Many darts players (especially beginners) don’t really have an intention or plan for their training. They just go to their board, pick up their darts and start to chuck them at treble 20 until they get bored and then start a few legs of 501 against a bot. Eventually they will of course improve but most of us are here to improve as fast as possible.

First of all, a well-designed training plan is something that will bring you closer to your goals for darts. If you start to look at your training sessions more seriously and a try to adapt a few smarter ways to spend your hours at the board, you’ll get many benefits. You will be more inspired to learn and to improve, you’ll boost your self confidence and much more. Therefore you will also improve faster. We highly recommend players who’re serious about darts to develop a training schedule and periodization plan and try to stick to it.

New tools to plan your training

On the Training log page on GoDartsPro (found in the drop-down-menu when you click your profile icon top right on the website) you can now add details to your following weeks and months to plan your training days. You can also mark dates when you plan to avoid darts training and instead maybe going to the gym, spinning class etc. This will also show an honest view of how much you are able to practise darts per week. Its purpose is to give you a birds-eye view of how you’re training.

Just click on the dates in the calendar and a dialog will appear where you can enter the details you want for your day. Here you can set goals for how many darts you plan to throw, game sessions to play and you can also attach a certain playlist for the day. This way you can plan your week and have different days in the week to practise finishing, power-scoring etc. Be creative and make your training more fun! And don’t worry, a poor plan is almost always better than no plan at all.

Make sure also to vary your plan for number of thrown darts and games to play during the week and also vary the intensity during the week. Make sure to have days when you really push yourself with a few tougher (and maybe longer) games as well as days where you try out new games or play games you know you’re good at. This way you’ll adapt something called periodization training which is commonly used in many other sports.

When you have plans for the current day you will get a popup showing what you’ve planned for the day. How many darts you estimated or planned for the day and how many games. As you play during the day you will see how many darts and games you have left for your daily goal.
If you have attached a playlist you will be able to click a button to start the playlist directly. The same goes for the Virtual Coach. When you select the Virtual Coach icon in the icon-gallery, you’ll also have a button to start work with the Virtual Coach right away.

The goal of periodization training is to maximize the players performance by gradually increasing the intensity in exchange for volume-loading over time, helping the client reach their peak potential.

It is also defined as the planned manipulation of training variables (hours, darts thrown, intensity) in order to maximize training adaptations and to prevent the onset of overtraining syndrome.

There are many interesting articles about periodization training and if you’re interested to learn more about this, just Google for periodization training. For example, for archers this is commonly used to maximise their training and to plan to reach their peak performance for an important competition. The two Time Olympic Archery Medalist Jake Kaminski, wrote a book (“Training for archery”) about his way to adapt periodization training and also got a few interesting videos about it.

When looking at the stats from members on GoDartsPro, taking a day or two off from darts, for rest and recovery, seems to be the hardest part for most of us (even though the Virtual Coach suggests it every now and then).

Rest and recovery are crucial for most players to prevent overuse injuries and burnout. It’s essential to listen to the body and take rest days when needed. Darts players should plan for at least one or two rest days per week, allowing the muscles to recover and reducing the risk of injury.

Rest and recovery can also include stretching to help relieve muscle tension and prevent soreness. You can also benefit from physiotherapy or massage therapy to treat or prevent injuries. Planning for days of recovery or other training forms than darts will give you a positive injection when you’re back at the board with a fresh mind.

We all know how easy it is to have plans for any kind of training or exercises, but it is tougher to maintain them and to stick to the plan. When you go to the gym in January it can be crowded since so many want to start out a new habit for the year. But after a few weeks there are less and less people showing up, and they probably have thousands of “good” reasons why they don’t continue to go to the gym…

But if you really want to improve on a steady basis, make a plan for the following weeks, fill out the training calendar with different goals and playlists, and you’ll make it easier for yourself to stick to it. Whenever you login to GoDartsPro you will your pre set plan for the day, reminding you that you’re on a journey to become the best darts player you can be.

I hope you find this new tool to plan your training useful and that you will incorporate this to your calendar on GoDartsPro. I’m always open for suggestions, so please send me an email or direct message on social media to discuss how to improve it even more for your training.

Here are a few other articles I recommend you to read:

The Power Of Good Habits

How to make your darts training more effective

Make your darts training more challenging

Bridge the gap between practice and match

Every now and then old games on GoDartsPro will be updated with a new design and with added features. This time the well known game Count-Up has been updated and now also got support for a Scolia device to auto-track the darts for you.

To everyone who ever played darts in any competitive level, this will probably sound familiar:

You arrive to the venue well ahead of the match starts, to warm up and get into the zone. Everything feels fine, you hit big scores and hit the doubles for fun and you really feel that you’re playing your best darts. ”Today, I’ll show them” you say to yourself.
It’s time for your game and you shake your opponents hand with great confidence and maybe a little smile. When you hear ”Game On” it all changes and you can’t hit anything. Your arm feels stiff and you can’t get the feeling you had just minutes ago.

The reason for this can vary and can be very personal, but many just call it Performance anxiety.

Most dart players realises soon that playing darts at a competitive level differs a lot from the training done at home. Playing darts at a competitive level is more a matter of mind over just pure skill.
So what’s the secret sauce to avoid the stress and performance anxiety?
Unfortunately there’s not a single easy answer but comfortingly, many players feel it’s getting easier and easier with experience. That’s why it is so important to get out and play as much as you can, even though you feel you’re not as good or prepared as you want to.

Here are a few things you can focus on in the meantime to bring your practice game to the match.

When you’ve practised structured and dedicated for months or years, you will not only build up your different skills (throwing, calculating etc) you will also build up your confidence. When you’re standing at the oche against a an opponent and you’ve three darts to finish a leg or a game, this extra boost of confidence and knowing you’ve prepared for this really makes a difference. You know you can hit the finishing double since you’ve done it hundreds or thousands of times in practice. Make sure you use your training time wisely to give you the extra boost when it really matters.
Get a few targets – BULL, D20 or D16 for example, and do extra dedicated training with these targets. Use the Dedication game and set your desired target and length for your session (for example to play until 50 hits or 20 minutes) and practise regularly this way to finally feel that you own your target. In a game situation when you’re facing this target to win the leg, you know it is yours and you can do it! You will do it!

I highly recommend you to use a big part of your training time to work on specific things, such as doubles, power-scoring and your grouping skills. When you practise finishing or different 501-situations (like Master 501, Solo-01, Checkpoint-501 etc) it is important to play these games in a way, as close to match-situation as you can.

When you play these games, imagine you’re up against a specific opponent (a friend, someone you lost a recent game against, Luke Littler, Gerwyn Price or anyone you’d like to win a game against) and take your time. No need to rush. You own the oche when it’s your time to throw. Take a deep breath before you go to the oche. Don’t rush the throw. Make sure you’re 100% focused before you release the darts. After the throw when you have picked up the darts, walk to the side as you would do in a real game to avoid the player that is ready at the oche and take a pause a meter or two from the oche ”until it is your time to throw”. Then you’ll get the correct match tempo during your training session and imagining you’re opponent will also give you some extra adrenaline or pulse when you’re at the oche. A different tempo at practice can really mess up your game when you have to wait for the opponent to throw.

When you’re playing a real game and your darts aren’t hitting what you’re aiming and your confidence is running low, close your eyes a few seconds away from the oche, imagine you’re at home or your favourite training place throwing darts for fun. Imagine you’re playing your favourite game or nailing your targets time and time again. Imagine you’re listening to your favourite music and try to get into the mood that you’re in charge and you’re in control. Is your hand shaky? Close your hand really hard for a few seconds a few times, and it will feel better before you’re ready to prepare your throw.
If a thrown dart is completely off, take a step back and refocus. Take a deep breath and step up to the oche again and slowly get ready for your next throw.
It is so common to see players missing the target completely stresses to the next dart which either will overcompensate or follow the first dart, instead of trying to recompose and give the next dart full attention.
Remember that every dart counts!

Focus on the thing you can do something about. Focus on your rhythm, your throw and your next throw. Don’t pay too much attention to what the other player hits or don’t hit because that is out of your control. You can’t do anything about it. It’s just you and the board. When the other player is throwing, figure out what you’ll be aiming for and try to visualize that your throw is perfect and you hit the target.

This is easier said than done. But if you just did a bad throw, missed the double or got a bad bounce out, keep calm and don’t show your opponent what you’re feeling. Wait until you get behind the opponent to reveal any body language what you’re feeling inside. If you show your opponents you’re frustrated or angry, it will fuel their confidence by knowing you’re not in balance nor in the zone.

Just lost a leg or your opponent has only one leg to win the match?
Take the pressure off yourself and reframe the situation as a fun challenge to win the next leg, and the next…
Find your own ways to stay calm and focused. Having a Pre Shot Routine can help removing the memory of the last throw and instead promote focus on the next one.

People who are having fun are more relaxed. If you show your opponent that you are having fun and that you’re relaxed you’re also sending the signals that you’re in control and that you’ve got confidence. I rather play against a person who looks stressed and nervous than one who looks focused and in control. By understanding and adopting different mental strategies, dart players at all levels can improve their game.

All these things are of course easier said than done, but if you know a few things how to prepare before a game, and you know how to get in the right mood during the game, it will help you forward. Reflect on how you respond to different situations during practice and during a match against a real opponent. What gets you calm and what gets you stressed? Be smart and use the tools available to prepare, practise and perform to make you the best darts player you can be at the moment.

Enjoy your darts and make it count!

Are you one of all the many thousands who recently discovered darts and started to play? Then you probably want to learn as much as possible and improve as fast as possible. Here’s a quick guide how to kick-start your darts career.

Register an account for free on GoDartsPro to try out many of the games available and learn how to use them for your darts practice. Make sure to visit the Support area where you’ll find many training- and game-articles as well as videos teaching you how to play the different games. You can use GoDartsPro.com using a browser with your computer, tablet or phone. No need to download anything, just browse to the website and play the games.

Upgrade to premium membership

To make the most out of your training hours, upgrade to premium membership and you will unlock more than 100 training games, monthly challenges, Premium League, 1001 Battles, fun multiplayer games as well as the so popular Virtual Coach. This is all yours for less than €0.20 / day and you can practise and play as much as you want to. Make sure to update your member profile with a photo, the flag of your country and information about you as a player.

Beginners are often enthusiastic about starting to play the games, trying to hit the doubles and hit high checkouts as they do on TV. But make sure you first know the basics about darts. The stance, the grip and how to do a proper follow through. There are many great videos on Youtube when you can learn this. It might look like a simple action, but throwing a dart is a complex activity that needs to be repeated many times until perfection. Make sure you’ve done a proper warm up and that you can be fully focused for at least 20 minutes. Don’t rush your training and make sure that every dart counts.
When you’ve practised for about 20-30 minutes, make sure to take a break. It is much better to play several focused sessions of 20 minutes with breaks in between, than throwing darts for hours.

Many of the darts practice games out there are too hard to use for darts players in the beginning of their darts careers. When you play games suitable for your level you will build your confidence and have more fun. If the games are too hard it is easy to lose interest and quit. Play games like:
Section 5
Insider
21
Lockdown Challenge
Points Around The World (PAW)
A1

Set up goals

When it comes to training and improvement it is important to set up and use goals, both short-term and long-term goals. The goals must be achievable but enough challenging for your current level. Use the High-Score game for example and play the game many times during your first month. Then you will get your scoring-average for that month. Use this as a goal and play the games many times again and try to beat your previous months average. Each months average will be displayed as a bar graph in the game. This is a fun and easy way to use goals and follow them up on GoDartsPro!

The MICO-factor concept on GoDartsPro is a unique way to find your true ability in darts.
All the games MICO-factor games are very effective, totally measurable, comparable, and therefore a solid base of how good you really are. Each game needs to be played 5 times to show your MICO-factor for that game. When you’ve played 5 MICO-factor games at least 5 times each you will get your public MICO-factor. From that on try to increase your MICO-factor decimal by decimal and improve while having fun. The Virtual Coach also use your MICO-factor to compare your stats with thousands of other members stats, with similar MICO-factor as you.

When you’ve find a game you like mark it as a favourite game. On the GameOn area, click the small white square top right of the game image and it will change to a heart showing it is one of your favourite games. You can easily reach all your favourite games by clicking the icon with a red heart in top right of the website. Use the playlist feature to set up your own training session with your favourite games or try one of the many public playlists to see what other members are practising.

Check out the different monthly challenges, play the games and try to reach the leaderboards. When you’ve connected with other members or invited your friends to GoDartsPro, you will also have Friendly Challenges to compare your scores with your friends. The challenges are fun and an effective way to practise and improve.

When you’ve finished your training for the day you can play some of the fun multiplayer games with your friends and family. These will not affect your stats on GoDartsPro and should be played just for fun.

One of the most important keys to make your darts training effective is to make your practice enough challenging. Just throwing darts at treble 20 or bull will eventually make you better but if you really want to improve as fast as possible you need to start practise deliberately with a good amount of pressure.

Try to beat your current level

Instead of only focusing on your 501 average as an indicator of your current level, check your statistics from your favourite games on GoDartsPro and find your average there. It’s better to try to beat your average scores rather than just chasing to beat your high-score for a game. This will give you small victories more often and will build up your confidence and your mind-set that you can win and that you are a winner.

The coach for the Swedish Development Team, Peter Sajwani, asked me to add the game SOLO-01 to GoDartsPro which is a game he use regularly for the players in the team. He gives them a ”homework” to find out how few darts they need to win 8 out of 10 legs in a game of 501. They then play against that fixed number of darts to try to win 8 out of 10 legs. Their number of darts to play against will be lowered as they improve. That’s a smart and effective way to put you under good amount of pressure at your current level.
Try it you too with the game SOLO-01

Use Premium League & Monthly challenges

Use the Premium League concept and the Monthly Challenges on GoDartsPro. Find a game you like on GoDartsPro that has some kind of leaderboard for it. Either as a Monthly Challenge, part of the Premium League concept or as an in-game leaderboard. Concentrate and play a session of the game and compare your score with the leaderboard. Didn’t make it to the leaderboard? No worries, continue and play the game again and try to beat your previous best score until you reach the leaderboard.
Got a position in the leaderboard? Check the score just above and try to beat it to climb the leaderboard?
Are you in the lead of the leaderboard? Have a break – you deserve it!

The Virtual Coach IS a challenge

The Virtual Coach is designed and developed to challenge the players to perform just on top of their current level or average. This inspires the players to beat their average again and again which leads to a steady improvement. If the Virtual Coach want to suggest a game for you and you haven’t yet played it, the Virtual Coach compares your MICO-factor with thousands of other members on GoDartsPro, to find a suitable level for the game to set up a challenging task for you. If you’re having problems finishing the tasks the Virtual Coach gives you, try to finish at least one before time’s up and then try the new tasks you’ll get at next visit.

Mix up your games with the playlist feature

Create a playlist with a few fun games you know you usually perform quite good at and mix them with a few tougher games. A big reason people don’t improve that much is that they mostly practising the things their already good at. I know, it is much more fun to play a drum fill you know you can do quite good, rather than practising the rudiments on a rubber practice pad you know will make you good later on… Challenge yourself and pick a few tough games where your main task is to stay focused and positive until you finish it.

Set a goal for your training session

A good habit is to set a goal for your training session and that you don’t quit until you reached it.
The goal must always be personal based on your current level and achievable. For example, to score more than 100 points with three darts, hit at least one 180, throw five throws over 85 in a row etc. Be creative and set new goals for your sessions to make them more fun. Stick to it and don’t quit until you’ve nailed it.

There are several things you can do to make your darts training more effective but many beginners neglect some of the most important keys just because they are too eager to get started, throw darts and improve. Here are some areas you really should pay attention to, to boost your training sessions.

Before an intense training session, play in the league or a tournament you need a proper warm up. Not just routines to use with your darts to loosen up and get dialled in on the board. Many players neglect the importance of a proper physical warm up. To get your arm and the mechanics prepared for throwing darts. If you warm up properly and also add a bit of stretching after your darts sessions, you also minimize the risk to get shoulder/arm/neck injuries.

With the first few minutes when you start throwing darts, focus on the mechanics and the follow through rather than what you aim at or what you hit.
Make sure your throw is as smooth and relaxed as possible. Don’t stress this phase to try out a new fun game or start hunting the trebles.

When your arm feels relaxed and ready to start throwing there are many ideas and suggestions for best warming up routines. If you for example check the Playlists feature on GoDartsPro you’ll find many different warming up routines shared by other members. You need to find what works best for you but to give you some ideas, here’s a few you can try:

– Around the board (three darts at every single/double/treble – no pressure, just get ready for business)
– 20 – BULL – 3 (get your arm dialled in verically)

You can also try different switching routines to warm up on different important targets such as the SwitchBlade, PowerSwitch or Switching Doubles.

A common mistake is to neglect the importance of focusing on every dart. Never throw a dart if you don’t really mean it. If you don’t get a good score with your first two darts, it doesn’t make it better by throwing away the last dart without full focus and intention. That’s also one reason several games on GoDartsPro got a feature to ”Save the throw” with last dart in different ways (like ”Save score with bull” as in the game 501 O’Clock).

Another common misstake is to play too long sessions too often. Of course you need to mix up your training and being able to stay focused during longer sessions but it is easier to keep focus if you have short effective games with some fun gamification/challenge to it.
Most of the MICO-factor games are short and effective and got a decent amount of pressure added to it to make it more challenging. The Exponential Bundle and the Pivot bundle for example.

The Virtual Coach is designed and developed to challenge you to perform just on top of your average. If you do that regularly your average will increase and you will improve. Sounds easy but of course it gets harder and harder. The Virtual Coach also compares your stats with thousands of other members stats to see where your flaws are and what kind of games and task will be suitable for you.

The Virtual Coach will suggest different challenging tasks for you to finish and will inspire you to practise more structured.

Short-term goals help you stay motivated and focused since you can see results more quickly.
Long-term goals may feel a bit far away in the future, making it harder to stay motivated while working on them. But they’ll give you direction, purpose, and a roadmap for your future success.

You might have heard about the SMART goals method, but what are SMART goals? The SMART in stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

As your goals are being developed and phases of different goals are being accomplished, it is good practice to reevaluate each goal and make sure they are still relevant and achievable. Once any of your goals have been accomplished, make sure to celebrate the success and start setting up new SMART goals.
You might have set a goal to reach 25 180’s during the year, but also to reach a certain average in the High-Score game for a month for example. If you haven’t got any specific goals yet, pick a few favourite games on GoDartsPro and set some Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound goals for them.

If you’ve recently started to play darts it is so easy to just spend hour after hour at the board throwing thousands of darts each day. It is so much fun and you are so inspired and dedicated to improve faster than your friends and opponents.
But if you don’t take pauses about every 20-30 minutes or so, you run a risk of reinforcing bad habits. Bad habits can lead to bad practise which could only hold you back from achieving your goals. Take breaks and make sure to skip darts completely a day or two every now and then. It will build up your hunger again and can do wonders to your game play.

It might sound boring to plan your practice when you just want to throw darts all the time.
But it can be very beneficial to divide your training info several specific sessions where you focus on different areas to improve. It can be focusing on groupings, power-scoring, doubles, finishing etc. It can also be very beneficial to adapt some kind of periodization to your training. That means to not practise the same lengths of sessions with the same kind of intensity every time. There’s a concept called periodizational training that can be very positive also for darts training, to plan your training to reach peak performance for an important tournament.

The Olympian archerer Jake Kaminsky has written an interesting book about adapting this concept for arhery (”Training for archery” – thanks Łukasz Wacławski for suggesting me reading this book!)

To improve and become good at darts most of us need to spend many hours practising at the board. Just playing 501’s, leg after leg, or only around the board or even worse, just throwing at treble 20, can be really tiring and boring. When things are getting tiring and boring we all know what it does to the inspiration to continue and to your focus.

Therefore, it is extremely important to make your training fun and engaging so you instead are looking forward to your next training session. Here are some ideas how to make your darts training mor fun and engaging.

There are so many good training games to choose from so don’t just stick to only a few.
Vary your training with games focusing on different aspects of the game of darts. Play short games. Play long games. If you’ve tried a routine that you didn’t like, put it away for a while and find some other game. There are always variations that can be more fun and more suitable for you at your current level. Check out the playlists that other members on GoDartsPro has made public and find new favourite games to add to your toolbox.

When it comes to darts practise, nothing is as fun as when you’re improving. If you don’t track your darts and game sessions, how are you going to know if you’re improving? You need to be able to see your development so by far, the most efficient way for early-stage players is to keep a record of your training. Make it a habit to regularly go to the Training Log and follow up your training and check the in-game-statistics when you’ve played a game.

Compare your scores with other players

When we managed to get a great score for a game session, it can be really fun to compare the score with other players, to see how good it was. It can also be a great trigger for setting your next goal to work for. For example, if you compare your score with other members scores in a leaderboard/challenge on GoDartsPro, and find out that there is someone with a slightly better score, use that score as your next goal to beat. This will give you the feeling of – ”just one more time” – and your training and development continues…

No matter what sport you play, coaches will always tell you to set goals to work towards.
For darts, setting goals is extremely important. Goals can both be scores and averages for a game session or a period of time, but can also be the number of darts you throw or how many hours you practise during a week/month. Set reasonable but challenging goals and when you achieve your goal, it is also important to celebrate or treat yourself to mark/highlight in your memory that you managed to reach your goal. It can be goals for a certain score in a game, to reach a certain MICO-factor, hit your first 180 or a number of tons in a row. Goals are personal and should reflect your current level and what you want to achieve.
When you’ve reached an important goal, get that nice darts shirt you always wanted or buy a new set of darts. Wearing that nice darts shirt when you play the next time will give you an extra boost of confidence since you know you got it from reaching your goal.

If you set up a nice area in your home where you really feel inspired to practice it will probably lead to more quality training hours. If you instead, always need to move some furnitures, set up your dartboard on a tripod, or walk/drive 45 minutes to practice, you’ll probably lose interest soon or at least practise fewer hours.
Make your darts corner a nice place to be at and you’ll spend more quality time there. When you get your first trophies, make sure to put them up in your darts corner to remind you that you’re a winner!

When you hear athletes talking about their performance or how they’ll win an important tournament or a game, you can often hear them talk about ”getting into the zone” and the need for extreme focus. So how do you get ”into the zone” and what is it?

Flow described on Wikipedia:
”In positive psychology, a flow state, also known as being in the zone, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.”

The concept ”Flow” was named by the psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi and shares many characteristics with hyperfocus (hyperfocus is an intense form of mental concentration or visualization that focuses consciousness on a task).

The flow state or being in the zone, is the experience of being so absorbed by an engaging, enjoyable task that has got your complete attention. You’re not thinking of anything else and you lose sense of time and self-consciousness (as you probably do with most of the games on GoDartsPro… ;)).

You can set up your training plan and a training environment to make it as flow-promoting as possible. Here’s a short guide how to get into flow more often.

When you’re about to practise, turn of phone (if you use it with GoDartsPro, just turn off your signal) and make sure you can practise without distractions. If you can, practise early in the day when your mind is fresh and you’re well rested.

You can make it easier to get into the zone by creating a ritual.
It could be to pour up a glass/bottle of water to have next to you during practise, and turn on your favourite focus playlist. Create or use a playlist with games on GoDartsPro that makes you feel you’re in the zone. Find a way of letting your brain know that you’re about to practise hard.

An important part of getting into a flow state is working on a specific task with a clear goal.
Games like Dedication, High-Score, Dead centre are good games to get the flow you’re after. Easy to use games with one clear task and goal. Focus, throw and make it count!
You’ll find it a whole lot easier to achieve a flow when you know exactly what you’re working on and why. Knowing what you’re about to accomplish also gives you a sense of control.

Practising darts with the right amount of challenge are more engaging.
Flow is dependent on finding that sweet spot between your current skills and the challenge at hand.
One way to achieve this is to engage in something called ”Deliberate practice”.
”Deliberate practice” is where every training session has a specific goal that can be measured, analyzed, and optimized to increase your overall performance. You need to push your skills to their limit (that’s what we got the Virtual Coach for). Deliberate practice, if applied correctly, can turn your potential into reality!

Most of the games on GoDartsPro are developed with “deliberate practise” in mind and to facilitate getting “into the zone”.
The games are easy to understand and use, right amount of challenge, they’ve got measurable statistics, works well with short-term and long-term goals and you’ll get instant feedback during the game session. This is also why it is extremely valuable to use the games and statistics for your training to deliberately practise towards your goals.

With a Scolia kit to track the darts for you it is even easier to get “into the zone” since all you have to do is to focus on the next throw during the whole game session.

Finding ways to maximize the amount of time you spend “in the zone” will make you more engaged, satisfied, and creative. You will feel better when you’re in flow and you’ll feel more satisfied after your training session.
Many successful people use the flow to get where they want.
So why shouldn’t you?

Get into the zone and make it count!

Play the “Flow” playlist now!

Practising finishing in darts helps you manage pressure effectively and take advantage of opportunities when they arise. The Polish player and GoDartsPro ambassador Łukasz Wacławski contacted me about this game idea he had to combine parts from different finishing games to create a new fun and challenging game – The Checkout Randomizer!

“Keeping concentrated and motivated mindset during each training session, is the key to progress. It should never be about just “going through routines”. A player needs a certain attitude and commitment to MAKE IT COUNT for him! When I plan darts training, I like to think about analogy to video games – what makes people motivated to spend so much time mastering any game? How they are able to sit in front of the monitor for hours and hours, pressing buttons with flushed faces and eyes wide open with astonishment and anticipation?

Łukasz Wacławski and Gerwyn Price at PDC Superbet Poland Darts Masters Warsaw 2023 (photo PAP)

More and more clubs and tournaments are using digital tools to mark the scores in games of 501, and auto-tracking devices like Scolia are more common. That makes it even more important to know how to calculate the scores fast to not lose focus and rhythm during the throws. We also know that online technical solutions can have technical problems with downtime as a result. Then it is good to know how to mark (chalk) a game of 501 with pen and paper.

During a training camp last weekend I noticed that we were quite a few players that wasn’t that confident marking the games. With fast throwing players it is important to be confident and know how to calculate fast to get the chalking right. That’s why I checked old requests about darts maths and how to chalk a game, and started to create a game for it. The more you practise the easier it will be. You will both remember combinations and learn how to calculate faster. Since chalking darts games only involves subtraction, the maths isn’t that hard once you know how to think.
Give it a few tries and you will see.

The idea is to sit down with a piece of paper and mark the scores as they are presented in the game, but you can of course practise doing the calculations and verify that you got it right. You can download the GoDartsPro -01 score sheet here and print it:

Click to download

Set the different delays for the game to suit your speed to calculate or press any key to pause/play (or click the pause/play button top right).

Here are some well known help how to do the subtraction calculation easier.
Always start with the numbers in the end and subtract them one by one as in the examples below.

If the score is close to 100, it can often be easier to first calculate using 100. Let’s say the score is 437 and the player score 95, and we normally have this calculation:
437
-95
An easier way is to first calculate 437 – 100 = 337 and then we know that 100-95 = 5 to add, which gives you 337+5 = 342.

Many of us are also having extra difficulties when it comes to calculations requiring changing hundreds.
In cases like 284 – 87, it is often easier to think in two steps like this: 284 – 84 = 200 and then – 3 = 197 (minus 3 for the rest after taking 84 from 87). Or 142 – 49 in steps like 142 – 42 = 100 – 7 = 93 (minus 7 for the rest after taking 42 from 49).

Not all scores will be that easy to mark, so we need to figure out a way to calculate other scores as well.

More complicated calculations need to be handled in a slightly different way.
If the number on the 2nd row (subtrahend)is bigger than the number above (minuend) we need think different.

Here’s another example:

If the above didn’t make it any easier for you, there’s another way to think and calculate.
Start with the numbers in the end but do the opposite and take the number on the 2nd row (subtrahend)and do – with the number on the top row (minuend).
That gives as a number that we need to subtract from 10. We then need to add the 1 to the next number we calculate.

Don’t get scared by all the calculations. If you practise calculating and counting like this for 10-20 minutes per day it will soon be a lot easier. But if you still can’t figure out how to calculate you’re left with hitting only 100’s down to a finish and make it easier for yourself and the chalker… 😉

Click here and try Chalk Master today!

The PowerSwitch game has been around on GoDartsPro for quite some time and it is a popular darts training game for many players to sharpen their switching and scoring skills. I played it many times recently and felt a new option to the game would be a great feature to add some extra pressure to the game.

In PowerSwitch your targets are treble 20, treble 19 and treble 18! If you hit a treble, you stay on that target with your next dart. If you miss a treble use your next dart for the next target. 3 points for trebles and 1 point for singles.
You only score on the target numbers 20,19 and 18.

Examples:
First dart hits T20 = 3 points (stay on T20)
2nd dart hits S20 = 1 point (next target is T19)
Last dart hits T19 = 3 points

First dart hits S5 = 0 points (next target is T19)
2nd dart hits T7 = 0 points (next target is T18)
Last dart hits T18 = 3 points

The PowerSwitch bundle option borrows the game logic from Exponential Bundle which adds a new dimension of pressure to the game which is always good training. First throw is the same as above, try to hit treble 20 with your first dart. If you hit it you continue on treble 20 otherwise your next dart goes for t19 and so on.

With the new bundle option every 2nd throw you need to score as much as possible (any field on the board counts).
When a switching throw and a scoring throw are done, these two are multiplied to get your first points in the game.

So if you for example got 7 points with your first 3 darts (as mentioned above) and you score 85 on your next throw, your total score for the first round would be 7 X 85 = 595.
With this new logic you add a lot of pressure to the scoring throw when you had a really good first switching throw. You really want to hit a big score with the 2nd throw and that throw needs your full focus.

With PowerSwitch bundle you throw 10 switching throws and 10 scoring throws in total.
Use this game option to simulate the pressure you will feel and the focus you will need in a real game.

Play the game today!

With the new Playlists-feature on GoDartsPro you’ll be able to practise more structured and less random. You can follow other members’ playlists for inspiration and take your training to a new level.

Creating custom workouts has been a frequently suggested feature since the launch of the workouts feature with the Virtual Coach. Many members has asked for a way to group their favourite games into a sequenced playlist for better flow during their training. Instead of picking random games to practise, you can now create different playlists for different needs.

At the playlists page you’ll see your own playlists, featured playlists and public playlists. Just click a playlist to expand and see the games added to it. On each playlist you’ll have a small HEART symbol and by clicking it you will toggle follow/unfollow. For each playlist you’ll also see a small PLAY symbol that will start the first game in the playlist for you.

When the first game is finished a small popup will show a countdown timer before the next game in the playlist automatically will load.
Next to the title “PUBLIC PLAYLISTS” you’ll also see a filter symbol that will let you filter the public playlists shown.

When you’ve clicked a playlist it will expand and show the details for you. Top right you can copy the link and share with your friends. Just click the play icon to start the playlist or back to minimize the playlist again.

When you’re creating your own playlist you have different options to add the games to the playlist. If you are using a computer, the easiest option is to just DRAG-AND-DROP the games in the list where you want them. You can also easily change the order of the playlist by dragging the games and place them in the right order. For some games, there will also be different OPTIONS available. If you select any options these will be preselected for the game and can not be altered. Under the list of games you will also see a select option “– Find game to add”. Here you can search for the game you’re looking for and add it to the end of your playlist.
Just click the name to change it or click the icon next to the playlist type to give your playlist some other category.

You can also create a playlist or add games to an existing playlist from within the games available. Just click the HEART icon in top menu to expand the quick links dropdown.

To the playlists >

Many players are having consistency issues and can not group the darts in a solid way. To get more consistent you need of course to look at your stance and throw and see if there are anything that can be adjusted. There are plenty of videos on YouTube explaining and showing how to stand, balance and throw in a proper way.
But you should also practise more grouping games to build up a strong consistent throw.

With the BIG SINGLES game you need to hit the big single of the numbers 1-20 and the level you choose at start decides how many hits you need to continue to the next number. Your aim is to finish the game with as few darts/throws as possible. Several members have requested a game based on big singles around the board where the rule adds pressure to the training. I gathered all the ideas, tested it on my own a few times and created the BIG SINGLES game on GoDartsPro with the following levels:

ADVANCED LEVEL 3 hits = move to next number 2 hits = stay on current number 1 hit = go back one number 0 hits = go back two numbers INTERMEDIATE LEVEL 2/3 hits = move to next number 1 hit = stay on current number 0 hit = go back one number BEGINNER LEVEL 1-3 hits = move to next number 0 hit = stay on current number 6 missed darts in a row = go back one number

(Big singles are the fields highlighted in the dartboard above.)

So for the ADVANCED level you need to hit all three darts in the big single to move on to the next number.
If you hit 2 darts in the big single you’re staying at the same number. If you only manage to hit one big single you need to get back one number and if you miss all three darts you need to get back two numbers on the board.

By adding the punishment when you don’t manage to get the number of hits required to move on, we build up the necessary pressure to the game. This pressure force you to focus and make sure that every dart counts. If you miss the first dart, try to recompose and focus to hit the big single with the next dart.

This game can therefore be tougher than you think even if we’re only throwing at the big singles.

Many players like to use different “around-the-board” routines as the ending part of their warming-up routine.
Use this BIG SINGLES game and track your darts to see how you improve.

Play the game today!

Many darts players suffer from a weak throw. Luckily there are many ways to improve this area. A weak throw is quite a common problem. Here we go through a few things you can do to strengthen your throw.

Many top professional players were before their career pro IE carpenters, bricklayers, painters, plasterers and similar – so they have used their hands quite a lot. Even though this is a very personal matter, we would like to encourage you to do so as well.
No, we don’t mean body-builders nor gym bunnies, but something using your hands and getting them stronger.
The basic move you would like to get stronger would be the opposite move of your normal throw, which would be the biceps. You don’t need to build a beefcake style of a lump, but it’s always helpful if the opposing muscle group is strong.
So we recommend that you get a couple of hand weights and do the series of biceps say 8 – 7 – 5 repeats (break of 30 seconds after each), thrice a week, without needing to grind like mad, but still “feeling the force”. For someone, this could mean 4-5 kilos weights, with somebody stronger 12 kilos or even more.

We went through one game of six darts practice last week. If you did it, you’ll certainly know what I am talking about. It will make your hand a bit more powerful.
We recommend you doing this on Mondays and Tuesdays just to get your throw back to normal before any important competitions, which are mainly held on weekends.

Whenever things get severely bad, you can always start playing around with your throw, if it’s damaged and gone totally unbalanced. Change the set for the heavier, for the lighter, just play around. This could be called “rebooting”. You can use anything up to 5-6 sets at a time and just start throwing with them almost aimlessly – for example aiming inside of the treble ring. Wear your arm totally off by tossing the darts as long as you can, say maximum 15-20 minutes.
Do this two days on the trot and then have at least 3 days off the board. Whenever you come back, you’re up for a surprise…

This is one of the best ways to get rid of the most general weakness of the throw. Just stand back from the oche at least a meter (or yard) and try throwing as close to the bull or treble 20. The thing with this is that you need to give it some time. So don’t give up easily! The more you try the better is the all-round effect! Still don’t do this at a time more than half an hour.

Naturally, you can combine these practices any way you wish.

Enjoy your practice!

Mikko Laiho (RIP)

There isn’t anything in the world as satisfactory as hitting 180. Except for hitting them a few times in short intervals! So should one practice only hit 180’s or perfect scores? The short answer to this one is an absolute NO.
If you don’t happen to be MvG or Phil Taylor…

Instead, you should aim for the two-hits-per-throw area. That’s much easier and still as effective – the frustration factor doesn’t occur anywhere near as often if only going for the maximums. Also hitting the maximum score can be next to impossible for the majority of players.

The Palace of champions is full of one kind of players: Those who can get to a finish and then finish it. Simple as that. So scoring as heavily as you can is essential. Imagine that you’re hitting continually say 140, 125, 140, 137, 140, which would beat 180, 180, 100, 100, 100!
Of course, this is for the more advanced players, but anyone who wants to improve should at least try to get these 2/3 hits and even ground the whole practice on these.
So for example you could go the doubles around the board 2/3 or the trebles 2/3. It is a doable and very effective practice.
But how to get there? How to be able to hit two tiny targets with your three darts only? To be honest that’s not easy.

This is a delicate issue, but please don’t jump on me yet. Cheating is absolutely allowed to give a little bit of handicap to the players who aren’t at the level of best. And it’s good for your mind. Even though we are true believers in pressure as a tool when practicing, cheating gives a little trim to your game, and it kind of balances and adjusts your practicing. After all, we all have our bad days in the office, right?

You can use four or even five or six darts – am hoping that every one of contemporary players has got two exactly similar sets nowadays – when trying to get through this weeks practice game. Of course if you have been playing a while you shouldn’t need to use any extra darts.

This is a nice little game for all level of players, who have read the above. So please, if you think this is too hard to achieve with three darts only, don’t hesitate to use some extra darts. Even novices can make progress to their power scoring with this Hit & Run –game. No marking is required.
Your aim is to hit two different trebles in the same go, to advance further. So for example treble 1 and treble 2 in the same throw. When you get it, your next task is to hit trebles 3 and 4, in the same go etc. Your goal is to get through all the way from treble 1 to treble 20.
And you can use the “Burn Dart” –rule: If you hit your target with your last dart and the next throw’s FIRST DART also hits, you’re done with this target. Or you can use more darts than three if you feel to do so…

Enjoy your practice!

Text: Mikko Laiho (RIP)

Due to the fact that development in darts is a slow process – all of the top players have been playing for over 10 years before reaching their top game – patience is a very important virtue of a darts player. So you need to know what are you practicing and why, so learn the game before tossing it to the bin!

Probably the most famous top players practice game in the world would be this simple and effective game. You need to hit two double 1’s with your three darts, then two double 2’s and so on. We call it “Dual Double”. It will take – naturally depending on a player’s normal throwing rhythm – say 30-45 minutes county-level player to get done.
Advanced players does it in 20-30 minutes. Top pro will use at least 15 minutes for this game. But it is absolutely natural that you get stuck in one particular double. All that grinding! You could end up banging the same double for 15 minutes or so!

And same pro player who goes this through today in 20 minutes flying colours can’t get it done tomorrow in 50!
These daily variations in form and accuracy are normal, and you should always consider yourself well-trained if you manage to do any practice routine at a normal time – today.

Learning any practice game is essential. You need to know which level you’re achieving easily, which is your standard, and how long time it normally takes to get through the wanted goal.
The best way to learn a new practice game is just playing it, that’s obvious. Play it ten times and see what’s your best score, or what’s the best time you can without rushing do it. Then repeat that next practice day and see if you could break the records you made yesterday.

Then leave it be for a few sessions, and try again. You’re now learning your level in this game, you’ve done your self-assessment, which is vital to your road to pro.

This is a very effective but hard practice game for gaining accuracy with the doubles. This is a “Hit & Run” game so no marking up needed. You need to have two doubles in one bed before you can progress – in one throw. You’re using only the even doubles. Starting with double 2, then double 4, finishing on double 20.

Burn-Dart rule: This is to avoid “burned darts”. If you have missed first two darts, aim still well with the third, because if you hit with it AND also next throws first dart, it is counted “two in the bed” and you can move on!

More advanced players can use all the doubles from 1-20 + Bulls’eye.

Top Pro–candidates can play this game without the Burn-dart rule and Future World Champions can play this without any hits on the singles in a successful two-doubles round!

Text: Mikko Laiho (RIP)

One of the most asked questions from darts player must be “How do I deal with my nerves?” If I could give a straight answer which would help everyone, I’d be a rich man. But there are ways to stay focused even under tremendous pressure, and they can be learned.

a) Make yourself think all the way through, that you will win this game and stick with the thought no matter what
b) Visualize yourself hitting the winning double instantly when you get the chance – repeat this many times during the match
c) Winning or losing isn’t the matter of life and death, so be happy if you ever get a chance to win it – and then go back to part b!
d) After poor throw try to forget that immediately and get prepared for the next, better throw.

a) Every time an opponent shows disappointment take it as an extra dart
b) Never show your feelings through the match
c) Every time you hit your objective be happy and stay aggressive – if you feel well there’s no need to hide that! But keep cool still though

i) Always breath in and out before any important throw – the deeper the better, but remain breathing out as priority, this reduces your adrenalin levels

ii) Try to stay steady with breathing

iii) Make a routine out of proper breathing, internet is full of advice

i) Shake your hands if they feel stiff

ii) Do a few shadow throws behind your opponent or before an important dart

iii) Your fingers should always feel easy, you can make fists and burst them open to make them feel better

i) Try to focus on the certain part of the target, may it be treble, double or even single. If your darts stay flights up, try to hit the upper part of the middle of the treble – if they saty flights down, aim for the lower part of your target

i) Always look like a winner, no matter what happens

ii) Leave the sportsmanship to dodgy guys – raise above that

iii) Hold your head up!

iv) Take a breather and pace your throw even slightly slower than usual, hurrying when pressured normally makes more mistakes than surprising hits

Text: Mikko Laiho (RIP)

Darts is all about the right mindset. Naturally you need a proper practice and hopefully your throwing action is easy, strong, steady and economical as well, but that’s more or less debatable, as top pros like Mensur Suljovic and John Henderson have proved.
So what would be the best way to improve the space between your ears?

That’s not that difficult, you need to practise such games and routines that you enjoy. They need to be suitably challenging, their difficulty level must be right for you and you need to like to do them. So you need to gain some WINS under your belt. Might they be just a little wins. A win might be just a proper score or getting through your favorite routine swiftly. That’s how you learn to win because your biggest opponent and nemesis has always been and will be forever yourself.

So you need to win yourself before winning anybody else!

If you like to play against your mates that’s totally fine as well, as long as you remember that nothing in this world beats solo practice! Try always to play against the same level of player or just a tad better than you.
In solo practise it’s preferable to play two kinds of games per day, not many more. I suggest that you plan your routines beforehand and think ahead rather a week than a single day.

Grouping, doubles, and finishes are the basic main groups we all know, but there are also many different kind of things that counts as darts practice as well. We could talk about ‘best–of–games’ against a single target, say you missed your last league match 6 darts to Tops so you want to beat it in your next session. Play against double 20 say best of 11 (first to 6 wins/legs). If you consider yourself a pub player you get a point every time you finish 40 points (D20) by normal 01-game style so if you hit single you have 20 (D10) left and so on.
You get it, it’s 1-0 to you. If you don’t the imaginary opponent gets a point. If you can finish it twice in the same throw, you get 2 points, and so on. If you’re a superleague or county player, you can make the rule of missing that the opponent gets 2 points. ‘Best of –games’ can also be played against 201 for example. If you’re a normal player, play against 12 darts. If you play superleague, use only 9 darts. If you’re a county-level player, what prevents you play against 221 or 241 as well?! Use your imagination and be fair to your true level because the more you win, the more enjoyable all is and the good old cranium resonates positively from inside!

These are essential practice routines to get your personal rhythm to a state of FLOW or ZONE. You need these games every day you practise. Mikko’s MegaTrain is a good example of a brilliant top-level Hit & Run -game, but if you aren’t on that level yet, I’d strongly suggest you to do some more humane games from our ‘Starter-Pack’ {{LINK}} section. If those feel too easy for you, don’t worry, you belong to our exact target group and you better just adjust StarterPack games a little bit more difficult.

We very strongly suggest that every day you practise, you should have at least one grouping game in your program. Treble 20-hammering is 75 % of the game so you want to be very good in that. You can get better in scoring doing grouping games like all the different bundles-games on GoDartsPro, Mikko’s MegaTrain and A1 to mention only a few.

Straightforward double routines belong to every self-respecting darts player’s selection. There are many of them, pick the best one for you for today, because you can always change it for another one for another day!

We’ve got these naturally, and we got quite a few to choose from and vary your training with.
GrindOut, Catch 40, 121, Checkout Challenge, Five Checkouts, and 201 Challenge to name a few.

So our suggestion is to pick games from two categories per day and don’t forget to have a day or two off per week!
Remember, it’s up to you!

Text: Mikko Laiho (RIP)

Numerous studies tell that any kind of accuracy practice should be done with 100% concentration, and darts isn’t an exception. So how would be the best way to keep your focus?

Timing is everything in darts, but also in practice. An average match lasts approximately 25-35 minutes, and if you transfer that to solo-training that would be somewhere of region of 20 minutes.

So practise fully focused for about 20 mins. After that have a break of 5-10 minutes and you’re good to go again. After two short sessions you are best to have a proper break, say 30-45 minutes before throwing again.
Then you get the rest your body and mainly mind requires.

I’d say there’s absolutely no need to go ever over three hours per day in solo practice – but if you’ve just begun to play or you’re very young you might exceed even that time to time.

The older you get the more attention you should be giving to your 100% fully focused training.

Your body and your mind needs rest

After 3-4 days of intense practice, you also need to stay away from darts completely for a whole day.
The day away from darts can do magic for your inspiration and hunger to practice fully focused again.
That can be really tough since we’re all passionate about darts and eager to improve.

Use the games on GoDartsPro to keep your focus!

Enjoy your darts!

Now you can challenge yourself, your friends and all other members in different challenges on GoDartsPro.

We start with the game ‘100 darts @ 20’ and the challenge runs through August. Attend as many times as you want and your highest score will be your contribution to the challenge.

The scores are saved for each throw so if you abort and leave the game before finishing it, your challenge score will be the score when you left the game. Next time you start the game from the challenge your current session will be resumed and you can continue from where you left.

There will be more challenges with different games and rules soon so this is just a small summer start.
Each challenge will have its own rules and settings. Some will be restricted to one try per challenge and others will accept as many tries as you want.

GoDartsPro reserves the right to remove/hide scores that are most likely entered to cheat and the member will be contacted.

Here’s the Challenge page!

There are a lot of aspects that makes any darts training drill a great game.
It needs to be:
* Challenging
* Inspiring
* Fun
* Simulating pressure
* Right level for the player

Our new doubles practice game, Doubles Lock, has it all.

You can compete with yourself on many levels in this game:
1) Finish the game – it’s quite a task itself
2) As quick as possible – play the clock
3) Score as much as possible
4) Least amount of darts used

Throw three darts at the same double and your first target double 20.
Each target needs at least one hit to move on to next target double 19. As a result if you miss the 19’s – you are back on hitting the 20’s.

When you hit the target double twice or thrice you lock that number for further play – you don’t need to go back any further.

Every time you manage to hit more than one target double, you get points. 2 hits means 50 points, three hits 100 points.

EXAMPLE:
You hit Double 20 twice, now you get 50 points and it becomes locked and your new starting-base is Double 19.
When you then continue and hit Doubles 19, 18 and 17 once each the pressure becomes massive on Double 16.
If you miss Double 16 with all three darts you’re back at your base which now is Double 19 because you locked Double 20.
But, if you instead hit Double 16 with all 3 darts you score 100 points and 16 is now your new base!

Play the game until Double 1 is done and dusted.
Depending on your player level this game will normally take 20-60 minutes to finish and it doesn’t suit for beginners.

Practice them doubles!

This must be natural to you already, but never underestimate the power of repetition. The business end of the match is always doubles.

The game of the week

Double Tussle

Your aim is to hit three double ones before moving on to double two. Depending on your level, you can choose to use either six, nine or twelve darts achieving this.

So if you’re an advanced player, you can use six darts only.

If you’re an average player – like 85% of us – please use nine darts for each number.

If you’ve begun your darts career not so long ago, please don’t hesitate to use twelve darts to do this.
Remember that you can only move on hitting each double three times.
The game should be doable in approx. 45-60 minutes at each level.
It is a simple and very straight forward game and it can make wonders to your doubling skills.

Enjoy your practice!