A recent discussion in the darts centre office focused on whether to work on your grouping or your aim, and whether these are different things! At first one would assume they are the same skill. The key to grouping your darts closely relies more on your body's ability to, often subconsciously, replicate the same action precisely; whereas an accurate aim relies on your visual brain communicating with your motor skills developed through practice to put a dart in a certain spot.
Obviously having both is key for any top level player looking to achieve PDC tour card status, but which one to work on first? Studies have shown that our interaction with the environment is normally subconscious until we are presented with an issue or a problem to solve, which we haven't faced before. This results in the brain "waking up" its decision making area - repetition of solving similar problems results in their being hard wired, allowing the brain to resolve future problems without disturbing you!
Any top level sportsperson usually operates on autopilot - they don't think about their actions when they are in the zone - years of practice and training take over. Darts players may operate at a slower pace then F1 drivers, but the human brain still successfully tackles each of their challenges the same way.
So is it better to work on your ability to replicate a throw to hit the same spot , or the ability to hit a certain spot on the board first? My contention was the action of throwing the dart in the same precise fashion should be hard wired first, as it is harder to undo bad technique and inconsistency in your throw after hours/months/years of practicing ones aim! What do you think?