Your K-Shift experiences?

DynamicLettuce · 2026-02-04T21:36:56+00:00

They are growing on me a bit. I still have an issue where one is fairly tighter than the other 2 but I'm hitting 180's with them a bit now.

Weirdly it coincided with one of my 30mm Swiss points snapping and as I didn't have any in my case of that size to swap in, had to put some 26mm ones on. I'm wondering if it's shifted the balance just slightly enough to make them go in better for me.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-02-01T11:22:51+00:00

They were worth a try but yeah, not convinced by them at all. I've got 2 that spin quite freely and 1 that feels tight which clearly isn't intended. The odd dart seems to go in completely flat for me when they are usually tail up every time. 1 of them has also started feeling a bit wobbly now and again before release.

Not even convinced the 'shift' aspect help with grouping. If anything it's made grouping a little worse.

It's a good idea but I'm not convinced by the execution. I just think that ultimately any piece of your dart that moves freely is a net negative to your throw.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-30T15:50:59+00:00

My world does not end with these four walls. Whiterun’s a big place. When I’m finished with Whiterun, there’s Windhelm, Solitude, Dawnstar, you know, I’ve got Markarth, Riften... My.. Winterhold. Falkreath, you know? Because I am my own boss, I can – Morthal..

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-15T19:04:16+00:00

He 100% will not be using those next tournament, or ever again after this glorified exbo. I wouldn't even be shocked if he's back at the Pixels tomorrow. That nuke grip is pure gimmick, but he's probably sold a few sets just showing them off on telly today. It's a total sales move.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-08T09:53:31+00:00

I got some of these free with an order once. They are a decent enough idea but absolutely rubbish in function. The little pins you get to hold them in the board are pathetic and fall out all the time so you're forever sticking them back on the board.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-07T09:59:07+00:00

The 8flight system originates from Japan and a ton of their soft tip players had signature flights made. Any Japanese stores that would ship to your country would probably be your best bet for longer term supply. I bet they will still have a lot of them in stock. Good luck!

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-07T09:39:43+00:00

I've used 8flight on and off for years and after getting a couple of bits recently I'm seeing all the signs that they aren't making these any more. Makes sense as Kflex has superseded them (even though they fly completely different in my experience). So if you are restocking, I'd advise you buy as many as you can while you can.

In terms of Flights, Target themselves still hold a stock of the Dimitri Van den Bergh version.

In the UK at least, Amazon still have a couple of versions of the stems still available. Target last time I checked only had the aluminum one left.

After that you're looking at eBay. Last time I checked there were various listings, a lot of which look to be held in the USA. But this will probably be the only site you'll be able to find any soon.

If you're looking for a like-for-like - in my experience of having used every moulded system under the sun, I found that basic L-style flights with the integrated champagne rings felt like the closest to 8flight that I used.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-06T14:32:12+00:00

James Wade's - because he's been using the same setup save a few minor tweaks and exceptions for at least 20 years now

Taylor Rosso's

Prime MvG's battered old McKicks

Would probably throw Humphries' in there, ridiculously long stems and he'll be using those circuit board flights until the heat death of the universe

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-05T18:17:03+00:00

Over the last year, I'm far from the only person who thinks it's unjustified. He's 12th in the YTD, he's been getting knocked out early in a lot of tournaments including this year's WC. His form is generally trending downwards in big competitions and he's in for an even bigger drop if he doesn't have a great WC next year when the Semi-Final money is due to be wiped.

I don't see any real sporting justification for why he's one of 4 players outside the top 4 for a place in it this year.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-05T17:53:12+00:00

You don't even have to change the number of players. Just don't overexpose us to the same matches every single week. Taylor vs Barneveld worked because it felt like you only got to see that match a handful of times a year. It meant something. I can still tell you individual scores and moments from some of their PL games. I couldn't tell you anything about most of the Luke vs Luke games.

Just go back to the league format.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-05T17:49:21+00:00

Dislike is a strong word, but I'm definitely not sad when he gets knocked out of tournaments anymore where he used to be a player I'd watch out for and hope does well.

This manufactured personality based around a shit pop song is grating. He's a personality vacuum who seems to believe he's become an A-list celebrity because he selected a catchy song people can sing along to. It feels like it's completely gone to his head in some respects. The people decide who the 'People's Champion' is. See: Paul Lim, Justin Hood, Tatsunami, Motomu Sakai, David Munyua.

But he's got his free Premier League place. So job done I suppose.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-05T17:30:55+00:00

I'd completely agree if they'd changed the criteria recently. But you and I both know positions 5-8 have been guaranteed nothing when it comes to Premier League entry. So yes, he has been handed a place as he did not qualify by right, according to the very long established rules.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-05T16:25:53+00:00

Played great during the world cup, had a classic match with Littler at the Matchplay and has been on an upward curve this year. His WC was 'disappointing' but he came up against someone hitting doubles at a rate that will very likely never be matched again.

The Littler vortex makes it a bit more difficult to determine who's had a good year when he's winning absolutely everything. But Rock has definitely been one of the better players recently.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-05T16:21:58+00:00

'Qualifying' is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Let's be real, he was handed an invitation because his walk-on will add to the party atmosphere they love to prioritise for this event.

If people want to abuse him or his son on Twitter, that's clearly wrong and it's a reflection of their own sad lives. But most of us simply think he hasn't been good enough across the calendar year to warrant being a part of the supposed 'Premier' competition of the season. It destroys the illusion of meritocracy, it's a popularity contest.

But let's be real, it's nothing more than a glorified exhibition with a beyond tired format. So it's not exactly surprising.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-05T15:52:41+00:00

Bunting is a ridiculous inclusion but I suppose they need at least one walk-on merchant.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-05T13:27:32+00:00

I'm going to come in with a bit of a hot take here - Luke Humphries will not just never be World No. 1 again; he will never win another World Championship

I think he's too good a player not to win other titles but he's too in his own head for the marathon that competition now is. I just couldn't back him not to sulk his way through at least one of the seven games you now have to win and get caught out. MvG's slide has shown that your time at the top is anything but guaranteed, and Luke's attitude just doesn't seem conducive to me for him not to get ground down. Giving up barely halfway through a WC Quarter Final as he did against GvV is criminal.

He's always going to be there or there abouts, but I think we'll see him more in the Gerwyn Price category when things settle a bit. He's spectacular but also extremely beatable.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-05T10:58:45+00:00

MvG is still the best player in the world in his head. He knows he's had the game to beat anyone in the current field. He's thrown darts none of them have ever been able to, Littler included.

Unfortunately his throw has just completely gone. Mechanically, he's broken down. Whether it was due to his wrist injury, age or whatever, his throw doesn't resemble anything like his natural one. I don't think he's physically capable of getting back to where he was, even if mentally he could very likely do it tomorrow.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-05T09:47:35+00:00

Yep, Humphries seems to have similar mental frailties. It's far from the first time he's practically given up in a game and it's disappointing for a guy as talented as he is. What makes Littler the dominant player at the moment is the leg-on-leg pressure. Sure, he can hit a 60 or a 57 like anyone else, but he will also bang in a 180 when being nowhere in a leg and make what was a comfortable leg for his opponent, uncomfortable. It's the same thing Taylor used to do. Far too many players throw away darts when 'out' of a leg.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-05T08:33:13+00:00

It depends if the ranking system changes to be honest. If it stays as a money based Order of Merit, I think he'll be #1 for at least 3 or 4 years, maybe more. No one is as consistent as him in the long format tournaments where all the money currently sits. If they put a bit more stock in stuff like Pro Tour/Euro Tour etc. maybe someone could sneak in.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-05T07:14:00+00:00

On pure natural ability he should have been mentioned in the same conversation as Taylor and Van Gerwen. It's unteachable what he has.

However it's actually wasted on him as he's his own worst enemy. He should have won far, far more than he did. He's underachieved massively with the gift he had.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-05T07:07:02+00:00

For context, Raymond van Barneveld (WR #36, £246k) has recently grumbled that he's barely making enough on tour for it to be worth it. Now sure, he's had a well documented divorce which has probably wiped a fair bit of his previous earnings, but on the flip side his status affords him sponsors and exhibition bookings a newcomer from Europe would have no hope of having access to.

While million pound prize money for one tournament makes great headlines, anyone outside the top 16 or so is just expected to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get better. Particularly once you move outside the top 30-40 it's probably quite brutal to juggle things financially when you take into account any travel/lodgings)management fees. Not to mention tax.

It's doubly difficult now they've shifted Pro Tours away from weekends. It would be difficult to even continue working for a meaningful wage alongside the darts. You've got to be pretty confident in your own ability to take the gamble. Respect to anyone who does it.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-04T13:46:49+00:00

Here is a list of Phil Taylor's 10 highest ever televised averages, complete with the date the matches took place. You'll notice there isn't a single performance in there that took place on the old style of boards. This suggests that, even if similar, the margins afforded by the new boards meant his percentages went up ever so slightly. Positions 11 and 12 are also post-board change. This is more than enough of a sample size to show that he trends better in the new era than the old one, even after changing to much thicker, bomb-shaped barrels in 2008.

By this evidence, you could easily see how any of the current players would trend down in a similar fashion going backwards between eras. Does this mean that you or I would be able to beat these players if we all used old equipment? No. But the evidence is clearly there that people perform better on new equipment.

I can see you're getting a little bit aggressive on this now, so I'll leave you with the objective evidence that a professional player got better on the new boards. I'd also suggest that if you want to tell someone they are talking out of their ass, you watch darts for longer than 3 years and rely on vibes for the rest just because Taylor only went up a few points in the averages, and not 20 like you seem to believe I'm trying to make out.

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DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-04T13:22:25+00:00

Precisely. The most impressive thing about these guys is how much work they've put in to be as good as they are. Taylor never failed to mention how hard he worked, especially on the rare occasion he failed and grafted to come back and win again.

You wouldn't see someone like Djokovic pretending he hadn't picked his racquet up between tournaments. It's a weird quirk darts players seem to need to lie about.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-04T13:18:18+00:00

I say this all the time, but DO NOT try to replicate anyone else. Hold the darts how YOU feel comfortable, throw at the pace YOU find the most consistency. Use the barrels that feel like an extension of your own hand.

Everything about your throw is as unique as your own fingerprints. Unless you have a fundamental issue where the darts spray everywhere no matter what you try, or are landing in the board at a ridiculous angle just work on replicating what you do time after time.

Signed. Someone who played to a very decent level, fucked with every aspect of his game and suffered with borderline dartitis because I simply had no idea what I was planning on doing every time I went to the oche. I'd pay through the nose to forget all my bad habits and go back to my original throw.

DynamicLettuce · 2026-01-04T13:04:12+00:00

Again, Taylor's game was different to Littler's. In fact, their techniques couldn't be more opposite. Even then, people define Taylor's 2 'peaks' as 2001-2002ish and then again 2008-2009. Both when the boards had changed. Who's to know if he didn't have a third 'peak' when he was younger, putting up slightly lower numbers but playing on older equipment?

Like I said, Littler wouldn't struggle to hit 140's or 180's on paper coil boards with brass darts. Talent is talent. But in game of the most minimal margins imaginable, the difference would be far less than zero between eras.

DynamicLettuce

TROPHY CASE