Sports Book of the Week: The Art of Darts, by John Lowe

Darts is making a comeback in pubs, increasingly regarded by younger boozers as pleasingly retro rather than irredeemably naff.

So a how-to guide to 'arrers is timely, and as a three-time world champion who has won over 1,000 tournaments, John Lowe certainly has the credentials to dispense advice.

Thing is, darts is essentially a simple game, and after Old Stoneface has guided us expertly through everything he has to say on the grip, the stance, the throw, how to choose a set of darts, practice routines and the best mental approach, he's still filled up only 63 pages of this small-format hardback. The second half of the book is entitled 'How to Become a Professional Darts Player', an ambition contemplated by very few; for most of us, sadly, instructions on how to find sponsorship and prepare for exhibition matches are destined to remain distinctly theoretical.

So in effect you'll be paying over 20p a page for the useful stuff. But if it improves your game, who's to say that's bad value? Throwing money at your throwing might just be the right answer.

Published in hardback by Hodder & Stoughton, £12.99