darts statman

This is the blog of BDO player Anthony Urmston-Toft that is also published on the darts improvement website www.dartsperformancecentre.com

Well folks it’s the play offs in the Premier League, and what a season it has been, so many good games with Gary Anderson a breath of fresh air. Could this be his first major?

We start with the semi’s which are the best of 15 legs, first to 8 as usual to win but no draws tonight.

Phil Taylor v Adrian Lewis

Well Taylor is the man to beat as he is in blinding form but over the past weekend his performance was not up to his usual standard. It was possibly fatigue after winning his match last Thursday and then heading out to Austria on Friday morning, mind you he still made the final on Sunday!. Never mind that though he is on TV in front of his fans and this is where Taylor is phenomenal, the best, simple as! Adrian is a great player and a great bloke not to mention world champion too but this will be the end of the road for Jackpot. I have Taylor to win 8-4. I really cannot back against him.

Winner: Phil Taylor

180’s - 8


Gary Anderson vs Raymond van Barneveld

Expect a good game here. My fact of the day: Gary has never beaten Barney on Television. Barney though has never been in a final of the Premier League so there will be a first tonight,  but which one will it be?

Both my gut and the stats say Gary, he is in excellent form and can turn the style on in a flash. Yes he has been off the boil the past few weeks but he had already qualified. I reckon he can turn the style back on and Barney’s head or what goes on inside it is his worst attribute. Barneys confidence has been up and down and even when he has won he doesn`t seem happy. In my opinion his confidence has not really been with him this season. So Gary to win through to the final 8:5

Winner Gary Anderson

180’s 11

Tips:

Taylor has been discussing his preparation for tonight and comparing it to a F 1 racing car, "if you put petrol in or change tyres at the wrong time it can spell disaster". The Power believes he has got himself perfectly prepared. So let`s get on him to motor ahead and have a go on:

Taylor -3.5 legs in the handicap at 4/5 at sky bet

Anderson v Barney should be a cracker, over 12.5 legs is the call with the sponsors 888 at 4/7

Well folks this is the last of my Premier League blogs is been a lot of fun and I hope it has been good for you too. TaTa

PDC Premier League – Newcastle

Its Paul Gillings here, Anthony has the night off and he has left me with the tricky task of finding some winners on a night when at least half of the matches are “dead rubbers”. If Adrian Lewis wins, draws or even loses but wins a few legs this still leaves The Wizard with the monumental task of beating “The Power”. So in effect this means there are three meaningless (in the context of qualification anyway) games tonight.

The players are dishing out the right sound bites as you would expect from the eight top professionals who have competed in this year’s Premier League. However, how motivated will they be? One argument is that they will be relaxed but is that the only ingredient that is needed to guarantee top quality darts? Well we will find out soon enough!

The line up is:

James Wade v Terry Jenkins
Mark Webster v Raymond van Barneveld
Adrian Lewis v Gary Anderson
Phil Taylor v Simon Whitlock

James Wade V Terry Jenkins

“The Machine’s” late run was not enough to get him in with a chance of a Wembley place and James will reflect on his early form as the reason behind that. “The Bull” has also had a poor Premier League by his standards, winning just two of his thirteen games so far. The game has little appeal from a betting perspective but I would go for James purely on the form book.
Winner- James Wade
180’s 5

Mark Webster V Raymond van Barneveld
“Webby” salvaged some pride in Bournemouth with a battling draw against an “out of sorts” Simon Whitlock. Nevertheless Mark will grab the point he earned from this match after a torrid debut season in the Premier league. Barney on the other hand has qualified and played well in beating Gary Anderson last week. Barney will be keen to head to Wembley with another victory and we will rely on his desire to retain the confidence he has built up over the past few months and beat Webster.
Winner: Barney
180’s – 5

Adrian Lewis V Gary Anderson

“Jackpot” will be fired up for this! What about Gary Anderson though? He didn’t play with much passion against Barney last week but as another “confidence” player he will want to arrive at Wembley with a victory from tonight’s game. We are going to go with Adrian’s desire to get the job done and not have to rely on his ex practice partner Phil Taylor to dispose of the Wizard.
Winner – Adrian Lewis
180’s – 6

Phil Taylor V Simon Whitlock

“The Power” doesn’t understand the meaning of “dead rubber”, that is not in his nature, which is also why he is the best dart player ever!  He has also made the right noises as I alluded to earlier “I want to win to take the confidence to Wembley and keep the other players on their toes” is my version of what Taylor said. The thing is he does actually mean it, with a passion!  “The Wizard” has shown flashes of his brilliance and he is a great addition to the Premier League but I expect “The Power” to fulfil his promises and win comfortably.
Winner- Phil Taylor
180’s 6

Tips

Double Top – Barney and Lewis – Barney needs to win to help keep him smiling and Lewis needs to win to ensure qualification.

Double 1 – A couple of stats bets for you:

Total 180’s – Under 27.5 4/5 with William Hill – We reckon a night of potentially “exhibition darts” may not produce the firepower of the previous weeks

Player to score the  most 180’s – Adrian Lewis – 6/1 at Sky Bet – will be focused and if he gets going...

This is the blog of BDO player Anthony Urmston-Toft that is also published on www.dartsperformancecentre.com

Hello one and all. The PDC Premier League sails into the UK’s Premier seaside resort Bournemouth. The Bournemouth International Centre is the venue where Barney hit his first 9 dart game in the Premier League against Peter Manley. However, there is never any rain let alone lighting that ever strikes sunny Bournemouth so I don’t expect that to happen again.

Bournemouth is also the place that was recently found to be the happiest in Britain. It will be a happy night out for some as the fight for qualification continues. Let’s see the card.

Simon Whitlock v Mark Webster
Gary Anderson v Raymond van Barneveld
Terry Jenkins v Adrian Lewis
James Wade v Phil Taylor

Simon Whitlock vs Mark Webster

Mark stopped the 8:1 rot last week but still lost to Terry Jenkins. I predict Webby’s poor run will continue here. Whitlock is in desperate need of the points and an 8:3 win will stake The Wizard’s claim for a final place.

Winner: Simon Whitlock

180s: 6

Gary Anderson vs Raymond van Barneveld

I expect Gary to make an impact on his debut as a Unicorn player. He didn’t do himself justice last week against The Power and he took our 180 tip with him as he was fairly easily beaten. I reckon he will make up for it in Bournemouth and Barney will add his share so there will be 180’s galore in this and it should be fun. Gary to win 8-5 with pizzazz!

Winner: Gary Anderson

180s: 12

Terry Jenkins vs Adrian Lewis

Everyone’s favourite bogey player Terry Jenkins could deliver a killer blow to Adrian’s chances of progressing. I expect a close game but I’m going for Lewis to do what I predicted he would do last week and demonstrate why he is the PDC World Champion. His averages are getting better and he could let fly, 8-4 to Adrian.

Winner: Adrian Lewis

180s:  9

MAAAAAAAIIIIIIN EVENT OF THE EVENING!!!!!

James Wade vs Phil Taylor

James Wade has been unbeaten in the last 5 weeks, an amazing change in form. I had forgotten how good The Machine can be but has he enough take The Power? I think his upward surge will change this week as in form Phil seems unbeatable at the moment.  A 100 plus average minimum by Taylor will be too much for James. The score will be 8-4 to the Power.

Winner: Phil Taylor

180s:  8


Tips:

Double Top – Whitlock and Lewis to win at 7/5 with the sponsors 888

Treble One – Whitlock Lewis and Anderson - best odds at Blue square

Stats Bet -  Anderson & Barney match to produce most 180’s  21/10 at SkyBet

This is the blog of BDO player Anthony Urmston-Toft which is also published by the Darts Performance Centre. You can find out more about Anthony at www.inthemadhouse.com/clients.php

The Premier League is warming up and the table is taking shape. This week the PDC entourage rolls up in Liverpool, The matches are as follows

Mark Webster v Terry Jenkins
Gary Anderson v Phil Taylor
Raymond van Barneveld v James Wade
Adrian Lewis v Simon Whitlock

Mark Webster v Terry Jenkins

Mark has been in some awful form and looks so dejected whilst playing. Terry Jenkins is the Mr Steady of The PL. I’m predicting an easy game for Terry here. The score will be 8-3 to Jenkins and more woe for webby. Sorry.

Winner: Terry Jenkins

180’s 6

Gary Anderson v Phil Taylor

A game of epic proportions here, Last time they met it was an instant classic. This will be the same. Another close game here with both players in red-hot form it’s a coin toss in many ways but Taylor by a nose 8-6 and Gary will hit the most 180’s!

Winner: Phil Taylor

180’s 11

RVB v James Wade

Again this game will be closed, very close. Wade has found his “A” game and Barney seems to be getting to his “A” game. Victory by the odd game again this time I’ll be going for Wadey. 8-6.

Winner: James Wade

180’s 8


Adrian Lewis vs Simon Whitlock

Both players have been predictable in being unpredictable although Whitlock seems to be finding his form at last but surely the World Champion is not going to go out of the Premier League without a battle, is he?  Anyway this game will be tense , another close encounter  and another coin toss, heads it is, so Adrian Lewis get the nod by the odd leg, 8-6, this week will be close for all bar one.

Winner: Adrian Lewis

180’s 8

Tips

Double Top: Terry Jenkins to win and Gary Anderson to hit more 180’s than Phil Taylor 14/5 at SkyBet

Double One: With the games so close to call let’s try a route where we can sit back and enjoy the games going to the wire-RVB and Wade and Lewis and Whitlcock – Both games over 12.5 legs with the sponsors 888 at a shade under 6/4

Stat Bets: The more legs the more 180’s. We will take on Stan James and go over 27.5 180’s at 5/6 and see if we can get our ratio to 4 out of 5 for this tip!

This has been the most difficult week to predict by far and it should be an amazing night of darts. So there we are peeps, the coin used 3 times this week. If I’m right I’ll frame it, lol

But for now, it’s goodbye from me

PDC Premier League - Birmingham

Posted: 20.04.11 in Anthony Urmston-Toft - BDO category at The Darts Performance Centre . Com

Week 11 is nigh! Who is the mystery tipster backing this week?

The Premier League trucks roll into Birmingham (UK) this week and it’s getting exciting as we are starting the run in to the finals. Every leg is vital here and the games are:

James Wade v Mark Webster
Terry Jenkins v Raymond van Barneveld
Simon Whitlock v Gary Anderson
Phil Taylor v Adrian Lewis

James Wade v Mark Webster


Good opening game here. Mark has been in some rotten form but has been known to do very well on occasions. James will be too strong here. He really has dragged himself back to the form he was in last year and I am predicting a possible defence of his title, but can he beat Taylor in the form he is in? We’ll see. 8-3 with some good finishes to The Machine.

180’s 6

Highest Finish 130

Winner: James Wade

Terry Jenkins v Raymond van Barneveld

This has the potential to be the best match with both capable of turning any game on its head, with a spurt of form. This game will be nip and tuck and see-saw action. 8-6 to Barneveld.

180’s 8

Highest Finish 141

Winner: Raymond van Barneveld

Simon Whitlock v Gary Anderson

This for me is a future World Final (not sure when but sometime soon) as they are both capable of being world champions! Simon seems to be picking his form up again, and Gary been has excellent this season, just a couple of blips midway through.180s galore in this one and the high finish to boot. 8-5 to Anderson.

180’s 10+

Highest finish 161

Winner: Gary Anderson

AND THE MAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN EVENT!!!!!!!

Taylor v Lewis

The last time these two played Lewis had a 110 average and got beat 8-3. Can anyone stop The Power? In that form, don’t bother to try, but as the Mrs says “You’re only as good as you last match”! So is the form still there? Expect tense action and solid darts by both 8-6 the score line here but flip a coin. Taylor for me with his form and experience.

180’s 10+

Highest Finish 170

Winner: Phil Taylor


Bets:

Double Top: Taylor/Wade double

Double 1: Barney, Wade and Anderson pays 9/2 at skybet

Statto Bet: Over 27.5 180's 10/11 at Boyles

What Brilliant Players!

Gary Anderson and Adrian Lewis did well too! However, I was referring to the amazing amount of talent on show at Lakeside yesterday. The BDO are usually seen as the “poor relations” in the darts world. It appears though that they have a few of the darting equivalents of Ming vases stashed away in their attic. There are certainly some “Dutch Masters” who look capable of bringing a new golden age to Darts in the Netherlands.

Willy (he certainly did) Van de Wiel, Joey Ten Berge and Jan Dekker kept the orange light burning and “Smudger” Smith. A mentally tough “Chissy” and a high quality performance by Stuart Kellett (all players are under 30) let the young Dutch stars know they will not have it all their own way in Frimley Green this year. We haven`t even seen Scott Waites yet!

We have seen a changing of the guard at the PDC over the past few weeks, it appears the BDO are going through a similar scenario.

“Chissy”, You Rascal!

The Darts Performance Centre found an ally we were not really expecting to yesterday. Dave Chisnall provided a mature performance to come from behind to defeat Steve West. Clients of the Darts Performance Centre will know already we are admiring “Chissy” taking a short mental break before taking on a double. We advocate such an approach, not just for doubles, but for the fat numbers too, we even have a practice game dedicated to this routine. It worked a treat for the popular BDO star and we look forward to seeing more of the “Chissy Routine” over the next week.

Jolly Boys (and girls) Outing

I am off to Lakeside today with Junior Darts Analyst and she can`t wait either. Are we ready? We sure are and I will report back tomorrow. 

PDC Darts World Championship and BDO Lakeside World Championship

Modern Technology

Thank goodness for modern technology. I was strapped to the darts analyst chair yesterday with the first PDC semi-finals on Sky and the start of the lakeside finals on the laptop, a darts fans dream...

Poor Finishing

Even towards the end of the Taylor V Webster game we were being urged to invest our money in a “once in a lifetime opportunity”, a no risk investment with a good return`, Taylor at 2 to 1 to prevail despite being second best for most of the contest. I fear John Gwynne may be strapped in to the commentators chair for a few more years yet if he follows his own betting advice!

However, hindsight is of course a wonderful thing and “Gwynee” was what on the face of it were unprecedented odds about “The Power”!  Although the stats did indicate that it would of been insane to take a gamble on Taylor so late on in the match. Taylor`s 9 dart average was superb once again (as we pointed out in a previous blog), this then gave the illusion that all was well as Taylor had a 3 dart average of over 100! The problem was with his finishing. His checkout percentage was a most un-Taylor like 35% or so. The key, however, was when Taylor was give an opportunity to checkout he didn`t. On every occasion he was in what we call the “checkout zone” at the darts performance centre (170 or fewer left) he only completed the checkout once in every three attempts.

It is for this reason that the odds of 2 to 1 were way too low. Not even “The Power” could improve so dramatically in such a short space of time to pull off a victory.

The Bull was Getting Shirty

It was interesting to hear Terry Jenkins reflect on his missed opportunity to switch shirts during the match as his shirt was becoming `sticky` due to the heat from the TV lights on the stage. We believe it demonstrates the way darts is slowly but surely considering the benefits of analysing every aspect of your performance to give a player the edge over their opponent. Wayne Baker, who is busy scribing at Lakeside this week wrote a piece in his column in Darts World about our involvement in darts and the benefit of considering your kit was discussed, here is the link.
Finally, the “Bull” and “The Warrior” appeared to be a contest between the two players with the most inappropriate nicknames such are the mild mannered traits and thorough `niceness` of these two popular players. Did I detect a hint of the traits usually associated with a bull though in Terry last night? There seemed to be a slightly more aggressive (in a good way) look in his eye and what appeared to be a fierce determination to continue his run all the way to the final. If I was advising Anderson I would recommend he did not wear a red shirt tonight!

Opposition Analysis

There was speculation last night about whether Wesley “The Warrior” Newton analysed his opponent’s methods before going into battle last night.  We blogged recently at our surprise more players didn`t use this type of performance analysis to prepare for matches.  We can only be encouraged at the Darts Performance Centre that sports science is becoming more prevalent in the sport of darts and that performance analysis is one of our key skills, our contact details can be found on our website 

Performance Analysis in Other Sports

If there is anyone that still questions the benefits of analytical techniques then here is an idea of a diverse range of sports that have used performance analysis in different ways:

In football, analysts have concluded that successful teams have more possession, more attempts at goal, and more effective use of set plays as well as variability of performance (being able to adapt their style of play to counteract their opponents). In rugby union, winning teams differed from losing teams in the frequency of attacks and the amount of times they entered the opposition`s last third of the field In cricket, both formats of the one day game, Twenty/20 and 50 over cricket have been analysed. In Twenty/20, wicket taking during the game and during the last 6 overs as well as having a higher run rate were indicative of success. In the 50 over format taking wickets and run rate were most highly correlated with winning.

A study of speed skating (Bullock et al, 2008) reported arguably more tangible conclusions than the rather predictable results for cricket. For example; optimum lap times, position in ranking against competitors as well as position on the ice were identified in winning performances.  Performance analysts in Magdeburg, Germany, attempting to assess why the German team had tumbled to 4th place in the World Cup of rhythmic gymnastics, compared the performance of the German team with the teams finishing above them.

This research produced performance areas for the gymnasts and coaches to focus on. These included the choreography of their moves, in particular balance and jumps which were found to be inferior to the successful teams. Coaches were the main beneficiaries of a study of successful Olympic volleyball teams 36 games were analysed and a variety of advice of best practice for coaches was suggested. Other uses of the data produced from these studies suggested were that the results could help gain a better idea of whether the effects of sport specific training or the use of nutrients actually impacts on sporting performance.

Happy New Darting Year

The Darts Analyst started 2010 with one goal, to finish his dissertation! That goal was achieved in February and since then darts has taken over. The Darts Performance Centre website was launched a few months ago, which is a culmination of all the work that went into the dissertation as well as the new research, ideas and help and guidance form people during this year.

So thanks to everyone that has helped along the way, Sid for giving up his time right at the start of this project, Dr Darts, John at British Darts, Simon at Red Dragon, Jamie “the” sports psychologist, Colin, Jim and Clare, Krispy at Darts Beers and Cheers. A massive thanks to Anthony Urmston-Toft for agreeing  to going onto partnership with this guy who approached him about using sports science in darts and more recently Andy Relf for his enthusiasm and support of the principles behind the website as well as their great blogs on a different side of life as darts players. I hope that their belief is rewarded ion the oche this year, they deserve it.

A happy New Year to all the “pioneers” who are the clients of the Darts performance Centre, we have some brilliant new features coming next year which will take your darts to a new level, guaranteed!

If Only...

The incorrigible “Crafty Cockney” gave Peter Wright absolutely no chance last night , he told an amused Dave that they were betting on how few legs “Snakebite” would win as opposed to  whether  he could win, how we laughed...

Ultimately Eric was right but Wright didn`t lie down and dye as was predicted. He even won enough legs to take a set off “The Power” and had numerous chances to hit a winning double.  “Snakebite” will reflect on a brilliant tournament and we doff Taylor`s hat to him, however, over the next few days the two biggest words in professional sport will keep coming back to him, if only!

Armchair Practice

One of our dedicated clients of the Darts Performance Centre made a guilt ridden entry in his training diary today- he has been watching more darts that he has been practising them. We have demonstrated though that players of all standards can learn from watching the best. The FA promotes the idea of young players watching the stars of the Premier League play as an effective learning tool.

The same can be said of darts, what about these areas of excellence that we have noticed over the past week or so that all “grassroots” players can try to emulate:

The mental toughness of The Power

The finishing (backed up by hours of practice) of The Wizard

The focus of Jyhan Artut

The power scoring of Gary Anderson

The tenacity of    Adrian Lewis

The resilience of Mensur Suljovic

The dedication to his pre-throw routine of Dennis Smith



The 3 Dart Average is Most Interesting

We are naughty aren`t we? Regular followers of the blog will know we don`t really like the 3 dart average, its relevance to a darts match is blown way out of propotion and we argue its only job is as a guide to how many darts a player needs to win a leg.

Last night Taylor finished with a three dart average of 98.07. His other statistics are also interesting. His 9 dart average is excellent, over 110 (usual service resumed), however, his doubles were an impressive 38%. Impressive? Well it is for the majority of the players competing in the event but it is below what Taylor can achieve and this is why he appears to be not quite back to his best.

The reason that the 98.07 average is of interest is that it means, statistically, Taylor needs a shade over 15 darts to complete a leg, in other words a player hitting a 12 darter against Taylor`s throw or a 15 darter with his own throw has, for the first time in years, got a chance of winning a leg from “The Power”.

Darts Performance Centre Heroes – Number 3

Mensur Suljovic and Mensur Suljovic Junior – What a Guy and What a Little Guy!

Shhh, Don`t Mention the “P” Word

Oh dear, the name of Wayne Jones and the word practice popped up in the same sentence again yesterday.  We mentioned in a previous blog that Jones was not keen on practising his darts skills. The commentators yesterday even suggested that not bothering with practice actually suited him! Hang on a minute, he lost, convincingly!

Dedication to practice is one of the most fundamental components of a great player, it underpins all the other skills a player possesses. Yes it can be boring, yes it is hard work, and however, if you work out a schedule and timetable of fun and challenging practice games that focus on the core skills and that can also measure your improvement, if you do all these things, practice can be motivating. You can even add non-dart throwing aspects into your regime, aspects such as fitness training and the like.  Wayne has done very well to clamber up the rankings bearing in mind his practice regime, in a quiet moment over the next week of the championships he may contemplate how far he could have wandered with a bit of hard graft.

Don`t Take our Word for it – Vince has the Final Word on This...
Work and sacrifice, perseverance, competitive drive and selflessness are the price one must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.
Success is the result of dedication to an ideal of working hard to correct weaknesses-working hard to understand what is required for success and working hard to achieve the goal of being perfect.

That Special Place

There were two things we liked about the Sulvojic match. The first a lesson to all players, play your own game. Yes your opponent may be getting bored and the crowd restless but who cares?  Don`t ever get bullied out of your own routine.

An upshot of Mensur religiously following his pre-throw routine was that James started to get distracted. Rod mentioned his “special place”, a mind-set he would utilise in certain circumstances, such as when there are lengthy pauses between throws. At the Darts Performance Centre we advocate the more clinically named “The Waiting Room”, it`s basically the same principle that Rod has suggested.

We encourage players to relax, coach and visualise their next throw when they are in this area (not all at the same time). If you would like to know more about this idea there is no waiting at the Darts Performance Centre, you can sign up for treatment for your darts immediately.