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Darts


IVIR

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Last fall, some friends and I got obsessed with playing darts (Nate and ZZ). Although we were all relatively the same in terms of level, we each had distinct styles. I preferred to throw the dart with a lower velocity and angle the toss so it would land where I wanted it to. Nate on the other hand would throw the darts with a much higher velocity, but shoot the dart relatively straight at his target. Zach, well, he just threw the dart at the board and hoped it would stick. Anyway, although Nate's method of a straighter shot with more velocity seems appealing as the time the dart is in the air is reduced so the change in y displacement due to gravity would be decreased and also the dart would travel straighter and not wobble at all, there are some flaws to this apparent advantage. When attempting to throw the object with a larger velocity, Nate would have to increase the force of his throw, causing a larger arm motion when throwing the dart. The more motion involved in his toss allowed for more error in both the y and x direction. While my intended error was decreased as throwing the dart with a lower force allowed for more focus on accuracy, I had to judge the trajectory of the dart in my head to get it to land where I wanted. By focusing on accuracy and not caring as much about the y displacement, I was able to hit quite a few 20 pointers since the 20 point strip goes vertical from the middle bulls-eye. However, on a few rare occasions I provided too small of a force to the dart, causing the dart to bounce off of the board as it didn't have enough force to stick.

In all reality, Nate and I threw it somewhat randomly like Zach, but it is interesting to think about the ideal angle to launch a dart in order to maximize accuracy to prevent the dart from straying off to either side, but also throw it with a relatively low launch angle in order to minimize y displacement. I wonder if professional players ever think about the trajectory of the dart or if they just have learned through practice. 

dart-board-8362546.jpg

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Great question.  When I worked at Samsung down in Texas one of my technicians played darts professionally as a hobby (and I believe was state champion).  We went out one night and he was just amazing.  He could put that dart just about anywhere he wanted EVERY DARN TIME.  And as I recall, the darts had pretty high velocity.

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