Why You Tank After Checking Your Average (And How To Stop)

Three legs in, you're throwing lights out. Setup feels good, darts are landing clean, everything's clicking. You check DartCounter - 75 average. Hell yeah.

Next leg: 26. Then 41. Then 33.

What the hell just happened?

You stopped throwing and started watching.

The Pattern: From Unconscious to Watching

Here's the exact sequence that tanks your session:

Legs 1-3:

You're in the zone
Just executing your process
Not thinking, just throwing
Darts go where you look
Average climbs

You check the stats: 75 average

Legs 4+:

"Oh shit, I'm throwing really well"
"Don't mess this up"
"Keep it above 70"
Focus shifts from process to outcome
Mental bandwidth on monitoring instead of executing
Tank city

You went from doing to watching yourself do.

And the moment you start watching, you stop executing automatically.

Why Checking Your Average Destroys Your Game

It Shifts You From Automatic to Manual

When you're throwing well, you're in unconscious competence - your process is automatic. You're not thinking about your elbow, your pause, your release. You're just throwing.

The moment you check your average and see it's high:

Your brain registers "I'm performing well"
Self-awareness kicks in
You shift from automatic execution to conscious monitoring
"Don't screw this up" mode activates
Mental bandwidth that was free for execution is now occupied by result-watching

Result: You tank because you're thinking instead of throwing.

It Creates Pressure Where There Was None

Before checking: Just throwing darts, no stakes, pure process

After checking: Now you have something to protect - that 75 average

Your brain treats it like you're defending a lead in a match. The pressure is self-created, but it's just as real.

It Makes You Careful (Which Is Death)

When you see you're performing well, your brain's instinct is "be careful, don't mess this up."

Careful = conscious control = overthinking = tank

The best darts happen when you're NOT being careful. They happen when you're just executing your process automatically without trying to control the outcome.

Why This Happens To Good Players (Not Bad Ones)

If you're a beginner throwing all over the board, you don't have this problem. You never get in the zone to begin with.

This problem is proof you're good.

You CAN execute automatically. You CAN get in the zone. You just haven't learned to STAY there when you become aware of it.

You're between Stage 3 and Stage 4:

Stage 3: You can throw well when you focus on process (conscious competence)
Stage 4: You throw well automatically, even under awareness (unconscious competence)

The gap you're stuck in: You can execute automatically, but the moment you notice you're executing well, you drop back to conscious mode.

The fix is learning to stay in automatic mode even when you're aware you're performing well.

The Real Problem: Result-Watching vs Process Execution

Every time you check your average mid-session, you're training your brain to care about results instead of process.

What your brain should care about during a throw:

Is my setup position correct?
Did I pause at Position 2?
Was my follow-through clean?

What your brain cares about after checking average:

What's my average now?
Am I maintaining it?
What if the next throw drops it?

You shifted from controlling what you can control (process) to worrying about what you can't control (outcome).

And that shift is what tanks you.

How To Stop Tanking After Checking Your Average

1. Hide Your Average During Play

Most effective solution: Remove the trigger entirely.

DartCounter: Settings → Hide stats during play
Nakka: Don't swipe to stats tab mid-session
Physical scoring: Don't calculate average until done

Check your average only AFTER the session is over.

You can't tank from seeing your average if you never see it.

2. The 3-Second Rule

If you DO check your average, you have 3 seconds to throw your next dart.

Why this works:

Doesn't give your brain time to create pressure
Forces you back into automatic mode
Prevents the "oh shit, I'm throwing well" spiral

See 75 average → 3 seconds → throw next dart

No time for "don't mess this up" thoughts to form.

3. Process Mantras (Reset Words)

When you catch yourself thinking about your average, use a reset word to redirect back to process:

Common reset mantras:

"Process"
"Just this dart"
"Setup, pause, throw"
"Position 2"
"Back to work"

Don't try to "not think about it" - that's impossible.

Instead, REPLACE the result-watching thought with a process-focused thought.

Catch → Replace → Execute

4. The 3-Dart Reset Drill

When you feel yourself in result-watching mode, reset with 3 process-focused darts:

Next 3 darts:

Focus ONLY on perfect form execution
Don't care where they land
Rate each throw: "Did I execute my process correctly?"
Ignore the score completely

This forces you back into process mode and breaks the result-watching cycle.

After 3 darts of pure process focus, you're usually back in automatic mode.

5. Reframe The Awareness

When you catch yourself thinking about your average, your reaction determines whether you tank:

Tanking reaction:

"Shit, I'm thinking about my average"
"Now I'm gonna mess up"
Spirals into conscious control

Recovery reaction:

"Oh, I'm result-watching"
"Reset. Back to process."
Immediate refocus on next throw

The difference: Judgment vs acknowledgment.

Don't judge yourself for checking your average or thinking about it. Just notice it, reset, and execute the next throw.

6. Leg-By-Leg Mindset (Not Session Average)

Your brain treats completed tasks as separate from ongoing ones.

Instead of: "I'm maintaining a 75 average across the session"

Think: "That leg was 75. This leg is brand new. What's my process for this throw?"

Each leg is independent. No pressure to "maintain" anything.

7. Practice Staying In The Zone Under Awareness

This is the Stage 3 → Stage 4 transition.

Practice drill:

Play a session where you intentionally check your average after every leg
Goal: Execute your process perfectly regardless of what the number says
Train yourself to see the number and immediately throw the next dart without thought

You're training your brain: Awareness of performance ≠ pressure

The more you practice seeing your stats and staying in process mode, the less power those numbers have over your execution.

The Process Tracking Alternative

Instead of tracking your average during play, track your process execution:

After each throw, rate it 1-10:

Did I execute my setup correctly?
Did I pause at Position 2?
Was my follow-through clean?

Goal: 80%+ process execution rate

This trains your brain to:

Care about the right things (process, not results)
Stay focused on what you control
Ignore outcome monitoring

After a few sessions of tracking process instead of average, you'll notice you don't tank anymore - because your brain is focused on execution, not results.

Why The Tank Is Actually Valuable Information

If you tank after checking your average, it tells you:

You can already execute at a high level - the 75 average proves it

Your ceiling is NOT mechanical - it's mental

The gap between your good legs and bad legs is mental interference, not skill

This is great news. It's easier to fix mental habits than rebuild mechanics from scratch.

Your mechanics are already good enough to average 75.

You just need to train your brain to stay out of the way.

The Long-Term Fix: Unconscious Competence

The ultimate goal is Stage 4: You throw well automatically, regardless of awareness or pressure.

How to get there:

1. Volume with process focus

Thousands of throws where you're focused on process, not results. This builds automatic execution.

2. Pressure practice with outcome detachment

Play matches where you care about winning, but maintain process focus on each throw. This trains staying automatic under pressure.

3. Normalize high performance

The more you throw 75+ averages, the less special it feels. "Oh, this again" instead of "Holy shit, don't mess this up."

When 75 becomes normal, you don't create pressure around it.

The Bottom Line

You tank after checking your average because you shift from automatic execution to conscious monitoring.

The fix:

Hide your stats during play (best solution)
Use the 3-second rule if you check
Reset mantras when you catch yourself result-watching
Train staying in process mode under awareness

Remember:

Checking your average = watching yourself perform
Watching yourself perform = conscious control
Conscious control = overthinking
Overthinking = tank

The best throws happen when you're not watching yourself throw them.

Stop checking your average. Stop watching yourself perform. Stop trying to maintain numbers.

Just setup, pause, throw. Repeat.

Your average will take care of itself when you take care of your process.

The 75 average you threw in the first 3 legs? That's what happens when you're not watching.

Stay there.

Related Guides

Mental game essentials:

Why You Miss Easy Shots - Conscious interference with automatic execution
Stop Thinking, Start Throwing - Best throws happen when you're thinking about nothing
Process Over Results - Focus on execution, not outcomes

Building automatic execution:

The Four Stages of Learning Darts - Stage 3 vs Stage 4
Why You Can't Perform In Games - Wall drill for unconscious execution