Update on my own darts progress

I've been playing in the same types of tournaments and leagues as I was at the start of the year. Up to October I didn't seem to be seeing any great improvement and was having a little trouble with my grip. This resulted in some wayward darts and generally lower averages. 

However, I then tried some Mervyn King 22gram darts (below). My grip seemed to suit these straight away, so I thought I would give them a few weeks and see what happens. Prior to this I had been using Nathan Aspinall sets, so it was quite a change grip-wise. After a few tweaks I felt more and more comfortable with the Kings and now my form as started improve at a fairly good rate. Averages are climbing, but more importantly, I am beating players that I never used to. 

So I am going to Q School in 2024, (but not in the way you think)

A major reason why I enjoy darts, is the maths involved. I've always loved numbers and stats and darts gives my brain a great workout. Over time, I have memorised many combination shots, getting to the point where I don't really add or subtract numbers, I just know what I've scored and how much should be left. Many darts players have this skill too, and is something that comes naturally over many hours playing the game. For example I know 3 triple 19s is 171 - I don't need to physically calculate this, it is just something I have learned to know naturally. 

With that in mind, I have also always enjoyed the marking aspect. Maybe I'm weird, as some players run for the hills when asked to mark.  I quite enjoy it. As I progressed scoring better players and in bigger tournaments, I took the plunge into trying my hand in official PDC events. Obviously not straight in at the deep end, but slowly building up experience. 

My first event was a PDC Women's event, which was very enjoyable. The other markers and players were supportive and were on hand to answer any questions.  I had scored on a very similar system in the past, so I felt quite comfortable. From there I then helped mark at Challenge Tour and Development Tour events. 

In January 2023, I marked at my first Q School, which was a great experience. There were past World Champions present, but also those taking their first steps at this level .So a wide range of standards. One thing I particularly enjoyed, was seeing players new to Q School performing well and becoming familiar names as the year progressed. 

So January 2024 I will be marking again at Q School, and I am thoroughly looking forward to it. My ultimate goal is to play at Q School, but I'm more than satisfied with officiating in the meantime. 

The Amateur Darts Circuit

 The Amateur Darts Circuit (ADC) was formed out of the online darts world during the Covid pandemic. Originally under the banner of MAD darts, the name was changed and is a rapidly developing organisation.

It gives the chance for any player no matter what standard, to play in open competitions around the UK. Not only that, but offers ranking points, which will position you in a regional and national league.  You even get a point for losing in the first round, so you can get rewarded by just playing in many events and building up your ranking points slowly.

It is now obligatory for all venues to have electronic scoring. This makes the whole thing look so much more professional. As well as making scoring easier, it means that tournaments can be followed by players at the event, but more importantly by friends, family, or general darts fan on their phone, tablet or computer. I have friends and family that are now aware of some amateur players just by following my tournaments regularly.

Another massive step the ADC have made this year, is to collaborate with the Modus Super Series. (I will write more in depth about that later).

The Modus Super Series is a televised darts competition, giving the chance to non PDC Tour players to play for big prizes and gain valuable experience in front of the cameras.  Primarily it is invite only, but this not mean it is exclusive. Players are picked on merit based on performances across several organisations. Former PDC top 10 players have appeared, but so have brand new names across amateur darts.

Towards the end of last year invited ADC players were asked to appear on the Modus Super Series, with many acquitting themselves really well. This year there are a variety of qualifying tournaments, with the winners gaining the opportunities to play on TV. 

Currently the Modus Super Series is shown on the channel Sporty Stuff. This can be found on Sky Channel 437, Freesat 250, Freeview 264 and streamed at SportyStuff.tv

I highly recommend joining the ADC regardless of your level of play. There's something for everyone whatever your standard. For more details please visit https://uk.dartscircuit.com, or follow the Darts Atlas link in the My Links section of my site.

Welcome to my blog

 Hello! Welcome to the first post in my new blog. 

As briefly stated in my little info paragraph, I have decided to write a blog as I attempt to make something of myself in the world of darts. As the title of the blog suggests, I am trying to make it to 'Q School'. This, for those of you unaware, is the usual qualifying route to playing on the main PDC Darts tour.  It's extremely competitive, so have no illusions on how difficult it will be. But I'm positive and will keep going.  Unfortunately I'm not good enough to enter this year, so will have to stick to practice and local tournaments for the time being. However I AM going to Q School 2023, but in a different capacity (more about that later).

So the story so far.........

Back in the late 1970s and early 80s, darts was massive, and quite similar to today in terms of the amount of tournaments that are around and on television. My favourite player was Eric Bristow and his style and winning mentality drew me into the game, albeit at just a fun level. I got a board for Christmas when I was about 8 and I would play my dad and brother, usually losing, but I loved the game and like to show off a little, that I could add up quicker than both of them! I improved a little when I had a board put up in the loft and used to spend hours up practicing. So by the time I was a teenager, I could play well enough to give the men down the pub a decent game.

But, this will still just a bit of fun and although could play quite well for a pub standard player, I never really had aspirations of going any further.

I then worked around the country for a few years in my early 20s, and again just played for fun. I played pool for a few local teams, so this became my main focus, but still kept my hand in a few games of darts.

I guess my first inspiration to try and play darts seriously was when I heard an interview ,in 2003, on radio about someone who decided that darts was a game, that with enough practice, could be something that anyone could reach a high standard, and even get to professional level. This struck a chord with me, so I bought a board and new set of darts and looked to do the same. 

I played ok, but this was before the internet took off, so I spent a lot of time trying to find tournaments or leagues to play in, but these were quite scarce. I still loved the game, so kept practicing now and again, but my main focus had now become competitive Quizzing! Yes it does exist and through meeting someone on a TV quiz show we both appeared on, I gave it a go and became ridiculously immersed in this world. I was reading up to four hours a day and getting my knowledge levels up to try and compete with the best.

Quite surprisingly are a lot of similarities with darts and quizzing. You can enter Open competitions against some of the country's and world top players by just paying an entry fee. The opportunities for success are also there if you practice hard enough - for example one of my good friends, Didier Bruyere, started quizzing for fun in 2007. In 2022 he became the World Quiz Champion. This was somebody that I had beaten before, but he applied himself way more and rose through the ranks. Although there are more similarities, the most striking one is that you can play at any age. In the various darts tournaments and leagues I've played in,, the ages vary from 11-85. And there are some outstanding 11 and 85 year old players out there! The same is in competitive quizzing.

The reason I mention this is that this was a massive focus for me. However after the birth of my second child, I found it hard to concentrate on the books like I used to, and eventually faded away from quizzing, although I keep my hand in ever so slightly these days.

So around 2017, I found a void and felt like I wanted to focus on something seriously in my spare time. I still watched darts religiously and could see that the darts world was expanding rapidly.  I decided to give darts a real go. No expectations, just try and see where it takes me. Worse case scenario, I get a good social life!

So I went to Facebook as a first point of call. I searched for 'Darts Leagues in Bristol' and up came the Redfield and District League. I like to follow fate and my gut, so though I'd see if I could join a team. From my practice scores, I was averaging around 40-45 and had hit a few 180s, so mentioned this when asking on the Redfield Facebook Group. If I'm honest, I wasn't sure if this would be good enough. However I was pleasantly surprised to find that several teams were looking for players. They said the average was fine. 

Going with my fate mantra, I decided to join the first team that asked if I would like to play. These were called the LC Pirates, and were bottom of division four. (The league has a Premier Division and four lower divisions). Well, I thought, at least I can only go up from here. And besides it will be less pressure and a good introduction into competitive darts.

Actually the Redfield Darts League is a very good league. It is one of the country's oldest and has had professional players such as Steve Brown, Chris Mason, Mark Dudbridge and Ronnie Baxter among its alumni.

Oh, just an aside. In 2010 I played in an Open competition in Swindon. This tournament included a couple of players that are now in the top 10 in the World, Johnny Clayton and Luke Humphries. My point being that it is possible to be a very good local player and go onto massive things with the right mindset and application. So my thoughts are that I will aim to be a very good local player and kick on from there!

So, back to the story....

I played for the Pirates for a couple of years. After a few nervy matches, I won my first game and this made me think, 'OK, I can handle myself here'. I just need to get my technique right and put in the hours of practice and maybe I can start improving to a higher level. I progressed to be one of the better players on my team and was winning my games most weeks. Also I was starting to compete with players in higher divisions in cup matches.  At this point I started to enter a few Open competitions. Although I had little success, I did claim a few match wins and also got a much better understanding of the levels I need to reach.

2020 and Covid hits. Darts stops. Well competitions and leagues anyway. For the first month or so, so did I. I was adjusting to my work/life balance and generally juggling things around. Eventually I found that I could make time for darts practice, and this also kept me sane during the main lockdown periods.

I could see that some online leagues were created, but I felt they weren't for me. I like the feel of a real life face to face match and online wasn't quite ticking the enjoyment boxes. I created a few games and challenges myself and this seemed to motivate me during practice, so I kept to it. By the end of lockdown, I had improved a fair amount and my average was over 50. This kept my motivation going and at the the same time a place became available on a Division 1 team, so I felt these were steps in the right direction.

Early 2022 and I heard about the Amateur Darts Circuit (ADC) and entered some of their competitions. More about the ADC later, but in essence, they are a series of Open competitions with ranking points on offer. These ranking points can get you into bigger competitions, and also show a measure of your performance on an individual basis. Through playing these competitions, I met a lot of new players, who encouraged me to join a Superleague team. This is the next level up from local league darts and a route in County darts. I found a team and have been playing since September 2022.

So to the present...

I'm playing for a Division 1 league team,  and entering tournaments within the ADC, as well as some non-ADC open events. I'm averaging around 55 and feel I am going in the right direction, albeit a little slower than I wanted. But that's ok, I love the game and will keep motivated and keep going!