Blog – Page 2 – Freehound Fun & Games

Some people feel darts should be enjoyed with family and friends as a friendly game. Other people consider darts to be competitive. Regardless of your thoughts, you want every throw to count. What do you do if your darts keep bouncing out? The top reason darts bounce out of the board is that they hit the wire. Modern-day dartboards have thinner wires and fewer staples, making this less likely. You can also ensure you are using well-sharpened darts, and heavier darts tend to stick better. Sharpening your darts regularly is one crucial way for you to stick every throw. Most people tend to sharpen their darts improperly and try to create a needle-sharp point. If you hit a wire with a very sharp dart, it will likely indent it and bounce out to the floor. If you sharpen your darts with a slightly rounded point, they are more likely to slide off the side of the wire and stick in the bristle. It is also a good idea to protect your dart board regularly. New dartboards have sisal fibers that bounce back easily. As the dartboard ages, they dry out. Protect your bristle dartboard from prolonged exposure to light. It will cause the fibers to dry out and make it more likely for the darts to bounce. If you have a cabinet, use it wisely by closing the cabinet doors when the board is not in use. We also tend to focus our throws on particular areas of the dartboard, so it's a good idea to rotate the board regularly. If you have areas of the board that are worn down, it will be more prone to bounce out. If all else fails, you can always switch to a heavier dart. Dart weight is a personal preference, but if you have not yet settled on one particular weight, adding a few grams can help the darts stick. How Can I Improve My Dart Throwing? There is nothing quite like throwing darts and hitting the target. It doesn't matter whether you're a beginner or a pro. You want to hit that position as often as possible. What are some ways to improve your throw? The best way to improve your throw when playing darts is to practice. It may sound simplistic, but the more you can practice, the better your throw will get. Try to spend time every day tossing darts. It's fun, relaxing, and you'll be a lot better player as a result. Along with practice, you can do some specific things to improve your game. Here are a few to consider: Balance - Always find your proper balance at the oche. Stand with your foot sideways and your weight slightly forward, allowing you to toss the dart without flicking it. Finding your balance will also allow you to move your forearm when throwing the dart and not move the rest of your body. You're not doing it right if you are moving your body when throwing. This includes dipping your elbow or trying to get behind your throw by tossing your body forward. Follow through - Believe it or not, one of the biggest problems many people have when throwing darts is not following through. Stopping short after the dart leaves your hands will prevent it from hitting its mark. Follow through by moving your forearm forward, and your game will improve. Take a Break - If you practice every day for hours at a time, you may find it counterproductive. If you are throwing darts for 20 minutes, take a short break and grab a drink of water. You should also follow the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. DON'T Follow the Leader - When you watch the professionals with the PDC tossing darts, you will see that they don't always follow the rules. They may have various quirks in the way they throw, which works for them. It is perfectly fine if you want to try to mimic your favorite dart player but don't pick up their bad habits. Each Pro will have their own style based on their ability to throw successfully. Throw like a pro. Go back to the basics and develop your own personal throwing style based on the fundamentals. Should You Sharpen Darts? There are very few tools available to a dartist. We want to use all of them well, including the primary tool, our darts. Should we sharpen our darts regularly? It's a good idea to sharpen your darts as needed, but they don't generally need to be sharpened as often as you might think. As you throw your darts and they stick and are pulled out of a bristle board, they will naturally stay sharp. However, you may find that your darts are bouncing out more frequently, or you may feel the tip and find it has burrs. That is the time to sharpen them. Several tools are available to sharpen darts, but the primary tool is a sharpening stone. It's a small cylinder stone that has a concave end. You sharpen your dart by running it around on the inside of the concave area in a circular motion. If you sharpen your darts as needed, you will not need to sharpen them for an extended time. It is also important to sharpen the darts properly. Although you might think that a point like a needle on your dart would be best, that is actually counterproductive. You want the point of the dart to be slightly rounded but extremely sharp. A needle-like point will cause more bounce-outs because it will hit the wire, make a slight indentation, and then hit the floor. A more rounded point allows the dart to slide off the wire when it hits it and sticks in the bristle. Remember, a dart on the floor is worth nothing. What Dart Boards Do Professionals Use? Although the dartboard is not usually to blame for bounce-outs, it can make a difference. What type of board do the pros use? Professional dart players will use bristle dartboards. Several brand names are available that are proper for all of the necessary tournament regulations. Since they are the appropriate regulation style and size, you can use them for practice. Bristle dartboards are made up of compressed fibers. The fibers, which are sisal fibers, are tightly compressed in place. When the dart sticks in the fibers, they separate but still hold the dart in place. One of the benefits of using a bristle dartboard is that it goes back to its original shape when you remove the dart. The sisal fibers are very forgiving, but at the same time, they also remember their original position. They will fill the hole very quickly. It is important to take care of your bristle dartboard so that they last. This would include covering the dartboard when it is not in use to avoid drying out the sisal fibers. You should also rotate the board regularly, perhaps after an hour of practice or a night of gameplay. Doing so will help your board to last as long as possible. What Happens If A Dart Bounces Off? You can do many things to ensure that your darts stick more often. On occasion, however, they are going to bounce out. What happens if a dart does bounce off the board? A dart will not count for points if it does not touch the board. If a dart bounces out and lands on the floor or any other surface, it does not count toward the score. A dart that bounces out cannot be re-thrown. Typically, a bounce-out occurs when the dart hits the wire or a staple. Once it leaves the board and hits the floor, it is not counted. Something similar happens if a dart falls out of the board after another dart is thrown. At the end of the throw, after all three darts have been tossed, any darts not touching the board are disqualified. Bounce-outs do happen. They are frustrating because you can't count them on the score, but they are also frustrating because the impact can damage your darts. Make sure you protect your darts against bouncing out by getting a pad for the floor. The most common reason a bounce-out occurs is that the dart hits a wire. You can reduce this possibility by using a high-quality bristle board with thin wires and no staples. You can also sharpen your darts but leave them slightly rounded so they roll off the wire if they hit it.