TargetTalk

Just curious... Many of the principles (mental and physical) from precision shooting, apply to darts. I was curious if any high-level shooters might also be high-level dart enthusiasts.

Darts are another great example of how you can own the absolute best gear that a sport has to offer, for small amounts of cash.

A few years back I bought the most expensive Hammer Head darts available with all of the do-dads and add ons. True British-pub dart enthusiasts are groaning right now... anyway, I was set up with all the associated gear, for less than $300. That was for my first set... you of course need at least two sets.

It's a fun 'sport', but never grabbed and held my attention long enough for me to become a top player. Although I do still have two very nice sets of darts as well as a high-quality bristle board and an electronic scoring board, ready to go when parties call for it. It's a little easier/safer to pull out the darts than to have everyone pick up a pistol ;)

Oz

I have an AP range at the house as well as darts.

I like the APs better.

Tillman

Here I have to agree with Tilman. Darts are fun but shooting is a very serious undertaking for me. Good Shooting Bill Horton

I heard a rumour that the British Darts federation wanted to get the IOC to include 'darts' in the Olympics.
Well, they would have to dump the beer, dump the swearing and cursing, dump the dolly birds and dump all the show biz before the IOC would even consider it. Would be interesting though.
Peep

peepsight wrote:I heard a rumour that the British Darts federation wanted to get the IOC to include 'darts' in the Olympics.
Well, they would have to dump the beer, dump the swearing and cursing, dump the dolly birds and dump all the show biz before the IOC would even consider it. Would be interesting though.
Peep

I'm not surprised. I've watched several international dart competitions, held in Las Vegas. It's entertaining, with competitors providing showmanship and colorful personalities. It won't gain much respect because of the stigma associated with it. But it would be fun to watch, and it does require a high-level of skill.

From a pure TV entertainment perspective, an Olympic dart Gold Medal round will have a larger audience than shooting. It's too bad that shooting doesn't have a way to allow the athletes to display more color and personality.

The clear masks in fencing seems to have helped that sport, by allowing us to see the emotion from the athletes. I used to fence many years ago and if you told me that for the 2008 Olympics, fencing would be shown on NBC's coverage, I wouldn't have believed it.

Oz

Oz
You are right in what you say and its a pity shooting does not get the same media coverage.
Some big international shoots are televised especially in Scandinavia and have commentary by experts and have a good sized audience.
Agreed, darts need exceptional skill to win, if all the razzamatazz were to be junked then it might stand a chance as another 'target' sport along with archery and shooting.
Peep