Barbados 2007 : Hotel snaps

Golden Lion 5 – 3 Chelmsford (Cup, 12-5 on aggregate)

Last week while I was away we lost 7-2 to the Golden Lion in the cup. Tonight's 2^nd Leg match was therefore a formality, but we still patched up a team (well, 5 of the required 6 people) to play them in Leadgate on a cold evening.

Players like GL's Chris made this fairly one sided, but we still managed to get a respectable scoreline, enlisting Leadgate Cricket Club's Andy to make the numbers up for us. You may notice the two legs have a different total of points, but we just played the game the best we could with full allowance made by both teams for the need to make up the numbers on a quiet Thursday night and just get on with it.

I won my Singles game to get one of the points, as one of their top players took far too many shots to finish. I was in the high 200's when he took his first shot at a double, and I just rode my luck incredibly to finally get the untidy 26 finish (S4, D11, oh dear!).

So we're out of the cup, but we'd always find it difficult to raise a team on a Thursday night, so maybe it is best for us to exit at this point. Good luck to GL in the next round though, and it was a worthwhile experience to play against this high standard of opposition.

An Interview With John Lowe

Pictured : John Lowe in the Rostrevor Apartments Hotel Bar, Barbados

John and Karen Lowe were superb hosts as usual, and I was delighted that John agreed to grant me an interview for the blog :

ST : What are the main mistakes you see inexperienced players making?

JL : Too much movement when throwing. If the head moves an inch the darts will err by half an inch. This means a S20 will become a S5 or a S1, and a T20 will become a S20. Right handed players sometimes push their elbows out too far, and that too causes unwanted movement.

If you watch the good players all of them keep their heads straight and still during their throw.

ST : Given just one hour before a competitive match, how would you practice?

JL : I'd spend 45 minutes going around the board on the Doubles only, being sure to include plenty of D20 / D6 / D3 / D11 shots. If you can hit them, the other doubles are similar shots.

The final 15 minutes would be spent concentrating on T20 and the Bull. In the USA the “nearest to the bull” decides who goes first, so it is especially important to include the Bull in practice as this is an important advantage.

Throughout these practice shots it would be a case of fine tuning the co-ordination and rhythm.

ST : What is the single most useful piece of advice you could give to an inexperienced player?

JL: Some people seem to throw with a terrible product. I'm not just pushing Unicorn here, but I've seen people use unco-ordinated flights of different colours, and just generally poor equipment. Get decent darts and try a few changes to stem length etc to get the correct balance. I've seen people use flight protectors [small metal “tips” which attach to the back of the flight] just to put some weight at the back of the dart. It is better to use the barrel shape and stem length to achieve this balance.

There is a psychological side to darts, so it is better to compete with good equipment which you are fully comfortable with.

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Many thanks to John for this. He really was enthusiastic to pass his thoughts on to this blog, and there's more : John has revealed details of his new coaching book to be released in December 2008 (yep, a whole year away). It may sound like a plug, but think of this : Darts is one of the few games which doesn't have a recognised form of coaching, so this new offering from JL had me really interested.

The working title is “The Art Of Darts – A Master Class”. Following firm interest from at least four publishers it will be Hodder & Stoughton who will release this important work. The book will include photographs and instructions regarding how to stand / throw / release / grip , as well as “style” and all those other aspects we spend our time on improving.

There were initial discussions on separating the contents into 3 volumes, but JL is fairly sure that this will be what we all want it to be – a single coaching manual from a 3-times World Champion.

Chelmsford 2 - 8 Cricketers

Pictured : Yet more practice darts, all for the Bull probably

We were up against a very strong Cricketers team tonight, and very grateful to grab 2 points against them. Last week while I was away I believe we got 3 points against them, so these 5 points in total are very useful against a team who will be "brushing" our immediate neighbours in The League.

On a night where Cricketers hit two 180's our own Alan Parkin hit one too to make it a night of quick fire games.

We went 0-1 down in the opening Team Game and were looking to be outclassed by a Cricketers team full of big names and more importantly they were "on form".

Alan and Willie won their doubles game to avoid the brush, and Man Of The Match Alan was unlucky not to win his Singles game after scoring 180 / 140 but then fluffing a X4 finish.

I won our only other point in my Singles game against Nev, as he uncharacteristically allowed me in to sink a D16 finish after a few stray shots from him. I'd hit a 140 and a 94 to leave the 32, so I was happy to forget my ordinary form in the Team and Doubles games.

Just two points then, but we really grafted for them, and the scoreline is a fair result on the night.

the Blog's back open

Pictured : Colour co-ordinated practice shots

I'm back from Barbados and I have some great stories to relay over the following days. An interview with John Lowe, and some heroics from Rob Sime and Karen Lowe / Janice Simpkins to report.

My own darts weren't too good, but that's life. i was knocked out in the 1st round in two competitions and then in the 2nd round of three competitions. That was the best I did, but I had some fun and learnt just a little bit more about how to compete. No complaints from me, at another successful Barbados darts Festival. More to follow . . .

Bajan Boogie Time, Once More!

Pictured : No Woman, No Cry

Yes folks, it's that time again, so the blog will fall silent while I take part in the Barbados Darts Festival 2007. There are six competitions for me to compete in over the 2 weeks, and in the words of SpongeBob "I'm ready, I'm ready. . . ". Actually, I'll probably feel more like Patrick when the pressure is on!

I hope to have an interview with John Lowe to publish and some great stories about the brilliant hosts, the Bajans.

Take care, good darts, and wish me luck against the mosquitos.

Chelmsford 6 – 4 Wheatsheaf

Pictured : The Chelmsford

We were able to repeat last week's result against The Wheatsheaf despite some strong individual performances by them. Things were looking bad as we lost the opening Team 1001x game by a very large margin, but from that point the games were far tighter.

Lena and I got to play against Jay in the Doubles, and in a very closely fought game I was relieved to hit the D8 with my last dart after covering it badly with the first two. I think we all had at least two throws at the double, so this one was in the balance and quite tense toward the end.

My decent form in the Doubles game was spoilt by my poor Singles game. I hit some real junk shots, totally unable to focus and get steady shots into the 20.

Luckily the rest of the team did well. Paul C was as steady as ever, and there was some decent play from Mark, Roger, and Alan.

The season feels so different to last year, and we're getting into the habit of picking up points against strong teams.

Jason has asked me to mention that he beat Willie 3-0 in the doms :o)

Roger's 37 Finish

This is the 37 finish Roger used in the game at Wheatsheaf. Instead of the usual method of S5, D16 Roger aimed for the 3, knowing that even if he strayed into the 19 or 17 he would still have 2 darts at a double. This is a great idea, and works well when the nerves are present and you just want to get the most possible shots at a double even if the first dart for the “big single” isn't the best of shots.

It worked well. The first dart hit S3 as planned, and the second dart was straight into the D17. I thought it was a great way to go, and I've learned from that. The only thing I'd try though is to aim as in the smaller diagrams, as I'd rather have D9 or D10 to finish on than the lower D17. Worth trying isn't it, but I think there'd have been pressure to go the conventional way if playing with a partner in a Doubles game.

Dominoes Game

Dominoes rear their head every once in a while in the League. I try to avoid them, but whenever we're short on numbers I'll be forced to play them. Actually my success rate isn't that bad.

This link was mentioned to Jay last night. It's a reasonably good dominoes game which I've found quite challenging > Jamaican Dominoes Have a go and see what you think.

The game is free and doesn't seem to include any malware.

Wheatsheaf 4 – 6 Chelmsford

Pictured : The Wheatsheaf team

Not a great game tonight, but one of the Wheatsheaf players hit a 180 while the rest of us struggled to get into our stride.

We won the opening team game to continue our good record in this type of 1001X game. Next up I played a poor game in the Doubles with Peter Mc and it was 1-1. Good performances from Roger and Paul C were probably the difference as we headed to a 6-4 victory on the night.

As fate would have it I got to play Jay in the Singles and I was very lucky to sneak a win against him. He won't be impressed with my game and will no doubt fancy a re-match against me next week :o)

A great night up there in Leadgate and yet another pleasing result for our team. I don't think we had this many points by Christmas last season!

Chelmsford 7 – 3 Coach & Horses

This was a really good performance from us. We put out our strongest team with Peter Mc available, and reversed last week's 7-3 defeat to make it “honours even” over the two legs against a team who are usually much better than us in the league.

Personally, this was my best showing ever for The Chelmsford ; I hit the winning X1 in the Team Game, sunk the 39 in the Doubles game (S7, D16), and also finished on 53 (S13 D20) in my Singles game to grab 3 of the 7 points. The scoring wasn't bad either, but I must admit the nerves were still there in the Singles game. Surely I must get some confidence from hitting the double every time I got the chance of one, but it is so hard to concentrate and be precise over the entire game.

We took a 3-0 lead before C&H came back fighting and made it 3-3. From that point we won all of the remaining games. This is extremely satisfying against good opposition like C&H.

Coach & Horses 7 – 3 Chelmsford

A bit of a defeat tonight, but we never felt outclassed. We won the opening Team game, with me sinking the winning D1. On a really cold night up in Leadgate (they left the main fire escape doors open for the smokers) we never felt comfortable on their new two tiered oche, but matched them quiet closely throughout.

Tonight's report has to be a little self centric, with “nerves” being the main theme. I love nerves – they usually give you a push, and add a bit of adrenaline, but after having to fight for my place in the team, the nerves really surfaced tonight. No problem in the Team game where I scored well and finished on D1, and no problem in the Doubles game where I scored better but never got the chance to finish. No. It was the Singles game against the guy who knocked me out of a cup competition last year ; I totally cracked in the finishing, but somehow managed to sink my stupid D3 to win the game.

I only ever feel the nerves in three or four matches all season, so there's one of them out of the way. Hitting the winning double for 2 of our 3 point of the night really ought to make me feel more confident, but this was sheer relief. Not enjoyable, and you'll never play decent darts when you're not enjoying it.

Practice Night

I had a great practice night on Friday up at the Derwentside. I only won about a third of my matches, but there were some really strong players on one of the busiest darts nights up there for a while.

My DartPro stats (pictured) are on an upward curve, which I hope will bode well for Barbados in October. The graph may seem a little erratic, but with the exception of June 2007 it shows that I've completed my 501 games within 10 throws. I'll need to up my average to 56 before I am finishing the games in 9 throws.

These are all averages of course, and any slack finishing is badly punished. On the other hand my game on 1/9/2007 with an average of 100.20 really helped the average! It went 60, 180, 77, 78, and then a 106 finish. Oh to do that in a League game?

Chelmsford 3 – 4 Jolly Drovers

We're out of the Blackhill Ward knock-out cup in the first round, but only on the dominoes tie beaker. It's a mixed darts / dominoes format, where 3 team games of 1001 (Double Start, Double Finish) are played and 3 games of Singles dominoes. It was 3-3 after these 6 games, and the Drovers opted to play the tie-breaker on dominoes. Sadly, we lost decider, but it was a tight game all night and all the best to the Drovers in the next round.

We lost the opening darts game, with only Peter Mc playing a decent game. I wasn't selected due to last week's resounding 10-0 win, and the decision to stick with the winning formula was vindicated as we turned around the darts game and won 2-1, getting stronger as the games went on.

Only the dominoes let us down. No Man Of The Match stood out, but Peter Mc and Paul C scored steadily, with Roger and Mark H providing the finishing. Maybe there'll be no place for me in next week's team against Coach & Horses, but we're top of the league (honest!), playing well, and for the first time in a long while I feel we are a strong darting team. The season will tell!

Chelmsford 10 – 0 Castleside

Pictured : Practice in the house

This is a first for our team in my time with them – a perfect 10-0 victory. I wasn't available for selection due to being in Birmingham earlier in the day, but when I arrived at 21:30 we were already 4-0 up and looking good.

Castleside had made several changes to their team from last week, but unfortunately they faired no better despite the changes. All of the matches were close, but for once our finishing was far more accurate.

On a perfect showing like this it hard to select a Man Of The Match, but it goes to Willie for the second week running due to his slick 51 finish in two darts (S19, D16). Peter was playing, and with our new player Paul continuing his good form and Alan playing well (he was really unlucky to take 9 darts to finish from his 32 – all against the wire) there is a really strong look to our team this season.

So I missed this game due to travel, and Lena (Captain) will rightly stick with the winning team for next Tuesday's home game against Coach & Horses. I'll just have console myself with winning our only Domino point of the evening, beating Barry 3-1.

Castleside Inn 3 – 7 Chelmsford

Pictured : The Castleside Inn

A great start to the season for us, with 7 points in the bag and and all 6 of us winning all of our Singles games for the first time in my time with the team. Willie and I won our Doubles game for the other point, but we had a rocky start against a patched up Castleside team. They won the opening Team game and subsequently took a 3-1 lead.

“Patched up” though they were, I was amazed to see one of their new players miss a 164 finish by a whisker (T20, T18, miss on the bull) and that let us know that they were not to be taken lightly.

Man Of The Match goes to Willie who beat their senior player in the Singles. It was a crucial point for us.

I was really happy to sink two winning doubles without ever feeling comfortable in the games. At this early point it is just a relief to get some points, regardless of the opposition being under strength. We have definitely lost this type of game in the past.

Pre-Season Practice

Pictured : The walk to Derwentside

My results have been getting gradually better, but they are still swinging around wildly.


Last night was typical ; A 138 finish (T20, T18, D12), and then in two games of 501 I had a 3 dart average of just 25 (really bad finishing), followed closely followed by a 3 dart average of over 100 as I scored a 180 and finished really well. I don't know Which type of form I'll be showing in the League, and would settle for just a bit more consistency.

Targets

Pictured - Practice targets

These are the targets I've been concentrating on during the close season. I reckon that decent accuracy on these will improve my game, and I've made a way of converting my results into an accuracy percentage. 35% is my current record.

Close Season Practice

The Derwentside have been providing me with some great practice on Friday nights. As well as Graham, Norman, Mark, Alan and the rest of the Derwentside regulars people from other teams have been dropping in on some nights (Davy, Chris Chivers etc) giving me a really tough time.

I probably only won about 20% of my games in there, but I enjoyed the challenge and I might make Fridays up there a regular thing.

The Blog re-opens for the 2007-8 season!

I've had a good break from darts in the close season, but the blog is now back open for reports on the 2007-8 season. There will be another “Barbados Special” this year, and I can't wait to blog that one!

We start our campaign on Tuesday night, away from home at the Castleside Inn. There are 15 teams again this season :

Castleside Inn
Chelmsford
Chopwell Central
Coach & Horses
Commercial
Cricketers
Delves Club
Derwentside
Jolly Drovers
Leadgate Cricket Club
Shotley Club
Smelters
Stanley Masons
Turf
Weatsheaf