More on Handicapping...

From Another Passionate Darter...

Hello Sherilyn,

I have finally gotten around to reading your articles from behind the line. The one that stands out to me is the one asking or telling us to rank darters appropriately.

I understand this darters frustration. To work hard in your division and finally have a shot at winning it, only to come across a team stacked by much higher ranked players that don't belong in the division in the first place. I once shot for a league that had this problem all the time. The person who ran this league played favorite's. And as you can imagine, this league didn't last long.

This is the reason we now have handicapping in darts. So league operators can catch sandbaggers or as we call them cheaters. Or to simply even out the playing field, to insure every one has a fair shot at winning.

In defense of the league operators, you always know how to rank all the players. Even if you keep track of them on computer week in and week out. You come across these types of problems. Sometimes a team loses a player and brings in that RINGER all of a sudden. You really don't know this guy from a hole in the ground, but all of a sudden he's shooting 180's every week in a low division. This is where handicapping comes in, after the first week this person establishes an average, the right handicapping system can level his ability to that of the people he's going to play against. Thus, leveling the playing field and keeping harmony in the division.

But, not all darters like handicapping, so they play in open divisions, cause that's what they believe in, that handicapping takes away the true nature of the sport. I can relate to these players. This where you'll find out if you truly have a good operator or management running your dart league. Because, if such a situation as a team having two A (top ranked) players in a D (lower ranked) players division, the operator will take it seriously and examine this situation to make sure these players belong or don't belong in such a division. If they don't it is his/her (operator's) responsibility to take action, to stop this team from sandbagging (cheating) and to promote sportsmanship in their league.