106 Checkout in Darts — T20 → 6 → D20
At 106, the leg is decided by the quality of the opening throw more than any other single factor. The route — T20 → 6 → D20 — is built to convert that first dart into a clear path to D20. Players who finish 106 reliably treat the opening triple as the highest-consequence dart in the visit, not the double — because the double becomes straightforward when the approach is controlled, and becomes genuinely hard when it is not.
Controlling the dart toward the 5 side on the opening throw from 106 is the miss management available here. A drift into 5 leaves 101 (T17 → DBull) — a manageable recovery position. The 1 side leaves 105, which creates a significantly harder continuation. The difference between those two outcomes is not small, and it is within the player's control to influence which one is more likely by building a slight directional preference into the throw preparation rather than aiming straight and hoping the miss falls the right way.
The sequence on 106 needs to be treated as three separate committed throws rather than as one connected action. Each dart in T20 → 6 → D20 should receive its own approach and its own full commitment — T20 thrown to T20, 6 thrown to 6, and D20 thrown to D20. Players who think about the double during the setup darts are splitting their attention across the visit in a way that reliably degrades the quality of the throw that needs it most.
At 106, players often chase perfect darts instead of staying within the structure — which is exactly how a reachable finish turns into a dropped leg. Conviction before stepping to the oche matters as much as mechanics on 106. A player who is still deciding is already in trouble. Competitive players learn to separate the feeling of pressure from the mechanics of the throw. The feeling is real; it does not have to affect the arm. One breath before T20 from 106 — not a ritual, not a superstition, but a mechanical reset that gives the arm a chance to release without tension already built into the grip. Players who finish 106 consistently in competition are not naturally calmer than those who miss it. They have simply rehearsed the response to pressure enough that it no longer interferes with the mechanics.
Against an opponent on a finish, the worst thing on 106 is a passive, careful approach. This route — T20 → 6 → D20 — asks for commitment at every dart. That commitment is what the match situation demands.
Route Comparison & Target Selection
Primary: T20 → 6 → D20
treble 20 (60), single 6, closing on double 20 — high-percentage close
Avoid 1 on this visit. It leaves 105 — the weaker of the two available miss directions. Better miss is 5 for 101.
Miss Geometry, Route Structure & When to Use the Alternate
No high-value triple has worse neighbours than treble 20. The 5 sits to its left and the 1 to its right — the two lowest singles on the board. From 106, drifting into 5 produces 101 remaining and drifting into 1 produces 105. The primary route opens here because the score structure demands it, but the miss geometry should inform how you approach the throw. A slight drift in either direction from 106 lands in a segment that scores between three and five times less than the treble itself. Treble 19, by contrast, is flanked by 3 and 7 — both higher-value, both more often leaving a route that can still close cleanly. The drift trigger for switching to 19 exists precisely because of this asymmetry: when grouping moves consistently below the treble 20 bed, the geometry of 19 becomes structurally correct regardless of its lower maximum value. On the question of how the route runs, three darts are required here because 106 resists any clean two-dart path. The sequence runs T20 to open, 6 to position, and D20 to close — each dart serving a specific function in the structure. The risk that the three-dart sequence introduces is rushing: players who hit T20 cleanly sometimes accelerate through 6 and arrive at D20 from a weaker position than necessary. Slowing the decision-making between darts — giving each throw its own committed setup before the release — is what keeps three-dart routes running cleanly under pressure.
When and Why to Use This Route
Use this route as the standard approach from this score. Scoring hard through T20 and finishing on D20 is the combination that wins the most legs — not just in comfortable situations, but especially in tight ones where both components need to deliver simultaneously.
This is an aggressive route that does not sacrifice reliability. T20 scores hard and applies pressure. D20 closes cleanly and forgives slight misses on the final dart. The combination is what makes this route correct as the default from this score — it does not require ideal conditions to work, and it does not need the player to choose between being aggressive and being controlled.
Why Players Miss This Finish
Players miss the 106 checkout by losing control of the visit on the second dart, not the first. T20 lands well and the position looks good — then, instead of committing fully to 6, the player is already thinking about D20. The second dart becomes distracted: aimed partly at 6 and partly at the result it will produce. That distraction costs accuracy. The dart lands somewhere other than intended, and the close on D20 is either harder than it should be or no longer available. Players who drop 106 regularly from a clean T20 are almost always losing the leg on dart two, not dart three.
Players who close 106 most reliably have solved the same problem: they have made the response to an imperfect dart automatic. When T20 lands slightly off, the right response is to read the new score immediately and throw the best available continuation without hesitation. That response is not instinctive — it is trained. Practising the recovery from the two most likely miss positions on T20 is the most direct way to reduce the number of legs dropped from a recoverable position on 106.
Practice
Practise the 106 checkout as a complete sequence — T20 → 6 → D20 — rather than drilling each dart in isolation. The rhythm between darts is as important as the accuracy of each individual throw. Players who practise T20 separately, then 6 separately, then D20 separately, and then combine them in a match often find the transition between darts is the problem, not the darts themselves. Run the full route in sets: three successful completions before stopping, or a conversion rate target like two clean legs in five attempts.
Recovery practice is not supplementary to 106 training — it is essential to it. The two most likely recovery positions from a miss on T20 are 101 (via 5) and 105 (via 1). Practising both of these scores alongside the full 106 route produces a player who can continue the visit without recalculation after an imperfect first dart. That continuation speed — the automatic response to a slight drift — is one of the most valuable and least-practised skills in club-level 501.
