Play better to get better

By Marty Scarborough

I have been playing darts in Arizona for over 10 years now. I have seen a lot of new players come and go. I have seen a lot of new players start playing with a real drive to get to be better, but they get to where they average a 2.8 – 3.0 and then stop improving.

One of the main reasons these people seem to plateau is the level of competition they play against. You never see these people playing in money games against the better players. They don't challenge the better players to games or ask to get in a game when some of the higher-rated players are just shooting for fun.

No one likes to lose. We all want to win. But if you really want to get better you have to play against the better players. We have one player who is playing in the A division of the Masters Draft League this season and I think everyone would agree, including him, he probably shouldn't have.

But I have seen his game come up a lot in the last six weeks. He went from averaging around a 2.5 in most games to averaging 3.0 – 3.5 consistently. Why? Because every single person he plays against is better than he is.

Whether you are one of the new people starting out, or if you are one of the people who seem to be stuck on that plateau and want to get off it and improve, challenge every Master player you see. Go to the tournaments where you know the better players will be. If you only play against your friends that you know you can beat backwards, it isn't going to make you shoot serious. It isn't going to put you in that clutch situation where it's hit or lose. In short, it isn't going to do anything to improve your game.

If you are happy with your game and just play for fun and don't care if you improve, then there is no shortage of people who will play against you. You can find leagues and tournaments that restrict it so the better players can't play. But you are as good as you are going to be. If you are not one of those people and truly want to get better, then start playing against people you know will beat you until they can't do it any more.