…that drinking alcoholic beverages is not generally conducive to enhanced hand/eye coordination.  And yet, many (most?) dart players insist that they play better after a few beers.  They even say witty things like “I need me some more aiming fluid.”  And as illogical as it seems, I’ve seen guys throw a mean game that I wouldn’t want to see behind the wheel.

Personally, I’ve thrown completely sober (usually in the morning matches at tournaments) and as is more normally the case, after consuming some icy cold liquid bread. Frankly, I don’t see a real big difference in my results.  Well, on a normal dart night I will drink five or six beers over the course of 3 or 4 hours.  And generally speaking, I get a little sloppier with my throws towards the end.  So then I switch to diet Coke.

I throw best when I’m “in the zone”–relaxed and focused and not “over thinking” my game.  Darts is basically about repetition–muscle memory if you will.  I get in trouble when I start consciously aiming as opposed to making a more natural throw towards the target.  So, to the extent that two or three beers calms the mind and eases nervousness, there could indeed be some benefit I suppose.

But a better explanation may be that avoiding too much “mindfulness” is the key to throwing better darts.  This article in Scientific American makes the argument that at least for some activities “those with a low degree of mindfulness scored higher on pattern-finding tests than those who were further along the pathway toward enlightenment. (Mindfulness is defined here as attention to what is happening in the present moment in one’s surroundings.)”

It makes a certain amount of sense I suppose.  To be effective at the sport you can’t afford distractions.  There is actually quite a bit of etiquette normally expected during a match intended to avoid unduly distracting a shooter from the task at hand (scorekeepers must stand absolutely still, the opponent stands out of the thrower’s line of sight, and loud talking or shouting “miss it!” are also frowned upon).  Still, the game is generally played in a pub atmosphere, which means distractions like loud music, boisterous drunks, and pretty waitresses are difficult to avoid.  A little less mindfulness can be a good thing in these circumstances.

I reckon the next time someone throws a good game to beat me I’ll congratulate him by saying “you must be out of your mind!”

(I originally saw a link to the Scientific American article on Instapundit and immediately saw the potential applicability to darts, but was too lazy busy to blog about it.  But when I saw that the Big Hominid had also tweeted (twittered?) the link, I got motivated!)