Stretching for Darts?

Why in the world would anyone need to stretch before playing darts? Its not like we are running a 100 yard dash or competing in Olympic gymnastics. If that was your first reaction, your not alone. But lets take a closer look...

Piano players stretch their fingers before performing, and singers warm up their vocal chords, so why wouldn't dart players stretch their arms/hands? Stretching only makes good sense and provides many benefits to darters of all ages and levels.

First lets take a look at some of the benefits of stretching, various types of stretching, and then dive into some specific exercises for dart players.

Benefits

1. By stretching and loosening up muscles prior to throwing darts we can reduce our warm-up period. In addition, because we are no longer starting out cold we will warm up with more accuracy which leads to increased confidence and a superior state of mind. Wave goodbye to those early morning blues where you feel like you've never thrown a dart before!

2. Stretching reduces stress, anxiety and fatigue. If your a tournament dart player you know well the effects those factors can have on your game. The physical and mental demands of a weekend long dart tournament can wear down even the more seasoned pros.

3. Stretching helps create a better awareness of one's body. The more we understand our individual physical makeup the better we can prepare and train for competition. Darts is a fine motor skill activity, being able to create and maintain a consistant and repeatable motion is paramount to success.