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Throwing With One Hand Tied Behind Your Back!

When criticising another player all darts players have probably said at one time or another that they, “Could throw better left handed and with my eyes closed,” or “Could throw better over my shoulder with one hand tied behind my back,” but few if any have really tried throwing like that. However, one professional player showed his metal recently when a spectator in the crowd at a big match swore at him. He turned his head to see where the insult had come from at exactly the same moment when he threw his last dart. In other words he threw while looking over his shoulder and having already hit 2 x T20 he hit a 3rd treble twenty to score a great 180. No doubt the spectator who had hurled the insult at him wasn’t impressed, but everybody else in the crowd must have been.
He didn’t throw with one hand tied behind his back, but here again I have seen a genuinely one handed player who obviously couldn’t hold his un-thrown darts in his other hand, so, he simply kept his other darts in the left breast pocket of his shirt. He certainly showed that you can throw perfectly well with only one hand, or perhaps with “One hand tied behind your back.” There is no need to have the use of two hands to play darts, although it does probably give you better balance. We have all seen darts players who momentarily lose their balance when they incorrectly anticipate their dart going into the finishing double and they start, “Walking.” They can often be seen wildly waving their arms about in an attempt to get their balance back so as not to fall over and make a bigger spectacle of themselves!

As for “Throwing better with my eyes closed,” I can’t say that I have actually seen anyone do that, but there is the next best thing and that is to cover the board with newspaper so that you can’t see anything to throw at.
In the olden days of darts it is said that there existed such a player who could do this. He was in fact the first darts legend and he really could go round the board on the doubles with the board completely covered in a newspaper. That player was of course the late, great, Jim Pike who dominated the English darts scene in much the same way as Phil Taylor has in more recent years. Jim Pike was a darting star from the late 30’s, and on through the 40’s and 50’s until he died in the 1960’s. Unlike modern players he wore a suit to play in which would be unheard of these days as all players say that they need their arms to feel free and unrestricted to able to throw properly. He certainly didn’t and can be seen demonstrating how to throw darts whilst wearing a suit in an old Pathé film that has recently been made available to view on the internet.

Of course there are a few left handed players about and there is nothing special in that, but what is really meant in the phrase, “Throw better left handed,” is of course to throw with the hand that you do not normally use. For most players of course this means throwing with their left hand. Often, for fun, players will throw one dart “Left handed,” for the bull to pick doubles partners, or to see who throws first in a friendly game of darts. It is quite a shock for many players who haven’t tried throwing with their opposing hand to find out how difficult it is to hit the board never mind getting anything in particular. A few ambidextrous players obviously can throw with either hand and I did come across one player who had been on the verge of playing for England when he badly damaged his hand in a serious mining accident. He “Learned,” the ability to throw with his opposing hand through dogged perseverance and that enabled him to play reasonable pub darts with his other hand during the years it took for his damaged hand to heal properly, but he certainly didn’t play better with his left hand and his eyes closed!

 

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