Purposeful Practice Routines

Throwing darts at a board for hours is not practice; it is simply throwing. True practice requires structure, tracking, and deliberate focus. When you throw aimlessly at the treble twenty, you fail to develop board management skills and put no pressure on yourself to hit specific, awkward targets. The routines below are designed to stretch your abilities and simulate match pressure.

Warm-Up: Around the Clock

Before engaging in intense scoring or checkout drills, you must loosen the arm and calibrate your sightlines across the entire board. 'Around the Clock' is the most effective way to accomplish this.

The rules are simple: you must hit every segment from 1 to 20 in numerical order. You throw three darts at number 1. If you hit it on the first dart, you use the remaining two darts to aim at number 2, and so forth. You do not progress to the next number until you have successfully hit the current one. For beginners, hitting any part of the wedge (single, double, or treble) counts. For intermediate players, the drill should be performed strictly on the doubles ring, which is crucial for finishing legs of 501.

Scoring Drill: The 100 Darts Drill

To improve your heavy scoring, you need a baseline metric. The 100 Darts Drill is a fantastic way to measure your consistency on the twenty segment.

You throw exactly 100 darts (33 visits, plus one final dart) entirely at the 20 segment. You score it exactly as the board reads: a single 20 is one point, a treble 20 is three points. Darts landing outside the 20 bed score zero. The maximum possible score is 300. Tracking this score weekly will give you hard data on whether your stroke is genuinely improving or if you are just experiencing temporary hot streaks.

Finishing Drill: Bob's 27

Invented by former World Champion Bob Anderson, this is widely considered the ultimate doubles practice routine. It applies immense psychological pressure and brutally exposes any weakness in your finishing game.

The rules of Bob's 27:

• You start the game with exactly 27 points.
• You begin by aiming three darts at Double 1.
• If you hit the double, you add its value to your score. (e.g., hitting one D1 adds 2 points. Hitting two D1s adds 4 points).
• If you miss the double with all three darts, you subtract the value of the double from your score. (Missing D1 subtracts 2 points).
• You then move to Double 2, then Double 3, all the way sequentially up to the Bullseye.

The catch: If your score drops to zero or below at any point, the game is instantly over, and you lose. The pressure mounts significantly when you reach the higher numbers; missing D20 subtracts 40 points in a single visit, which can completely wipe out a hard-earned score. Completing the entire board and surviving past the Bullseye is a hallmark of an advanced player.

Checkout Drill: 121 in 9 Darts

Professional players excel because they can clean up awkward numbers under pressure. The 121 Drill forces you to think about setup shots and combinations.

You start with a score of 121. You have exactly 9 darts (three visits) to check out (finishing on a double). If you successfully check out 121 within 9 darts, your target increases to 122 for the next round. If you fail to check out within 9 darts, you drop back to 121 and start again. This drill perfectly simulates the mid-range checking pressure found in actual competitive matches, forcing you to adjust dynamically if your first dart misses the intended treble.

Incorporate these routines into a structured 45-minute daily session, track your metrics in a notebook, and you will see your match average steadily climb.