How to Use Dart Practice Rings For Steel & Soft Tip Darts
|
At the core of every dart player's success story is hard work, dedication, and lots and lots of practice. Everyone approaches dart practice differently, but some common routines and tools make practicing your 180s a little bit easier. One of our favorite practice tools is dart practice rings, eye-catching colorful rings that serve as the gateway to quickly skyrocketing your darts averages to new heights.
What Are Dart Practice Rings?
Best for beginners and intermediate players, dart practice rings are a great visualization tool to aid in your aiming abilities stimulating your mental game. The bright colors of the plastic rings help your eyes focus on the target area of choice amongst the colors of the dartboard, allowing you to hone your accuracy and grouping with a wider area before dialing into the smaller trebles and doubles. Consistency is a huge plus as well, boosting your focus on the desired score area with each throw.
Many dart players with a knack for creative DIY have used various household items as makeshift practice rings, such as hair ties or plastic rings from plastic bottle caps. However, there are tons of purchase options for dart practice rings across different brands, including Red Dragon.
Red Dragon Dart Practice Rings
The Red Dragon Snake Bite Practice Rings come with two sets of all sizes of dart practice rings, perfect when you need spare rings after wearing down your first set after tons of practice. There are two large rings sized 50mm and 65mm plus three smaller rings decreasing in size from 30mm to 20mm, and finally 15mm.
Two sets of pins are included in the package to hold up the dart practice rings in place, plus 4 practice games to bring some extra variety to your play. You can also track your progress with the included progress charts and watch as you beat all your personal records!
How to Use Dart Practice Rings?
Now that you know what dart practice rings are and why you should use them, it's time to learn how to start playing. To get the best out of your practice rings, it's important to set them up properly so you can begin practicing right away.
Try Practice Rings to Improve Darts Scoring and Grouping
In this video, Will Stuart from USA Darts demonstrates how to use dart practice rings to improve your darts scoring and grouping, plus some throwing action at the end! Let's go over a quick summary and extra tips on playing with practice rings:
Positioning the Rings
Where you place your dart practice rings matters. You'll want to put them up on the numbers you struggle to score the most. For many players, treble 19 and treble 20 are the hardest to hit. If you want to improve your 501 games, try using dart practice rings on the treble 19 and 20 until you can consistently hit those numbers.
Steel tip dartboards can use the included pins to hold the dart practice rings in place. There are little holes in the practice rings where the pins are pushed through into the dartboard.
If you're a soft tip player, don't fret. You can still use dart practice rings too! Instead of using the pins, use a spare soft tip point to hold the rings in place since the pins won't fit in a soft tip dartboard.
Dart pitch
Your dart pitch, or the lie of your dart in the dartboard, should affect the placement of your dart practice rings, especially the smaller sizes. Depending on the angle of your dart pitch, the practice rings may actually cause your darts to bounce out instead of sticking in the board.
For example, if you have a high-angled pitch, you'll want to position your dart practice rings slightly above the treble bed. Otherwise, your darts may come into contact with the top of the ring as they hit the board and cause an unwanted bounce out. For a low-angled pitch, do the opposite and place the bottom of the practice ring below the treble bed.
Curious about dart pitch and how your throw affects your game? Check out Dax Munna's feature on improving your 501 scoring by clicking the link below.
Practice Your Darts!
Now that you're properly set up with your dart practice rings, it's time to start practicing! Grab your favorite darts and throw to your heart's content. There are multiple sizes of dart practice rings available with every set. Start with the biggest size, usually about 65mm, and then work your way to the smallest ring size (15mm) as your aim gets better.
If you're unsure about the ideal placement of your dart practice rings, play around a bit and experiment with different setups! The best part about practice rings is that they're reusable, so you can always move them around the board to practice more shots.
Once you're confident, take the next step and try scoring without the practice ring. With your new practice rings, you'll reel in those 180s in no time.
More Practice Routines
Looking for more darts practice routines? We got you covered with our A-Z Darts Youtube Channel. Check out our playlist of darts practice routines for all games including 501, cricket, and more! Just click the banner above or the button below.
Final Thoughts
You simply can't go wrong with using dart practice rings to boost your darting skills. They're easy to use and lightweight — plus, no one can complain about getting more 180s! As your friend in darts, we hope that these tips on dart practice rings help you ace your next darts game. If you still have issues setting up your practice rings, feel free to reach out. We're always happy to help.
