r/Darts Weekly Challenge #17

This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: Checkout 72 in three or fewer darts.
Medium Challenge: Checkout 98 in three or fewer darts.
Hard Challenge:  Checkout 131 in 3 darts.

As with most of the challenges, the easy came to me quickly, and in the first practice session of the week.  My plan was to go T20, D6 for a nice, atypical 2-dart finish, with the backup plan of staying on the 20's should I miss into the single.  As it happens, after a few tries I did just that: S20, S20, D16.  I was throwing my 22 gram One80 Revenges wearing medium-shape glitter red Condors:

The medium was a similar strategy:  My plan was to go T20, S20, D9.  That way, I basically had two shots at the triple and could still finish.  However, as Mike Tyson says, "everyone has a plan until you get hit in the face".  My face hit was a miss into the single 1, leaving 97.  Happily, I was able to hit T19, D20 for the finish (using my Durro MMA's):

The Hard Challenge this week is, well, hard.  It requires all three darts, and none of them can be a single.  There are a couple of decent triple-double-double options (T17, D20, D20, or T19, D19, D18) and a plethora of triple-triple-double options.  My strategy thus far has been to chuck my first dart at the T17 and then if I hit it try for a D20 (or two), and if I miss spend my last one or two darts marching around the board on doubles practice.

If I eventually hit it I'll update :)

r/Darts Weekly Challenge #15

This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: Checkout 64 without using the 8 or 16 wedges.
Medium Challenge: Score a Shanghai in the 6 wedge.
Hard Challenge:  Checkout 133 in 3 darts.

This weeks challenges seem harder than usual (and that's cool by me :)  The easy one was gotten fairly quickly.  I wanted to go T20, D2, but ended up missing into the S20 with the first dart then followed that up with another S20 and a D12:

The medium challenge was trickier to get and took me a couple of sessions.  I found myself spending the second and third darts on the RMD routine frequently.  The RMD routine is a terrific companion to the weekly challenges.  Once you bust your medium or hard challenge you can continue doubling your way around the board, chasing those pins!  I did eventually get it, tho:

The hard challenge was quite the bear.  I decided to eschew the pro's favored route of 60, 57, D8, and up my chances slightly by needing one treble and two doubles, instead of two trebles and one double by going: T19, D19, D19.  Finally nailed it:

I have been favoring the 22 gram One80 Revenges wearing medium Condor Shapes (in glitter red).  A nice looking set up that throws well for me.  The easy challenge was gotten with the Voks Item 931s (also wearing Condors, but medium standard in black).  The hard challenge was finally got with the 26 gram McCoy smooth copper tungstens.

r/Darts Weekly Challenge #14

This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: Checkout 54 in 3 darts or less.
Medium Challenge: Checkout 74 in 3 darts or less.
Hard Challenge:  Checkout 121 in 3 darts or less.

This week I did my darnedest to incorporate the 14 segment in each of the challenges.  I was only able to do so with the first two, but I was so happy with my route to the hard challenge that I don't mind at all.  Here is how it all went down:

The easy challenge was a typical S14, S20 (missing the D20 inside), D10.  I was throwing my 20 gram Halex tungsten darts.  I like them a lot and do not throw them enough, for sure:

The medium challenge started with a miss.  I was going for the 42, but hit the 14 instead with the first dart, leaving 60, which I took out in a pleasing enough manner with S20, D20. I was throwing my 15 gram Aviators:

The Hard challenge came within a few minutes of hitting the medium and I could not be happier.  I wanted to go 42, 51, D14, incorporating the 14-wedge not once, but twice.  However, my first dart missed into the 27, leaving 94, which I took out with 54, D20, for a treble-treble-double finish.  Could not be more pleased. I was throwing the 18 gram brass Lloydesque darts that I have no idea what they really are:

r/Darts Weekly Challenge #13

This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: Checkout 65 without using bull.
Medium Challenge: Checkout 98, using the 18 segment at least once.
Hard Challenge:  Checkout 129 any how you can!

The easy challenge was easily gotten in a typical boring fashion: 45, D10 with one dart left in my hand.  When faced with 65 remaining and three darts I almost always go for the T15 anyway so this was not much of a departure for me.  I was throwing the 24 gram Vintage Hammerheads.

The Medium challenge ostensibly was a much more difficult chore but I achieved it easily enough during the first part of the week, maybe even in the first session, but it has been long enough that I do not remember the deets.  However, I do recall going for the T18 pretty exclusively first dart and then spending a lot of time trying for a D20, D20 with the last two darts after missing into the single 18.  After a while I decided that the better strategy was to go for the T18 with my second dart as well if I missed the first into the S18 and then go for D13 with my last dart for the checkout.  This worked well because on those few occasions where I did actually hit the T18 first dart, I just went for a S18 anyway and kept with the 26 checkout option.  It didn't take long for that strategy to pay off.  I believe I was throwing the 26 gram smooth copper tungsten McCoys.

The hard challenge was a doozy and I was convinced I was not going to get it (but I did).  So convinced in fact that I took a couple of pics of darts just barely missing the inner bull to illustrate how agonizingly close I came (more than once).  I took a long time to get this one.  My strategy during the first session was to go bull first dart.  My thinking was that 25 would leave 104, a two-dart out, and a 50 would leave 79, also doable in two darts.  This did not pan out so starting with the second session, and continuing for several days I decided to go T19 first dart, with a miss into the S19 leaving 110, which is still doable in 2 darts (60, DB).  After most of the week going that route, and missing, I finally decided that a first dart 60 would leave me 69 with 2 darts, and a miss into the S20 or anywhere else would give me two extra darts to practice doubles with following my RMD routine.

I eventually got it with 60, 19, DB.  I felt a strong sense of triumph when I finally hit it!

r/Darts Weekly Challenge #12

This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: Checkout 55 using the 1 segment at least once.
Medium Challenge: Checkout 77, using only doubles and triples.
Hard Challenge:  Score 100 points in the bulls.

This week's challenges all came to me very quickly.  I pounded them out within a single practice session, and all within, literally, about 15 minutes.  I don't know why exactly other than to say that I was "on".

The easy challenge went S20, S1, D17.  I was aiming for the 1 segment first but missed into the 20 bed, leaving 35.  Then I decided to try for the T1 to leave 32 but hit a single one instead, and hit the remaining 34 with my last dart.  The few rounds I attempted before this looked quite different.  I went for (and hit) the 1 first, leaving 54, which I tried to take out with S18, D18, but missed the double every time. Such is life.

The medium also came with a few rounds.  I started trying for the T15 to leave 32 but after a few misses there I thought about the rules of the medium challenge a bit and decided to shift my strategy a bit.  The 15 is surrounded by even numbers whereas the 19 is surrounded by odd numbers so I figured if I missed the 57 into the T7 or the T9 I'd still be pretty well set for a triple double finish.  As it happens though, I hit the T19 leaving 20, which missed outside on the first dart, and then hit with the third:

The hard challenge I git with my very first attempt at it, and hit 125 points in the bull no less.  Sometimes you're hot on bulls, sometimes your not.   Or to borrow a different idiom: Sometimes you get the bull, sometimes the bull gets you."  Today, I got the bull.

Each of these challenges was gotten using different sets of darts.  Easy: 23 gram Sleex wearing medium slim Condors; Medium: 26 gram Scoundrels; Hard: 24 gram Bottelsen Vintage Hammerheads.

r/Darts Weekly Challenge #11

This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: Hit the S12, S9, and S11.
Medium Challenge: Hit the D12, D9, and D11.
Hard Challenge:  Hit the T12, T9, and T11.

I got the easy quickly, though two of the shots were squirrely.  I was using my 23 gram Steve Beaton spring-point Elkadarts wearing medium red-glitter Condor onesies:

The medium challenge was surprisingly quickly gotten. I figured I'd be happy if I only got the easy one this week with a hundred or so near misses on the medium and hards, but as it happens, I hit the doubles within my first few attempts at it.  These are the smooth 21 gram copper UFO's wearing medium pear shaped Condors:

The hard challenge this week eluded me to the very end and I never hit it, although I did have half a dozen or more very near misses, like this one, where my third dart hit the wrong triple just on the other side of the wire:

Incidentally, these r/Darts weekly challenges are a perfect companion to the RMD routine.  If my first dart misses its target making the hard (or even the medium) challenge ungettable, then the other two darts are easily (and productively) spent chasing those map pins around the board.

r/Darts Weekly Challenge #10

This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: Checkout 50 using any 18 segment.
Medium Challenge: Checkout 84 using any 18 segment.
Hard Challenge:  Checkout 122 using any 18 segment.

I got the easy and medium challenges this week and as happens more often than not for me with these r/Darts challenges, I came agonizingly close on the hard... many times!

Here I went S18, and then missed inside going for the D16, and happily hit the D8 with my last dart.  The darts themselves, incidentally, are a nice looking (I think Durro) mixed material dart.  Tungsten up front, and brass in the back half the dart.  They are wearing #4 Cosmo Carbon stems which I think are a few millimeters too long for them.  I'll pick up some #3's at some point and see if that improves their configuration.

The medium challenge came in my first two darts trying for it.  I hit the T18, D15 like a boss.  I must have been channelling a bit of Peter Wright on this one :)  The darts are an 18 gram brass Lloyd style barrel that I favor sometimes, wearing medium nylon stems and standard poly flights:

The hard was frustrating this week.  I never got it.  The closest I came was the below shot where the third dart is literally touching the wire of the inner bull.  I missed into the single bull probably 20 times total during my attempts.  I also hit maybe half a dozen instances of T18, T18, and then a miss at the D7.  More often than not that third dart at the double was a choke (a wide miss).  The darts below are 24 gram Designa Dark Thunders wearing medium-standard Condors.

r/Darts Weekly Challenge #9

This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: Checkout 71.
Medium Challenge: hit the skinny single segments for 4, 7, and 12.
Hard Challenge:  Checkout 142.

Happily I had a quite a successful session just now, and hit all three challenges for this week.  The hardest one to get for me, was the medium.  My darts just did not want to find that skinny single 7!

The easy was quickly gotten and it felt nice.  I hit the 39 and then the 32, and I still had one dart left in my hand:

The medium challenge took me the longest.  I hit the single 4 and the single 7 several times but then choked on the single 12 probably a dozen times.  Then I started trying for it in reverse, and hit the skinny single 12, skinny single 7, and finally the skinny single 4:

The hard felt good to hit, especially since it is sorely tempting to chuck that third dart at the 60 after hitting it twice already.  I only went 60, 60 with my first two darts about three or four times in tonights session, and finally nailed that D11 on the last attempt.

All the challenges were hit using the same darts tonight, and what's more, unusually, with the same stem and flight combo.  I was throwing my 20 gram Durro UFO's that I am dubbing the "MMA's" (which stands for "Mixed Material Arrow" since they are a combo of tungsten and brass!).

I also noticed that all the challenges this week are numerically connected.  142 is twice 71, and all three challenges only use four digits: 1, 4, 7, and 2.  Coincidence?

r/Darts Weekly Challenge #8

This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: hit at least 3 marks in the 15 wedge.
Medium Challenge: hit at least 5 marks in the 5 wedge.
Hard Challenge:  hit at least 7 marks in the 3 wedge.

Despite my recent trend of only being able to get the easy and medium challenges, this week I hit all three, and in a single session to boot.  All three were gotten using my 18 gram Accudart Revolvers, a fluted, stainless steel offering from the once-great dart maker.  Below you can see I hit my 3 marks in the 15's with a single triple, and missing the other two (into the 2).

And below, I sunk the first two darts into the triple five before I completely choked on the third, landing it in the 20 bed not far from the bull.  You can barely see it in the lower right of the pic.

And finally, a seven mark in the 3's with a T3, T3, S3:

All three of these shots were hit with the Revolvers, but each has a different stem and flight configuration as I was experimenting with them, looking for the best set up.  In the first pic they are wearing short standard Condors, and in the second and third pics they are wearing short Gear Fit Stems, but different flights.  The blue ones are standard Fit Flights, while the green ones are slim Fit Flight Airs.  I continued throwing the darts for quite a while after hitting these three challenges and decided the best config for these darts is the short Gear Fit Stems and Shape Fit Flight Airs.

r/Darts Weekly Challenge #7

This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: Checkout 63.
Medium Challenge: Checkout 99.
Hard Challenge:  Checkout 139.

I missed weeks 5 and 6 due to travel.

The easy one this week came quickly. I was throwing my Mystery Darts at the time. I was going to go 39-D12, but missed the first dart into the S13, leaving 50. I then decided to go 18, D16, but missed the second dart into the T4, leaving 38.  Happily I hit the D19 on the last dart for a 63 checkout:

The medium soon after.  I was throwing my Brass Squigglies.  I was going to go 57, 10, D16, but I missed the first dart into the S19.  I then, intentionally, went D20, D20 for the double-double 99 checkout.  It felt nice:

The hard challenge, checking out 139, remains elusive.  I spent some time on 60, 39, D20 with no love, then some time on 60, 57, D11 with no love.  I'll keep plugging away at it and will update this post if I get it!

The closest I came was this T20, T13, and then a miss outside on the D20.  This non-hit came off my 11 gram brass onesie UFO's:

r/Darts Weekly Challenge #4

This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: Checkout 27 with S9, D9.
Medium Challenge: Checkout 43 with T6, S3, D11.
Hard Challenge:  Checkout 80 with T9, T9, D13.

The easy one this week was more difficult than previous "easy" challenges, but it didn't take too long to hit.  I was throwing, literally randomly, my vintage brass unibody darts:

The medium did not come too long after the easy, this week.  I hit it using my 23 gram Bottelsen GT Plus's.  They are a mighty fine dart and I would like one day to have some push-in Fit Stems made for them.

However, the closest I've come on the hard so far is this close shot using my 24 gram Designa Dark Thunders.  T9, T9, and then a miss into the S13:

Alas, I will likely not have time this week to work on completing the hard challenge.  I gave it a good go though, over multiple sessions, so it is not for lack of trying that I did not hit it!

r/Darts Weekly Challenge #3

This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: Hit each of 3, 6, and 9 in the skinny single segment.
Medium Challenge: Score at least 125 points in Bulls only.
Hard Challenge:  Hit each of 7, 11, and 13 in the double segment.

The easy one was quickly gotten:

The medium not so much.  In fact the closest I came to getting it was a few four-count in the bulls.  Below is one of the earlier ones.  I have gotten a 6 Count in the bulls twice in 16 years of darting, and 5 Count in the bulls probably a dozen or more times, but alas, not during this week.

The hard was arguably easier than the medium, though not by too much.  This is the closest I came for the first several days worth of trying for it.  The third dart plopping into the corner of the Double 4 was a bit painful, but I was at least happy for the Doubles Trick, even if it did not satisfy the conditions of this week's challenge!

However, a few minutes ago I finally hit the hard one for this weeks challenge:

All of these shots were taken during the course of a multi-session Rotational Modified Doubles practice routine so I happened to cycle through many darts during the effort.  The easy challenge was gotten using the vintage hex brass darts that originally had a hairpin flight holder (which I replaced with a Voks stem). The other (unsuccessful) two shots feature my vintage Unicorn chrome-plated brass darts wearing short duraluminum Fit Stems and standard Fit Flights.  The darts I was using when I hit the D7, D11, D13 were the Dart World Scoundrels.

Hopefully I'll be able to update this post reporting success on the medium challenge, but given the short time remaining it is not likely.

r/Darts Weekly Challenge #2

This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: Checkout 41
Medium Challenge: Checkout 77
Hard Challenge:  Checkout 115

The easy one was quickly gotten, and in a rather boring fashion: S1, S20, D10.  The S20 was a really bad miss.  I was obviously going for the double :P

The medium challenge took a while but I enjoyed it.  I started by going for the 51, figuring if I missed into the 17, I'd have a nice 2-dart 60 out.  But I bored of that quickly and went over to the 57.  I missed into literally everything around it and discovered the 77 out is quite fun if you aim your first dart at the T19.  However, that did not pan out, and I eventually got it with: S12, S15, DB.  Odd?  Yes.  The first dart was aimed at T20 but missed miserably into the S12 leaving 65.  65 with two darts is always T15, D10 (or S15, DB if you miss the triple (which in this case I did!)).

Note the medium challenge was done with my new 11 gram UFO's.

The hard challenge proved to be a real bear.  After dedicating three sessions and literally hundreds of visits to it with no success, I finally hit it.  I had been within a millimeter of hitting it probably 50 times though.  I ended up going T20, S15, D20:

I was cycling through a number of miscellaneous sets during my practice session tonight and happened to be throwing my 24 gram "Vintage" line Bottelsen Hammerheads, wearing medium gear Fit Stems and Shape Fit Flights.

r/Darts Weekly Challenge #1 for 2020

I discovered the weekly challenges at the r/Darts subreddit recently and I think they are quite swell.  They are very easily mixed in with regular practice, especially doubles practice.  This week's challenge is as follows:

Easy Challenge: Checkout 60
Medium Challenge: Checkout 95
Hard Challenge:  Checkout 118

The easy one was quickly gotten, although I missed the second dart.  I was going for S20, D20, but missed the D20 into the single, then hit the D10 for the successful checkout.

The medium challenge took a bit longer.  I spent a few rounds trying to go T19, D19, but quickly abandoned that for Bull first dart.  This could go several ways: 50, 5, D20, or 25, T20, D5, but in the end, after probably a good 40 minutes of throwing I finally took it out with Single Bull, S20, Double Bull.

The hard challenge took two solid days of throwing.  I started by trying for T18, thinking if I hit the S18 I could go T20, D20, but then I abandoned that for T20 first dart. I ended up with many, many rounds in which I hit the S20, T20 and missed the D19 by a wire but I never hit it during that first session of trying.  The next day though I was out throwing darts with my neighbors and I finally hit it:

r/Darts Challenge #50

The 50th challenge in the /Darts subreddit is as follows:

Easy - Checkout 48 in three darts or less.

Medium - Checkout 64 in three darts or less.

Hard - Checkout 75 in three darts or less.

I decided to do these as double-double outs:

D12, D12 for 48:

D16, D16 for 64:

I wanted to go S15, D15, D15 for 75, but ended up only being able to go T15, D15:

r/Darts Challenge #48

I m definitely a late-comer to reddit, and really I got into it due to needing an online community for work issues.  Then I discovered r/Darts.  Not bad.  I do not contribute much but it is fun to peruse.  One of the best things I have found is the weekly challenges. What a nice way to mix up the nightly practice routine!  Instead of just constantly working through the doubles in various ways, you get to aim at segments you do not normally aim for, and work towards a (hopefully unusual) goal.  It somewhat gamifies practice.

The one I found yesterday is #48 (and believe me when I say I'll be seeking out the other 47 :)  The challenge is to hit 3 marks in the 14, five marks in the 18, and seven marks in the 13.  I got the first two quickly, and then proceeded to improve on them as I tried for the seven marks in the 13.  I worked at it for quite a while and eventually was able to get seven marks in each number, but not the nine I was hoping for!

I upgraded my three in the 14's to seven:

I upgraded my five in the 18's to seven:

Seven in the 13's:

The darts I was using were the 19 gram Accudart Crickets with #6 Fit Flight stems and slim Fit Flight Airs.