Getting it Right with the Left!

Got round the board on singles!

Took about 100 visits to the board (That’s 300 darts to hit 20 singles). This is some kind of an indicator as to how bad things can be when setting out to re-train yourself with your off hand. The thing is though, I did better than yesterday.

Improvement, any improvement day on day is a positive thing. Your most valuable tool in an enterprise like this is… if possible you must stay positive.

The advice that is given out to people who are just starting out playing darts is just as applicable to someone re-learning because they have dartitis / dystonia.

1. Set yourself reasonable targets.
2. Keep track of your progress.
3. Maintain a positive attitude.
4. Don’t expect miracles.

I seriously think that you need to get your head set right for something like this.

You need to concentrate on improvement and taking the positive from every indicator of progress, be determined and look to the ability that you wish to cultivate. It is pointless to morn over the ability that you have lost; no amount of looking back will move you forward.

Left behind (brief venting between helpful posts)

It really is quite something to be deprived of a skill that you have pretty much taken for granted for years. I was a good darts player, a class act, a hard man to beat, always dangerous, simple as that.

Currently I am not a good darts player, the dread dartitis has cast me down (for the time being).

Having a dystonia is a truly odd experience. Your body just will not obey you. It just wont. I know what I’m thinking, I know what I wish my hand to do as it has probably millions of times in my life, effortlessly, easily, smoothly, accurately. And then I watch it twist into what I now know as a classic dystonic posture.

There is no pain! No real discomfort unless I try really hard to resist it happening. It just happens. Beyond my will or my conscious power to control.

So now as my friends and team mates are out enjoying a game, playing a match or tournament. Here I am, truly left behind. My own body has let me down, will not obey me.

Its… well its not a fun feeling, not pleasant at all.

Still you cant let these things beat you can you? Back to the practice board now. Never give in, never surrender. Stiff upper lip. Remember your a womble etc.

Leftism

Day One

Terrible truly truly terrible. It really makes you think that there is no hope at all. How on earth are you ever going to throw a competitive dart again when you cant even hit the dart board reliably???

Incredible! How can I be this uncoordinated?
Its not as if the board is a long way off is it? Or very small?

It is very hard to believe that I was ever this bad playing with my right hand.
In fact it’s probably true, you learn coordination with your dominant hand in a myriad of tasks over years before you start playing darts. So yes I probably was never this bad with my right hand.

Its going to be a long and hard road, that’s for certain! You can tell that I am somewhat frustrated at the thought of the struggle ahead due to my excessive punctuations!!

To be honest with you I have actually been practicing left handed for some days now and I am writing this retrospectively. So I am not really that upset but simulating the frustration for your benefit.

Next time something all together more hopeful

On the other hand

OK. I suppose I should now tell you what I am personally doing about my dartitis (focal dystonia).

Please bear in mind that some of the earlier points.

1. There is no completely effective treatment for dystonia.
2. It’s only going to get worse.
3. I really, really do not want to keep playing like a prat!

Alright number 3 wasn’t in my earlier blogs but it’s a crucial point.

Well there’s nothing for it, it’s going to be a hard road, very frustrating and it’s going to take some time. You may have guessed from the title of this post what I have decided I have to do – PLAY WITH MY OTHER HAND!

There! I’ve said it! And I am now doing it. Trying to get my left hand working like my right hand used to and, it’s not easy. I’ve been at it for a few days now; trying to remember if I was truly this awful when I first started playing darts. If I tell you that I was 11 when I first started to play and am now 40, you will understand why I am not sure if I was ever quite this bad. I do know from the state I remember my bedroom wall being in that I certainly did miss the board quite a lot in my early days when I first started working on the doubles especially. Well the wall in my own house is now taking something like the pounding that the wall in my parents house took in those early days.

So now it’s back to the practice board and build up from scratch.

In my next post I will let you know what progress (or otherwise) I am making in my own personal battle with the dreaded dartitis.

What can you do about dartitis?

Well that depends…

What it depends on is

1. Do you have a focus dystonia?
2. If you do does it have a specific trigger?
3. If so how bad is it?
4. Are you responding to physio?
5. How big a change are you prepared to make to the way you throw?

If your dystonia has a specific trigger you may (just may mind you) be in luck.

(What follows is derived from general observation and not from any highly representative study. Due therefore to the size of the sample of sufferers there is every possibility that the following conclusions may be erroneous and should be read with that in mind.)

Many and varied are the methods of holding a dart used by players of the game. It would seem that the majority of dystonic dartitis sufferers that I have seen personally have a common trait in their grips. Most (but not all) grip the dart with two or three of their fingers on top of the barrel as opposed to those that throw with a finger under the point (like holding a pencil). This may or may not be significant, however it would ‘appear’ that the grip with the second or third finger exerting inward pressure on the dart may be the trigger for the dystonia (I am being very general here and this by no means proven to be consistently the case.). In these cases changing the grip so that the finger is under the point supporting it rather than on the point or barrel exerting inward pressure can remove the trigger of the dystonia and allow a much more free throw.

If this is not the case for you then I would recommend making modifications to your grip in a methodical way and see if you can find the trigger for your dystonia and alter your grip to avoid the trigger.

I have to say at this point that I have no information on the long term effectiveness of this grip modification, you will still have your dystonia even though you are not currently triggering it. All I can say is that some people (though again not all by any means) have found this approach to be very helpful.

Finally I will add as usual that no one should self diagnose their condition. If you think you may have a dystonia then please see a medical practitioner for a diagnosis. It may be that you will be referred for treatment and / or physio therapy.

Dealing with dartitis

So what can you do about dartitis if you have it?

Well that probably depends on what is really wrong with you.
You should go and seek a medical opinion! Too much about dartitis is ‘what the bloke in the pub said’ and doubtfull ’self diagnosis’, nothing on this site is intended to provide any basis for diagnosis of dartitis or any other condition. Do not think ‘hey that’s just what I’ve got!’, Go and see a Doctor!

So assuming for the moment that you have the dystopic form of dartits, what can you do about it?

I am sorry to say that the sort answer to that question is ‘Not a lot!’.
Something of a disappointing answer I’m sure, however there isn’t a great deal that can be done about dystonia. Some people with a focus dystonia go into remission some time in the first 5 years of the onset of their dystonia. Unfortunatley this only amounts to about 5% of people.

In a nutshell the outlook is discouraging!
That was certainly my reaction. While it’s true that some treatments can reduce the effect of a dystonia, none of them pretend to be able to cure them, in extreme cases toxins are injected into certain muscles to weaken them. Some cases respond to Physical Therapy. None of the available treatments is a cure, it is just what it says a treatment. The effects of the dystonia can be reduced, not removed. In a sport like darts where the margin for error is so small this is obviously a disaster for any player.

Well that’s the treatment section out of the way. Still nill desperandum! With a focus dystonia there are things that as a darts player you can try that may not apply to other activities.