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Warming up before a game of darts or a tournament? Some players swear by it, while others can only smile wearily about it. So does it make a difference to warm up before a competition or not? As is often the case in darts, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. In this article I will also explain from my subjective point of view, since I have already tried darts warm-up exercises myself several times. But which exercises make sense at all and how should you approach the darts match preparation at all? The answers will follow in this blog post.
Warming up before a game of darts is one of the most talked about practices in the sport of darts. But why is that? This is where two worlds meet. On the one hand there are those darts players who have been standing at the oche for 50 years without having to throw a dart. On the other hand, the sport, including darts, is continuously developing. So also certain analyses do not pass the sport of darts. Especially younger players swear by the so-called "warm-up" with certain warm-up exercises before a competition. But what is there to such a preparation before playing darts?
In darts, as we all know, the head plays a big role - if not the biggest role. Therefore, it is very important for a player to have the right feeling when throwing. You have to trust yourself and your darts. This can be very difficult, because you don't always succeed in getting into top form. As a result, doubts about your own ability can arise. In order to be on the point in the competition, it is advisable to fire darts at the board for half an hour or even several hours beforehand. This way you can get the right feeling for the darts. Especially for amateur players, the feeling for the dart is strongly dependent on daily form. But when warming up, you can adjust the sight properly, so to speak, to be there immediately in the competition.
But be careful: You should not overdo it with the dart training for warming up, because if you stand for example three or four hours at the oche before the competition starts a state of fatigue sets in where your concentration decreases already before the first serious match. So finding the right balance is the trick in this case.
So try to repeat the throw again and again during the warm-up - as you should always try to do in darts anyway. To play darts successfully, a round movement is essential. Especially during the warm-up and the warm-up exercises you will notice that not everything works as desired. The right posture and a repetitive motion sequence provide the right feeling and the necessary looseness. So during the first darts, pay special attention to where things are still lacking in order to perfect the movement sequence as quickly as possible before the competition.
Now so much has been written about warm up and warm throwing, but a beginner may not always know how to approach the darts game preparation. We recommend - to ensure a certain darts warm up routine - to always use the same exercises to warm up darts. A short tip how I handle the warm up myself. Some advanced players may smile at this method, but I swear by it. But the right darts warm-up with the respective warm-up exercises must find out in the end everyone for himself - a patent remedy for the preparation before the competition, as well as right or wrong there is not in this case.
My dart training plan or warm-up plan always starts with me throwing each single field once. Then I move on to the double fields, which I work through in around-the-clock mode. In the third step, I try the narrow triples - but only those from T10 to T20. If time permits, I throw 50 darts on the bullseye. Only then do I usually feel ready for the competition.
At the end, the question remains whether you want to warm up alone or together. I prefer to warm up alone in the privacy of my own home. But it's also possible that you'll get into the rhythm better if you warm up with a colleague in a one-on-one match, just like in a competition. Find the best solution for you to perform at the oche at the right moment.
It is important that you have a good feeling just at the moment when the real match starts. Only when you are satisfied with your performance at the end of the warm-up, you can leave your warm-up program and finish the warm-up routine.
The main reason why many players condemn warming up is the completely different pressure situation in competition. Everything that went well before can suddenly go badly and thus only produces additional self-doubt. One can certainly see it that way. And if you see it that way, warming up in darts is almost certainly the wrong way to go before a real game of darts.
However, those who approach the matter differently can also argue as follows. Through the warm-up he can get the necessary security to be able to exist in the competition.
Finally, I would like to give my subjective opinion on this topic. I myself see the warm-up as an enormously important factor before a competition. I don't want to deny that here again the head plays a big role. In any case, even after half an hour of dart practice to warm up I have in 90% of the cases a much better feeling than when I immediately enter the competition without having thrown a single dart.
Why is this so? With myself I observe again and again that above all the first arrows, which are partly still thrown very unfocused, have a large dispersion. Little by little I get into my "zone", i.e. a state in which I begin to block out everything around me. There is no guarantee that I will reach this state, but the warm-up helps me to reach it with a significantly higher probability.
Through the constant warm throwing, I notice that I become more confident, the arm becomes looser and the arrows miss their target less and less often. I usually do this alone, because it allows me to concentrate fully on my own throw.
My conclusion is therefore: Pro Darts Warm Up!
Do you warm up before a dart match or a dart tournament as well? What are your best darts training methods when warming up or your best warm up exercises before a dart match? Write us your warm up routine in the comments and give the community some tips how to prepare for a dart match.
You can find a concrete warm-up program in our own e-book. Also included are some training tips, games, motivation and much more.
