Getting started in darts

What you need

Decide early whether you're playing steel tip or soft tip. Steel-tip darts go in a bristle board and are what pubs, leagues and the TV game use in the US, the UK and Europe. Soft-tip darts have plastic points and are thrown at electronic boards that score for you, common in American bars and across Asia. The darts aren't interchangeable between the two boards.

Choosing your darts

A dart has four parts, and each changes how it feels and flies:

• Barrel: the part you hold, and where nearly all the weight is. Its weight, shape and grip matter most.
• Shaft (or stem): screws into the barrel and holds the flight. Length changes how the dart sits in the air.
• Flight: the fins at the back that keep the dart straight.
• Point: steel for bristle boards, plastic for electronic ones.

Weight. Most players throw steel-tip darts between 20 g and 26 g; 22–24 g is a good place to start if you don't know. Steel-tip darts can legally weigh up to 50 g but very few people go above 30 g. Soft-tip darts are lighter, usually 16–20 g, and leagues often cap them around 20 g so they don't damage the boards.

The higher the tungsten percentage, the slimmer a barrel can be at the same weight. Slimmer barrels leave more room for the next dart in the treble 20, which is why serious players use them.

Shape and grip. Straight barrels are the most common and the easiest to get used to. Torpedo barrels put the weight toward the front, and bomb or front-loaded shapes even more so. Grip is the texture cut into the barrel: knurled, ringed, shark-fin or smooth. If your fingers slip, go grippier; if the dart sticks as you release it, go smoother.

Shafts and flights

Shafts and flights are cheap, wear out and are where most players fine-tune. Buy spares from the start.

• Shaft material: nylon is cheap and snaps rather than bending; aluminum is stronger but can work loose; carbon and composite shafts sit between the two. Spinning shafts rotate when hit, so a dart in the board is less likely to knock the next one out.
• Shaft length: short, intermediate and medium are the common sizes. Shorter shafts suit a flatter, firmer throw; longer ones suit a lofted throw. Start with short or intermediate.
• Flight shape: the standard shape gives the most lift and stability and suits most beginners. Kite, pear and slim shapes have less surface area, so the dart flies faster and flatter.
• Integrated systems: molded flights like Cosmo's Fit Flight and L-style's Champagne flights lock on to their own shafts and come off far less often. They're worth a look once you're tired of picking flights up off the floor.

Choosing a dartboard

For steel-tip darts, get a bristle board: compressed sisal fibers that close up after each dart comes out. Avoid paper, cork and coiled-paper boards, which wear out within weeks.

The difference between a cheap and a good bristle board is mostly the wiring, the metal spider that divides the segments. Thicker, round wire with staples holding it on deflects more darts into bounce-outs. Modern boards use thin, triangular or blade-shaped wire fixed without staples, so more darts land in the segment they hit.

• Rotate the board every so often. The 20 and the treble 20 take most of the wear; turning the board a segment or two moves that wear around. On most boards the number ring lifts off so the 20 stays at the top.
• Don't soak it. Wetting a bristle board was an old pub trick and it ruins modern ones: the fibers swell and the wire rusts.
• Electronic boards score automatically and are good for families and soft-tip players, but the segments are plastic and full of holes for the points, so the game feels different.

Setting up your board

Measure the oche distance along the floor from a point directly below the face of the board, not the wall: the board itself sticks out an inch or so. The diagonal measurement is the best check that everything is right.

• Surround: a foam or rubber ring that fits around the board. Missed darts hit it instead of the wall and the points stay sharp. Worth it in any home.
• Lighting: overhead room lights cast shadows from your darts across the segments you're aiming at. A ring light that mounts around the board, like Target's Corona Vision or Winmau's Plasma, lights it evenly from every side.
• Oche mat: a mat with the throw line printed on it saves your floor and marks the distance for you. Tape works just as well.
• Cabinet: a wooden cabinet hides the board and often holds a scoreboard. It looks nice, but it does less to protect the wall than a surround.

Brands to know

Most of the darts world is made by a handful of brands, and most of them make everything from darts to boards and lighting. Any of these is a safe place to start.

For a first set, a 90% tungsten dart from any of the big names in the 22–24 g range is hard to go wrong with. Pair it with a bladed bristle board from Winmau, Target, Unicorn or Mission and you have the same gear you'd find in most pubs and leagues.

Your first practice

Once the board is up, start with games that teach you the board rather than the math. Around the World takes you round every number in order; Bob's 27 builds your doubles. When you're ready for a real game, play 501: most leagues play 501 and Cricket.

Keep track of your scores from the start. Your three-dart average after a month is the best way to see whether a new set of darts, a new shaft or a change in your throw is actually helping.