At the turn of the millennium, darts experienced a huge boom that is still going strong 20 years later. This boom made darts more and more popular and changed its image from a pub sport to a professional sport.
The associations had to take many steps to gain the respect they wanted. 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 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
The topic has only gained importance thanks to a young, new generation of darts players. For a long time, health in darts was not really relevant for the players - after all, darts had the image of a dirty, alcoholic pub sport anyway.
Today, darts training no longer only takes place in front of the board, but also in the gym. But why is this so important? There are two reasons for this.
- The first reason is certainly the professionalization and increasing prize money in darts. This means that players keep themselves physically fit in order to prepare perfectly for tournaments .
It is 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 reflected in the problems of current darts players. Mervyn King and Gary Anderson in particular have recurring 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 are doing this. It is now not uncommon to see real athletes at the board (for example Gerwyn Price or Josh Payne).
For these players, physical fitness can be the difference between victory or defeat in a long match.
So: Not only dart training at the oche, but also in the gym.
The Achilles heel of dart players – the back
The back in particular is a major target for physical pain when playing darts. This is partly due to the posture when playing darts .
The back is put under enormous strain by repeatedly adopting the same posture. Because many players lean forward with their upper body before throwing , this creates permanent tension in the upper body, which affects the back.
For anyone who has been earning their living from darts for years, back health is essential.
But what can you do to avoid having the same problems as the pros? We would like to give you two good examples. Firstly, there is 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 concentrating on throwing darts but on the pain in your back , the match is basically over .
Gary Anderson is also part of the problem group. Last year, the Scot even had to withdraw from the Premier League due to back problems. This clearly shows the impact 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 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 that is currently revolutionizing darts. Healthy eating , no alcohol , regular fitness training – previously unthinkable, 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 prepare your back as best as possible for darts? Darts puts a lot of strain on the lower back. Here we'll give you two exercises that you can do regularly without much effort to strengthen your back at least a little.
-
Exercise number 1: Letting your back sag. For example, support yourself on a normal 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 do three sets . -
Exercise number 2: Turning the upper body. For exercise number two, you simply have to stand up , stretch your arms out to the sides of your body and turn your upper body to one side without changing your position.
Once you are completely twisted, 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 on each side are sufficient.
Just by doing small exercises like these you can achieve a lot and make the back pain from darts 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
Especially at the beginning, amateur players often complain of sore muscles from darts. First of all, there is of course a very simple solution: play, play and play again.
By playing frequently and repeating the arm movement, you can significantly reduce the muscle soreness in your arm. However, it often happens that the muscle soreness returns after a few days of not playing darts. To prevent this, it is a good idea to do regular arm training for darts .
The triceps in particular are challenged by the arm stretching movement. To train this, you can, for example, lie on your back , take an object that is as heavy 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 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 should not weigh too much. The correct and clean execution of the dart fitness exercise is the most important thing here.
Make sure that your upper arms always stay in the same place . Only your 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 monitor your training results.
- Dart double training : All secrets revealed: How to become a doubles pro. Find out more and train now. Click here » including free professional tips
- Dart Elimination » We explain the rules of the game of darts and introduce you to the most popular variants. You can find all the information here. Click here now!
- Better darts through solo training: Dart training games alone . Suitable for all skill levels. Find out more now and always throw accurately!
