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At the turn of the millennium, darts experienced a huge upswing that is still going on 20 years later. Due to this boom, darts became more and more popular and changed its image from a pub sport to a professional sport.
This required many steps on the part of the associations to gain the desired respect. Since darts is now recognized as a professional sport, many players are now preparing accordingly.
While beer bellies used to be the focus, a new generation is now pushing its way to the top of the world and is becoming more and more concerned with the topic of dart fitness .
In this blog post we would like to discuss the importance that fitness now has in darts and how you can counteract unsightly back pain and sore muscles in your arms with strength training.
Dart Fitness – the importance of dart fitness and strength training
The topic has only become more important thanks to a young, new generation of darts players. For a long time, health in darts wasn't really relevant to the players - darts had the image of an alcohol-rich and dirty bar sport anyway.
Today, darts training no longer only takes place in front of the target, but also in the gym. But why is this so important? There are two reasons here.
- The first reason is almost certainly the professionalization and the increasing prize money in darts. This means that the players also keep themselves physically fit in order to prepare perfectly for tournaments .
It's not uncommon to play darts for seven or eight hours in a long tournament day. Over time, the back or arm can become noticeable through certain signs of wear and tear. It is all the more important to counteract these problems with regular training . - The second aspect is also reflected in the problems faced by current dart players. Mervyn King and Gary Anderson in particular always have problems with their backs .
Back pain in darts is no longer new to many players, which is why they also do special Dart Fitness back training for darts . The young, new generation of players in particular is demonstrating this. It's now not uncommon for real athletes to be on the board (for example Gerwyn Price or Josh Payne).
For these players, physical fitness can be the difference between victory and defeat in a long match.
So: Not just dart training at the oche, but also in the gym.
The Achilles heel of darts players – the back
The back in particular offers a large target for physical pain when playing darts. This is partly due to the posture in darts .
The back is put under enormous strain by repeating the same posture over and over again. Precisely because many players lean forward with their upper body before throwing , there is constant tension in the upper body, which is aimed at the back.
So for anyone who has been making a living playing darts for years, back health is essential.
But what can you do to avoid having the same problems as the professionals? We would like to give you two good examples in advance. On the one hand, there is Mervyn King, who has been struggling with back pain for decades.
It is not uncommon for these to occur during long matches . As soon as your head no longer focuses on throwing darts, but rather on the pain in your back , the match is actually over .
Gary Anderson is also part of the problem group here. Last year the Scot even had to cancel participation in the Premier League due to back problems. Here it becomes clear what effects this can have - ultimately also financially.
Back training in darts - a solution that many players use
Many players now use special back training in darts in order to prevent such consequential damage as a result of playing the sport at an early stage .
A good example of this is the German darts professional Martin Schindler, who keeps his back fit through individual training several times a week .
Martin Schindler also belongs to the generation that is currently revolutionizing darts. Healthy eating , no alcohol , regular fitness training – once unthinkable, now the order of the day.
And it pays off, because the young, wild ones, as they are often called, have long since fought their way past the older generation.
But what exactly can you do to best prepare your back for darts? Darts puts particular strain on the lower back. At this point we will give you two exercises that you can do regularly without much effort to strengthen your back at least a little.
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Exercise number 1: Allowing your back to sag. For example, lean on an ordinary door that is closed. Now let your body sag.
So you basically push your hips forward and hold this position for a few seconds. Repeat this 20 times and complete three sets . -
Exercise number 2: rotating the upper body. For exercise number two, all you have to do is stand up , stretch your arms to the sides of your body and turn your upper body to one side without changing your stance.
Once you are completely turned in, hold this position for a minute and then switch by turning your upper body completely to the other side to continue the exercise there. Three repetitions per side are sufficient.
A lot can be achieved through such small exercises alone and the back pain from darts will disappear . If this is not enough, we recommend going to the gym or to a physiotherapist who can create an individual dart fitness training plan for you.
Sore muscles in darts – regular arm training as a solution
It is not uncommon for hobby players to complain about sore muscles from darts, especially at the beginning. First of all, there is of course a very simple solution to this: play, play and play again.
By playing frequently and repeating arm movements , you can significantly reduce muscle soreness in your arm. However, it often happens that the sore muscles return after a few days of darts break. To prevent this, it makes sense to do regular arm training for darts .
The triceps in particular are challenged by the stretching movement in the arm. To train this you can, for example, lie on your back , take as heavy an object as possible in your hands and bring it towards your head.
From there, slowly stretch your arms into the air with the object in your hand. Repeat this 12 times and complete three sets - preferably regularly . And just like that, the sore muscles are gone.
The execution of dart fitness exercises must be taken into account
Important: The heavier the object, the greater the effect. However, the item should not weigh too much. The focus here is on the correct and clean execution of the dart fitness exercise.
Also make sure that your upper arms always stay in the same place . Only the forearms are allowed to move upwards.
You can find these exercises and other helpful tips in our new e-book . 53 pages full of motivation, tips, help and training plans as well as an intelligent Excel table to check your training results.
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