Pictured : Rosemarie Duff
Thanks to all the people who check this blog from time to time. It's really encouraging to see site stats which show people from the flags on display as having visited over the past few days.
Pictured : (L-R) Jan, Tricia Sime, Ray, Len, Rob SimeGlory for the touring party's Rob Sime though. He played the best I've ever seen him play over the last two Bdos tourneys. He battled all the way to the final. By this time I had truly found my place and was marking the final! Rob was just edged out by Rabbit, Trinidad's number 1 player.
Special mention to Karen Lowe and Janice Simpkins, who were runners up in the Ladies' Doubles, and for times during the final seemed to have a hand on the trophy.
Pictured : Me, John Lowe, DebsLes and I again paired up for this doubles game. We beat John Simpkins (touring party) and his Bajan partner 3-1.
In the second round we went out 3-1 against Dave and Terry from the touting party. Les and I played OK, but couldn't quite match them. I hit a nice 87 finish (T17, D18). Les and I both had chances to hit the other winning doubles, so the games were close.
I marked the board on stage in the finals, which saw Winston Coduggan and Anthony Forde (both Bajan) beat Rabbit and his partner (Trinidad) with a convincing 3-0 score.
Pictured : Me and Mapp in the doublesAt last a bit better news to report in two great pairs competition at the A & T Hideaway. The pairs are all drawn from a hat in this event, so you can get to play with a Bajan team mate.
In the first competition I partnered Mapp (Bajan). We beat Terry (touring party) and his Bajan partner, with me hitting both winning doubles in the 2-1 result. It was sheer relief to at last get past a first round, but Anthony Forde and his partner (Bajans) beat us 2-0 in the next round. Again, we had looks at winning doubles, so we were kicking ourselves.
Better things happened in the next competition though. This time I was partnered with Compton Bates (Bajan). The first round was shaky for us, but we still got a 2-1 win against two Bajan women. Compton and I really raised our game in the second round against the two alpha males who had won the earlier competition. I hit a D5 to make it 1-1 and take us to a tense final game. At one point Compton and I were looking at an 11 dart finish, but annoyingly failed to finish the game and we lost 2-1. Great excitement though, and it was a real buzz to take part in a battle like that.
Pictured : me and Debs on the caramaranI played far better this time and pushed the experienced Dave Jenner (touring party) all the way in a close match which ended in a 3-2 defeat for me. I never have any complaints when I raise my game to the opposition and do my best.
As you'll see from the other match summaries I didn't win too many games, but it really wasn't bothering me too much on this great holiday.
Pictured : Scum like me and Les - in Barbados!We played our first competition of the holiday at the Almond Bay venue. My girlfriend Debs had the sternest possible of tests in her Ladies Singles game against Bajan Eloise. Debs hit a nice 123 (T20, T20, T1) and pushed all the way before going out 2-0 in the first round.
My doubles partner Les and I fared no better, losing by the same score, but we both played a strong game with chances to hit winning doubles in both games. In what must be a “first” for me I hit three consecutive tons, but all to no avail as Skinner and his new doubles partner finished in style (Bull finish on the last dart).
Janice seemed to get the furthest of all of us, and told me to mention her superb 65 finish on the blog!
Pictured : Two good markers and a D8 practice shotWe had a night away from the League on Tuesday, and played our Cup games (the Doubles / Pairs Competition) up at The Commercial in Leadgate.
Our Captain Lena was involved in making the draw, and somehow she managed to draw myself and Roger to play against her and Willie in the first round. This turned out to be a lucky move, because all four of us played so badly there was no way we could have beaten decent opposition to get into the next round. We just had to be glad that the draw guaranteed a Chelmsford representative to go through to the next round, to be played in May 2008.
As it turned out Roger and I won 2-0, but the people in the next round will be keen to play us after seeing the badness on display. We just couldn't get going, and the only positives I can take from it are that I hit both finishing doubles when I had the chance. Roger and I will really need to step up a gear to compete with the others we saw winning their games. I remember one leg where any sub 100 shot was almost a disappointment to them. Us four couldn't buy a ton.
The new Harrows Magnum darts are still going well though, and they seem to hit the doubles nicely – even on nights like Tuesday when things aren't going well.
There wasn't any good news from our team mates playing at different venues, and I think Roger and I are the only ones to progress. This is one night where I had very poor focus, and the darts weren't pretty.
Pictured : Harrows Magnum 97% tungstenThey are the same weight and length as my old ones (Hi-Tec, The Vice), but because of the incredibly high tungsten content (97% as opposed to the old 85%) they are ever so slightly slimmer. I've been using them since I got back, and although the bad shots are just as bad as always, when things go right with these it is incredible. I will definitely give them a full 3 months before even considering going back to the Hi-Tecs – there just seems to be nothing to lose.
The points are very well machined, and the darts spin in the point protector totally true. This is not the case with the cheaper Hi-Tecs, where there is a slight wobble. There are some very slight discrepancies between the three darts when it comes to the knurling, but any difference in the throw would be negligible beyond belief.
When they hit the board they just hit it with such authority. I really hope I can make these work for me. I think the real difference will be psychological though. I just love them so much I feel far more confident with them.
Last week while I was away we lost 7-2 to the Golden Lion in the cup. Tonight's 2nd 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.
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.
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.
Pictured : Yet more practice darts, all for the Bull probably
Pictured : No Woman, No Cry
Pictured : The ChelmsfordLena 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)
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 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.
Pictured : The Wheatsheaf teamWe 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!
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.
