Preparation in (pro) darts

[Duterprat]

Regarding the tweets of a player (IIRC Dobey) after his loss at the Grand Prix when he had to play Whitlock instead of Lewis:

Does it actually matter who you play in terms of preparing for a match? To me that is pretty much bullshit, how would you e.g. change your way of playing depending on the opponent? The goal in darts would normally be to simply score and finish as good as possible, right? The only thing I COULD imagine is somehow adapting to the "speed" of the opponent, but a pro player should be able to do that by default as there is not just the ONE slow/quick player around?

I used to play competitive chess on a fairly high level where one - even before the computer age - would not have much of a chance w/o preparing for an opponent of similar strength for hours and hours because one knew e.g. the openings and playing style from databases/chess newspapers. Even longer depending on the importance of and the time before the match (and I hated it when we had teams league matches and the other team had to replace someone so I got the "wrong" opponent).
I also get it for individual sports like Boxing/MMA or teams sports where you have to adapt to the style of a (usually the better) opponent or team.

But when it comes to darts, the ways how you can "influence" the opponent and vice versa seems rather limited, unless illegal gamesmanship is applied.

[ILAD]

My eyes..

[Duterprat]

My eyes..

Thanks for your input, much appreciated. I always forget that, although half of you Island dwellers can't even write properly in their own language, the other half loves nothing more than to mock people who have English as 2nd or 3rd language.

[ILAD]

My eyes..

Thanks for your input, much appreciated. I always forget that, although half of you Island dwellers can't even write properly in their own language, the other half loves nothing more than to mock people who have English as 2nd or 3rd language.

[Duterprat]

You're a waste of space and oxygen, Sir. Not that anyone on this forum needs to be reminded of that

And some people wonder why this forum has been slowly but steadily losing posters.

[meetthefeebles]

Can't see what possible difference it makes. You play the board.

[ILAD]

You're a waste of space and oxygen, Sir. Not that anyone on this forum needs to be reminded of that

And some people wonder why this forum has been slowly but steadily losing posters.

Ok prat. Do you know what that means in welsh?

[Duterprat]

You're a waste of space and oxygen, Sir. Not that anyone on this forum needs to be reminded of that

And some people wonder why this forum has been slowly but steadily losing posters.

Ok prat. Do you know what that means in welsh?

I do know what that means in your insignificant backwater part of the world, yes. I give a flying fuck though, the nickname is taken from "Starship Titanic" by Terry Jones. Any person from Britain should know that.

[ILAD]

You're a waste of space and oxygen, Sir. Not that anyone on this forum needs to be reminded of that

And some people wonder why this forum has been slowly but steadily losing posters.

Ok prat. Do you know what that means in welsh?

I do know what that means in your insignificant backwater part of the world, yes. I give a flying fek though, the nickname is taken from "Starship Titanic" by Terry Jones. Any person from Britain should know that.

I once went to Turkey, so I'm a turkey.

[Duterprat]

You're a waste of space and oxygen, Sir. Not that anyone on this forum needs to be reminded of that

And some people wonder why this forum has been slowly but steadily losing posters.

Ok prat. Do you know what that means in welsh?

I do know what that means in your insignificant backwater part of the world, yes. I give a flying fek though, the nickname is taken from "Starship Titanic" by Terry Jones. Any person from Britain should know that.

I once went to Turkey, so I'm a turkey.

Well, no matter where you go, you will always be an unsufferable prick.
Anayways, gonna check if that good old ignore list still works on here. Find someone else who helps you getting off.

[Deleted User]

You're a waste of space and oxygen, Sir. Not that anyone on this forum needs to be reminded of that

And some people wonder why this forum has been slowly but steadily losing posters.

Ok prat. Do you know what that means in welsh?

I do know what that means in your insignificant backwater part of the world, yes. I give a flying fek though, the nickname is taken from "Starship Titanic" by Terry Jones. Any person from Britain should know that.

I once went to Turkey, so I'm a turkey.

Many a true word spoken in jest.

[ILAD]

You're a waste of space and oxygen, Sir. Not that anyone on this forum needs to be reminded of that

And some people wonder why this forum has been slowly but steadily losing posters.

Ok prat. Do you know what that means in welsh?

I do know what that means in your insignificant backwater part of the world, yes. I give a flying fek though, the nickname is taken from "Starship Titanic" by Terry Jones. Any person from Britain should know that.

I once went to Turkey, so I'm a turkey.

Well, no matter where you go, you will always be an unsufferable prick.
Anayways, gonna check if that good old ignore list still works on here. Find someone else who helps you getting off.

Are you a multiple of Drupid.

[The Cat]

Ok prat. Do you know what that means in welsh?

I do know what that means in your insignificant backwater part of the world, yes. I give a flying fek though, the nickname is taken from "Starship Titanic" by Terry Jones. Any person from Britain should know that.

I once went to Turkey, so I'm a turkey.

Well, no matter where you go, you will always be an unsufferable prick.
Anayways, gonna check if that good old ignore list still works on here. Find someone else who helps you getting off.

Are you a multiple of Drupid.

Fuck me imagine two of them

[ILAD]

I do know what that means in your insignificant backwater part of the world, yes. I give a flying fek though, the nickname is taken from "Starship Titanic" by Terry Jones. Any person from Britain should know that.

I once went to Turkey, so I'm a turkey.

Well, no matter where you go, you will always be an unsufferable prick.
Anayways, gonna check if that good old ignore list still works on here. Find someone else who helps you getting off.

Are you a multiple of Drupid.

fek me imagine two of them

No thanks, the mods wouldn’t allow it...

[Rout]

In terms of preparation I doubt many players do many things differently based on who they are playing.

Maybe little things, like if you're playing Price, drumming it into yourself not to get wound up by his pathetic antics for example.

[nikkiboy]

Regarding the tweets of a player (IIRC Dobey) after his loss at the Grand Prix when he had to play Whitlock instead of Lewis:

Does it actually matter who you play in terms of preparing for a match? To me that is pretty much bullshit, how would you e.g. change your way of playing depending on the opponent? The goal in darts would normally be to simply score and finish as good as possible, right? The only thing I COULD imagine is somehow adapting to the "speed" of the opponent, but a pro player should be able to do that by default as there is not just the ONE slow/quick player around?

I used to play competitive chess on a fairly high level where one - even before the computer age - would not have much of a chance w/o preparing for an opponent of similar strength for hours and hours because one knew e.g. the openings and playing style from databases/chess newspapers. Even longer depending on the importance of and the time before the match (and I hated it when we had teams league matches and the other team had to replace someone so I got the "wrong" opponent).
I also get it for individual sports like Boxing/MMA or teams sports where you have to adapt to the style of a (usually the better) opponent or team.

But when it comes to darts, the ways how you can "influence" the opponent and vice versa seems rather limited, unless illegal gamesmanship is applied.

It makes a difference in both attitude and the way you approach it, speed up a slower player, slow down a fast one etc.

[TheSandman]

Regarding the tweets of a player (IIRC Dobey) after his loss at the Grand Prix when he had to play Whitlock instead of Lewis:

Does it actually matter who you play in terms of preparing for a match? To me that is pretty much bullshit, how would you e.g. change your way of playing depending on the opponent? The goal in darts would normally be to simply score and finish as good as possible, right? The only thing I COULD imagine is somehow adapting to the "speed" of the opponent, but a pro player should be able to do that by default as there is not just the ONE slow/quick player around?

I used to play competitive chess on a fairly high level where one - even before the computer age - would not have much of a chance w/o preparing for an opponent of similar strength for hours and hours because one knew e.g. the openings and playing style from databases/chess newspapers. Even longer depending on the importance of and the time before the match (and I hated it when we had teams league matches and the other team had to replace someone so I got the "wrong" opponent).
I also get it for individual sports like Boxing/MMA or teams sports where you have to adapt to the style of a (usually the better) opponent or team.

But when it comes to darts, the ways how you can "influence" the opponent and vice versa seems rather limited, unless illegal gamesmanship is applied.

It makes a difference in both attitude and the way you approach it, speed up a slower player, slow down a fast one etc.

It makes no difference at all, it’s a bullshit excuse for playing shit.

UK open draws done with half a day or less notice, pro tours draw done only an hour before play starts.

Players have been replaced at short notice in the past for many tourneys.

If Dobey had won, nothing would have been said.

[nikkiboy]

Absolute rubbish, you look at the draw and see player a so you get ready for player a, if you are suddenly playing player b it throws you off. To say it has no effect is silly.

[ChrisW]

Of course it does in these type of competitions. Managers will be advising players how to play against player's playing styles etc.
Makes a massive difference.

[TheSandman]

It’s no boxing it’s darts.

Unless your going from playing Ricky Evans to Justin Pipe it makes no difference

Whitlock and Lewis are comparable in talent these days, so it’s no mvg that’s suddenly appeared.