istraction for them as well. Most players at a higher level are friends. Not long warm showers together type of friends. But they do have a healthy respect for each other’s skills. None of the players I know like to see this sort of thing unfold during a game they are playing. The last thing you want to do during a final is to start empathising with your opposition. This will remove the edge from your game and create an altered thinking pattern to your original game plan. Never a recipe for success. So how do we do it? How about silence? How about positive comments for both players? How about the development of saying that do not include the opposition either directly or indirectly. Ie Darts Mate! Or Get in there! Perhaps even Well played!
These are just scratching the surface of potential comments. Every year at the Australian championships a new trend raises its head. One year it was the hand slap rather than shaking hands. Then it was the old ‘Knuckles” making a comeback from 20 years ago. There was also the fist pump and the finger in the air. All of which have come and gone a dozen times. This is the same for comments and phrases utilised during games. Examples are Suffering! For when a player misses by a narrow margin. Another pre-shot comment would be ‘Walk it in’ (I have used this without fully comprehending the meaning behind it, doesn’t matter it sounds good anyway). Perhaps the old Get in there! Or smack it in there! (born in 2012 Darwin thanks to Corey and Fred Cadby and perpetuated by Mitchell Clegg). There are then the timeless classics, ‘Take your time!’. Always a good one. And the old ‘I see ya plan!’ often delivered with a little sarcasm for a missed shot.
There will be new ones this year and perhaps old one’s revived. Who knows. Either way, at that level they rarely attack the opposition, regardless of how competitive it is. Purely because it is considered ‘poor form’ and would be duly punished via the peer group. Not a pretty sight.
So keep in mind the feelings of those participating in the sport. We all want one thing. The game in progress to be won or lost on the board, not at the tables behind. Let’s encourage the best darts possible and hope that we can see the new generation behave in a manner fitting of a professional level sport.