In his latest column, PDC Stats Analyst Christopher Kempf looks at the sport's most effective cover shooters, and analyses which players are most successful when it comes to diverting away from the treble 20.
Last weekend's contest between World Champion and World Youth Champion put the former in an uncomfortable position.
Only able to throw two of his signature 180s over the course of 11 legs of darts, Luke Littler was outduelled on the trebles - especially 19 - by Gian van Veen, who averaged nearly 111 whilst throwing only one more 180 than his younger rival.
The young Dutch star pushed himself over the 110-average hurdle courtesy of his switching: with his second dart, Van Veen hit 50% of his treble 20 targets and 75% of all other trebles, including 100% of his treble 18s.
Littler's switching left many points on the board, as the teenage sensation hit only five of 16 targets.
Van Veen's wonderful run in Munich was brought to an end only by the player whose game depends upon switching more than that of any other player - his fellow countryman, Michael van Gerwen.
A TV broadcast spotter's job used to be much easier; focus the camera on treble 20 until the players get close to a checkout, and almost everything will be captured.
In the 1983 World Championship final, only 5% of darts were thrown at non-20 trebles, most of which were used exclusively for specific setup and checkout shots.
There are now seven players in the Premier League alone (Stephen Bunting being the only exception) who throw more than 15% of all their darts at other trebles.
Switching is perhaps the most important strategic change in the game of darts since the days of Bristow and Deller, and young players have adopted it with great relish into their games.
There are only two players active on stage in the PDC who throw fewer than one dart in ten at smaller trebles, and both (Peter Wright, Jonny Clayton) are in their 50s.
What better man to be the standard-bearer for the switching revolution than the current World Youth Champion, Van Veen?
With his second and third darts at trebles 17 through 19, no player has a higher average score than The Giant - 35.18 points per dart thrown.
Although Gary Anderson and Wesley Plaisier are more likely to hit trebles in these scenarios, their darts are also more likely to go astray.
And unless a player needs the treble to continue a checkout attempt, all that matters, in the long run, is points scored per dart thrown.
For every two-dart switching visit, on average, Van Veen squeezes three more points out of those trebles than Littler does.
Michael van Gerwen still holds the record for most treble 19s hit in a televised match (85) - but that achievement in the 2019 World Championship represents the high point of his switching game.
The Dutchman remains an elite switcher (34.34 points per dart) but the gap on this metric between himself and his rivals has been erased over the years, even as Van Gerwen has become more dependent upon treble 19s and 18s.
Van Gerwen has had more visits than any other player in 2025 in which he attempts one dart at each of treble 20, treble 19 and treble 18.
However, leading the PDC in this respect is a sign of his inability to score 134s in a match (MvG also holds this record: 19 against Littler in January's World Championship final).
Nevertheless, he is not yet as prone to switching as Rob Cross, for whom more than a quarter of all his darts land in the vicinity of trebles 17-19.
Cross' 41.3% accuracy on these trebles places him behind Van Gerwen, Littler and Luke Humphries - without accuracy to match on treble 20, the only respite from being outscored comes when these three (occasionally, or often, as the case may be) miss their doubles.
Short of adopting Madars Razma's strategy of sometimes starting a visit on treble 19, it's hard to imagine that Cross or Van Gerwen could possibly switch more, or would gain any advantage in doing so.
Van Veen only throws 17.7% of his darts at the lesser trebles, a percentage slightly below average for the PDC.
Exceeding MvG's or Cross' 25% could just as well be a sign of desperation, of difficulty grouping or scoring with darts at treble 20, as an indication of a conscious strategy change.
Van Veen seems to have arrived at a sweet spot of accuracy and efficiency - when it is working right, even the greatest prodigy in darts is unable to keep up.
Follow Christopher on Twitter @ochepedia