You know, right from the get go an idea like Dart Board Chats is a fun one and pretty darn unique but even as it's proud parent I could see the 'doomed to fail' banner being unfurled right then and there at it's very inception.
Now don't get me wrong, I love the idea but also recognize that it is also a crazy idea!
so why then am I forging ahead with it? 
Well to be honest I don't really know, but suspect it is something like this; it will most likely not really go anywhere and wont get off the ground in any real sense, but if by some minor miracle it does well then it just might become something worthwhile. I'd like to see that happen even if right now I have trepidation about the work I'll need to put into it. 
In any even, yes I have made a website for it and so far the response to it has been very favourable which is a pleasant surprise for me. 
So now that the site is live I am searching for and researching potential interview subjects.  Once I have a few of those lined up and the first semi-prototype interview I'll even start pitching a few potential sponsors to at least help bear the brunt of the costs of running the site, hosting the chats and generally making the world a dartier place..
At the end of the day the worst thing that can happen is I get to be the victim of my own "I told you so" and as the old cliche goes, nothing ventured nothing gained.
Not much more to say about it right now, except that realistically I don't expect to have the first interview done before early spring (but you never know) and that I hope that even if only a few people like it or like the idea, that they like it a lot. 
if you'd like to support me in this project I obviously am looking for interview subjects and sponsors, but if neither of those are in the cards for you simply clicking on the 'like' and 'share' buttons on the website are a huge help!

                     Dart Board Chats 

The mind is a funny thing at the best of times, and when it comes to darts you can multiply that by multitudes! To top it all off the world of darts is full to the brim with advice and presumed wisdom and things you are 'supposed to do' that quite often just make you over think or are at best right for specific individuals or types of people and not others. 
I feel that I have a fairly strong foundation from using Flight School but despite George's best efforts I still have my own darting demons.  I suppose a few of them, but the biggest one is falling into the trap of putting too much pressure on myself, which leads to a break down in performance which leads to me putting even more pressure on myself.
Maybe this is you?
Now I am sometimes a little leery of disseminating helpful or motivational slogans, regardless of how well intentioned, but this one has worked so well for me that I will share it with all of you.  
"All I want is to throw a quality dart, one dart at a time, regardless of result". 
That little bit of golden advice is from an old forum thread I found on the SEWA darts site. You can read the original thread: here
I just really like that, there is something elegant about it, and simple and unencumbering that I really appreciate.  I am not sure it is the cure for all my stresses but yes I believe it is sound advice. 
I'd love to get some feedback on other people working hard to learn this game (especially those who can be hard on themselves) and see how this little bit of darting wisdom works for everyone!
Just keep in mind that this is in addition to structured focused practice for which there is no substitute. This is just a little something to keep your head and heart in the right alignment with what you are doing!

Oh, and before I finish things up, I have found a nifty new simulated opponent/stats program that is good fun with some nice features, including the use of cloud computing to track global stats (including the computer players) and one I really like which is telling you what the computer is actually aiming at! 
I have only had one go at it, (the results were epic i their horribleness) but think this is an interesting/fun little program.
Along the same lines as the N01 and DartPro programs.
Check it out: HERE 

OK think that's all for now! Thank you all once again for reading!!  See you all next time!

Dave 'The Abominable Throw Man' Sproull 

My mentor George Silberzahn often says that there are levels of understanding in darts which much of the time feels more like some sort of Gnosticism than a game but sometimes, just sometimes I will have a darts epiphany and find myself having an aha! moment.
Somehow, quite inexplicably I  will have a new perspective, a new clarity on the meaning of life (well at least the darts part of life) and I have done so just very recently, despite having largely been in a bit of a downturn performance wise.
How a new understanding coalesces in my mind and takes form as an idea I could not begin to tell you, although I do suspect that my return to regular structured practice is the major causative force at work here. 
Now what is it exactly that I have learned here?  Simply that my 'stroke' the 'thing that is done' in the moment between intent and execution is nothing. Any attempt conscious or otherwise to add on or construct a 'something' only detracts. There is intent, and then completion. Anything bridging those two is a snowflake on the tongue; all suspension of care and all absence of will as applied to the doing of 'the thing'.
All of this of course might be little or no help to someone who doesn't have a first hand experience of what I am talking about, but I do believe that while personal experience and cultural lenses may alter the descriptive phrases, that there is some degree of universality to this particular stage of learning the game. 
So now that I have the great cosmic secret to darts why am I still frustrated?
Well first of all I think it should be said out loud for all of us who quietly thought it to ourselves, and that is that the better you get at darts the less easily it rewards you.  One day your'e excited that you fluked a triple 12 or two and then in a blink of times eye your shaking your head in disappointment at an 83.  
There is also a truism of the universe that once an idea is understood in a way in which it can be described into language it is transformed from knowing into remembering and the problem with remembering is that each and every time it must be translated from language to knowing and simply put as "I just do X" realization that produced brilliant results over one session may not bear the same fruits in another session despite our best efforts to "just do X".
The end result if I can take a step back and try to look as objectively I can I think that while I might be disappointed (and perhaps a little depressed) by not being in full ownership of some new level of prowess, I can still feel hopeful that I am on the cusp of one.
I love the game of darts but I will tell you it is frustrating and a long long steep climb.  Maybe not for everyone, but for those of us who suffer a dearth of natural talent it is a grind and some days the very commitment to persevere unto itself is its best reward. A lot of slogging, but in that, yes certainly progress and the rewards and satisfaction that go with it.

Oh yeah and if anyone is wondering the dart team is still undefeated at 5-0-2 and can't say we plan on losing anytime soon.  Of course other teams may have something to say about that, but that's there business to try. ( OK make that 5-1-2 but still not too shabby) 

Now if you'll excuse me I'll have to go back figuring out how to do nothing. 

While it will still take a minor miracle to get Dart Board Chats up and running there IS a website on the way!  More on that soon!

See you all next time and thank you all so much for taking the time to read!

Dave 'The Abominable Throw Man' Sproull