Tonight was one of those nights.
I didn't win a single leg.
The strange thing is that my average wasn't completely terrible, but the results certainly were. Walking away without a leg win is never enjoyable, and it has forced me to take a long, hard look at where my game currently stands.
The truth is that I know I'm capable of better. I've shown flashes of it. I've had good legs, good spells, and good tournaments. The problem isn't a lack of ability. The problem is that I'm not currently doing anything focused enough to solve the issues that keep appearing.
If I'm honest, this isn't just a darts problem.
It's something I do in life generally.
I overwhelm myself with ideas, projects, plans and possibilities. Instead of focusing on one thing and improving it, I end up trying to tackle everything at once. The result is that progress becomes slower than it should be.
So it's time for a rethink.
Not a dramatic one. Not because I'm angry or depressed about tonight. Quite the opposite. I'm actually feeling quite positive about it.
I think I need to strip everything right back to basics.
Physically, that means rebuilding my throw from the ground up. Looking at stance, alignment, grouping and consistency. No shortcuts. No miracle fixes. Just simple, deliberate practice.
Mentally, it means getting my head in the right place again. Finding focus. Removing noise. Concentrating on the things that actually matter instead of worrying about everything at once.
I've even started thinking about whether Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) might be useful. Not specifically for darts, but for helping me organise my thinking, improve focus and gain better perspective. The lessons could easily transfer onto the oche.
This isn't a blog post about giving up.
It's a blog post about starting again.
The good news is that I know I'm not alone. Every darts player seems to hit these periods where they know there's more in the tank but can't quite unlock it. Every player has moments where the game feels harder than it should.
So over the next few weeks I'm going back to basics. I'll document what I'm doing, what works, what doesn't work, and whether the changes make a difference.
And if I manage to find something that genuinely helps, I'll make sure I share it.
Because I suspect there are plenty of players out there standing exactly where I am right now.
