3 May 20267 min read
You know your average. You've known it for months — maybe longer. You throw regularly, you play matches, you practise. And yet the number barely moves.
This is one of the most common frustrations in darts, and it has a surprisingly specific cause. It is not effort. It is not natural ability. It is the fact that most players are practising in a way that makes them better at practising, not better at playing.
Here is what is actually happening — and what you can do about it.
A 501 average is a useful number. It tells you roughly how many points you score per three darts over the course of a match. But it tells you nothing about where those points are coming from or where they are being lost.
Two players can both average 65 and have completely different problems. One might score well but miss doubles repeatedly, dragging their average down through wasted visits. The other might hit doubles cleanly but leak points through inconsistent scoring — hitting 5s and 1s instead of 20s and 19s. The same average. Completely different fixes.
This is why "just practise more" does not work. If you do not know which part of your game is costing you the most points, extra practice just bakes in the same habits.
Research into elite darts performance identifies three distinct phases of a 501 leg: the scoring phase, the setup phase, and the finishing phase. Your average is the product of how well you manage all three. Most amateur players only think about one of them.
The scoring phase is where the big numbers come from — or do not. The single biggest driver of a stuck average at the 50–75 range is not a lack of trebles. It is errant darts. Landing in the 1 or 5 instead of the 20 segment costs between 15 and 19 points per dart compared to hitting the fat single. Over the course of a leg, three bad darts of that type can cost you an entire visit's worth of scoring.
Biomechanics research on the dart throw identifies lateral drift — darts moving left or right of the intended target — as almost always caused by elbow alignment issues during the throw, specifically the elbow moving away from or towards the body's midline during the forward stroke. This is not something you can feel easily mid-match. It is something that has to be identified and corrected in practice.
The setup phase is where most mid-level players are completely unconscious. At around 120–150 points remaining, the game shifts from pure scoring to positioning — hitting specific numbers to leave yourself on a clean, preferred double. Many players ignore this and just keep hammering the 20, which works statistically until they are left on an awkward number with limited options.
The finishing phase is where legs are won or lost. And here, the issue is almost never physical. It is psychological. A peer-reviewed study analysing over 710,000 situations across 7,600 professional PDC matches found that even under maximum pressure — both players on a finish simultaneously — elite players showed no statistically significant drop in checkout efficiency. The mental resilience required to hit doubles under pressure is trainable. But it needs to be trained specifically, not accidentally.
Most players practise 501. They throw legs, they note their average, they feel good when it is high and frustrated when it is low. The problem with this approach is that 501 practice hides your weaknesses.
In a 501 leg, a catastrophic visit to the 1-bed is followed immediately by three darts at something else. The mental reset happens automatically. You never sit with the cause long enough to diagnose it or correct it.
Deliberate practice — the kind that actually produces improvement — works differently. It isolates a specific skill, applies targeted pressure to it, and provides feedback that is immediate and unambiguous. This is why elite players use structured drills rather than just playing legs.
A drill like "100 darts at the 20" produces a measurable Points Per Dart figure you can track week over week. Bob's 27 — a doubles game that penalises you points every time you miss a double with all three darts — creates genuine pressure on the checkout without the escape route of "I'll get it next leg." These drills surface weakness that match play conceals.
The research is clear on this: training that includes relaxation techniques, goal-setting, and concentration exercises can compensate for fewer hours on the board than unstructured practice. Quality of practice matters more than quantity.
If there is a single biomechanical fix that produces the most consistent improvement across a range of player levels, it is this: follow-through.
The follow-through is not decorative. It is functional. When the arm extends fully towards the target after release, it forces the elbow to travel on the correct upward arc during the late acceleration phase — the phase that keeps the dart on a flat, accurate trajectory rather than dropping it into the bottom of the board or pulling it left.
Players who cut their follow-through short — pulling the arm back before full extension — introduce variability at the most critical point in the throw: the release. The dart leaves the hand at a slightly different angle each time, which is why their grouping is poor even when their stance and aim feel consistent.
You can check this yourself. Throw a visit. Watch where your hand finishes. Is it extended fully towards the target, fingers pointing at the board? Or has it dropped back towards your shoulder? If the latter, you have found something worth fixing.
Averages move when you address the specific thing that is costing you points — not when you practise more of what you are already doing.
For most players in the 50–75 average range, the biggest single gain comes from reducing errant darts in the scoring phase. Stop the 5s and 1s. Even converting three bad darts per leg into fat singles adds up to 45–57 points saved across a leg — the equivalent of hitting one extra treble.
For players in the 75–95 range, the gains are usually in the finishing phase. Structured doubles practice — specifically drills that penalise misses rather than just rewarding hits — is where the improvement is hiding.
For players above 95, it is setup and pressure. Knowing your preferred checkout routes instinctively, rather than calculating them under pressure at the oche, is what separates a 95 average from a 100+.
The common thread across all three: you cannot fix what you cannot see. You need data on where your darts are actually going, not just where you think they are going.
DartsHQ analyses every dart you throw and tells you exactly what to fix — from scatter patterns in your scoring segments to your checkout efficiency on every double. It builds coaching around your specific game, not a generic template.
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