Team SEWA World! - What's In A Book?

taechon writes "What’s In A Book?

To understand the value of a good dart book, it is perhaps best to begin by discussing pianos.

Let’s say we wanted to learn to play the piano, instead of spending our time at the local pub tossing arrows with our friends. I can’t imagine why we would want to do this, nevertheless, for the sake of this discussion, let’s pretend that we did.

So armed with a desire to play the piano, one of the first things we might do is run down to the local book shop and purchase a book on “How to Play the Piano.” Let’s say that we find such a book, buy it, take it home, read it, outline all the chapters, and then even memorize the book from cover-to- cover. Are we ready to play the piano? That is to say, if we walked up to a piano, sat in the chair, put our fingers on the little black and white buttons, and our feet on the little bike peddles, would we produce anything at all that sounded like music?

In this regard, playing the piano and throwing darts are exactly alike. No one has ever learned to do either from a book. This does not; however, lessen the value of a good book.

While a good dart books will never replace good practice, they are certainly valuable adjuncts to practice and to improvement. A good book about the sport of darts will contain rules for the games, discussions of equipment, practice games, information about technique, perhaps some personal contributions from top players, and a whole lot more. Still, it is always up to the reader to interpret and use the information in a book to the best of his or her ability.

As for my own opinion with regards to reading dart books, I have come to the conclusion that, “Experience Precedes Understanding.” A person might read a hundred dart books and all of them could recommend decreasing body movement and following through during the stroke, but until the player is actually at a point where he or she can feel this in his or her own stroke, the information really isn’t understood. Still, without the book, they may not come across this information at all. So, a book, as it turns out, is a fine place to start, and a great way to learn about the sport of darts. But if you want to get really good, nothing is going to beat good ole practice.
"