Absolutely love your video s Mathew they are so well put together & the subjects are so interesting I especially enjoyed the one about your rise to the PDC rest assured I'll be watching all of your videos from now on thanks again mate
I practice a modified version of yours and Steve Hine's practice routines now . If you look at golf they say practice from 150 yards to the green more than driving or long irons. Same with darts . Practice 201 down and outshot combos plus muscle memory doubles and their breakdowns.
Skip skip skip skip..... I love hittin 80's - 140s then all of a sudden for no reason following it up with 11 or 24.... You'd be so suprised at how many different ways you can hit 24 lol
Great help this being outlined for me. Advice from a pro that can help the masses lol i should have learned over the years that just playing 501 against myself never made me any better. In the last few months i have improved more than i had in the last 8 years using a variety of practice games and now from this advice i will make a 2 hour daily routine that i hope will get me a bit better. NOW DONT LAUGH EVERYBODY but one major problem i have is consistency throwing a straight dart, you know like T20,20 and then blam 5 or 1 this is a horrible curse, just gimmie the 20 i dont want the ¥$¥€¥$$ 1 or 5 🤦♂️
@@kylebarlow9444 funny thing, I do have a job & still currently working despite this pandemic. As soon as I get off work (say 12:30am) I shower then shoot till the crack of dawn. I take a couple hours nap (about 3-4) then I'm back at it again till I gotta head back to work. & repeat. You sir need to get more hours in or find a new hobby if this offends you.
@@centeguahan3760 You work for 8 hours, play darts for 12 and then sleep 4? You think this is normal behaviour for an adult? Each to there own but you craaaazy.
Interesting video! I come from 15 years of bowling with practically the same principles . Over practicing can certainly be an issue , and it’s important to be self aware and disciplined with your practices , if your fatigued, tired muscles or anything along those lines you run the risk of ingraining bad habits. I would say the 2 hr practice time recommended here is a solid base, but that comes with many variables. If you only practice 2 hrs and then comes a tournament where you have to be able to play most of the day ....that could become an issue because your body and mind is only use to playing 2 hrs in a day. I would say mix it up depending on how you feel, one day play maybe 6 hrs and then next back to 2. It’s important to know how your body reacts to fatigue as well, come tournament time you are gonna have to be able to Make adjustments based on possible fatigue and have the skills to play through it. You don’t always have the luxury in a tournament to always feel great, so learning that in practice could be Beneficial. Just my opinion.
Hi everyone, I havent read the other comments so, sorry if I say somthing already said. First I'm so glad to find people who agree with me on the guided and unguided training. Most people over here seem to think otherwise (i'm not talking only for darts practice, and it's most ennoying when in schools and colleges. I'm a teacher who thinks one learns quicker and for a longer period of time if a teacher is next to the person trying to pinpoint what the learner seeùs to be doing wrong and at what moment of his reflection he does it "wrong" ) I think that whatever the sport, the beginner needs to be explained the basic rules (like throw with point forward, feet behind the oche, not to retrieve any dart before the chalker has announced the score...not to shout or spit at the referee... Once that in place, I think the external factor training should start, and be filmed from the back (I think it's the best place to see what seems to make the dart deviate on a more or less regular basis, and compare with the tips very good dart players give as things not to do / to do (like if possible not to move the elbow once gesture started...) and so on. I think using people natural abilities to start with is more efficient than forcing someone to replicate a gesture from scratch But then again, if someone works for you, keep it, but until you do a perfect dart at each throw, bare in mind that you are not doing something that should have been done on the unperfect throw, . Hence one always be open-minded and always ask themselves and others what they could do to find the faulty bits and then after to eradicate them, and to me anyway, not think that very bad legs are to be forgotten when the majority of legs were good legs for the person's level (i'm talking in the training perspective, of course it's ok to have very bad patches, as long as the good ones come back in time :D but from a training point of view, it would be very interesting to see what went wrong that had the dart deviated, in order to correct it when it starts kicking again) Is it possible to do what i advocate ? Not a clue, it's just what i think one should try to do in training sessions, identify whata the mistake was and provide a possible correction that could work on the next throw (since we are suppose to try to repeat the same action over and over for more regularity , which is not really the case since some very good players wil do a different action when aiming at a double, or at least it's what some said to me...don't know with pro players though, but apart from that, same action ) . Don't know about darts but in other fields, I found that training in various manners develop (not straight away) strengthen parts that kept weak despite training (since those parts hadn' been identified as essential) (a bit like if when throwing a dart a certain hidden very small muscle helped to consstency if reinforced, one would not know about it but by doing a different throwing gesture that muscle would develop faster and helped being more consistent in one's normal throw) . I think both external factors and inner factors based training should be practice. I think they help oneanother. But that's just my opinion,
I totally agree with you, you must find a way of replicating in training the feeling found in the game when it counts, and when some polluting sensations crop up that were not there before that very important dart or throw. Well done for having found a way to recreate the "i must get that dart in there, if i don't do it i'm likely to lose
Glad you was able to take something from it. Please help me spread the message by sharing with any dart playing friends. I want to try stop this obsession people have with time and get practice more focused
I love the practice with intent, this is key to so many things in sport. The number of times i just try to hammer the T20 but end up taking 10 darts at a double in a game is stupid. Practicing a focused mix of routines willl definitely help👍
Stumbled across your channel yesterday night...Haven't binge-watched anything for quite a long time until now. Love the content, especially the "self-coaching" parts.
Very nicely put. I practice so much, 8 hours daily I have tendonitis and my match game isn't what my practice looks like. I'm gonna give this a go,back off a little and really focus when I'm practicing. Thanks 👍👍
Round the board but don't stop at 20 move on to 21, treble 7, 22 double 11, 24 treble 8, 25, 26 double thirteen right up to 60 treble 20. Missing out the ones that don't exist ie 23 29 31 etc.
Love your videos bud! I always find I can either use the advice, already got the advice from another good player, or give the same advice to other friends. This video really hits home for me as I get distracted or bored easily. Ive come to realize that 20 minutes of PWI is better than 3 hours of just mindlessly throwing darts. PS. GOOD LUCK IN THE WORLDS AND KICK SOME ASS!
I just started playing and my throws are consistently about two inches off my aim point. I aim at the middle of 20 and hit 1 or 5. I keep trying to correct my throw. Sometimes I’ll get lucky and get two darts very close together but the third is usually way off somewhere.
I practice every day while listening too rush limbaugh unless im playing like crap becuse I dont want that too get that in my mindset . Till play like crap but at least its a higher form of crap
As a sports coach myself Who's played darts for 6 years, don't have the money for q school (And also a wrestling fan) I'm basically a young you, and I just wanted to say I love the videos and I believe you will at least be a top 32 seed one day Been watching a lot of your stuff lately and can say it's helped my game massively I've also had a couple bets of you for the world championship, let's go prime time!!!
@@Edgartvdarts you're far from old😂 I'm just younger 😂 hopefully next year I'll be at q school and if I can achieve anything like you I'll be a happy man, who knows, might even see you on stage one day😂🎯
Great video Matt...I am only a fun house player but love the darts can you do a video on stance on the oche and how to avoid hitting the 5s and 1s...need a bit of advice thanks Matt ...kind regards from.ireland...🎯👍 keep up the great work your videos are brilliant...👍👍🎯
Ive started going round the clock but when you get to 20 you move to 21 by hitting the treble 7, then 22 by hitting double 11 and so on. When you get to something you cant hit with one dart either skip it or use two darts to make it, its up to you. I dont use a lives system, it gets hard enough on its own.
That’s a great idea, but you do need a fail criteria if lives are endless and there’s no drop back or fear of failure then your not getting the most from you practice
@@Edgartvdarts I've just started doing it as a bit of fun really. I go through your darts master vids first then have a fuck about. I haven't got much else to do in the lockdown.
I've always thought it was similar to the gym. You get people who go for two hours and some do a lot in those two hours but others dordle about. I prefer to go for 35-45 minutes and get my work done in that time. Explosive bursts if you like and I end up getting more done. I'm like that with darts. An hour or two of intense practice suits me way more than hours of half-hearted throwing. But everyone is different.
As a vocalist I should know something about intent, but I think that it is exactly where I go wrong with darts. I throw endlessly at T20 and Bull but without an actual goal other than hitting that max. I'll focus more on practice games and exercises that have an actual goal. Thank you for that video! I really enjoy your channel! Do you have a video on warmup routines? How long does it take to get properly warmed up and be game ready?
I did yes, I'm stuck on level 3 (yes, I'm that good x(). I can do the 3 lives version no problem. One dart is another story. I went up to 18 once but plumeted back to one. I still try it almost everyday. Thanks for your reply, I'll make sure to watch that warmup vid when it comes out. Are you doing Skype darts lessons by any chance?
Not at the moment I only coach face to face although i May look into Skype and other ways should I not be able to get back to coaching properly anytime soon
idk, I need at least 1-2 hours until my arm feels smooth and until I am confident with my throw. I am playing darts for one year now. I feel like if I am in my flow (after 1-2 hours) I can improve most. Im bringing variety in my practice and so on. But I am pretty sure that I got my peak performance after 2 to 2.5 hours. Because of corona I need to stay at home atm and I train like 5 hours a day (splitted with breaks). But what I want to say, my training starts getting effective after at least 2 hours. If im starting to train my darts fly like everywhere, for me its very important to find my flow (which is after appr. 2 hrs, sometimes I get faster, sometimes slower). Could be caused as I am not playing darts for a very long time, but atm I am making big improvements (but these improvements start after min 1 hour). sorry for my bad english btw :D cheers
@@Edgartvdarts thx for your answer :) I feel the same. Maybe also my arm isnt trained enough yet to get in my flow faster. I also throw my warm up darts not with 100% focus. my full focus starts as soon as my arm feels good and I can concentrate 100% at my target. For me its very important that my throw is smooth and feels right, so I can focus 100% and not thinking about grip/stand and so on. but I think this is also caused that I am not playing darts for a long time
Love the videos! Question: when working on adapting a more consistent/accurate throw, do you think its important to establish hitting a certain target first and getting your throw down and locked in to muscle memory (ie T20) ... and then transitioning to doubles & outs etc after that feels comfortable? Or just go through one's regular practice routine trying the new throw. Been working on this for about a month and I've had some real great progress followed by rubbish some nights in practice. Would love a pro's thoughts/advice! Thanks, Go Villa!!! =)
Love the advice Matthew!, Do you have any suggestions on how I can stop myself from on focusing on the interior stuff such as always thinking on my grip and how I hold the dart.. would be much appreciated.
This is a battle of the mind. Two conflicting parts, putting it simply it’s the sub conscious mind vs the conscious mind. You need to keep the conscious part busy. This is why it’s easier to play when your engaged with music
Matthew, there books out there on the psychology of sports and winning. Wondering how you feel about that kind of material and if you have any recommendations.
How about 20 games of 501, and then finding an average of how many darts it took in all? Then seeing over time if that average improves, and if so, by how much?
It gives you measurements, and has a clear start and finish point so has some advantages but I can’t imagine it will keep the concentration levels that are required to maximise the time
by saying 2 hours max, you mean just as practice routine? but lets say i wanna enjoy some 501 games after finishing up my practice , is it okay to reach 3 to 4 hours a day ( knowing that we are on lockdown and much free time) how does this affect the muscles? I am checking with my physiologist and pt (friends of mine) who are helping me maintain a better posture for my shoulder muscle, if there is a way to discuss it ,,, of course after your games in the worlds , wishing you best of luck. that can be much appreciated
Hey Matthew, Hope your keeping well during this pandemic. Really enjoying all your content here on RU-vid!! Im about to go order a set of 95% tungsten darts, they are very similar to the darts I'm using at the moment which are 80% tungsten. I was just wondering what are your thoughts on the tungsten %?
Exactly ! That’s why I said take what you want from the video some may think it tosh some may change everything. But if you can take just 30 seconds of information from it your on a winner
I personally believe long hrs of practice does work but the level of increase is ALOT slower. I feel PWI gets way better results but is harder for ppl to do i use myself as example. I practice hrs on end stuck at 60avg as time went on all of a sudden WAM 70+ avgs consistently 60s feel like horrible games now outa no were something just clicked i dont know what or were it came from.. i dont have any coaches or knowledge to get that PWI and have to just keep drilling until something clicks or i just happen to figure a little part out that gives me that boost. im stuck in 70s right now and have no way of knowing what i need to change to break 80s consistently. So i just have to practice hrs on end until it just happens again.
This is the issue with darts unguided practice is really what everyone does and most people are training themselfs to do things wrong. Hoping things change as more knowledge comes to the sport
Thanks for the vid, I'll definitely take something away from this. My Q: If you're practicing and playing crap, do you stop for a bit and come back to it later or try and play your way through it?
100% if your playing below standard there’s a reason could be something simple like concentration levels (think about the start of this video) or nutrition, what ever the reason there is one
@@Edgartvdarts Ok, thanks for the reply. Already seeing some improvement from not focusing so much on my action but on the target. I'd become obsessed with replicating my action over and over and it comes more naturally when I'm not thinking about it.
They say 10,000 hours to become competent at something. I agree, if a game coming up is 15mins then practice 15mins at a time totaling 2 hours. No game goes on for 2hours straight so train for the appropriate time.
When you practice have a purpose and take 21 Darts OK I mean you can get into 20 if you mess you start over there are 21 darts in so For going on next Number
I am currently throw darts for about 1-1,5 hour as training (around the world, scoring training, fake 180/177/171, checkout training) and after that, I play 2 games again computer. When I first played steeltip darts, my average was around 37, not it's around 52 after 4,5 months.
I have patches where it feels like I can hit everything then all of a sudden I can't even get close, my rhythm and aim seem to just disappear...... is there anything you do or tell yourself when your throw is off ?? Or is it just a case of keep practicing and the consistency will come back ??
@English-Patna englishCheers mate. I have been practicing this recently and I'm getting a bit more consistent..... I think my release is partly the problem as well, I'm not following through properly all the time. I'll keep practicing till I get it.
Hi Matt, great guidelines, summed up well and with decent explanation. Just one question, I've heard of Michael van Gerwen Only leaving the practice board on a good feeling, is there anything to this or is it just some superstition?
Hi Matt great advice as always, i am a late starter in darts been playing for 7ish years and loved every minute of it my main practice is 2 and 3 dart finishes 61 finish up would this help me get my Averages up and play super league or practicing your level 6 upwards help me get better Averages i practice about 1 hour a day
Anything that has that level of intent and hit and miss criteria is a good practice. Naturally there are many ways to improve your darts but it’s hard to judge without a consultation and I wouldn’t want to guide you the wrong way
Would you recommend playing against dartbots as a supplement to one's organized practice routines? Of course in lieu of a practice partner which would be better.
The first 20 minutes I just throw at areas. But then I play drop back games like level 6 and 9 of the darts masters game. These are games I actually use
Hey Matthew 4:16 I got a serious note on that. According to myself, Jelle Klaasen pissing MvG off (sending dick pics to the handicapped 14 year old sister of MvG's wife and wanting pics in return) in August 2012 was a major boost in motivation for MvG to train so he could win in October that year and from then on. Because I think, he wanted to make sure never to lose to Klaasen should they ever clash. To me, that was crucial. Although I hate putting it out there, it should not be underestimated what kind of powers you can unleash when something like that hits your life.
Phil Taylor said in his teaching video he practices 1.5 to 3 hours a day but he can't every day. Roughly 2 hours a day...I can see MVG doing that also.
Hi Matt I'm new to playing darts (it was 11 months on Thursday) and I usually have a 501 3DA of 46-52. My usual practice routine starts with throwing until hit inner bull, D16, d18, d20, t20, t19 and t18 once. I then go onto rtw singles (everything hit once from 1-20), 60 rounds of up 10, down 1 starting at 50, rtw doubles (everything hit once starting from d1 to the inner bull) and then sets of 21 darts trying to get the highest score possible before finishing with some BO7 SIDO 501's against the computer. Anything I should add/remove from my routine to help me to continue to improve? Love your videos and any feedback is greatly appreciated
Have you played my become a darts master game on here ? Start and level one and work through, 10 levels, increases in difficulty each video and gets you using the full board and range
@@Edgartvdarts I haven't but I'll get to it. Have you ever had any injuries from injuries from darts? I'm currently sitting at home with what I think is a strain in my throwing elbow
@@Edgartvdarts i get the impression with darts you've either got it in you or you haven't . I've played for years , different darts , grips , practice routines and still pretty garbage for the most part . Doesn't mean you can't enjoy a game though
Like with all sports there’s a level where everyone can enjoy the game. But also I beleive everyone can improve with the right guidance. Think about what I said about children playing in the park
