Dear John,

It has been a while. I read with interest your comments on the upcoming World Championships. Obviously I will be listening over the internet to select matches (we are on a dial up connection and it can get pricey).

I read also your comments on the importance of a smooth release and follow through to sustain a consistent throw and accuracy. I have struggled with this as well. In longer tournament formats my release was letting me down in that I would tire at the shoulder and wrist and just lose any form I had. I have been reviewing tapes of your matches and have picked up that your release is more of a "flicking or pitching" of the dart than a longer held release. I have tried it in practice and cannot believe the difference. Such a small thing and yet so important over the long haul. I tend still to revert to my bad habits and really have to concentrate to make the change, but it will be worth it.

Chris Rudd from Rankin Inlet, Nanavut, In the Arctic sent that observation and with it a note for help, I have had many such messages lately and though it was time to try and help.
Gripping a dart and releasing it is not a difficult operation, it is made difficult by people who usually have an unusual way of holding a pen to write, this is one of the first things we are taught at school, however they do not teach you the correct way to hold the pen, they leave you to find the most comfortable and easiest way that will enable you to write without any difficulty,
When I hold a dart it is with the same grip as the pen but the thumb and index finger go to the back of the barrel unlike the pen were all contact with the pen are made at the front.
How tight should I grip the barrel you say, well try to think of golf and the grip, all instructors say you should let the golf club lay in your hand then place your fingers round the grip and hold firmly but not tightly, darts is the same, hold the dart so it does not move around in your hand but don't squeeze the day lights out of it.
The throwing action is again like golf but not as complicated, golf has a backswing, darts similarly has a drawback, the arm is withdrawn towards the shoulder, the golf backswing can be over exaggerated, the darts drawback can likewise be overdrawn, some players take the hand holding the dart way past eye sight level and almost back and down onto the shoulder, this is unnecessary and can lead to all sorts of problems, one noticeable one is dartitus, by taking the arm to far back it can become locked for a minute part of a second in the fully retracted position, the fluid action then stops and the next action the forward movement of the arm becomes a totally separate action, this means the drawback action of the arm was unnecessary and the player might just as well have started with the dart and the arm in the fully drawback position at the beginning of the throw.
It is important to make the draw back action and the forward action and release all one, smooth, fluent, clean.
I would suggest that you stop the drawback action when the hand is about four inches from your face and still in view, do not stop the action there but make the transition from going backward to going forward in an unstopping movement, it is almost as if the arm has a spring attached to it that has tightened up as the arm is withdrawn then the spring pulls forward and the arm follows towards the target, if you notice many of the very successful professionals keep their hand almost parallel to the ground when bringing the arm back, they cock the wrist to do this, you can observe this by watching videos or the next Tv championship, Phil Taylor in particular keeps his dart very straight.
The release of the dart should be at the exact spot in the action, not to early not to late, I suggest the right time is when you feel the dart is being dragged down by the arm as it extends, when it begins to leave the parallel it should be released, of course the way to make this easier is to keep the arm going straight for as long as possible with no downward action, this will mean the dart will automatically be released because you cannot hold on to it any longer, try that a few times and then find the right time for you to release the dart.
The follow through is of the utmost importance, as you release the dart the hand should be open fully and follow behind the dart towards the intended target, again just like the golf swing.
Well that's the grip, the draw back and the release that leaves only one thing that can and does ruin all, the stance, this like everything varies from player to player but there as to be a practical and most common stance that can be used then adapted by everyone, bad habits are very hard to cure and if the stance is not right at the start of a player taking up the sport then it could effect any progress for years.
I do not claim to have the perfect stance but it is one that has kept my game in good shape for many years and what's more I do not suffer from back ache like many other players who take up complicated stances.
I suggest: right foot forward (if you are right handed) do not turn the foot so that the shoe is parallel to the oche, settle for a position half way between parallel about 45 Deg, this will have the desired effect of turning the body to make the right side nearer the target line, the left foot should be behind the body with the sole of the foot firmly on the ground, the heel raised off the ground, I believe that this back foot is the secret to consistent throwing, many players lift this foot off the ground when the forward throwing movement is made, this in turn allows the body to go forward, the head moves and only the very best players can achieve a result from all the movement caused.
If the back foot remains still at the forward movement the success rate of the dart hitting it's target will be greatly increased.
Were should you stand at the oche? I believe this is a trial and error situation, I started some 30 years ago in the middle of the oche, I then moved to the left of centre, years later and I find myself at the right hand side of the oche almost off the end, the reasons I have convinced myself are eye sight.
I had a motor cycle accident a few years into my darts playing had started, my left eye was left weaker than the right, I moved on the oche unconsciously, it was only after a year or so that other players told me that I was not throwing from the same position, I did not change for years, as I got older I gradually came across to the other side of the oche, I tried to reason this with my optician on my first eye test at the age of 50 (that is ten years past the normal for the latest eye test I am told) he informed me the vision seen through the eyes relates to the brain and the body acts to the information received, in my case the eyes are telling the brain that I am lined up to the board in an even position.ie. the board is the same distance on the right as it is on the left, of course that cannot be true because I know I am right of centre making the board further away on the left, providing you are not right off the oche it will or should not make that much difference to the distance throw, if it feels right it usually is right.

Chris asked me how I could make all this simpler, I told him to imagine having a piece of wood cut at the exact height when your arm is held out with the upper arm at 45 deg, the wood would fit right under your elbow, if you could then practice the backward and forward movement and the release of the dart you would have the perfect action, it would be very robotic but I assure you it would work.
The only ingredient missing from all of this is the human one, you like me have seen players with terrible actions yet the result is unbelievable, Jocky Wilson comes to mind with that last dart, he would almost throw his whole body at the board yet he would hit the target a lot more than most, this is the mind correcting the body action, although it is the wrong action the mind is strong and can overcome and correct the patern used midway through.
I suggest it is better to start right and make those minor adjustments later, have a sound base and go from there.
I trust someone out there has found this the easiest and yet many make it the most difficult part of darts, helpful, remember the order, grip, stance, drawback, forward and release, put them all together in one fluid movement, repeat twice more and presto you are on your way to becoming efficient and not proficient.

John Lowe.