A darts player who regularly hits maximums on her home practice board has expressed complete bewilderment after opening her league match with a 26.
Emma Hartley, 34, from Wolverhampton, threw single 20, single 5, and single 1 with her first three darts at The Crown on Monday night, despite footage on her phone showing her hitting four 180s during a practice session just three hours earlier.
“I don’t understand it,” said a visibly confused Hartley. “At home I’m averaging 85, maybe 90 on a good day. I get here and suddenly I can’t find the 20 with a search party.”
Her husband Dan, who has watched hundreds of hours of living room practice sessions, was less surprised.
“She hits one maximum and stops to film it on her phone,” he explained. “Then she spends the rest of the evening throwing at D20 until she finally gets it. She says she’s been ‘practicing for two hours’ but really she’s been doing replays of her one good throw.”
Hartley was adamant that the practice board and league board are “completely different.”
“The lighting’s different. The floor’s not level. The oche feels weird. And there’s always someone talking or moving in your eyeline. At home it’s silent and the darts just fly different.”
Teammates have heard similar explanations for the past four seasons.
“Emma reckons her board at home plays ‘truer’ than ours,” said captain Martin Rhodes. “It’s the same Blade 6 we’ve all got. Last week she blamed her start on a car driving past outside. We’re in a back room with no windows.”
Hartley went on to lose 3-0 with an average of 41, before returning home and immediately hitting a 140 on her practice board.
“See?” she said to no one in particular. “Completely different game.”
She is expected to blame her next poor performance on “weird humidity” or possibly “dodgy chalk.”