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First some background on Phil Taylor

Before we get into how to throw darts like Phil Taylor, let me first give you some background on the man himself.

If you know anything about darts I’m sure you know who Phil Taylor is, he’s known as the greatest darts player of all time, as such I can understand why anyone would want to know how to throw darts like Phil Taylor, he’s a darts genius.

The beauty of darts is its simplicity. Anyone can pick up a dart and throw it at the dartboard. You might even get lucky and hit your intended target. But as you’ll quickly find out, there’s a lot more to this sport than meets the eye. First, learning how to play darts begins with developing a basic comfort level with holding and throwing. Throw the dart with your hand and wrist. Pull your hand slightly back as you throw. Use your hand, wrist, and elbow for speed. Keep your shoulder still for support.

He has won the world darts championship a record 16 times,just imagine the player that comes closest to this record is Raymond vanBarneveld with only 5 world championships!

Phil Taylor was nicknamed Phil “The power” Taylor, after thesnap song “The Power” in 1995. Apparently his style of play reminded one of thejudges of the song and it has stuck ever since.

Phil was among the 16 professional darts players that brokeaway from the British Darts Organization to form the Professional DartsCorporation in 1992.

He and the others felt like the governing body of the BDOwasn’t doing enough to attract sponsorships, so they broke away and formed PDC.

Currently there are dual tournaments held by bothorganizations yearly. Phil Taylor is an absolute legend in the game of dartswinning 8 consecutive world championships from the year 1995 until 2002.

His reign on darts was supposed to come to an honorable end in 2018 which was announced as his last steel tip appearance with a win but he lost horribly to rookie newcomer Rob Cross, an astonishing seven legs to two.

But because of his past consistency and his remarkable record Phil Taylor is still regarded as the best darts player of all time. You can learn more about him here Phil Taylor Ebook

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So you want to throw darts like Phil Taylor

It’s really not a bad idea to want to model yourself afterthe greatest darts player of all time.

Imagine if you could get direct instructions from the man himself on how to stand, hold the dart, throw it, follow through, what darts to use, the right mentality to have, everything.

Imagine if Phil Taylor himself showed you how to play,wouldn’t that be magnificent. You could just copy him and become the best inthe world!

Well good news for you he’s done exactly that, as you canimagine a lot of people would want to pick the brain of the greatest dartsplayer to ever live so there are tons of media out there of Phil Taylor givingdirect instructions of his playing style, and I have them all right here foryou.

The disclaimer is it won’t necessarily make you the best inthe world.

Just imagine, you’re not the first person to get the idea tocopy Phil Taylor, and it’s really not that hard to do, so if everybody did it,then everybody would be champion, and it still wouldn’t be easy for you.

But you’re smarter than that, you know that there’s a lotmore that goes into throwing a dart then just good technique, it’d say moreimportant than good technique in throwing darts, is finding the right techniquefor you!

And that’s the same thing Phil Taylor and other professionalstell you, ya that’s actually one of Phil Taylor’s dart throwing tips, findingthe technique that works for you.

But don’t be discouraged there are still some things to be learned from studying the greats, even experts advise that you find a professional to “model” yourself after, someone with the same throwing style as you.

So the upside to all this is if you already have a similar throwing style to Phil Taylor then this could help you immensely. It would be like learning from a future better version of yourself. So be excited this could really take your game to the next level!

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Finally How to throw darts like Phil Taylor

The Phil Taylor Stance

There are three general stances used by all darts players, there is the less popular forward facing stance, which is just you standing and facing the dartboard head on.

This stance used to be popular when the game first started by its discouraged now because that stance makes it harder to balance.

The more popular stance now is standing with your dominantfoot facing the dartboard, and your other foot behind.

The last stance is standing with the side of your body facingthe dartboard. The last stance is the one Phil Taylor uses.

If you watch his games closely you will notice that he turnscompletely to the side when he shoots.

He just twists his head to face the dartboard, and you willnotice a slight lean in front, which is quite normal, it is advised to havemore weight on your front foot when you throw.

Where Phil TaylorStands

The throwing of a dart can seem like a simple movement, butit actually becomes very complex when you break down the individual steps, andthis is important because each individual step has a huge impact on yourchances of hitting your target.

Slight details like where to stand can be overlooked by beginners,at least I never thought about it when I started throwing darts, but all veryimportant nonetheless.

Now how does Phil Taylor position himself at the oche, i.ethe throw line, he positions himself in front of the middle of the board.

This is actually a tip that has been shared by many otherprofessional dart players, It’s something of a basics in darts, by positioningyourself with the middle of the dartboard you make it easier for you to hit themiddle points, like the treble 20, the bullseye, etc.

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The trick is to extend your arm out and gauge your position,then adjust yourself so you’re in the middle. Absolutely essential move whenthrowing darts.

The Phil Taylor Grip

Now that you have the Phil Taylor stance down, and you’restanding in the right position, the next step is the Phil Taylor grip, how areyou holding the dart?

As you may know thereare many ways to hold a dart; 2 finger grip, 3 finger grip, 4 finger grip, 5finger grip.

Even within the grips there are variations on where and how peoplehold the dart, with some people having very odd grips. Rob Cross’s grip ofholding the dart between his middle and index finger has stunned the dartsworld.

Phil Taylor’s grip isn’t as complicated. Phil Taylor uses theclassic “pencil grip”, which is easy to learn because everyone knows how tohold a pencil.

Just substitute your number 2, or lead pencil, or whatever you use for a steel or soft tip dart, because you know Phil Taylor gets into the soft tip action too.

Additionally if you literally want to use Phil Taylor grip, you can! here are some Phil Taylor Dart Barrels or some other great darts here.

How to literally throwdarts like Phil Taylor

Well folks this is where things get interesting, you got thestance down, you’re positioned like the great man, and you got his gripmastered to the teeth, all that’s left is for you to pull back the dart andrelease.

For this part there is no exact way to mimic the great man,there’s really no special way that he throws the dart.

He doesn’t have some weird trick where he doesn’t swing hishand back, or he doesn’t have a specific movement that he follows, he has giventips on the matter though, like in the video below.

The Phil Taylor tips for accurate shooting is payingattention to your body, remembering how much force and pullback you used onyour previous throw to get the result you got, and tweaking your followingthrow for better or similar results.

The area of the throw is also where individual differencesreally come into play. The length of your arm and the length of Phil Taylor armmay differ drastically, as a result you may not need as must pullback as hedoes, your point of release may be different.

The throw itself is a very subjective act.

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Phil Taylor’s FollowThrough

Where you may benefit is from his follow through method, ifyou’ll notice, the messiah of darts doesn’t take his eyes of the board aftereach throw.

He does this for aiming purposes, he wants everything to beas similar as it was to his previous throw, he simply moves his hands down topick up another dart and resumes throwing, with as minimum movement aspossible.

Nothing out of the ordinary here, many darts professionalsuse the same tactic.

If you’re familiar with the game this should come as nosurprise to you but for beginners this can be very eye opening.

Phil Taylor Mindset

Darts is as much a mental game as it is a physical one. Ifyou watch Phil Taylor, like many other professional darts players, they are allvery composed.

In order to be able to implement Phil Taylor’s technique’sproperly, you must be able to keep calm and pay attention to your bodylanguage, like all professionals do.

This becomes extremely difficult to do when you are playing,you may become anxious or frustrated at having to play in a certain setting ormissing a dire point.

This is what separates the pros from amateurs. They are ableto keep their emotions in check for maximum focus.

Once you let your anxiety or frustration take over you willbe unable to focus and your game will suffer. This is the part of darts that noone tells you about, the mental aspect, and this is the part that dart greatslike Phil Taylor has mastered.

You must be able to calm yourself during a game, simplynoticing when you are becoming anxious or frustrated and telling yourself tostay calm is enough.

Controlling your breathing is another great way to control your nerves. Your state of mind greatly influences your throw.

Here is a resource that gives you an understanding of Phil Taylor’s Mindset at his best Phil Taylor Mindset.

So there you have itfolks

So there it is, a complete overview of the technique of the greatest darts player of all time, and to think it was all so simple.

Now that you know how to throw darts like Phil Taylor go easyon your mates, with great power comes great responsibility.

But on a more serious note like all skills in darts, thesetechniques will require some practice, don’t expect to just adopt thesetechniques and start shooting bullseyes and treble 20s right away.

There is the possibility that you may not even like thisstyle of play, it may not be comfortable to you, and that’s completely okay,everybody have their own way of playing darts, that’s the beauty of the game.

If you are lucky and this style of play aligns with whatyou’re comfortable with I do suspect you will notice some improvement in yourgame right away if you haven’t already been using this techniques, but for bestresults you need to practice.

Even the great Phil Taylor disclosed in an interview that hepractices one and a half to three hours every day.

Darts is a game that is influenced by your emotions, some days you may not be feeling your best and it will show on the dartboard, but getting into the right state is part of the game, and practice is the best way to do that.

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Want to learn even more about Phil Taylor, check out his website Phil Taylor Website or want to up your darts mettle even more. Check out even more darts training tips

Improve your darts stance

Although the title states the beginner's guide, regular players may also find some of the detail useful. You may find just a minor tweak or two will improve your game.

I have thrown darts coming on nearly forty years and during this time I have had periods in my life when the darts have gone in the draw for a few years either due to work commitments or location moves. When you pick up the darts again you need to relearn! Following on from a coaching course at work I found myself analysing my dart throw and the dart throw from the professionals.

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Giving myself regular feedback and changing parts of my throw I managed to improve my throw and throw consistency. To put this to a further test I stopped playing recently for nearly four months and used the techniques I am sharing with you to regain a level of competency. By this I mean I was back to scoring regular one eighties. However like any dart player will tell you in order to be consistently good you need to put the work in and Practice, Practice, Practice.

So let’s move on and start explaining:

If you treat darts seriously then you will find it is like most sports. It requires dedication and Practice in order to achieve a high level of competency. However, most of us still treat this sport as a social game, just to be enjoyed over a social drink in a bar or club. There are also others that want to gain a competent level and play in competitions and social league teams. Over the years I have played in both.

If you are just starting or you are looking to improve your game then you will find a number of Practice games on this site that will help you do just that. But first, let’s look at some basics.

The player’s stance, the grip, the aim, the throw and the follow through!

If you have played a racket sport then you may have been shown how to hold a racket, shown how to follow through with your swing once the racket has made contact with the ball. Never take your eye off the ball springs to mind when I was learning how to play squash and lots of techniques from stance, breathing, adjusting sights when I was learning to shoot in the army. Boxing or martial arts competitors have a strong stance to deliver effective consistent blows. The one thing in common is there are some basic techniques and with Practice and dedication these will improve your sport.

The stance.

Variations of stances have been adopted over the years (see below). However, the one we will be concentrating on is the throwing arms foot forward. This is to say if you are right handed and you intend to throw with your right hand, then you place your right foot forward to the oche line.

Early throwers would adopt a stance as shown in diagram No.1. Booth feet forward touching the oche line. It seemed to be frowned upon to lean forward or move along the oche line as we see regularly today. You may still see one or two social players using this form of stance but it doesn't help keep the upper body stable therefore very few people use it.

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Best foot forward this is sometimes referred too. The lead foot here the right would indicate a right-handed thrower. This is a much better stance and gives more stability to the upper body.

The last diagram shows the lead foot adjacent to the oche line. This requires you to view the board side on twisting your body slightly. Some players find this a little uncomfortable however it reduces the unwanted movement in the upper body. Top players will mainly use stances based upon diagram No2 & 3.

You should line your foot up so that you are central to the dartboard. Movement to either side can be adopted but for beginners, this is the best Practice and most professional keep to this technique. The left foot is situated behind the right. Lean forward slightly placing the bulk of your weight on your lead right foot and adjust your stance slightly (if needed) so that you are comfortable with the position. Your stance should be strong and stable. You should feel comfortable in this position, but at first, this will appear alien to you if you have never played before.

The stance will be slightly adjusted during the course of the game i.e. when lining up to hit a double either side of the board or lower board trebles. As the stance acts a bit like a rudder of a boat with the front foot as the pivot and the back moving to the left or to the right naturally changes the angle you face the board. Also bringing your back foot closer to the front foot or further away adjusts your height. Do this with a pair of dividers to see this clearly. Minor adjustments in the stance positions will line the dart throw up correctly. It helps to be conscious of these movements as this will help you later when you need to give self-feedback.

How can the stance help my throw?

Before I move on to holding darts, aiming and the throw itself. Many viewers ask “how can I improve my throw?” Well, it boils down to analysing all aspects of the throw but one thing that tends to get overlooked is the stance. It is important to get this correct.

A couple of examples:

Q. I hit a lot of fives when throwing for the twenties how can I stop this?

A. If right handed try moving your back foot more to the left as this will adjust your throwing angle pulling your body to the right and align you correctly towards the twenty segment. The reverse is true if you are hitting lots of ones!

Q. I sometimes throw low darts i.e. just under the treble twenty, how do I adjust my throw?

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A. A few answers here from the throw to the weight of darts, however, bringing your rear foot closer to your front foot naturally increases your height. By not adjusting anything else with your throw you will now throw higher and your darts should land in the desired scoring area.