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 | Why leave your darts in the board? |
 Erik writes "You've been there, seen that and got the T-Shirt right? You know when the person you are playing throws three darts, walks quickly to the board and pulls their darts, chalks a 140 and heads back to the line all the while you took a sip of that drink and had no idea what was actually shot?
Your mind wanders a bit and you question the score (to yourself) and even though you trust your opponent it just seems strange that they suddenly hit a 140 that you didn't see after averaging 41 a throw. You never saw it though, and the darts came out of that board so fast that you could see the smoke coming off the sisal from the friction of rapid removal! Whoa Nelly, what happened there?
Truth is, your opponent most likely DID hit the 140 (this is darts after all) and was just so excited to have finally found the Triple bed that they raced up, pulled their darts, chalked the score and headed back to the bar to try to figure out how to do it again -- all the while unaware of your dilemma.
What to do?
Simple: While growing up in Canada I played darts from age 11 to 20 in various scenarios like youth leagues and local pubs and during this time I learned from everyone else that you left your darts in the board while chalking the score. Thus your opponent, who might not like the score, can see that you really did hit what you chalked – eliminating any question.
So, to chalk and walk (especially) but even when you have a score keeper, after shooting your darts walk up to the board, chalk your score (this also makes your opponent wait for you) or announce your score to the chalker (thus verifying that it to them) and then and only then remove those darts and head back to the rear.
Another thing you can do if the score is a good one, or the winning shot and ONLY after you have chalked the score (MUST BE FIRST) and are removing your darts and the score is perhaps not totally obvious to your opponent (you've got a 180 with two darts so close to together YOU had to double check) then remove the most obvious dart(s) first and then lightly shift the other dart (s) up or over (so your opponent can actually see they are where you say they are) as you remove them. Of course you must pause for just a moment during removal and after shifting the darts angle so your opponent can actually see, but not so long it looks like you changed anything. It’s almost an imperceptible pause during removal that allows the opponent to see you hit what you say. Over the years I developed a technique in which it is clear I am not actually holding the dart, but move it slightly with my fingers prior to grabbing it and removing it. Thus I clearly am only showing my opponent where the dart really is. This is important because often you cannot see from the oche and might believe a triple 20 is really a triple 1 so a slight shift prior to removal can help.
But above all, leave your darts in the board until the score is chalked, and you will eliminate any questions about your integrity and will be playing the way folks played 30 years ago -- they way it should be today.
Shoot well!
Erik
"
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Re: Why leave your darts in the board? (Score: 1)
by Taechon on Tuesday, August 30 @ 10:30:46 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) http://thegameofdarts.com | I've played both ways. Around here we pull and chalk. In America we would chalk and pull. I really don't think it makes much of a difference because any important game usually has a chalker. Very few tournaments have "chalk your own " games.
I've seen people cheat on thier scores. I never confront them. I will always confront a chalker when he or she makes an error. However; when playing against an opponent, I may look quizical at the score and ask, "What did you hit." The guy who did the cheating just told me "A Ton."
Most people respond with "S20, S20, T20." I just made a mental note and attemnpted to avoid playing with the guy whenever possible. What am I going to do .... get in a fight over a few points in a game that couldn't possibly matter a day from now?
I came to notice that this guy also cheated in blind draws. He would hit a 55 and then swear it was a ton. If the chalker or another team member was not sufficiently strong with him, he would get the ton score. Cheating was just his way of trying to win at darts. He did it so often and so blatently that everyone knew him. Even though he was confronted numerous times by fairly violent people, he kept it up. When I played him in blind draws, I just learned to walk half way to the board with him. As he pulled his darts, I would say, "nice shot" or "that was close." Strangely, he never got pissed at me. Unfortunately there are people like this in the sport of darts. Fortunately, they don't seem to last long.
The biggest advantage to leaving your darts in the board while you chalk your score is psychological. It throws off your opponents rythem. Leave those darts in there, take your time, add up your score, make a mistake and add it again. When your opponent calls out the score, shush him. Tell him that now you have lost count and start over again. Don't pull the darts until you have counted three times and checked your score with your pocket calculator.
Okay, I'm getting silly. But the reason you pull and chalk is not to mess with the other person's rythem. When two people are decent players, it really does not seem to matter if they pull the darts first or not because it takes about the same amount of time.
Furthermore, in all my years of playing, I have only met the one person who cheated. So, either I am not very observant or there are a lot of really great and honest people shooting darts.
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