10 Common Checkout Mistakes and the Drills That Fix Them

The 10 Checkout Mistakes and the Drill That Fixes Each

Here is the full list up front. Read the detailed sections below for the math and the exact drill setup, or jump straight to the diagnostic at the end of this section to find your own weak spot.

• Low-margin first darts — the fix: the Margin Check drill
• The 65 trap — the fix: the Two-Route Rehearsal drill
• Leaving bogey numbers — the fix: the Bogey Guard 501 drill
• Not knowing the checkout chart — the fix: the Route Flash Cards drill
• Rushing the throw — the fix: the 3-Second Reset drill
• Panic switching — the fix: the Pre-Planned Route drill
• Miscounting your score — the fix: the Count Down Aloud drill
• Sticking to a blocked treble — the fix: the Blocked-Bed Switch drill
• Ignoring the two-dart setup — the fix: the Two-Dart Out Ladder drill
• Finishing on your weakest doubles — the fix: the Weak Double Audit drill

The drill matters more than the mistake itself. A generic "practice finishing" session does not fix a specific problem like leaving yourself 166. A drill built around one mistake forces the exact behaviour you keep getting wrong. Run your assigned drill three times a week, and the mistake stops appearing in matches.

Find Your Weak Spot: The Checkout Mistake Diagnostic

You do not need to fix all ten mistakes at once. Pick the one or two costing you the most legs, fix them, then move on. Answer the eight scenarios below honestly and the diagnostic will match your tendencies to the exact drill from this article.

Tactical and Math Mistakes: Throwing at the Wrong Target

1. Low-Margin First Darts

The first dart of a checkout decides everything. Aim at the wrong bed and even a decent throw can leave you with no shot at a double. The classic example is 68. Many players throw the first dart at treble 20. A miss that drifts into the 1 or 5 leaves an awkward score and a scramble. Aiming at treble 16 instead means a single 16 still leaves 52, which is one dart from a double.

The drill: Margin Check. For every checkout from 61 to 90, plan a first dart whose worst likely miss still leaves a finish. Write down the score, the target, and the two bad misses next to it. Then throw the route until you can name the safe target without thinking. When a score has a safe bed and a risky bed, always take the safe one.

2. The 65 Trap

65 is one of the most misplayed checkouts in club darts. The temptation is to throw at the bullseye first, hoping for a 25 so you are left on tops. The problem: if you hit the bull with the first dart you can block your own finish, and a stray single leaves awkward odd numbers like 15 that need a treble to fix. The 65 trap is really a decision you make before the first dart.

The drill: Two-Route Rehearsal. Take every score from 61 to 70 and rehearse both routes: the single-to-bull route and the treble-to-double route. For 65 that means single 15 to leave bull, or treble 15 to leave double 10. Throw each route ten times, then commit to the one you finish more often. In a match you use the rehearsed route, never the spur-of-the-moment one.

3. Leaving Bogey Numbers

The seven scores between 159 and 169 that cannot be finished in three darts are called bogey numbers. Leave 166 when you could have left 167, and you have handed your opponent a free visit. This is the most expensive checkout mistake of all because it does not show up in your averages — it just quietly ends legs. See our full guide to bogey numbers for the math behind all seven.

The drill: Bogey Guard 501. Play 501 against yourself, but with one rule: before your third dart of every visit, you must check that your remainder can be finished in whatever darts you have left. If it cannot, you adjust the target instead of throwing for points. Track how many visits end on a bogey number. The goal is zero by the end of the week.

4. Not Knowing the Checkout Chart

Hesitation is a checkout killer. When you have to stop and work out a route in the middle of your throw, your rhythm dies and your doubles percentage drops. Players who know the standard combination routes for 41 to 170 do not hesitate, because the answer is already loaded before they step to the oche.

The drill: Route Flash Cards.Write every score from 41 to 170 on a card, route side down. Pick a card, name the route within three seconds, then throw it. Start with the scores you see most often — 32, 40, 68, 104, 100, 121 — and expand. If you cannot name a route instantly, that score becomes tomorrow morning's first card.

Mental and Rhythm Mistakes: Rushing and Panicking

5. Rushing the Throw

The closer you get to a double, the faster your throw tends to become. Adrenaline takes over, the pre-throw routine shrinks, and you release before your arm is settled. Rushed darts land low, which on a double means they drift into the single bed and leave an awkward remainder.

The drill: The 3-Second Reset. After every dart, step off the oche, breathe once, and count to three before the next throw. That forced pause keeps your routine intact no matter what is on the line. Do this on every checkout in practice so it becomes the default in matches, where it matters most.

6. Panic Switching

Panic switching is changing your plan mid-visit because the last dart missed. You aimed at double 16, missed, and now you are throwing at double 8 because it feels safer. The result is two darts at two different doubles instead of two darts committed to one. It is the most visible version of having no plan at all.

The drill: Pre-Planned Route. Before you throw a single dart, name your full route out loud: "Treble 20, single 20, double 20." Then throw all three darts to that plan. If you miss, you still follow the route. The only allowed change is the one you planned in advance for a specific miss. Say it, throw it, believe it.

7. Miscounting Your Score

Every checkout mistake feeds off a wrong number. Miss-count the remainder and you will throw a route that does not exist — the classic being a player on 61 who throws at double 20 thinking they need 40. One miscount turns a winnable leg into a walk back to the oche.

The drill: Count Down Aloud. Say your running total out loud after every single dart, on every visit, without exception. In practice, voice it clearly: "104... 44... 24." When saying it out loud becomes automatic, your brain does the same math silently in matches.

Finishing and Doubles Mistakes: Never Seeing the Win

8. Sticking to a Blocked Treble

Your first dart blocks the treble you planned to use, and you throw the second dart at it anyway. Stubbornness here is usually disguised as commitment. The dart in the board is not going to move, and throwing into your own point is how you deflect a treble into a single 5.

The drill: Blocked-Bed Switch. Before practice, choose a few checkouts like 104 and 68 and decide your switch before you throw: if the first dart blocks treble 20, the second goes to treble 19 (or treble 16). Throw the route over and over until switching feels automatic, not like giving up. A planned switch is commitment; an improvised one is panic.

9. Ignoring the Two-Dart Setup

The middle dart is the one most amateurs throw away. You are on 125 with three darts in hand and you throw treble 20, treble 20, treble 20 — scoring like a hero but leaving yourself a horrible finish. The smart play is to use the third dart to set up a two dart out you actually know how to hit.

The drill: Two-Dart Out Ladder. Practice the two dart outs from 100 to 110 — 110, 107, 104, 101, 100 — using only two darts per attempt. These scores share clean setups, so mastering them builds your whole game from 60 to 170. When the two-dart outs are automatic, every bigger checkout becomes one treble away from a route you trust.

10. Finishing on Your Weakest Doubles

Most players practice double 20 and double 16 because those are the doubles on the chart. Then the route in a real leg leaves them on double 14 or double 18, and the checkout falls apart. You finish on the double the route leaves you, not the double you wish it had.

The drill: Weak Double Audit. For one week, track every double you leave in practice and matches. At the end of the week, take your three weakest doubles — the ones you leave but rarely hit — and drill them daily alongside your favourites. Our guide to practicing doubles with data shows you exactly how to structure that week.

How to Turn These Drills Into a Weekly Session

Ten drills sounds like a lot. It is not — you run one or two of them per session, focused on the mistake the diagnostic flagged. Here is a 20-minute checkout block you can run three times a week.

• Minutes 0-5: Route Flash Cards for the scores the diagnostic flagged, or the chart scores you keep missing.
• Minutes 5-12: your assigned drill, done deliberately — Margin Check, Bogey Guard 501, or Blocked-Bed Switch.
• Minutes 12-18: Two-Dart Out Ladder from 100 to 110, two darts per attempt.
• Minutes 18-20: your three weakest doubles, ten darts each, with the 3-Second Reset between every dart.

Track your checkout percentage over time. If it climbs, the drills are working. If it stalls, re-run the diagnostic — the mistake moving your numbers has likely changed, and your practice should change with it.

Quick Takeaways

• One mistake, one drill: match each checkout mistake to a single targeted drill instead of generic finishing practice.
• Fix the first dart first: low-margin first darts and the 65 trap decide the whole visit before you throw.
• Never leave a bogey: check your remainder before the last dart of every visit, or use Bogey Guard 501 until it is automatic.
• Know the chart: if you hesitate on a score, it needs a Route Flash Card, not more doubles practice.
• Slow down to speed up: the 3-Second Reset fixes rushed doubles and panic switching in one habit.
• Plan the switch: a pre-planned block switch beats an improvised one every time.
• Practice the doubles you leave: audit your weak doubles and drill them instead of only the chart favourites.

Which checkout mistake showed up in your diagnostic — and which drill are you trying first? Run it for a week, then come back and tell us whether your checkout percentage moved. And if a teammate keeps leaving themselves on 166, share this article with them before their next league night.

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