If you're truly passionate about the game of darts, you will most likely join a team at some point. I've been on many teams, both steel-tip and plastic, and enjoy playing competitive darts. Playing on a team is a great way to further develop your strategy, meet fellow dart players, make friends, and improve your game by playing others in formal competition. Most of my team experiences have been good as I've been lucky enough to be on some great teams. I've picked up a few pointers along the way that may help you out as you strive to be a team player. Feel free to share your experiences as well by clicking on the E-mail link at the bottom of this page. I'd love to hear from you and will publish your helpful hints to share with others.
Team captains...
- Though keeping statistics is an important part of being a team captain, the team captain's main role is to coach and mentor others on the team, as well as to help develop the team to play well together. On some of the best teams that I've been on, the team captain hasn't even always played every week. Again, the captain's main role is to coach and mentor the members of the team. The best team captain wants everyone on the team to play well together and in this effort, is a great leader in building a dynamic and cohesive team. Some of the best teams I've been on are teams where we regularly met outside of league play to practice. We were all interested in having a great team, improving our games, enjoying the camaraderie and the captain was a big part of this effort. We got along, learned together, were confident in each other's abilities, and played well together. These are the teams that I've been on that usually ended up placing top in the league and doing well during play-offs. Great teams have a great team captain.
- Take care to select a team with a captain who understands the strategy of the game. The ideal team captain pays attention to the team's matches and offers encouragement, as well as coaching tips. Your team captain should help you to be a better dart player by encouraging you. One way to encourage team members is to help them know when they have game shot, and to go for the game shot. When playing cricket, there is a fine line between point-mongering and not. Some cricket players also "chase" rather then being an offensive darter. When it comes to game shot, though, the strategy I use is to go for game shot. You have a much better chance of winning the game by "going" for the game shot then by being safe and not going for the game shot. The smart, passionate team captain understands the different strategies of the games and helps the other team members with their own strategy.
- The good team captain also knows their outs and is quick to share this knowledge with the others on the team. When playing plastic darts, the smart, passionate darter knows their outs from 180 on down to zero. A common mistake made by plastic dart throwers is to continue throwing bulleyes until there is an out less then 50 points. Again, there are many outs with three darts from 180 down to zero. 180, of course, is triple-20, triple-20, triple-20. 156 is another example of this. If the darter with 156 left throws 3 darts at bullseyes, they cannot take the game out with 3 darts. Even if they hit all 3 bullseyes on their next turn, the darter will still have 6 points left. 156 out can be accomplished with three darts: triple-18 (54 points), triple-17 (51 points) and another triple-17 (51 points) to win the game. Don't make the mistake of going for bulls-eyes thinking you've still got another round to go out. Your opponent might not give you the opportunity! You have a much better chance of winning the game if you're aiming for the right outs. The smart, passionate team captain knows their outs and helps the other members of the team with their outs.
Everyone learns somewhere along the line, and I understand that. When I started playing I didn't know my outs. Most dart stores, however, sell a small laminated out chart for your pocket. There's nothing wrong with pulling the out-chart out for reference, while you're learning the game outs. It's better to refer to an out-chart then to blindly throw your darts at the board, when you're not sure what you're shooting for.
(I'll be updating the Outchart section of this site soon, as there are several variations. Some outs suggested by the charts might seem odd and something that you might not normally shoot for...However, some outs are actually helping to set up your next shot so that you still have a game shot even when you miss a triple...or the out chart is suggesting an out where even if you miss your intended target suggested by the out chart, the darter is positioned to aim for the next number on the same side of the board. I'm trying to think of a soft-tip out as an example but off the cuff, a steel tip double-out comes to mind quickly. When shooting for 61 out in steel-tip darts, where you have to double-out, many darters shoot for triple-15, double-16. However if you miss the triple-15 and hit the single-15, you've then got 46 left which requires another dart to get to a double-out. A variation of the out for 61 is triple-11, double-14. The 11 and 14 are near each other so it's easier for the darter to aim again in the same area of the board. With the triple-15, double-16 out, the darter is moving from the 15 side of the board on the right to the 16 area on the left side of the board. Even if you're a soft-tip player it's helpful to understand the steel-tip double-outs...because when you've got 2 darts to go out in a game, sometimes the only way to do it is by planning to double out. Enough digressing here...)
The point here is, if your team captain doesn't know their outs, how are they going to coach others on the team?
- Fair play - You want a team captain that embraces the concept of fair play and is an example to others. Some team captains play favorites with their friends, and schedule their friends to play more matches then other players on the team. This is not fair play. I was on a team once where I played only 1/2 the single matches then the other players on the team. My win-loss record was actually better then a couple of other players on the team, but still I sat on the bench alot. This really came to light when this team went to playoffs, and after three rounds of playoffs I hadn't even thrown a single dart. For the "Passionate Darter" not being able to play during several rounds of playoffs was crushing! I always showed up early to practice, didn't miss a night of league play, and again, my win-loss record on the team was pretty good. I was the only girl on the team though, and obviously not one of the guys. I ended up playing less. I spoke with my team captain about this and suggested ways to set up the play schedule fairly, such as rotating players or having a mini-playoff during practice to determine who got to play the singles matches. This team captain always caved though, when it came to playing his friends and I got the short end of the stick. I was a team player through the end of the season and then searched for a different team. If you're not getting a fair amount of play, and you've had a reasonable discussion with your team captain (but to no avail) my experience has shown that promises to play more in the future are usually empty promises. If this is the case, you may want to consider searching for another team.
- The best team captain also wants to win fair and square and not by default. League play usually starts at a set time every week with a 15 or 20 minute grace period for the minimum number of players to show up. I know of one team captain that forced the other team to forfeit all the matches and points for the night, because the other team was late. The other team indicated that their players would be 20 minutes late, however, the home team captain forced the start-time rule and the other team forfeited all their matches. There is no glory in winning or taking points by default, and in this case, all the players were there and ready to play a few minutes late. If the team that was late hadn't gotten the message to the other team captain that they would be late, or if the team simply didn't show up, then of course it's only fair that they would forfeit their points for the night. However, a little grace period from the home team captain would have gone a long way. The home team might have won all the points fair and square, by playing all the matches more skillfully then the other team and that's what the fair team captain wants.
- And the best team captains always take a moment after the matches are over to shake the hand of the other team captain and offer a few kind words (not just when you've won for the night but when you've lost as well).
- Follow the etiquette of the game and be a good sport.
- Encourage your other team members in their matches.
- Do your best to understand the strategy of the game and to know your outs. (By the way, nothing is sexier or more attractive then the "Passionate Darter" who knows what they are doing.)
- If you're going to be late or even miss a night of league play, be sure to let your captain know in advance.
- Once you've made a commitment to be on a team, do your best to honor that commitment and play through the entire season. It is just not cool to drop off a team at the last minute only to join another team because maybe you think you've "gotten a better deal" on the new team.
- If a fellow team member does have to drop off the team for valid reasons, try to be understanding. Life happens to all of us whether it is family & kids related, work related, night school, a change in residence, a wedding, a divorce, a death in the family, etc. Again, life happens to all of us and you may need this same consideration sometime in the future.
- Be a good sport...begin and end matches with a handshake and a kind word to your opponent(s), both when you've lost and when you have won!
- And as you leave for the night, be sure to say goodbye to your friends and teammates...Simply treat them the way that you want to be treated.