What a way to start off the year. Phil "The Power" Taylor wins his 16th World Championship title. With focus and determination he came from behind to take the 7-4 victory over young gun Michael van Gerwin of the Netherlands. Phil was brought to tears after the event as he spoke of his friend, long standing PDC commentator Sid Waddell, whose name now adorns the Championship Trophy.
In an interview pregame, he said "It would be an honor to win the Sid Waddell trophy, and if I do win it, I'd like to present the trophy to Sid wife in his honor.."
How do you follow quality sportsmanship like that? It seems in this day and age we are more concerned over popularity, greed, and trivialism than buckling down and putting in the hard work.
So in that manor I want to turn the clocks back a bit to the mid 1930 and for a minute take you into a local pub in Yorkshire England. Miners and Steelworkers line the bar still covered in their labours. Pints flow to quench their thirsts and talk is heavy about the football clubs. A few of the regulars settle in for a game of darts.
Now darts here in Yorkshire differ a bit from their countrymen in London. Unlike the London board, a Yorkshire has no treble ring and a smaller 'center only' bullseye. The outer double ring is standard size. Their game of choice is '301' open in/double out.
So pulling you from this past scene, I introduce this sessions practice lesson. (Now I don't expect you to go out and buy a vintage Yorkshire board)
Playing the Yorkshire way to enhance your outs. Begin with 301 points and focus your scoring on the doubles ring. If your darts fall anywhere in a numbers play area it will count as 1 mark equal to the point area. Doubles will remain the same including the center bull. To make this a little harder, the single bull area is no score.
As Bristow said "Trips for show, Doubles for Dough" Gather your friends and enjoys a classic favorite and in the long run your doubles will improve greatly.
Cheers and don't forget to check out the upcoming BDO Championships from Lakeside.
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