The Darts World 50 -1980 The Left Hand Gang

THE ‘Left Hand Gang’ has long been the subject of curiosity discussion and debate in darts. As long back as dart first burst of mass media popularity players and watchers were curious as to whether the Lefties were proportionally represented or if they were at some disadvantage.

Cyril Pearce’s piece is a great reminder of such discussions. Whether it was Glazier then or Wade and Webster in recent times the discussion seems to carry on. There may indeed be merit in at least some of the claims made. After almost forty years had passed some boffins decided to look into this matter in a scientific way.

Most estimates show that there are around 10% of the population who are left-handed. yet the percentage of the top darts players is often around half this or even less. Academic research, carried out by Imperial College London, suggests that even at a basic level dart is indeed more difficult for the left-handed. One major reason, the boffins discovered, is the positioning of the mathematically most popular doubles. Both d16 and d18 are far more optimally placed for the right-hander. D12 is optimal for lefties, handy for 9-darters but nowhere near as multi-purpose as 16s and 18s.

This offers an explanation for Mark Webster’s skill at double 12 as well as his World Championship-winning double 10 hitting. It also explains the double ten working so well for James Wade. The 10 is after all very close to double 2 which is the other perfectly placed double for a lefty! These were among a number of areas in which the lefty is disadvantaged. So full credit to those mentioned in the article and those who’ve come along since. In a sport with such small margins reaching the top with an inbuilt disadvantage is very impressive indeed.

The lovely comments, made by Cyril, in the article, about Alan Glazier as a person are confirmed by everything ever written about the man. He was recently pictured, at a local Open, still perfectly turned out and happy to chat with all. Sadly, The Ton Machine passed away a few months later to an outpouring of affection and respect that reaffirmed everything in the original piece.

The Darts World 50

Very few publications can lay claim to being “The Official Voice” of their sport. But then not many are almost 50 years old and have coexisted side by side with the object of their affection throughout the swings and roundabouts of two golden eras and at least one near collapse.

In the early 1970s, a handful of ingredients were coming together to form the recipe for the massive success of the hitherto lesser-known pub game. Darts World Magazine was one of those ingredients.

Editor, proprietor, and instigator, Tony Wood, welcomed readers to the new Darts World magazine for our November/December 1972 debut (Issue 1). The ingredients mentioned above could all be seen within those first 36 pages and then in every issue that followed.

DW has chronicled the ups and downs, the major events, and the minutiae while championing the game at every opportunity.

The Darts World 50 offers 50 highlights selected direct from our pages during what must now be thought of as the ‘Golden Age/s of Darts’.