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In his latest 'Stat of the Week' column, PDC Stats Analyst Christopher Kempf analyses the rate at which players register a 180 in response to a maximum visit from their opponent.
The stat: Rate at which players score 180 in response to opponents' maxima - 'Riposte 180s'.
The parameters: Players with at least 50 attempts in the 2024 season.
The caveats: 'Attempt' defined as a visit following an opponent's 180 in which a 180 of the player's own would not bust their score.
Any player who can throw the occasional 180 in a competitive situation can be assured of at least a respectable amateur career.
Anyone who can throw a 180 once for every twenty attempts could consider turning professional.
The bedrock of achievement in darts are basic percentages with which players convert hand-eye coordination into successful hits of targets, but basic ability can disappear under pressure.
The rate at which a player scores 180 in response to a 180 just recorded by his opponent thus can serve as a useful measure of a player's performance under pressure and his affinity for competition.
Should that be the case, than no player gets more inspired by a challenge than Gary Anderson, who has a 17% chance of throwing a 180 after an opponent's in any visit where such a score would not bust.
He has done so 16 times in 2024, and his two Players Championship finals in February account for five of those visits, making Ryan Searle the recipient of more 'riposte' 180s from a single player, per leg played, than any other Tour Card Holder.
With 32 maxima - though over far more legs played - Luke Littler is not far behind on 14%. Of the 53 response 180s recorded in this year's Premier League, Littler was responsible for 15, more than twice as many as any other player.
Many of the sport's veterans throw 180s under pressure at almost exactly the same rate at which they do so in general.
Among these are Michael van Gerwen (who throws 4% more 'riposte' 180s than his normal output), Gerwyn Price (12% less) and Raymond van Barneveld (11% more).
Since each player has thrown fewer than 20 of these special maxima in 2024, we can say that opponent pressure has no noticeable effect on their scoring.
For some players, however, their 180 scoring in 2024 deserts them under pressure.
Ricardo Pietreczko and Jim Williams have yet to throw a response 180 in 2024, and Jonny Clayton has just 1; a rate 80% less than his normal 1-180-in-20 visit rate of maximum scoring.
On the other end of the spectrum, five players throw more than twice as many 180s under pressure than they otherwise would.
The list is topped by Canada's Matt Campbell, who is three times as likely (than he otherwise would be) to score a maximum after one from his opponent.
It is also no surprise to see young stars Luke Littler (35% more likely), Adam Gawlas (41%) and Gian van Veen (52%) near the top of the scale - what better way to manifest one's ambitions against established players than with a 'riposte 180'?
Follow Christopher on Twitter @ochepedia