At the turn of the millennium, darts experienced a tremendous boom that continues even 20 years later. This boom has led to darts becoming increasingly popular and transforming its image from a pub sport into a professional sport.
This required many steps on the part of the associations to earn 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 increasingly concerned with the topic of dart fitness .
In this blog post, we would like to discuss the importance of fitness in darts these days and how you can counteract unpleasant back pain and sore muscles in your arms with strength training.
Dart Fitness – the importance of dart fitness and strength training
Only with the advent of a young, new generation of darts players has the topic gained importance. For a long time, health in darts wasn't really a concern for players—after all, darts already had the image of a dirty, alcoholic pub sport .
Today, darts training no longer takes place only in front of the board, but also in the gym. But why is this so important? There are two reasons.
- The first reason is almost certainly the professionalization and increasing prize money in darts. This means that players are keeping themselves physically fit in order to prepare perfectly for tournaments .
It's not uncommon to play darts for seven or eight hours on a long tournament day. Over time, your back or arm can show signs of wear and tear. This makes it all the more important to counteract these problems with regular training . - The second aspect is also evident in the problems of current darts players. Mervyn King and Gary Anderson, in particular, repeatedly suffer from back problems .
Back pain in darts is no longer a new problem for many players, which is why they engage in special dart fitness back training for darts . The younger, new generation of players is particularly embracing this. Nowadays, it's not uncommon to see real athletes at the board (for example, Gerwyn Price or Josh Payne).
For these players, physical fitness can be the deciding factor between victory and defeat in a long match.
So: Not only dart training at the oche, but also in the gym.
The Achilles heel of darts players – the back
The back, in particular, is a major target for physical pain in darts. This is partly due to the posture used in darts .
The back is subjected to enormous strain by repeatedly adopting the same posture. Especially because many players lean forward with their upper bodies before throwing , this creates constant tension in the upper body, which affects the back.
So for anyone who has been earning their living from darts for years, back health is essential.
But what can you do to avoid developing problems similar to those of the pros? We'd like to give you two good examples. First, there's Mervyn King, who has been struggling with back pain for decades.
These often occur during long matches . As soon as your mind is no longer focused on throwing darts and instead on the back pain , the match is essentially over .
Gary Anderson is also in this problem group. Last year, the Scotsman even had to withdraw from the Premier League due to back problems. This clearly shows the impact this can have – ultimately, including 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 that occurs through practicing 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 currently revolutionizing darts. A healthy diet , no alcohol , and regular fitness training —unthinkable in the past, but now commonplace.
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 places particular strain on the lower back. Here are two exercises you can do regularly and without much effort to strengthen your back at least a little.
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Exercise number 1: Letting your back sag. For example, lean against a normal, closed door. Now let your body sag.
You essentially 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, you simply have to stand up , stretch your arms out to the sides , and rotate your upper body to one side without changing your stance.
Once you're fully twisted, hold this position for one minute and then switch by twisting your upper body completely to the other side to continue the exercise. Three repetitions per side are sufficient.
Just doing small exercises like these can achieve a lot, and back pain from darts can disappear . If that's not enough, we recommend going to the gym or seeing a physiotherapist , who can create a personalized dart fitness training plan for you.
Sore muscles in darts – regular arm training as a solution
Especially when starting out, amateur darts players often complain of sore muscles. First of all, there's a very simple solution: play, play, and play again.
By playing frequently and repeating the arm movement , you will significantly reduce arm soreness . However, it's not uncommon for muscle soreness to return after a few days of not playing darts. To prevent this, it's a good idea to do regular darts arm training .
The triceps are particularly challenged by the arm extension movement. To train this, you can, for example, lie on your back , take an object as heavy as possible in your hands, and bring it toward your head.
From there, slowly stretch your arms into the air with the object in hand. Repeat this 12 times and complete three sets – ideally regularly . And just like that, the muscle soreness will be gone.
The execution of dart fitness exercises must be observed
Important: The heavier the object, the greater the effect. However, the object shouldn't weigh too much. Correct and clean execution of the dart fitness exercise is paramount.
Also, make sure your upper arms always stay in the same place . Only your forearms should move upwards.
You can find these exercises and other helpful tips in our new e-book . 53 pages full of motivation, tips, support, and training plans, as well as an intelligent Excel spreadsheet for monitoring your training results.
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