104 Checkout in Darts — T18 → DBull
Finishing 104 requires aggressive scoring paired with structured execution — the first dart must do real work while still leaving the visit on track for a clean close. The route T18 → DBull handles that balance by opening on T18, which scores efficiently and creates the exact leave needed to reach DBull cleanly.
The preferred miss direction on T18 from 104 is toward 1. Landing there leaves 103 — a position that still carries a realistic path to the close. The 4 side leaves 100 and a harder problem. Players who pay attention to miss geometry on their primary scoring targets consistently produce better outcomes from imperfect darts, which is where most of the marginal gains in competitive 501 are actually found — not in perfect throws, which are the same for everyone, but in where the imperfect ones land.
Players who are reliable at finishing 104 in competition have usually identified and eliminated one specific failure pattern from their game: the tendency to respond to what just happened rather than commit to what comes next. If the first dart misses, the instinct is to adjust — to be more careful, to aim more precisely, to compensate. That instinct is the source of most dropped legs on 104. The route provides the continuation from any reasonable first-dart outcome. Trusting the route rather than overriding it mid-visit is the discipline that converts practice form into match results.
Finishing 104 reliably in match play is a trainable skill. Players who build it deliberately — through structured pressure practice rather than hoping for composure — outperform those who rely on natural calm. High-score finishes like 104 are decided on the first dart. The player who commits most cleanly to the opening target almost always takes the leg. Pressure in darts is managed through rhythm, not force — players who close legs under pressure keep the same tempo as the rest of the visit. Grip pressure and arm speed are the two variables that pressure changes most reliably. Monitoring both before stepping to the oche gives the player a real point of intervention. Slowing the walk to the oche is not a technique — it is a way to create a moment for the grip to settle and the breath to normalise before the arm goes forward.
The decision on the bull from 104 should be made before the opponent's visit ends, not at the oche. If the opponent is threatening, decide for the bull in advance and commit to it completely.
Route Comparison & Target Selection
Primary: T18 → DBull
treble 18 (54), closing on bull (50) — direct bull finish
Alternate: T16 → 16 → D20
treble 16 (48), single 16, closing on double 20 — high-percentage close
The primary route uses the bull to close — direct, fast, and binary. Hit it and the leg ends. Miss it and the recovery position is harder than a missed standard double would produce. The alternate (T16 → 16 → D20) routes to D20 instead, which splits cleanly and provides a workable recovery. Use the primary when urgency outweighs recovery margin. Use the alternate when the close quality matters more than the close speed. The match situation determines which of those is the priority.
The 25 is the risk zone on this finish. The bull must be committed to fully or not at all.
Miss Geometry, Route Structure & When to Use the Alternate
The opening dart at treble 18 has 1 to the left and 4 to the right. From 104 those misses leave 103 and 100 respectively. The preferred side is toward 1, producing the stronger 103 rather than the 100 available on the other side. Miss geometry on the first dart of any route is not abstract — it translates directly into whether the next visit starts from a strong position or a compromised one. Building the throw with a slight bias toward the preferred neighbour, without disrupting the fundamental mechanics, is the execution discipline that high-level 501 players apply consistently. On the route structure itself, two darts, direct finish: T18 → DBull. From 104 the route asks for T18 to land correctly, then DBull to close the leg. The compactness of a two-dart finish is its defining quality — fast, readable, and immediately decisive. It is also what makes the opening dart carry the most weight of any dart in the visit. Arriving at DBull from a controlled, rhythm-based T18 produces a different kind of close than arriving at it from a nervous or guided first throw. The finish is the same; the confidence brought to it is not. On the question of the alternate, the alternate (T16 → 16 → D20) closes on D20 — a higher-percentage finishing double than the primary's DBull. When the priority is arriving at the most forgiving possible close, the alternate is the correct adjustment. The primary is the default for its overall route structure; the alternate offers a stronger finishing double at the cost of a different approach. In match conditions where landing the easiest possible final dart matters most — whether from fatigue, pressure, or a close score — the alternate's stronger close is the right trade.
When and Why to Use This Route
Use this route when urgency outweighs the need for a recovery option. The bull provides the most direct finish available, but it is also the least forgiving — a miss leaves a harder position than a split double would. In a tight match where the opponent is close to winning, the bull's directness is the correct trade-off. In a comfortable match, the double-based route is more conservative and equally valid.
This route is effective when the bull is a trained target and the match situation calls for the fastest available finish. The bull eliminates the conventional double setup phase entirely — there is no D16 or D20 to build toward. The finish is direct and immediate, and the lack of a recoverable split (a missed bull does not leave a clean double the way a missed standard double does) is the acceptable trade-off for that directness.
Why Players Miss This Finish
The bull on 104 is missed because of guided delivery. Players who approach the bull with a slow, deliberate, carefully aimed throw miss it more consistently than those who throw it at the same pace used for every other dart in the visit. The bull does not reward careful aim — it rewards committed release. A dart that is thrown at the bull with the same arm speed and grip as a standard treble will fly straighter and land more accurately than one that was guided toward the centre with extra deliberateness. The most common instruction — 'throw it nicely' — is the exact instruction that causes the miss.
Improving bull accuracy at 104 in match conditions requires two things: throw it more often in practice under pressure, and stop aiming it. Aiming the bull — treating it as a target that needs to be carefully guided toward — is the behaviour that causes most competitive bull misses. The bull responds to the same committed, unremarkable throw used for any other target. Practice it until that throw is automatic, and the match environment stops changing it.
Practice
Practise the 104 checkout by running T18 → DBull as a complete two-dart sequence rather than throwing each dart separately. The transition between T18 and DBull is where two-dart routes most often break down — a good opener creates expectation about the close, and that expectation sometimes changes the throw on DBull in exactly the wrong direction. Run the sequence clean five times. If the break is consistently on the second dart, practise DBull in isolation for a set, then reintegrate it into the full route.
Add consequence to the end of every 104 practice block. After completing the route a set number of times cleanly, throw T18 deliberately off-line and practise continuing from 100 and 103 without resetting. This forces the continuation habit — the automatic response to a miss on the opener that keeps the visit running rather than stalling. Players who have practised their recovery positions finish more legs from imperfect visits than those who only ever practise the clean route.
