Nine simple steps to copying Adrian Lewis' Premier League nine-darter
Thursday 3 December 2020 15:58, UK
After Adrian Lewis' nine-darter in last week's Premier League, we asked Wayne Mardle to explain how to complete the perfect leg.
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Turns out, it's not easy. Nine darts is the quickest possible manner of winning a leg of darts, starting at 501, although a player has plenty of different routes to the magical zero. So how did Lewis achieve his nine-darter against James Wade?
Here's Mardle's nine simple steps...
First shot
Dart 1 (treble 20): The first dart, not only has to go in the requisite treble, it has to be in the perfect spot in order to follow it twice. Ideally, Adrian would have liked his first dart on the top wire.
Dart 2 (treble 20): While you're still going for the treble, you're aiming to place your dart next to the previous one, which ideally will be slightly to the left. He followed it beautifully.
Dart 3 (treble 20): Adrian likes to work left to right, it feels natural to him. For your eye, it just opens the bed and makes you feel comfortable. You can attack the other darts.
Score: 180 Remaining: 321
Second shot
Dart 4 (treble 20): The first dart of this visit was right in the middle of the 60. It was near the top wire, so it was perfect.
Dart 5 (treble 20): The second of this visit landed right underneath the first, which was not perfect for Adrian. He only had one marker because his second dart clattered into the first, and laid down underneath it. Sometimes, you can hit the treble that you want but it doesn't lay in the way that you want.
Dart 6 (treble 19): That means Adrian does not want to go for another 60, he had to readjust. He would have had to have moved over to hit the 60. For his eye, he felt it better to go for a 57. He went for the 57 without flinching.
Score: 177 Remaining: 144
Third shot
Dart 7 (treble 20): The best dart was the seventh. It was left-hand side of the treble 20, on the top wire, leaving the whole 60 open for the next treble. The seventh dart has no marker because it's a new throw.
144 to take out is so much easier than 141 because, once the first 60 goes in, you have a marker for the next and something to aim at. Having a dart in the small bed makes it easier to hit because it acts as a barrier.
Dart 8 (treble 20): The eighth dart is easier than the seventh because you have a marker. Having hit nine-darters myself, all your thinking is 'hit the first treble'. Once you do that, you assess the situation again. Once it happens, you relax a little.
Dart 9 (double 12): It's difficult because it's the end - but, by this time, you're full of confidence and you know how you're feeling. We've seen people get to the ninth dart and they look a mess. Adrian didn't lack composure, remember he's done a nine-darter in a World Championship final. He said to me afterwards: 'I knew I would hit the 24'.
The problem was never hitting double 12, it was hitting the first 60 of his third throw. Once he did that, you felt he'd get a dart at the double because the seventh was perfect.
Score: 144 Remaining: 0
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