Could Prosthesis Use Provide a Competitive Advantage in Darts?

Abstract

Competitive darts has become increasingly popular over the past few decades, and efforts have been made to have the game recognized as an Olympic sport in the future. The raised profile of the sport and the associated rewards bring up new challenges for the integrity of the game, as athletes are incentivized to exploit rule ambiguities in order to gain competitive advantages. In this research, it was hypothesized that uneven leg lengths and weights, which are comparatively easily realizable in prosthetic limbs, allow players to lean closer to the target and thus improve their throwing accuracy. This hypothesis was tested in a sample of 13 able-bodied subjects who participated in the study, with three sets of throwing trials; one to establish the baseline and two with a longer and heavier trailing leg, respectively. The findings suggest that these modifications are indeed beneficial, resulting in significantly shorter throwing distances and average accuracy improvements of up to 11%. The debate about the potential competitive advantages of prosthesis-wearing Paralympic athletes over their able-bodied peers previously focused on short track running events, where rules have been established that govern the allowable geometry and configuration of sprint prostheses. It appears that comparable regulations should be considered for darts competitions, in order to ensure fair conditions for all participants.

‘We can’t participate like this at football, can we’? Exploring in-person performative prosumer fandom at live PDC darts events

“…The sport of professional darts has been rarely recognised within academia aside from research by the likes of Davis (2018, 2022a, 2022b), Cartlidge (2022), DeVillez et al (2022), Howe Bukowski (2022), and Liebscher and Kirchstein (2017). However, the rapid rise of PDC darts since the mid-2000s (see Davis, 2023), aligned with the demise and ultimate dissolution of the BDO in 2020 (see Gill, 2020), has not gone unnoticed within news media.…”

Static Behavior of a Prosthetic Running Blade Made from Alloys and Carbon Fiber

“…These feet may store energy during stance and restore it to the wearer in late stance to aid in forward propulsion. The running blades are made from different materials as mentioned elsewhere (Grimmer et al, 2014;Petrone et al, 2020;DeVillez et al, 2022;Siddiqui et al, 2023).…”

Numerical Investigation on the Performance of Prosthetic Running Blades by Using Different Materials

“…It has been observed from the literature that composites, metal, and alloys have been used to manufacture prosthetic running blades (Hagberg et al, 2005;Jayaraman et al, 2019;Krausz and Hargrove, 2019;Parga and Yu, 2019;Villarreal and Gregg, 2019;Damerla et al, 2022;Gomez-Correa and Cruz-Ortiz, 2022). In recent years, some manufacturers are enabling sports persons to engage in their preferred sports events, by using novel advanced materials and utilizing cutting-edge technologies (Jönsson et al, 2011;Mauroy et al, 2012;Devaraj et al, 2020;DeVillez et al, 2022). Patients can participate in more demanding recreational activities such as jogging thanks to specialized prosthetics known as prosthetic improvements.…”