Following Your Opponent in Cricket
Hello Sherilyn,
Today I want to discuss simple cricket strategy. Following... Do you ever find yourself following in a game of cricket? You know the situation, where your opponent open's the 20's and then you go close the 20's, just to watch your opponent open the 19's with 38 points to boot. Then you go up there and close the 19's figuring you can get 38 or more measly point's later. Soon you find yourself following your opponent to his or her victory?
Well, I don't know about you but, I'm pretty sure along with myself it has happened to everyone at least once. In some cases it still happens, even if it is following your opponent for two rounds. Your still following, letting your opponent dictate the game. It's bad enough to give someone the edge of starting the game, but to also follow (or chase as some call it) to further your opponents advantage is just plain foolish.
I'm not saying I'm better then everyone for not allowing myself to chase or follow. I'm just as guilty as the next person, I still find myself doing this from time to time. It's one of the weakness in my game. I almost always pay for following the leader, and almost every time I tell myself "that was stupid."
What do I mean by chase or follow? Simple, if your opponent opens the 20's and scores 20 points. What is going through your mind at the time? Go for the 19's and score back? Or close them big 20's and then open the 19's and hope, you can score as well? If you go for the latter of the two, you'll end up saying, "that was stupid" just like me very time. Sure you might pull it off some times, but the odds are against you.
The best shot would be to open the 19's and score 38 or 57 points then closing the 20's, with a nice eight or nine count. Even if you just open the 19's and score 38 points, your forcing your opponent to react to you, and that's what you want. To put some pressure on your opponent. Forcing them to return the favor. If not, you can make them pay by swinging the momentum of the game to your favor. By closing the 20 and adding more points to your lead or closing the next number in the game forcing them to react to you.
Ron
P.S.- Do you agree Sherilyn?
Well Ron, I've got a few thoughts of my own here! My first rule of thumb is that if my opponent starts the game off and points on 20s, then I go straight to 19s to close my own number and hopefully get ahead on points. I know many darters who will follow an opponent's shot at 4 or more 20s, right back with 20s. I suppose it depends on your skill level as well. If you can hit a round of trips whenever you want then you might be safe. The general rule of thumb is points first.
Now, if my opponent opens with 4 20s and I hit 4 19s, even though I'm down by only a point, I consider that to be down by only a mark or a single-bull, so I'll throw that 3rd dart back at the 20s hoping to hit the triple-20. This way I'd have 19s closed, 19 points and 20s closed with my opponent only having 20s closed with 20 points. I always want to have one number closed ahead of my opponent. Of course this doesn't always happen, but that's what I'm aiming for.
On the flip side, if my opponent opened the game with 4 20s and I went for 20s...either I'd close them and still be down on points, OR I would miss them and leave them open. This would leave the door wide open for my opponent to move to 19s and 18s, leaving me in the dust with 20s still not closed. Then I would definitely be playing catch-up and that puts too much pressure on myself. I'd rather play more aggressively, get ahead on other numbers and force my opponent to keep throwing at 20s at points to keep up with me as I closed 19s and 18s around my opponent. Again, this isn't what always actually happens but this is my goal.
Another good rule of thumb is to always keep ahead of your opponent by 4 darts, or to keep your opponent from game shot by 4 darts. With this in mind, if your opponent opens with points, then you've got to battle back by closing another number and getting points. In this game, you want to prolong the game by getting ahead on points and forcing your opponent to revert to getting points instead of closing numbers while you get points and close additional numbers.
The closer you get toward the end of the game, the more aware you must be of keeping your opponent at least 4 darts away from winning the game. After shooting 17s, many darters go right for the bullseye. Why? If they hit a single bull, then they've only got 16s, 15s and 2 bulls to hit for game shot. And this may be accomplished with only 3 darts! Again, stay up on points and keep your opponent at least 4 darts from game shot.
My take? Play aggressively and force your opponent to "fold like a cheap lawn chair". Play aggressively, stay ahead on points, keep your opponent at minimum of 4 darts from game shot and put the pressure on your opponent so that you may win the game.
Just my two cents for the day Ron... Anything else to add?
Sherilyn
Today I want to discuss simple cricket strategy. Following... Do you ever find yourself following in a game of cricket? You know the situation, where your opponent open's the 20's and then you go close the 20's, just to watch your opponent open the 19's with 38 points to boot. Then you go up there and close the 19's figuring you can get 38 or more measly point's later. Soon you find yourself following your opponent to his or her victory?
Well, I don't know about you but, I'm pretty sure along with myself it has happened to everyone at least once. In some cases it still happens, even if it is following your opponent for two rounds. Your still following, letting your opponent dictate the game. It's bad enough to give someone the edge of starting the game, but to also follow (or chase as some call it) to further your opponents advantage is just plain foolish.
I'm not saying I'm better then everyone for not allowing myself to chase or follow. I'm just as guilty as the next person, I still find myself doing this from time to time. It's one of the weakness in my game. I almost always pay for following the leader, and almost every time I tell myself "that was stupid."
What do I mean by chase or follow? Simple, if your opponent opens the 20's and scores 20 points. What is going through your mind at the time? Go for the 19's and score back? Or close them big 20's and then open the 19's and hope, you can score as well? If you go for the latter of the two, you'll end up saying, "that was stupid" just like me very time. Sure you might pull it off some times, but the odds are against you.
The best shot would be to open the 19's and score 38 or 57 points then closing the 20's, with a nice eight or nine count. Even if you just open the 19's and score 38 points, your forcing your opponent to react to you, and that's what you want. To put some pressure on your opponent. Forcing them to return the favor. If not, you can make them pay by swinging the momentum of the game to your favor. By closing the 20 and adding more points to your lead or closing the next number in the game forcing them to react to you.
Ron
P.S.- Do you agree Sherilyn?
Well Ron, I've got a few thoughts of my own here! My first rule of thumb is that if my opponent starts the game off and points on 20s, then I go straight to 19s to close my own number and hopefully get ahead on points. I know many darters who will follow an opponent's shot at 4 or more 20s, right back with 20s. I suppose it depends on your skill level as well. If you can hit a round of trips whenever you want then you might be safe. The general rule of thumb is points first.
Now, if my opponent opens with 4 20s and I hit 4 19s, even though I'm down by only a point, I consider that to be down by only a mark or a single-bull, so I'll throw that 3rd dart back at the 20s hoping to hit the triple-20. This way I'd have 19s closed, 19 points and 20s closed with my opponent only having 20s closed with 20 points. I always want to have one number closed ahead of my opponent. Of course this doesn't always happen, but that's what I'm aiming for.
On the flip side, if my opponent opened the game with 4 20s and I went for 20s...either I'd close them and still be down on points, OR I would miss them and leave them open. This would leave the door wide open for my opponent to move to 19s and 18s, leaving me in the dust with 20s still not closed. Then I would definitely be playing catch-up and that puts too much pressure on myself. I'd rather play more aggressively, get ahead on other numbers and force my opponent to keep throwing at 20s at points to keep up with me as I closed 19s and 18s around my opponent. Again, this isn't what always actually happens but this is my goal.
Another good rule of thumb is to always keep ahead of your opponent by 4 darts, or to keep your opponent from game shot by 4 darts. With this in mind, if your opponent opens with points, then you've got to battle back by closing another number and getting points. In this game, you want to prolong the game by getting ahead on points and forcing your opponent to revert to getting points instead of closing numbers while you get points and close additional numbers.
The closer you get toward the end of the game, the more aware you must be of keeping your opponent at least 4 darts away from winning the game. After shooting 17s, many darters go right for the bullseye. Why? If they hit a single bull, then they've only got 16s, 15s and 2 bulls to hit for game shot. And this may be accomplished with only 3 darts! Again, stay up on points and keep your opponent at least 4 darts from game shot.
My take? Play aggressively and force your opponent to "fold like a cheap lawn chair". Play aggressively, stay ahead on points, keep your opponent at minimum of 4 darts from game shot and put the pressure on your opponent so that you may win the game.
Just my two cents for the day Ron... Anything else to add?
Sherilyn