It’s the PDC World Darts Championship final tonight between the young prodigy Luke Littler and 3 x winner Michael van Gerwen. However, in all the 30+ year history of the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) its actually the first time I will get to watch the final LIVE. Sally and I have been watching the rounds over Christmas and we’ve been gripped. I’ve fallen in love with it all again and it’s given me a much needed distraction to feeling sorry for myself because I can’t ride my bike at the moment.
When I think back, I used to watch the old BDO Darts World Championship every year on the BBC in the run up to Christmas with the enigmatic Sid Waddell on commentary. The days of John Lowe, Jocky Wilson and Eric Bristow in the 80’s on a tiny stage amongst a fog of smoke, guzzling pints of beer between legs. It was truly a pub sport back then. It’s so much more different now since Sky TV invested in the game and helped make it the worldwide TV spectacle it is today. Akin to what they’ve done with football albeit for a lot less money than what we see swashing around the Premier League these days. But it’s still helped grow the game with more events, more money and more fans too. Particularly young ones aspiring to be the next Luke Littler.
I watched some of the 1997 PDC final the other day. Phil Taylor picked up £20K for beating Dennis Priestly. Nothing to sniff at but the winner receives £500K tonight!
I was at Midlands Darts in Tamworth last weekend and it was great to see the shop buzzing, it’s a brand new business, but seeing the kids in there was really nice to see. Darts has it’s doubters as a sport but I’d rather see kids walking up and down an oche developing a skill and enjoying some competition than sat all day on an Xbox or their phone.
Darts is a relatively cheap sport to get into and great for the mind. £50 for a board and £25-£60 for a really good set of darts darts and away you go. It’s an escape for me from the monotony of working from home. I can just stop work, go next door and switch off throwing a few darts. The trouble is when you begin to take it semi-seriously like me playing almost every day you start to focus on improvement which inevitably ends up with you spending more money on darts to get your setup right. Well thats my excuse anyway LOL.
Been a good dart thrower is simply consistency. Been able to throw a dart at a very small area on the board on demand, over and over again. The Pro’s make it look easy. It isn’t, try it. And to be consistent there are variables you have to master and I’ve been on that journey since I started throwing again back in July. Barrel length, weight, grip, shape, shaft length, flight type, length of your points etc are just some of things I’ve been wrestling with to get right aswell as my stance, my throw and how I actually hold the dart. There is an element of amateur science to it but it’s fun trying various combo’s to find the right setup and I think I’m closing in on it now.
I currently have 6 sets of darts varying from 24g up to 29g, the first set I bought, but I did invest in a set of 26g Michael Smith Believe (£65) and despite trying slightly lighter darts, different barrel grips and longer shafts, I keep going back to them as I’m most consistent when I throw them having changed my grip, stance and throw recently.
I find throwing different darts helps me occasionally too. Last weekend I bought a set of Winmau Firestorms with a grippier barrel (plus I just wanted a set of black darts!) and came home and threw a 180, my highest ever checkout @ 135 and a ridiculous triple bull at the end of a game of round the clock. Mental. I’ve been shit with them since though LOL.
Recently I’ve been working on my darts name should I ever go Pro LOL. Friends call me PP a lot so I came up with Paul ‘Pinpoint’ Prince. My darts shirt would have crosshairs all over it. My walk-on music would be something like Lets Dance by Bowie to get the crowd going. I’d wear red shoes lol #pipedream
Anyway that’s enough about darts from me for now. If you fancy a go, just find a pub and give it a go first. If you can watch the final tonight, watch it. It promises to be a classic with two very-heavy hitters going to-to-toe. I predict 30+ 180’s in the match creating some ridiculous averages and a final to remember. Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler for the win I think
Game on!
Adios