SNAKEBITE V SIGHTRIGHT – When Perfect Darts meet Perfect Technique
Man of the moment and current World Champion Peter "Snakebite" Wright comes head-to-head in part 2's big battle against the world’s only Sighting and Alignment expert - Stephen Feeney.
We hope you can both enjoy and learn from this Part 2 where Steve demonstrates tremendous technical analysis of Peters throw……and the areas you can focus on to improve.
Set Up and Centre Line Analysis
Peter, a right handed player, has a "central" set-up position on the Oche, favouring his right eye.
Having been tested, we can conclude Peter’s "Sighting Line" (i.e. where both eyes see a straight line of aim accurately) is slightly to his right.
His right foot & hip are turned side on to the centre target line which enables him to turn his right shoulder in toward the target line, and to then bring his throwing arm and dart "hold" up to align in front of his right eye on the target line.
During play, Peter used to be seen at times to twist his head ever so slightly to his left, that he has improved significantly with a more stable on-line head position. Peters eyes tilt less now, where they used to be approx 15 degrees off the horizontal plane, and are now nearer to a flatter 5 degrees so Peter doesn't have to "actively” move his eyes to his right in his eye sockets to ^look^ along the line of aim to the target like he did back in 2018.
2018 Score: 8.5 / 10 2020 Score: 9.5 / 10
Backswing & Release
On his backswing the image above shows how Peter used to pull the dart back slightly offline to his right, away from his right eye as we could see looking at the position of his throwing hand, and dart, at the end of his backswing. Peter has improved this position with a far cleaner straighter backswing allowing him to get into a better release position.
During play, Peter can also use too be seen at times to twist his head ever so slightly to his right during his backswing to make way for the dart - again the dart moving away from his right eye / Sighting Line, that he has now improved upon with less head movement by being more "on-line"
There was a point during Peter's backswing that his throwing hand and dart actually arced off the line of aim he was set up to.
This deviation in his throw on the backswing meant his arm, hand and dart all needed to travel in a slight arc again at the start of the forward motion to bring the dart back on line in his throw, that he has now improved upon allowing him to release the dart far nearer his perfect sighting line.
Peter has great natural hand eye co-ordination and is showing superb temperament under pressure that has also been helped by him finding a set of darts that he seems extremely comfortable with.
But when concentration is not where it should be, or his throw is not so fluid, or the arm becomes tired or even heavy under pressure, this element of his technique could have affected his accuracy but by improving the release position Peter has been able to maintain outstanding levels of accuracy for much longer making him a match winning machine.
2018 Score 7.5 / 10 2020 Score 9.0 / 10.00
Release moment of truth
With even less micro adjustment in the "arc" of his backswing, Peter delivers his darts in an even more fluid motion, and bang on his sighting line, with a relaxed, smooth release.
His "central" set up to the board makes for a beautifully "even weighted" throw to both sides of the board, (eliminating long and short weighted throws) for higher consistency. And his darts "angle of attack" are now even straighter and perfectly flighted, minimising blockages for higher scoring and Doubles.
2018 Score 9.0 / 10 2020 Score 9.5 / 10.00
Stephen Feeney’s comments and recommendations
Peter now scores a whopping scores a whopping 92% accuracy rating which is up from 83% in darts 3 key disciplines, this 9% technical improvement has clearly helped him deal with the massive factors of playing under pressure in the biggest ever finals, where on TV he now plays with even more confidence maintaining his brilliant entertaining style.
In summary, Peter has further developed his perfect "central" set up delivering an even more accurate throwing technique both aligned to his "Eye Dominance" and Sighting Line which have taken him to No.2 in the World, from No.5 in the world in the Space of 2 years, and importantly inspiring many over 50's players along the way.
NOTE: It is very important to note that whilst this is an analysis exercise to help dart players understand the crucial nature of perfect sighting and alignment, every player has their own individual Sighting Line. Without a full assessment to establish a player’s perfect sighting line and technical alignment etc, no player should just simply make technical changes to copy the player referenced above.
At top TV Pro Level this needs to be managed and coached progressively and under immense detail.
Many symptoms I see when watching Pro & Amateur dart players from this very technical side can be attributed to poor sighting and alignment habits which go uncorrected.
Most players develop their game "offline" with compensating habits and never get to experience the level of accuracy and consistency they could enjoy.
Poor sighting & alignment habits inhibit speedy development and can lead to many symptoms which affect performance detrimentally. Temperament and talent also play a crucial role.
If you are looking to improve your game, first reduce as many micro discrepancies in your game as possible. Test your throw using a centre mounted video camera and a standard SightRight unit.
In an accuracy sport you can't argue with the principles of perfect sighting and alignment so get these basics right and we know you will be on the right path to improving your game and get the best out of your "natural" throw just as Peter Wright has.
Stephen Feeney
SightRight Darts