I play the former, but not the latter, as I’m a very special kind of nerd. I’m wondering how transferrable the skillsets are. Specifically, I’m wondering how long is reasonable for a skilled pitcher to take to become a skilled dartsmen.
Thoughts, anyone? Bueller?
Only a limited part of it is of any use. Most people with good hand/eye coordination have same side dominance - their dominant eye is on the same side as their dominant hand. This allows them to pick up physical skills more quickly.
However it is hard to see the relationship between throwing a dart 7 feet 9 and 1/4 inches and throwing a baseball 60 feet 6 inches at 90 odd mph.
It’s also nowhere near the same arm movement. A righthanded pitcher will have his left shoulder forward, then follow through with the pitch. A righthadned dart thrower will stand with his right shoulder closer to the dart board.
I don’t play darts, but I’ve tried a few times. I pitched a little when I played baseball. This is probably one of those things that not only isn’t transferable, but strong skill in one might hinder ability in the other. Not only is the arm movement different, as mentioned, but the wrist action is different (I think, are you supposed to flick your wrist when you play darts? I never did). Getting really good at pitching will probably make it harder to get really good at darts.
Were I to become serious in both games, this would end up being a lot like baseball and football for me. My natural wrist action in pitching a baseball makes it a lot harder for me to then throw a football correctly. Same thing for me when I pitched and then played in the outfield. It became difficult for me to throw from the outfield accurately without a lot of concentration. My throws in the outfield will curve to my left (I throw right handed) and become extremely inaccurate after pitching.
Another great example of a skill hindering a second related skill is hitting a baseball and then playing golf. Every time I did those two activities one after the other, the second activity went noticeably worse than my usual performance. The motions are similar, but the subtle differences in one can effect performance in the other.
Horseshoes and bowling translate pretty well. Darts and baseball are not even close.
I am awsome at darts. I only can stand baseball for the beer. However, I am a damn good shot when throwing rocks or other stuff. Just not 100+ mph fastballs.
Can I drink now?