Darts Beginning to End: American, Soft Tip & Steel Tip

By George Silberzahn

Your techniques have given me the tools to become the best player I can be.
Joe Everett (aka: dart face) New York City

Certainly from reading the additional information in George's book (a must for all dart players) I now understand and feel when my stroke is good and bad and also I'm in a position where I am able to correct it if the first dart thrown is poor.
Antony Sharrett (aka: Tanman) Harrogate, England

I know it's working for me because now what feels like a bad night would have been considered a great night 6 months ago. Mark Kelly (aka: Drac0) Australia

I have never felt more controlled and focused with my darts. The drills, the reading material, all of it are a huge help. Greg Kanes (aka: P-man) S. Africa

The way George writes makes you wanna read it.
Davin Burgess, (aka: davin) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 25, 2009
• ISBN: 9781465316622

George Silberzahn

George Silberzahn is a renowned author and recognized authority in the sport of darts. During his career, his knowledge, skills and determination ranked him as one of the top ten players in the United States. An expert darter, he averaged more than 50 on an American dart board. His involvement in the sport spans 50 years and his passion for the game has led to this, the most comprehensive book about American, steel tip and soft tip darts written to date. His tutorial, “Flight School” has helped darters worldwide improve their game. He also developed the “Players Tournament,” unique because of the opportunity it affords all levels of dart shooters. George lives in Wilmington, Delaware with his wife, Sandie. He can be contacted through his website, www.howtodarts.com.

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Copyright © 2009 by George Silberzahn.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

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www.Xlibris.com

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Contents

FORWORD

Acknowledgments

1.0 Chapter One

2.0 Chapter Two

3.0 Chapter Three

4.0 Chapter Four

5.0 Chapter Five

6.0 Chapter Six

7.0 Chapter Seven

8.0 Chapter Eight

9.0 Chapter Nine

10.0 Chapter Ten

11.0 Chapter Eleven

12.0 Chapter Twelve

13.0 Chapter Thirteen

14.0 Chapter Fourteen

15.0 Chapter Fifteen

16.0 Chapter Sixteen

17.0 Chapter Seventeen

18.0 Chapter Eighteen

19.0 Chapter Nineteen

FORWORD

I can’t tell you the number of times I have been told by a darts player, If I need to read a book on how to play darts, I should give up the game! Sure, anyone can pick up a dart and throw it at a dartboard, but can he/she consistently hit the bulls-eye with every dart? The game of darts is a sport, and like any other sport, it requires skill, concentration, and strategy. These key elements of the sport of darts are the basis for improving one’s ability to play the game well.

Anyone can improve his or her skill level through a bit of practice. Anyone can improve his or her ability to concentrate by learning how to concentrate. Anyone can improve on the strategy they employ by learning a better strategy. However, what practice routine will best help a player reach the next level? What are the best exercises a darts player can use to improve his or her concentration? And, what are the best strategies to employ to improve one’s winning percentage? Like any other sport, the answers to these questions are found in books written by knowledgeable experts of the sport.

I’ve known George Silberzahn since 1977 when I first picked up a set of darts and began throwing competitively. We both lived in Ohio, and at the time, Silberzahn was one of the best dart shooters in the state, right up there with Tony Money, Tony Payne, Dave Service, Frank Pratt and a young kid named Billy Nicoll, Jr., all from Ohio. He was a student of the game as well as a player. I’m sure his expertise at the sport helped him understand how to master the sport, and ultimately, how to put into words the practice routines that will help dart players advance to the next level, the exercises that will help dart players learn to concentrate, and the strategies that will give dart players a better winning percentage.

Silberzahn’s book, How To Master The Sport Of Darts, is a gem among all the darts books available because the contents are based on first hand knowledge and experimental routines put into practice.

DARTS—Beginning to End—American, Soft Tip & Steel Tip, his latest work, is the reference manual for learning how to improve one’s skill level at darts, and learning more about the game, whether playing for fun or competing at the highest tournament levels. Covering everything from the physical aspects of the game to the mental aspects, Silberzahn delves into the differences between American darts and English darts and between steel tip and soft tip, from the beginner to the very proficient dart player. Silberzahn’s on-line Flight School provided the insight and statistics to support what he has learned and teaches in his book. In addition to his own insights, Silberzahn includes interviews with some of the best dart players still playing the game in North America. A copy of DARTS—Beginning to End—American, Soft Tip & Steel Tip is a must for every dart player’s library!

—Jay Tomlinson, Publisher

-Bull’s-Eye News

Acknowledgments

Consultants:

Production/content

Soft Tip/Steel Tip

Contributors:

SEWA-darts.com forum posts used in Let’s Talk About This:

Cricket Survey participants from SEWA-Darts.com and Mr.& Ms. Philadelphia finals tournament.

1.0 Chapter One

HOW IT ALL BEGAN (THE BOOK)

So, you’ve discovered the game of darts(we call it a sport now) and want to know more. I’ll cover all the aspects of the game but for you to understand where and how I’ve learned what I’ve learned I think some background on how this book came about would be appropriate.

I started playing darts in 1960 and quickly became caught up in its lure; Darts can be addictive. I soon became President of the Gibbstown (NJ) Dart League (American type game). Over the next twelve years I joined other larger, more competitive, leagues and achieved a 50 average, which very few ever attained. In 1970 I switched to the English type game and became President of the South Jersey English Dart Club, the first such dart league in southern New Jersey. In 1973 I broadened my dart world and played in Philadelphia’s Quaker City English Dart League. There were no books to help us as beginners so around 1971 I put together a little eight page pamphlet about practice and out shot combinations for those in the SJEDC and called it Beginning the Sport of Darts. Between 1970 and 1974 my dedication allowed me to rise to the highest level of competitor (one of the top six in America in 1974). In 1981, after I moved back from Cleveland, where I lived and played in the Cleveland Darter Club from 1975 to 1979, I expanded Beginning The Sport of Darts into Mastering The Sport of Darts which was 24 pages long. I sold it with some success until I dropped out of darts altogether in 1984. In 2000, after I retired from working for a living, my wife, Sandie, talked me into returning to darts. I went back to Steel Tip darts in my old stomping ground, Mt Royal NJ, got into the Old English Dart league in Philadelphia, the First State Dart League in Delaware (Steel Tip) and the NDA (Soft Tip) League in Delaware.

I found out there still wasn’t a good how to book so I self published Mastering The Sport of Darts and was lucky enough to have it listed for sale in the Bulls Eye News magazine. From there I was contacted by a publisher about having my 24 page pamphlet published as a book, which coincided with my diminishing drive and skills. The opportunity to explain the things I’d learned during my come back and getting into Soft Tip were intriguing but the ability to get in print the life stories of some of the very best dart players America had produced, to that date, really did the trick so How To Master The Sport Of Darts was born.

Now I’ve written this book which includes insights and information I’ve learned from the perspective of having lived through a career and comeback plus developing and hosting an on line tutorial, Flight School, from which I’ve drawn much insight into issues dart players/shooters have as concerns.

Darts offers many ways to enjoy the game and my main goal is to help everyone have as much enjoyment as possible from what ever level of involvement they choose. You see, there are those who enjoy the social interactions and/or playing with the game and/or administration activities, and/or winning.

I should explain playing with the game. You see, darts allows a person to tinker around with the what if scenarios for Cricket, different out shots combinations, the darts themselves by changing, experimenting and modifying the dart combinations they use, taking leadership roles such as team captain or league director, and, strange as this sounds, what they call practicing (there are people who spend many hours throwing darts in solitude; I’ve heard of this being done for as much as eleven hours in one day). These things become part of that person’s enjoyment and I call that playing with the game as opposed to playing the game (competing).

I refer to this book as a manual because I’ve found so much to write about that many people will end up using it as a reference manual. This has to do with the when the student is ready the teacher will come idea. You see, as you become more sophisticated in the intricacies of the game you will be ready for other levels of understanding.

If playing the game at home is your goal, I believe everything you’ll need is right here.

If playing the game beyond your home and finding people to help you learn the ropes is what you wish to do, locating places in which to play darts can be trying. The phone book is useful for finding a darts shop and people there will be able to help you find places in which to play and learn. Online (Internet) you can search for darts and find league listings, which will also help.

You will find darts players friendly and welcoming to a newcomer. They are also eager to tell you how it is done and how to get really good. Most of the players who are willing to share techniques will be in the middle proficiency rank of your group. It is rare that one of the best will be able to take the time to teach a novice. Some can and do, but most are concentrating on a level of competition that matches their general skill level, not playing against a novice.

Some are interested in what is going on beyond their dart team and how all that works so later I’ll talk a bit about that.

Whatever type of darts you become involved in there is one common thread: they all require the same physical and emotional skill and ability and the techniques and lessons in this manual apply equally to them all.

2.0 Chapter Two

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT (DARTS)?

Enjoyment about sums it up. It’s a game which is easy to get into, mysteriously addictive and can be competitive.

Here’s the thing about different types of dart games. There are currently three in America: American, Steel Tip and Soft Tip. Although the physical, mental and emotional aspects of the game are the same for each type, the construction of the dart board, games played, rules and strategies involved make such a difference that each becomes separate to the point of being three different games. There are three darts used in every instance but that is just about where similarities end except for the names of games in Soft Tip and Steel Tip: Oh 1 and Cricket.

Let me explain this.

American darts has no requirements for arithmetic while the player/shooter is on the line (oche) taking their turn. The standard league game is baseball where each player has nine turns, beginning at the 1st and ending at the 9th ‘inning.’ Everyone gets the same number of turns; begins with zero points and adds to that as they progress through the innings while the scorer records inning and running score. The person, or team, with the most points after everyone has had all their turns is the winner. On the dart board the triple is adjacent to the double, the double is approximately twice the size of the triple and both the triple and double are at the outer edge of the scoring surface. The entire focus of a player/shooter is to group all three darts within that scoring area. A player/shooters’ entire career is devoted to being able to ‘put the dart in the hole.’ The hole in which the player/shooter wants to stick darts refers to holes darts leave in the end grain on the wood which is the material used to construct the dart board.

Steel Tip dart games have been designed to prevent ties and this does not give the competitor playing second a chance to tie or do better than the one who is first. The first person to complete the game requirements wins. There are two standard games in league play in America: Oh 1 and Cricket. In many other countries Cricket is not played. The double is at the outer edge of the dart board and the triple is half way between the double and the bulls’ eye and the same width as the double although smaller in length. The dart board is mostly constructed of sisal or other separable material and darts do not leave a discernible hole most of the time.

Soft Tip darts have the same games and performance requirements as Steel Tip but the construction of the dart board is different. Soft Tip dart boards are mostly made of plastic grids where darts stick into the holes. The double, triple and bulls eye are significantly larger than on a separable material board. Soft Tip league competition uses handicaps to provide everyone the opportunity to win regardless of prowess at the game. Although the same games are played the handicapping, Oh 1 Freeze Out rule, scoring opportunities, computer controlled game processes and intricacies require such changes in strategies as to make the games different than steel tip games.

These elemental differences are why there are three dart games in America.

Darts outside the home is mostly made up of an organized group of like-minded people who enjoy the social and competitive aspects of the game. The organization of leagues is totally different depending upon the type of game in which you become involved.

In American and Steel Tip types of the game, leagues of teams are mostly created and run by the people involved in playing the game out of love of the sport and leadership ability. In the Soft Tip type, business people created the leagues based upon business opportunity and, in some instances, a combination of business and love of the game.

American and Steel Tip leagues are provincial in nature so teams compete mostly for local bragging rights with little contact or association with other leagues, which may even be in the same city. The league will have a loose set of bylaws or rules governing the games and format for competition which are written by the people who volunteer to oversee the leagues’ operation. Some of the leagues operate under the sanction of a national organization for whatever benefits the league sees from such an affiliation, which is similar in construct to the local league by being mostly volunteers. This national affiliate may offer a set of rules and regulations intended to augment local efforts and provide uniformity on a national scale as well as ranking players on regional and national levels. Tournaments are organized and run by local leagues and organizers with no formal coordination.

These leagues are run by innovative and creative people who frequently mine league membership rolls to find those with expertise to help the league with specific needs. Among such needs are: legal, sales, marketing, equipment handling & setup, book keeping, secretarial and internet. When expertise can’t be located within their league they look for it in the extended dart family. An example of this is Kelly Ragland who lives in McKinney, Texas and does creative artwork for website building and tee shirt production.

Soft Tip local leagues are franchises of the national business. They also compete for local bragging rights with little contact with other local dart leagues, but with the national scope of the business there comes a standardization of rules and regulations which governs all leagues. These governing rules are supplied to the local people who purchase a franchise. National tournaments are conducted and regulated by the national league/business. Local leagues are free to conduct local tournaments.

The need to mine membership for specific expertise is minimal since most of this work is done by the national business.

The population of a typical league will be made up of mostly non-professional people, although a large number of any league memberships will be in the professions. Leagues will be mostly comprised of males, but there will be varying numbers of females according to the location of the league. In some places there will be all female teams and leagues. There is no known reason why a female cannot perform as well as her male counterpart.

Most dart teams play out of a tavern or pub, but some play out of clubs. Most people stay on the same team year to year, with new people showing up and some switching teams. Competition is usually fierce, but subdued. There is a comfortable decorum, mostly of mutual respect for the other person’s effort. Due to mostly tavern play, younger people are limited to the few youth leagues available in some cities. A lot of leagues hold banquets at the end of the season to recognize team and individual performance. Most American and Steel tip dart leagues discontinue in the spring, then reform in late summer or early fall for competitions through the winter and spring. There are summer leagues also, but not as many as traditional leagues. Soft Tip type leagues play year round in several sessions.

Virtually every person knows about darts. There are millions of homes with dart boards in them. Most are under used mainly because the owners don’t know how to play the games available and think they are children’s toys.

The largest numbers of players are amateurs, some are part time professionals and a few are full time professionals. The definition of professional, in America is that there is an organization, national in scope, which has rules of competition, conduct & appearance, a standardized method of objective performance measurement, and penalties for failure to perform or follow rules.

Darts in America is much like golf, tennis, bowling, archery, or skeet shooting in that there are organizations who conduct scheduled tournaments with prizes and prestige. Some large tournaments draw participants from outside the local area and even outside of the country. Darts in America has not risen to a level where there is enough money available from prizes, sponsorships and the like to support very many full time professionals. There are tournaments with prize structures of over $400,000 down to $2,500, held in hotels and clubs across the country, where money can be won. In 2006 there was one which offered $1,000,000 if an American won. Some organizations limit their tournaments to those who are members of their organization and this is mostly a Soft Tip and British Steel Tip professional phenomenon. There are many locally run tournaments open to any who desire to join. These are mostly of the steel tip type of darts and are run by local dart leagues using volunteers. Anyone with entrance money and skill can win here. There is a circuit of tournaments, mostly Steel Tip but some Soft Tip, which are weekend affairs with multiple events and multiple games contested. A couple of which are a week or longer in duration. A person so inclined could travel somewhere to a different tournament just about every weekend during the year. Steel Tip darts is a sport enjoyed practically everywhere, and Soft Tip is growing in that direction, while American type darts remains provincial. Professional darts organizations, based in the UK, are working to bring the professional level of competition to America, both Soft Tip and Steel Tip.

There are national organizations which sanction tournaments and leagues to rank competitors: American Darters Association (ADA); American Darts Organization (ADO); National Dart Association (NDA); Professional Darts Corporation (PDC); National Darts Federation of Canada (NDFC) and others. There are new organizations springing up or coming to the U.S.A. all the time.

There are too many local leagues to list here. Suffice to say a search on the Internet, as discussed above, will put you in touch with a league near you or any of the above organizations.

The premiere national publication dedicated to darts and darting is ben (Bulls-Eye News), available through www.bullseyenews.com.

ETIQUETTE

The sport of darts is much like golf as far as etiquette. There is an unspoken rule that requires recognition and respect for the effort of the competitor.

*   One never positions themselves between a player at the oche’ and the dart board.

*   One never speaks to a player at the oche’.

*   One never attempts to disrupt the concentration of the player at the oche’, in any manner.

Of course, an attempt to influence a player’s efficiency while not on the line (oche’) is fair game, but one never insults or denigrates another player. This can be seen in the conflict that rages within the darts community concerning accumulating score during a darts Cricket match. Accumulating score is part of the game but there comes a time when additional score seems unnecessary to the outcome and assumes the appearance of humiliating the opponent. When or if, this line is crossed is in the eyes of the beholder, hence the conflict. I personally feel that a perfect game is one where the score is very low, being only what is required to win. Others feel that more score simply ensures a win.

Decorum and etiquette should be the watchwords of all darts competitors. Dress and conduct distinguish a participant and set the sport as a whole apart, or demean it when coarse or crude. The competition is no less intense, but needn’t be nasty or low level. How participants deport themselves, with actions and language, affects how others view the sport, which affects what the future may be. Darts can be viewed as professional wrestling or golf, depending on how participants present themselves. As a participant you will become part of the influence for how the sport is viewed.

SACRIFICES

This book is meant to help all dart players become the dart player they want to be including one of the best, and part of that quest needs to be dealing with the consequences of the pursuit. As with a lot of competitive activity darts can be time and attention consuming. This subject is usually not included in books which talk about getting good and the reason is simple enough; a discussion about the cost of becoming one of the best is mostly about negatives. It’s about sacrifices. The costs, as I see it, are sacrifices of relationship and treasure to satisfy a selfish need and those sacrifices need to be balanced.

The amount of time a person needs to dedicate to perfecting their game can be exorbitant. The really good people at this are nearly obsessed with it, and need to be.

If you decide to be as good as can be and there is a significant other in your life, your significant other needs to share in your enthusiasm or at least be tolerant of it. I suggest this be the first part of your consideration for what type of enjoyment you wish to get from our game/sport.

Throughout this book you will find sections titled Let’s Talk about This and the following is the first of those. These are comments, questions and suggestions from fellow dart enthusiasts which I think you will find informative and useful.

Let’s talk about this: Sacrifices

From IDart4Wins, Alabama: I hope I’m not out of line here by posting a new topic, but there is a lesson that Mr. Silberzahn touched on in the Know How Good file, that has had me really intrigued for several days now, (since the moment that I read it actually).

Quote: Second thing to understand: If you wish to be as good as can be it will carry a cost in relationships and treasure which needs to be understood above all else.

"If it’s O.K. with Mr. Silberzahn, I’d like to open a discussion here about those sacrifices, and how they can be balanced.

I’m not sure how serious everyone here is about their game. I believe that we all must want to improve. As for myself, (though I know it’s a lofty goal and that almost all of the odds are against me), I want to be on stage one day in major PDC events and competing at the highest levels of our sport. For short time goals, I’m starting with being the best in my area (say 200 mile radius of my home) which covers some of the best dart talent in the South.

I make a lot of sacrifices already, and I know that I still have to make even greater ones, if I’m going to succeed in even a portion of my goals. I understood from the beginning that this would be the case, and I’m extremely blessed by having a wife who also understands and supports me whole heartedly. I won’t go into what those sacrifices are, I don’t want this to sound like a whining, complaining post because it’s not, each sacrifice has, (in one way or another), made me a better competitor or taught me a valuable lesson and moved me one small step closer to my goals.

What intrigues me is the balance that Mr. Silberzahn mentioned. I think that I understand the distraction. I often find myself at tournaments hundreds of miles from home, and thinking of my wife who had to work that weekend and couldn’t come along, or my daughter playing on her jr. high softball team and wondering how they are doing, and when things aren’t going well (with my game at those times), wondering how THEY can be so supportive and understanding. How do you balance that?"

From Killer Bee, Syracuse: "As far as sacrifices go we all seem to have the same major problem. There are only 24 hours in a day and we can only be at one place at any given time. As we would all like to be able to do everything we want to do it all comes down to what your personal priorities are. If you are at a tourney and your mind is on what your kids are doing then possibly your kids have a higher priority to you than your darts and in that case you should be with your kids instead of at the tourney or bring your kids to the tourney.

I think that balance is when you have a set of priorities in your life and the decisions you make on a daily basis are dictated by those priorities. For me that lack of balance and nights where I cant sleep are usually a result of deciding to do something against my priorities and getting that guilty feeling that I really should have been doing something else or been somewhere else. (Like calling in sick to work to practice darts—for me work is a higher priority because I need to support my family and can’t do that with darts at the moment)

I could probably go on and on but am trying to keep this kind of short so I’ll leave it as it is and see where the thread goes."

Wolf, Canada:

"This is a very interesting topic. It’s something I’m faced with every day, not just with darts but also with family and work. When I first got into darts it was like I just invented the game . . . couldn’t get enough of it and I devoted hours and hours to it. Not just physically, but mentally too. All day at work I was thinking about darts. Now, thinking back to that I’m amazed that I still have all my fingers. I work as a finishing carpenter. A job that DEMANDS my undivided attention. I’m surrounded by sharp blades. Because of that I have to put my career before all else. I have a wife and 3 kids. Even though they’re important to me, I can handle being distracted around them. It won’t cost me a finger or two. So, yes, sacrifice is important to get to be the best you can be in anything . . . . but you really have to consider your priorities. Are you distracted in a dangerous environment?

Unfortunately for me, my business has slower periods and insanely busy times. Right now it’s insanely busy so I have to sacrifice my darts to my business. In a few months it’ll be the other way around. I still practice every chance I get but the practice sessions and my league games have taken a back-seat right now. Sometimes the sacrifices are forced on you and you don’t like it . . . but you do what you gotta do."

Charis, Southern Germany:

"Well, I read what George did write and I read all you did write and I can add that this is a difficulty I didn’t foresee, when I started playing darts. And though it is not such a problem that I can’t sleep because of it, it turned out to be a problem for me too nevertheless.

You see, when I started playing darts not long ago, I already had a busy life. I am not working, as it is difficult to find part time jobs in my profession, but I’ve got a child and a husband. I’ve got hobbies and voluntary work, I’ve got relatives and friends and I was definitely not bored at all.

Playing darts turned out to be very time-consuming and it is difficult to organize everything. I can’t just leave my family, my friends and relatives or my voluntary work, I am in some way responsible, but I can’t stop being involved in darts and playing darts either. I had quite a hard time sorting this out. I am quite happy as it is now, though I certainly would like to have more time for darts and would like to play in league. But it is not possible at the moment. It will be easier when our daughter is older I think. So for me it is a question of priorities as well; a question of sacrifices. Though I feel that getting involved with darts was not only sacrifices or problems, there have been a lot of positive things happen to me as well."

Fortitude; Heart; Opportunity: Darts.

Sport offers unique opportunities for an individual to experience the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat even when the level of prowess is neophyte. From the youngest to the oldest among us that special feeling of preparing for the competition and competing provides a good and necessary addition to our lives; even at the amateur level.

Everyone who participates in any sport, no matter how serious the commitment, is limited by their abilities. Those with significant limitations need the sport to be modified in some manner in order to participate equally; most of the time. But there is a sporting endeavor which is not like that.

People with physical limitations join the legions of amateurs who are devoted to this sport, and follow its own bit of professional activity, because they learn there is also something more, something special about it. And that something special is that they are not so outstandingly different that they require special consideration. That sport is Darts.

The struggle to be as good as can be is impressive enough when observed in general but in darts the heart exhibited by those with physical limitations gets barely noticed during play of the game. Spectators have their eyes glued to the dart board; eagerly await the landing of the next dart. Who is shooting and how they are doing it is not as important as where the dart lands. That is why taking a moment to appreciate the fortitude and heart of the physically limited player may not happen so often. And that is a most impressive part of the dart game.

There is such a broad range of prowess among darts enthusiasts that everyone can find a level at which they can compete. Participation in the effort to get the most from a person’s innate ability through nurture and training is a shared experience. All participants recognize everyone is struggling with some degree of physical limitation and the limitation is measured only by how close the dart lands to its intended target.

As many as twenty million people have Darts as part of their life, just in America. Among these people are many who have extraordinary limitations but enjoy the added dimension to their life that Darts offers. So I pause here to recognize the fortitude and heart of all those to whom we Darts people may not ordinarily pay all that much attention. Here are the stories of four of them.

Wayne Crook is 61 years old and was introduced to darts while serving in the military during the early 1970s. The sport has intrigued, frustrated, excited, and challenged him for more than 35 years; even through difficulties.

A back injury made picking up darts from the floor difficult. His range of motion was limited to the point that picking up darts became embarrassing and he left league competition. A second uncorrectable back injury made picking darts up from the floor impossible and his dart playing days in public were over for a few years, but he continued to play at home. He figured out ‘how-he-could’ instead of dwelling on ‘why-he-couldn’t.’

On top of his existing difficulty the driver of a crew cab truck going about 50mph ran a stop sign and crashed into Wayne’s vehicle. The result was the total destruction of Wayne’ Blazer and, almost, him.

The most significant injuries were to his spine which made it so, among other things, attempting to raise his head caused total loss of feeling and control to his right arm (he’s right handed).

It took three months of recovery and rehab before he could walk unassisted and when he stood at the dart board he could only raise his head high enough to see the lower half of the board. All feeling and control of his right arm was lost. Fine motor skills like throwing darts and signing his name had to be relearned.

Regaining his dart game became his goal and its improvement became the measure of his recovery. He was starting from scratch and a darts learning program became his Rehab Program. His time was spent in wrist—finger thrust exercise, stroke development, and dart grouping practice. He began with two 10 minute sessions at the dart board every day. In two months his endurance improved and he went to 20 minute sessions. He became able to stick the darts within a circle of 2" or less. A month later he could raise his head enough to see the entire dart board and feeling was regained in his right arm. He has progressed to two sessions of 25 minutes with one of them being a specific drill regimen designed to perfect