Noun
dartitis (uncountable)
- A nervous condition which prevents a player from releasing the dart at the optimum moment.
References
- OED 2006
The most common form of Dartits is a focus dystonia. There are many opinions on what Dartits is, probably there are several conditions that are lumped together under the heading of Dartitis, however the most comon is almost certainly a dystonia.
dystonia (uncountable)
- (medicine) A disabling movement disorder in which prolonged and repetitive contractions of muscles causes jerking and twisting movements of the body
Well that’s the dictionary bit over with, now for a more detailed description.
Dartitis is a focal dystonia of the fingers, hand, and/or forearm. Symptoms of dystonia usually appear when a person is trying to do a task that requires fine motor movements, such as playing a musical instrument, throwing a dart, writing etc. The symptoms may be isolated to only those tasks or affect the muscles in a more general way and spread to affect many tasks. Common symptoms include, for example, excessive gripping, flexing of the wrist, elevation of the elbow, and occasional extension of a finger or fingers.
Tremor is usually not a symptom of this condition. The symptoms usually begin between the ages of 30 and 50 years old and affect both men and women. Cramping or aching of the hand is not common. Mild discomfort may occur in the fingers, wrist, or forearm.
Sound familiar?
It is also likley that there is another condition which is purely mental that interferes with a dart player but I believe that this may be far less common than a focal dystonia.
There are two types of dystonia, simple and dystonic.
If playing darts activates the dystonia, as soon as the individual picks up a dart or within a couple of throws dystonic postures of the hand begin to impede the speed and accuracy of playing. So if only your playing is effected then you probably have a simple dystonia. The word ’simple’ in this context is not however comforting and does not mean that this is something that can be overcome simply.
April 21, 2009 at 10:47 am |
Hi
The problem I have is not the releasing , but it is fact that I throw the dart not when I want to but with my drow back I throw it automatically and it is definately not Accurate . I axperience it last year for the first time and stop playing for a few months in our local leagues.Then I read all the advise on the internet and tried some of it like throwing in the dark , stand closer to the board and throw to a board which is on a chair.It works perfectly, but when you get to the board it comes back just as fast.It is almost funny.When the season started this year I was my own self again and was beating all the top darters in the league.Then I tried again to throw with the perfect action, wrist snap and throw etc. Like the pro’s.I Practise, Practise and Practise and guess what I sit with the same old evil problem again.When I was throwing good darts I did not practise so hard at all.With over practise I feel that I am trying to trhow to good and gets frustrated when I don’t throw 100’s and put the darts where I want it to go. All the pressure that I put on myself I think is my down fall.
Kind regards
Elton