Does practise make perfect?

A question about practice came up the other day:
Does practise make perfect?
quote:
I play for a local team once a week and it doesnt seem to make much
difference whether I practise at home the week before a match or not. I
turned up for a game a couple of weeks ago after spending that afternoon
being 'entertained' by some clients of mine who were very liberal with the
sparkly stuff.

I actually threw quite a decent game with 2 100's and a 1 dart finish and I
won comfortably - much to my own surprise. To put this in perspective I had been drinking moderately for about 6 hours before the game.

This week I spent an average of 30 - 45 mins a week practising every night, drove to the game and played sober and I swear i couldnt hit a double to start. I eventually managed a double 6 and an 86 in my score before being beaten.

Serious question: Is you ability 'natural', does drink 'loosen you up' and make you throw better or does practise really help a weekly club player that much?
end quote
Q:- Serious question: Is you ability 'natural'---

A:I truly believe that there is such a thing as natural ability, I taught the game of darts to friend several years ago thinking I could pay him back for the beatings he constantly put on me at pool, big mistake, in a few weeks he was making me work very hard to beat him, and moved up to “A” division in our league a year before me. I wrote it off to him have superior eye hand coordination.

Q:- does drink 'loosen you up' ---
A:Sure it does, but if not done in moderation it will “loosen up” your form and technique too much as well.
However the best way to "lossen up" is to teach yourself and practise self calming techniques that you can use while playing.

Q:- does practise really help a weekly club player that much?

A:I think that practice is a good thing, not how much practice, but what quality of practice is the key. Just throwing at numbers on the board can be helpful, but could just as easily turn out to be pointless. I say structure your practice so it addresses your needs:

*getting your release right
*knowing your outs
*accuracy on triples and doubles
*and most of all playing under pressure (play the strongest player you can find, or offer big handicaps to players weaker than you)

The other issue that comes into play is adequate warm up before you start to play in league or tournaments. I find that I need to spend at least 30 min getting warmed up by; practicing my outs, shooting cricket numbers and play at least one simulated game of 501. The warm up routine has been very helpful as I feel more relaxed and focused at the start of the match. I also keep a limit on how much I drink during leagues and tournaments.

Also check out these articles by John Part:
http://www.planetdarts.co.uk/index.asp?nv=5&lid=-1&lname=PartsDarts