WEEK TWO of Series 19.0 at Sunbury Royal British Legion on Tuesday, and it was one of those nights that never quite got going.
I’d put an hour or two in on my home set-up before leaving, having not had much practice time earlier in the week. It was a mixed session. I found myself forcing the darts at the board rather than releasing them with the kind of unconscious rhythm I strive to experience in usual sessions.
Still, I left the house confident it would sort itself out by the time I got to the venue.
It didn’t. A 19-dart leg on throw got me off to a good start, but good performances were few and far between after that. I could never get a foothold in any of the games that followed, and despite a decent 76 average in my final match, it wasn’t enough.
A stellar 91 average from my opponent saw me fall to a 2-0 defeat and a group stage exit.
Whether that was down to the week’s preparation, or lack of, a mindset issue, or just an off night I brought with me without realising it, I couldn’t tell you. But it’s given me the reminder of how much of this game is decided before a dart’s even thrown.
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Darts Lessons To Learn …Again
Walking in already half-expecting it to not click is a different proposition to walking in expecting nothing but good darts. And I suspect I did more of the former than the latter last night.
It’s easy to say and much harder to actually carry with you through a group stage of the quality at this venue, but going in with a positive mindset isn’t just some throwaway cliché. It’s the difference between a bad leg becoming a blip and a bad leg becoming a bad night.
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The players who go deep at these events, and there are plenty of them, aren’t the ones who never have an off first leg. They’re the ones who don’t let it follow them into the next one. And that might be the bit I need to work on more than anything technical.
Either way, it’s back to the drawing board before the next Vault, starting with the mindset and not just the practice hours.
Images: ADC/ DartsWorld
