Exclusive
Darts1 interview
with Michael Rosenauer

What do you think, how many tournaments should one play?

I often ask that myself. It's stupid to lose, because you've got a bad day, most look somewhere else for reasons. A few months later you once again play a tournament and lose again, because your opponent is just better, almost the same situation. I try to play at least one tournament a month, there are always some you will not play your best or not how you would have liked to. You just don't get on; you are unlucky in the draw or get a very good opponent. After one year you take stock. Though you are not necessarily a bad player when you always lose first round.

You'll see, when playing more against opponents you will get better. Because you get used to it. To play darts and to play darts are two different things. I explain it: you stand there all alone and play all alone, you play really good, then you play against a computer, still very good not as good as before but still good, now somebody enters the room and asks you whether you don't want to play with him, and you play much worse.

You can practice like nuts, you can be as good as you want, but a tournament is a totally different world.

It's necessary to play a tournament once a month. You can always play a tournament in your pub, but you'll get used to the atmosphere, the room and so on, you know everything and will get really good. But then you drive to a tournament and suddenly nothing works any longer or you can't concentrate. It's really helpful to play tournaments. Should it be possible you should do it. You'll find no better practice against opponents than at a tournament.

It even makes sense if you are not capable always to throw 18 darts or less, because you'll not always play on the same level against opponents at the board anyway. There'll always be some, who play weaker and some who play the same level. I sometimes played in first round matches against an opponent and asked myself "should I really mow him down"; he might never play a tournament again. You of course can meet people who are really weak. Might be they are only there, because they want to play you at least once or who really want at least to play a tournament once. I would never say, I'm too bad for a tournament. Of course it might be a good experience to play a tournament with a fee over 500 Euro and only the numbers 1 to 32 of the world rankings. You'll probably manage not one dart for a double. There are differences between a DDV tournament a regional tournament and a pub tournament.

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