While playing darts is a game anyone can enjoy, very few people show consistent skill because it requires good touch and plenty of coordination. Though most people enjoy darts as a casual and fun pick-up game few take seriously, darts does qualify as a professional sport. So whether you’re looking to improve your skills, impress your friends, or go even go pro with your uncanny dart game skills, prepare to adopt some tips to ensure your dart game is on point.
Here are the top 10 dart health tips to improve your dart game and your aim:
- To improve hand-eye coordination: You can try some exercises that are specifically to improve hand-eye coordination, like racket sports, ball catching and jigsaw puzzles. Having better hand-eye coordination will help you find a sight line – that is to say, putting the target, dart, your elbow, shoulder and dominant eye in the same aiming line.
- To increase concentration: Boosting your concentration ability is among the toughest tasks to do due to the mental focus needed to maintain focus on a singular, almost simple task. Some exercises can be as simple as sitting still in a chair for five minutes, fixating your focus on an item a distance away, or even counting the pulses to your heartbeat. One of the easiest ways to boost concentration is simply to pick up reading – a seamless way to immerse yourself in a tall tale or realistic fiction. For diet, add a cup of coffee or black tea to help boost you concentration ability.
- To calm the mind: Some relaxation techniques include meditation, focusing on and regulating your breathing, closing your eyes and listening to the sounds of nature. Consider creating an internal getaway for you to retreat to in order to release any anxieties or worries. For your diet, consider adding herbal teas and some fruits like apples, bananas and berries have calming properties, which all have calming properties.
- To power your brain: Adopt habits that ensure you are being intellectually stimulated as often as possible. Play games like chess, checkers, crosswords or Sudoku to challenge your mind strategically and logically. Keep up with current events by reading the paper or watching the news. Additionally, there are even some foods you can eat to power up your brain activity. Nuts are a great source of brain food. Also blueberries are known as memory booster, which is a boost to the brain.
- To build confidence: A good way to build confidence is to chart your progress during practice – determining your various scores from different distances away. Another way to build confidence is to start by throwing the dart up close and taking a step back each time you hit the target, increasing your distance by a small amount. You should be able to throw with precision and accuracy even as you increase your distance. See below for a breakdown of the motions for throwing darts to improve your form.
- To gain a better posture: There is only one way to stand when throwing darts: With a right foot forward stance (or left foot if you are left-handed). This is the best aiming position because it ensures balance and eliminates sideways movements while keeping your target in sight. Practicing good posture even in your daily life will improve your posture and stance during a game. Be conscious of your posture at all time – so be sure to sit up straight when sitting and stand tall while standing. Avoid hunching over.
- To strengthen the muscles: It is very important to throw the dart with a precise amount of strength. If not thrown hard and fast enough, the dart may flop like an air ball. To improve your strength, try focusing on muscle exercises, including using grips and lightweight dumbbells. Muscle strength in your legs is also important to ensure a proper stance, so add squads and lunges to your workout.
- To improve flexibility: Increasing your range of motion is especially important when throwing to ensure follow-through of your movements and sustain accuracy. Keep hydrated to keep your muscles nimble and do some arm and back stretches as well as shoulder shrugs to improve range of motion.
- Keep hydrated: Water is the most essential requirement for our bodies to function well. Dehydration causes fatigue, which leads to poor performance. Furthermore, since the muscles are mostly made up of water, muscle function is heavily dependent upon hydration. Naturally, the tip here is to keep hydrated! Avoid drinking other drinks as best as you can (such as concentrated fruits juices, coffee and alcohol) and substitute with water. A good sign you’re drinking plenty of water is having consistently clear urine, so aim for that!
- Get a good’s night sleep: Though darts is a game that requires physical mastery, the mental aspect is also strong. Being well-rested will ensure both your mind and body are alert to take on the day and the game.
As you adopt these health tips, also try imitating the standard procedures to play darts. Go through the motions of setting up your stance, fixing on your target, and throwing. Continue to repeat the process, moving slowly at first and increasing in speed until the act becomes seamless. Here’s a list of steps you can follow along:
- Aim and find a sight line
- Maintain a firm grip on your dart using a combination of your thumb, index finger and even your middle finger, depending on preference
- Balance your stance by placing your dominant foot out in front of you
- Fix shoulders, body and hips so they are properly aligned
- Lead with your elbow when throwing
- Shift your weight to your back leg to help propel your throw
- Point up as your throw, creating a trajectory line to account for gravity
- Snap the wrist
- Throw with confidence
- Repeat
Now take a look at all the benefits of playing darts! Check out the Top 10 Health Benefits of Playing Darts.
Read more of our Top 10 Articles.
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