ve found wins really hard to come by. I don’t think I’ve even won half of my games. I’ve kept an eye on my average scores when I’m beaten and they have all seemed to be roughly 50+ per throw, which I’d call "average pub darts". A little disappointing, and more practice is needed.

Alan in particular gave me a master class on Sunday night and checked out averaging over 80 per throw in one game, and tonight Roger was "in the zone" and remained unbeaten all evening.
No complaints from me. It’ll be great if that is the standard we’re going to play at this season, and it’s time for me to raise my game once more.

I’ve been concentrating on the release of the dart. My tendency to drift shots to the left has been reduced, but amusingly this has caused me to score a lot of 1’s and treble 1’s rather than the neat 20’s I was hoping for. Previously I hardly ever drifted to the right, so a bit more fine tuning is needed.

Lena (Captain) has drawn up a list of all the people who are signed on to play for us this season, and this will be published here as soon as it is finalised.

Ebchester Chelsmford Football Club

Can anyone from the Ebchester Chelsmford Football Club please e-mail me your web URL and I’ll link to it from this blog.

I spoke to one of the team on Sunday night about this link, but I’ve been unable to locate your web page using Yahoo or Google. My e-mail address it tommocubed at dialstart dot net. Thanks.

August is looking good

There were loads of things in my head this weekend, but I managed to blot them all out and have a very productive Saturday evening’s practice. In fact, it would have been a record breaking evening if I hadn’t messed about on X1 in the final game, where I took 19 darts to finish the final two points. It all messes the averages up, but I still think I’m going to see some good improvements in the "month end" stats.

Loads of tons, a couple of 140’s, and a nice finish on 100 (20, 48, 32) were the highlights, and only the one appalling game right at the very end have got my DartPro stats riding high for August. I just need to basically "turn up" for the last few practice sessions to have my best month on record.

Another highlight I feel I’ve reached this month is feeling true disappointment at hitting 85’s and 95’s etc. These are no longer good scores to me ; they are missed tons, and shots where I didn’t use all three darts, and I really want to stop hitting the totally wrong segment with one of the darts in the throw.

Whitewash

Oh dear, a whitewash to report! I lost 0-6 to DartPro, which was throwing an average of 70 including the finishes, so that is every last one of my objectives failed for this game! The nearest I even got to a double was in the last game, where if DartPro had “missed” it’s finish I would have had 60 to finish on. It wasn’t to be.

This is an extremely tough challenge for me, and I’ll keep it as part of the weekly practice routine. It seems similar to playing the best players from the best League teams. Of course I’ll have to include other types of games in the routine, or I won’t get much practice at my finishing judging by last night’s game.

I managed to get some games in The Chelmsford despite it being a quiet night, and I won most of my matches.

Warm-up Routine

I’ve finalised a 20 minute warm-up routine which is designed to get me up to speed in 20 minutes and ready to play competitively. This has been a huge problem area for me in the past, and on a match night I want to be able to get in from work and do my preparation at home ready for arriving at the Chelmsford at 19:45 hrs.

5 Minutes : Set up and prepare mentally

Whilst setting up the darts I play a record good and loud, and just try to clear my mind. Especially after a day at work I need to cut off from it all and concentrate on the darts. It’s amazing how the day’s events can linger in the mind unless you make a conscious attempt to clear the mind. This has been quite an important part of the routine, and something I didn’t used to bother to do.
The choice of music has to be something upbeat and raucous, e.g. "Train, Train" from Blackfoot’s "Strikes" album (pictured).

2 Minutes : Above The 20

Shoot intentionally above the D20. This is a great tip I picked up from http://www.rusys.nl/dartpro/
It limbers up the tendons and throwing action.

8 Minutes : +, X, and Bull

Three darts each at the following targets in sequence : D20, D3, D6, D11, Bull. This completes the "+" shape. For the "X" shape the shots are D9, D15, D16, D4, Bull.
I cycle through this routine for 8 minutes. The diagrams (pictured) show the pattern.


5 Minutes : High Trebles
Using the time to get as far as possible through this I aim for T20, T19, T18, T17 etc., using three darts at each target.

This completes the 20 minutes, and in whatever time I have left before the match I just practice on high scores and finishing.

Practice, Tuesday 16/8/05

I’ve had an idea for the usual Tuesday evening practice in The Chelsmford this evening ; given that I can’t rely on many dart players being there tonight I’ll let DartPro take the strain and provide the challenge. The season is looming, and I really need the match practice. So, first of all I’ll play a series of 501 legs in the house against an AI opponent with its average score including the finishes whacked right up to 70. I’ve never done this before, but I’d rather lose than stay within self imposed limits. After this match it’ll just be a bonus if anyone turns up for a game in the pub, and I won’t walk away disappointed with a lack of challenge.

My objectives against the “70 average” DartPro opponent are to raise my game to its level, to really believe I can win, and to avoid a whitewash (i.e. loose 6-0). I suppose if I really did believe I could win this last objective sounds a bit defeatist.

I’ll update the blog with the results and “learns” from this match on Wednesday night, but I won’t be too concerned about average scores etc; the goal is to win legs, because in League matches this is the only stat which really matters. I’ll also be using the warm-up routine which’ll appear on here shortly to test how good it is at preparing for a big challenge. Basically I’ll need to consistently show my best form to get any sort of a result.

I’ll have the time for approximately 11 legs, so I’ll select something like the “best of 13 legs” option, or whichever format fits tonight’s 90 minute limit best. There will be no such time limits in The Chelsmford, so that probably shows where my priorities lie :o)

First Win Against A "DartPro 60 Average" Opponent

I had some great practice on DartPro on Sunday night ; winning 6-2 against a computer opponent which was set to throw an average of 60.12 per throw including the finishes. The match winning dart was the double 16 (pictured) when I finished on 74.

I took a 4-0 lead and then wobbled a bit on my finishing, but my overall average of 62.32 per throw for me had my confidence so high I really didn’t think I’d lose this one at any point. The ton forties (4 of them) allowed me to edge ahead when I needed it, and there were very few bad throws.

I’d rather be playing against human opposition, but as mentioned on here over the last few days things are quiet in the pub. I had five quick unbeaten games in The Chelmsford, where the highlight was throwing two consecutive ton forties. I don’t remember ever doing that before. I also scored a "Baby 180" in practice, which was T20, T19 and T18 (171 points).

Relaxing Saturday

Just a relaxing Saturday away from the dart board ; a 6 mile walk along the Derwent Walk (pictured), an absolutely superb Chinese meal at The Mandarin (Stowell Street, Newcastle), and a quiet couple of drinks in the Chelmsford with good company and no darts being played.

I’ll be out all day on Sunday, so I’ll need to get some DartPro practice on the evening. I’ll play some 501 legs against an opponent with an average throw of 60 including the finishes, and I hope to at least get enough confidence to play against a 70 average some time next week and not feel it will be impossible to actually win. Both games will be best of 11 legs.

Season Details Emerge

The 2005/6 Derwentside Darts & Dominos League kicks off on Tuesday 6th September 2005, so I have just three weeks and a few days to make final preparations for the first game.

There will be at least 15 teams in this year’s League, but this may rise to 16 or 17 in the final few days of the close season. This means more competition, and I’m therefore happy to retain a team target placing of 9th or better. I also have a personal target of winning 60% of my singles matches, and I’d also like to score at least one 180 in a competitive match during the season.

It’s been difficult to get regular, good quality opposition in the pub games recently, so I’ll be using DartPro to simulate matches against an opponent with average throws of 50, 60 and 70 including the finishes, and this should prepare me for most of the opponents I’ll encounter during the season.

I’ve recently taken up a new role at work, and I’m fairly sure some of the work commitments will interfere with the occasional Tuesday night. We’ll jut have to see how many Tuesday nights I have to miss, and I’ll be doing all I can to get the "work / darts" balance right :o)

Tuesday Practice Evening, 9/8/05

The usual Tuesday evening practice in The Chelmsford was extremely quiet. I’d been warned that a few of the regulars wouldn’t be there, but it was still disappointing, and just myself and Alan played darts in a short series which I won 3-1.

This was following a very poor practice session in the house where I lost a DartPro "best of 5 legs, 501" against an AI opponent with an average of just 50 including the finishes. I lost 3-2, and my average throw was 52. Just poor finishing let me down, but I’d settled in well for the games against Alan in the pub, where I was hitting the doubles with ease and the games were all completed quickly with good scoring.

The sun set photo was taken from the same vantage point as the picture in the "Walking to the pub" entry.

Branded!

Whilst practising on Monday night I hit a ton eighty and did my usual sad trick of photographing it. While looking for the best angle I brushed into one of the halogen bulbs.

I am now branded – if not for life at least for the next few weeks, and the perfectly circular image of the bulb is now clearly visible on my left arm. It’s even in two distinct shades of purple and red!

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.

Practice Music - August 2005

My choice for this month is a collection of hits from Tony Joe White.

Quiet Sunday Night

It was really quiet in The Chelmsford last night. I only managed to play seven games, but remained undefeated and hit a 180. I’ve been told it’s going to be quieter still on Tuesday night, so I’ll probably have a heavy DartPro session instead. DartPro is great, but I’d prefer to play against people. I just hope the present lull is a temporary “Summer” thing, and we can get back to being a competitive darts pub before the season starts.

Tonight's practice will be a strict 60 minute DartPro jobby, so I'll have to get warmed up and into the flow pretty quickly. It'll be "best of 15 legs, 501" against an AI opponent who averages 60 including the finishes.

Couldn't get going

I just couldn’t get going tonight. Despite the practice ton eighty (pictured, and the first one on the new board) I struggled and didn’t feel comfortable. I quit after 11 legs of DartPro 501 but was surprised to see the average throw including finishes was still a half decent 57. I think the good finishing kept the average high, as there were some really erratic shots.

One to forget, but nothing to spoil the August stats which are still looking good.

August starts well

Fingers crossed, things seem to be improving. I’ve had a great night’s practice in the house where the first three legs of 501 were all averaging over 70 per throw including the finishes. There was then a slump and a bit of a relapse into February’s standards where I only averaged mid 40’s, but I was for once able to pick myself up and get back on track, with the evening’s overall average being a very respectable 65.45 over 14 games of 501.

The highlights were a 16 darter (averaging 93.94 per throw), and a 95 finish. The lowlights were the two games where the three dart averages were 44.21 and 48.48.

The practice shot on double 9 (pictured) was nice, mainly for the "popcorn" on the third dart, where the flight flew off, an made the shot look really tight :o)

Final Preparations

It’s just a month or so away from the opening game and I’ve made the final preparations. I’ve sorted out the practice board lighting ; Previously it was only possible to train two of the three 50 watt halogen bulbs (pictured) onto the dart board due to the design of the stand, but I made a change to the stand and now all three bulbs point in the same direction.

The picture is taken from left of centre, and in practice the bulbs do not distract. They illuminate the board better than you’d think, but the picture doesn’t convey this too well.

Brief Return

I'm back in Ebchester mid holiday, and I couldn't resist a quick blast on the new dartboard.

I played 15 games of 501 and averaged just over 60 per throw, including the finishes.

This is the standard I want to keep, as these scores would fare very well in the League. Nice tight finishing on the double twentys was probably the highlight. No real disasters in the legs, as when I did end up on double ones I hit them fairly quickly, keeping the average score high (usually you can destroy a whole night's work with a really bad leg which ruins the overall average).

Short Break

I’ve got a few day trips etc, so I’m hanging up the darts until Saturday night. I hope I can pick up where I left off on Sunday night, because that is the standard I want to keep.

The blog can run itself in the meantime :o)

New Board

I picked up a Winmau Blade II board on Saturday to replace my year old Winmau SFB. The SFB had started to go hard and was showing a fair bit of wear, despite regular rotation.

The Blade II is supposed to reduce bounce outs with a wiring system which resembles blades. Also the joints are seamless, and you need to look closely to see how they’ve handled the junctions between the wires.

It’s fairly well made, but bounce outs do still occur ; they just seem to be less frequent, and a lot of the power seems to be dissipated, meaning the darts don’t seem to shoot away from the board with so much power.