If you are like me and wonder why your darts accuracy is off and want to improve your throwing. Could this be your problem?

Imagine getting ready to hit a golf ball with a driver…
…you wind your shot up and start the downswing, your driver strikes the ball and what happens next?
What doesn’t happen is that you stop swinging the club as soon as it strikes the ball…! What we do is a full follow through with the club, all the way around your neck after the ball has been hit.
In this case, the follow-through is crucial for driving the ball towards the target. The exact same principle is at work when you are releasing your dart. You are providing force, momentum and direction to your dart in a very natural way.
Whenever I struggle for accuracy when throwing, I go back to basics. I’m talking now about arm extension, let’s find out why it is so important.

Arm extension

I’ve previously discussed how important your dart grip is where I briefly mentioned how important it is to follow through with your throw after you have released the dart.
What seems to be missed by a lot of beginner darts players is why the follow-through is so important – but a good follow-through will help your game if you want to be able to consistently throw your darts with more accuracy.
So if you aren’t following through accurately and your dart accuracy is suffering – how do we fix it?
We know we don’t want to grip our darts too tightly as that affects the release but one thing that does need to be considered as part of improving your dart throw is to ensure your arm is fully extended.
Maintaining a longer follow-through promotes a more fluid and repeatable motion. This ensures that when the dart comes out of your hand it will do so in a consistent manner. This is because it is so much more natural for you to be able to release as you are following through than if you were to curtail the throw. Imagine throwing and stopping at a “shorter” point in your throw, to do this consistently to give maximum accuracy would be a feat of amazing muscle control to release at the same point every single throw.
By maximizing your arm extension you provide your dart with a nice straight line to follow, concentrate on your extension and I confident you will see the line of your darts improve. Practise, practise, practise, practise.

Takeaways

1. Point your arm at the target and keep it straight
2. Keep your elbow nice and high – yes! get your elbow up – almost level with your shoulder.
3. Sight the dart.
4. Gentle pull back, throw  – and full extension of the arm.
When used in conjunction with my other beginner’s tips like how to troubleshoot your grip, I’m super confident you will be able to throw your darts more accurately.