Name: Adam Darder

Dear Sherilyn: I have been playing darts in a soft tip league for 3 years now. Each year I have gotten a little better. I am finding more and more that the mental part of the game is where I can improve most now. And I feel after reading a bit on your site about the mental part that I have been able to improve and I hope to continue.

So with that said, I came across something that I would like to get your feedback on. Last week in League play we were accused by the other team of being point whores. Basically they felt we were pointing just to run up the score in our cricket games. In the games that it came up I didn't feel that was the case. Here are a few examples of when we shot for points:

The other team had a bull we had no bulls and no one had any points. My teammate closed the 19s and had one dart left. Instead of shooting at the 17 I told him to shoot at 19s for points. He did just that and scored a triple-19.

Another time we had all the number closed, and were up with 20 points. Were working on bulls and they had 15s, 16s and bulls left open. I shot 2 darts at the bull and missed both by a long shot. So I am thinking, "OK I may need a few rounds to get my eye on the bull, so I shot at 15s to give myself at least a one bull lead. I hit a double-15!"

I was thinking that was lucky! For the crickets matches I don't think we were ever trying to run up the score to make the other team feel bad. I felt we scored points to give ourselves the best chance to win. The other team said "The best cricket game is one where the score is 0 to 0 with all the numbers closed." What I think is that "Personally, the best cricket game is one where I win!" What do you think of this and should I worry about being a "point whore" or am I just trying to win the match the best that I can? -Adam, E-mail: adarder@webharmonics.com

Dear Adam,

Don't give yourself a hard time. It is smart darts to keep yourself up by at least a bullseye, especially if you are struggling to hit them. Being a "point monger" is not necessarily closing your numbers methodically but hitting points purposefully in the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of points. Giving yourself a little insurance, and staying one or two bullseye ahead is simply smart darts.

A local darter (Nancy Visocki) gave me a cricket tip which is simply brilliant. When playing cricket, yes, close and go but take care to always be at least 4 darts ahead of your opponent. With this strategy, your opponent can never win the game without giving you another opportunity to shoot again, and then again, take care to hit whatever it takes to remain 4 darts ahead of your opponent.

I hope this helps you out. As always, shoot well and I'll see you at the line.