Now you might disagree, but I reckon I’ve been giving my readers a bit too easy a time of late. My last few uniBlogs have tended to be fairly benevolent offerings, discussing comparatively straightforward topics like barrel and shaft materials. OK, the last time I did sneak in a mention of yaw nodes, but by and large the complexities of flight dynamics have taken a back seat to more engineeringy aspects of dart design.
But this blog aims at changing all that! How can I retain my scientific credibility unless, in doing my level best to explain something not that complicated, I confuse people with a nigh-on incomprehensible technical explanation? And, as it happens, “level best” is quite a good title for the topic with which I am about to confuse.
I expect many of you will have seen slow-motion video of darts in flight. Typically, this will show the dart pitching upwards as the player releases it, but, as I’ve said before, some players (including, interestingly, at least two all-time greats) don’t do this, releasing the dart more-or-less level. Very occasionally, the dart will then seem to retain almost this orientation all the way to the board, impacting nearly level as well.
“So what?”, you say. That obviously just means there’s not much yawing motion – not surprising if an all-time-great is throwing the dart. After all, isn’t it true that they throw with so little yaw that they can play with six inch nails? (Apologies if I can’t resist pointing out that Trent Reznor plays with some three inches longer still!)
Well, sorry to ruin a nice theory, but that explanation just won’t do. Although it will obviously vary with a player’s height and throw speed, for most players aiming at treble 20 the trajectory of their darts will start upwards at an angle of perhaps 20 degrees. So a dart thrown level will actually be “yawed” downwards at that angle.
Wait a minute! What’s that? Am I saying that a dart can start off yawed but not change angle afterwards? What happened to that yawing motion I keep harping on about? Have I been conning you? Or, like a senile professor, am I just losing my faculties?
No, at the risk of engendering disagreement from those around me, I will discount that explanation in favour of this one. When that dart hits the board near (or, given a better dart player than me, in) the treble 20, gravity will have had time to cause its trajectory to point downward. Thus a level dart will now be “yawed” upwards, probably again at around 20 degrees, after starting “yawed” downwards at a similar angle.
Ahh, those of you who have been paying attention over the last year and a bit now say, I see. It hasn’t actually flown “straight” at all, it has actually yawed down and up, thus going through around half a yaw cycle of amplitude about 20 degrees. It’s thus a dart with a yaw wavelength of about 4m, twice the length of a typical dart trajectory.
Now that’s a very low-stability dart. It would take an all-time great to throw such a dart consistently, and even then it would be very unforgiving if they were the slightest bit off-form. I would respectfully suggest that even Phil Taylor could benefit from a more stable dart than that (as, in fact, I did!).
So there’s the moral of this story. When it comes to darts, level isn’t necessarily best!
Next time I might delve deeper into the science of all this and look at an aspect I’ve so far blithely ignored – trajectory turn-over rate. If I feel really evil, I’ll even mention “g cosine theta over v”! On the other hand, if you ask nicely, I might not!
Q & As
Fansu and Hitting Top Form
Fansu asks if him hitting 180s one day and 5s and 1s the next is mainly due to variations in his grip or a function of his dart set-up. Of course, the simple answer to this is that inconsistency is nearly always a function of the throw as the perfect player would hit 180s with pretty much any set of quality darts (once he or she got used to them). However, there’s no such thing as the perfect player and, as I’ve said above, dart set-up can affect even a multi-World Champion. Without knowing more about Fansu’s technique, the best advice I can give is for him to ask himself whether he feels he is releasing his darts just as well when he is playing badly as when he isn’t . If so, it might be worth trying firstly different flights (if he currently uses Plus shape, maybe Xtras or Slims) and then different shafts. If he knows his release varies, a different barrel shape or grip might help. In both cases, uniLab maybe able to help with suggestions. A long answer to a short question, but I hope it helps, Fansu!
Warren and New Darts
Sorry to hear about the accident to your hand, Warren. Let me know how your modified grip and the uniLab recommendations work out for you.
Robert and Different Coloured Sigma One Flights
I’ve passed on your comment to Unicorn, Robert, and told them I thought it was a good idea. I’ll be looking for them in the 2010 range with as much interest as you!
Paul and Lots of Stuff!
Another great selection of comments, Paul! When it comes to coatings and exotic materials (and some other developments you mention), I’m hoping there will also be much to interest you in the Unicorn 2010 range. As for Phase 5 shafts, there have been one or two quality control issues, but I’m told these have now largely been resolved.
Lonnie and Phil Taylor Darts
Wish I could finish games of 301 in an average of just over 14 darts, Lonnie! In terms of finding the right dart and set-up for you, it’s worth reading what I’ve said to Fansu. As for changing from your current 18gm darts to Phil Taylor’s, it seems quite a jump in weight, but the specs on Phil’s “Evolution of The Power” darts are as follows: 24gm Phase 1s and 2s are 6.55mm in diameter and 53.3mm long, Phase 3s are the same length but 0.2mm more in diameter. 25gm Phase 4s (or Sigma 970s) are 8.01mm in diameter and 41.46mm long, and 26gm Phase 5s are 7.87mm in diameter and 40.9mm long. Good luck if you decide to change to one of them!