Beginners Practice Routines 

It’s easy just to go up to your board and throw darts but without a pan you aren’t getting what you could get out of your practice routines.

I’ve put together a list and quick description of some practice routines and a special bonus at the end to take your practises a bit further.

There are three practice routines that can help improve your ability to hit a double: 

• Up 10, Down 1

Here you start at 80 points and try to check out in 3 darts, (try and score 80 points and end on a double). 

If you succeed, you move up to 90 points; 

if not, you move down to 79 points. 

The game continues until you reach 100 points or fall below 0.

• One-to-One 

The goal is to check out 121 using 9 darts or less. 

For every successful shot at 121, you earn one point; 

for every unsuccessful attempt using all 9 darts, you lose one point. 

Try to get to 5 points then move up to 131 etc.

• Around the clock

The purpose of the game is to get 1, 2, 3 and so on all the way to 20. 

If you miss any number with three darts, you go back a step.

This will help when playing under pressure because your body starts to know where that sweet spot on each segment of numbers is located.

More beginners practice routines. 

If you need more description or help just contact me.

Calendar

Throw at a different segment each day, based on what day of the month it is. If it’s 31, try to hit 31 in 2 darts.

Out

Choose an out (e.g.32) and try to hit the corresponding number on the dartboard, not the double, just the number.

You can choose a double finish i.e. 50, 40, 38, 36 etc or any score from 101 down. 

Chase the Flight

Throw a dart and then aim for the flight/barrel instead of the board itself. 

This helps develop grouping as you are aiming for a target you have just hit.

Blind Man/No-Look Throw

Close your eyes and throw at a particular segment; make adjustments mentally, not visually. 

If you are regularly missing the board move on to another game lol.

One-to-One

Check out 121 in as few darts as possible. If you check out in 9 darts, go up 1 point, so try to finish 122 next; 

If you miss in 9 darts then you go down a point.

Intermediate Player Practice Routines

I’ve added a couple of intermediate practice drills here in case you can easily do the beginners routines or if you are at that level and are looking for something new to try.

Bogey Double and Split

In this drill, you just practice hitting a double that you don’t like, as well as the split afterwards. 

So if you don’t like or have trouble hitting double 17, then you aim for x17 and keep practicing down to the finish. 

So in this example your first dart hits 17 so you play down to and finish on a double i.e. single 9 double 4.

Bob’s 27

This is a practice game where the objective is to get as many points as possible from double 1 to double top, but if you miss any double you are deducted the value of the double. 

If you miss the target with all three darts, you are deducted the value of the double.

The goal is to get past zero without constantly missing, and to also get the bullseye at the end.

Tbh this one is very hard to finish with a positive score for me lol.

Shanghai

In shanghai you score as many points as possible on number 10 thru 15. (Being less popular numbers).

If you score a Shanghai on any of those numbers, you get a 100 point bonus.

Advanced Player Practice Routines

The first advanced level practice drill is called: 

Modified James Wilson Style Game

(I know, that slips off the tongue lovely :(…)

In this game, you have to get 201 down to zero in six darts. If you can’t do it in six darts, then you lose the leg. 

Keep playing and see if you win a best of 7 against yourself (you lose by missing!)

Next advanced drill is:

Round the clock 2

Your goal is to hit a double 1 through to bullseye for every number (1-21). 

For every single dart that hits its target number you receive 50 points but if it’s on 21 (the bullseye), then you will earn 100 points.

Try and beat your record every time.

Special Bonus

I always struggled with grouping my darts and although aiming for the same targets on the board improved my game I found a way to get more out of this routine than just aiming for “doubles, trebles, bullseyes” all the time.

The whole idea behind darts is grouping, the closer your darts are the better your aim is and the more confident you will be to score.

I started using these dart rings and found my grouping improving quickly. This ring game will improve your game especially for anyone who gets bored practicing at home.

With these dart rings, you get a target to aim for and as you improve, you put the smaller rings on.

You can place them all over the board and take turns aiming for each.

This game is interesting because it makes you a great dart player – not just somebody who hits the bullseye.

Darts is a game that can be played with smaller or bigger rings, depending on your skill level.

You can keep track of your progress by writing down your scores.

The game is more interesting when you move the target around to different segments of the ball.

Go here to see a load of Practice rings videos.

Videos

Takeaways

• There are many ways to practice darts and having a focus on your practice routine makes it time better spent. 
• By focussing on specific goals during your time at the board you will grow in accuracy and confidence as a player.
• Unlike the old saying, practice doesn’t actually make perfect but practiced repetition will definitely improve your game!