Choosing a dart

Here's what you need to know about choosing a suitable dart!

Choosing the right darts may require a bit of trial and error. The best dart suitable for you may also change over time as you improve. Here some tips and guidelines for a start!

Weight

Basically a heavier dart will suit a more relaxed throw, while a lighter dart would suit some one who wants to put more effort in. Often ladies will choose a heavier dart to get more power but this is not always the case.

Soft tip dart weights range from 14gms to 20gms. Beginners might want to start with a 18g Soft Tip Dart

Grip

Smooth hands call for a smoother grip, rough hands more rougher grip - but again its preference.

Knurled Grip - Commonly a criss-cross pattern.

Precision Grip - Often placed for consistant finger positioning, this is similar to the micro grip but even finer creating a rough grippy surface.

Ringed Grip - Multiple rings provides a no slip surface.

Micro Grip  - Very close soft lines or rings forms the micro grip.

Shark fin - Cascading shark fin shapes.

Wave grip - Smooth rings which flow in waves.

Balance

Front, Back of Balanced.
Generally beginners like front loaded darts because if gives a more loop when throwing the dart, or a mid balanced darts.

Brass or Tungsten?

Most dart barrels are made of brass, nickel/silver, or tungsten/nickel alloys.

Beginning darters will typically use brass or nickel/silver darts because they are the least expensive. However, a major objective in darts is developing the ability to put all 3 darts close together in a tight grouping. The thickness of brass and nickel/silver barrels can crowd out following darts, preventing tight groupings and high scores and generally not well balanced. 

The higher the % of tungsten then generally the narrower the dart can be as Tungsten is alloyed with nickel to give it strength. The higher the percentage of tungsten in the barrel, the better the dart. 

Affordable Starter Quality - Brass

Mid Price Range, Great Quality - 80% Tungsten

Higher Price Range, Best Quality - 90% Tungsten

Shaft/Stem Length - Short or Long?

Using different length shafts will change the way the dart fly’s. There isn’t a best shaft to use as this is personal preference.

All darters will have their own preference in shaft length and type, plastic, metal & nylon.
When choosing a dart, it is best to try it first. As there are not many dedicated dart shops around it isn’t always possible to throw them in the store at a practise board. But if you know anyone that plays asked if they will allow you to have a throw of their darts, this way you are more likely to find a weight that suits you. Choosing a shaft to go with the dart can be as equally as difficult as choosing a dart

Short shafts tend to move the centre of gravity of the dart towards the front end of the barrel. For good throwing most dart throwers hold their darts at this point so if you hold your darts at the front end of the barrel the short shafts might be best suited to your throw. Long shaft will effectively move the centre of gravity of the dart towards the back, so if you throw your darts holding them at the back of the dart a long shaft my suit you better than short shafts.

Shafts can be made from several different materials, if you use aluminium shafts it is always best to add a rubber washer to the threaded end to prevent the shaft undoing while in use. Plastic shafts don’t require washers, but if you are playing on a floor with a hard surface beware, should you be unfortunate to have a bounce out hard surfaces can break shafts leaving the screwed end firmly in the barrel of the dart. Nylon shaft are less likely to break in this way.

Two top professionals worth viewing here are John Lowe and Phil Taylor, both of these players have won the world darts championship and both use totally different darts, shafts and flights


Flights Shapes & Texture

All the variations in flight style serves a purpose and picking the right flights can really help improve your score! So, why different dart flight styles?

Generally speaking, smaller and smoother flights will allow darts to cut through the air faster with less drag, yet they will be less forgiving to variations in angle of attack. Conversely, bigger, more textured flights will make darts fly slower through the air with more drag and they will be more forgiving to variations in angle.

The two most common flight shapes are Standard and Slim.

Standard Flights - Gives maximum leverage to the flight mechanism because of its larger area. Probably the most common dart flight and also one of the largest. Standard flights should be used if you throw with less force or like to "lob" your darts at the board. You may also want to use standard flights if your darts are heavier, or if you are using a longer shafts. Heavier darts require less force to stick in the dart board and larger flights will help keep darts aloft for longer with a lighter throw. Standard flights can also help to straighten and stabilize the path of a dart in the air. If your darts are consistently sticking in the board with the flight angled to the floor, you may want to increase the size of your flights. The added drag from larger flights will push the shaft of the dart upwards, helping to correct a downward angle. Ideally, you want your darts to hit the board at a perfectly flat angle, or with the flight pointing slightly upwards, not more than 5-10 degrees. Additionally, as longer shafts can have a tendency to "fish-tail" through the air, darts with longer shafts may benefit from the stabilizing effect of larger dart flights.

Slim Flights - Designed for the fast-flying dart and allows the tail to stay low. Smaller than standard flights, slim flights are good if you like to throw harder, want to avoid "lobbing" your darts or if you use lighter darts or short shafts. Soft tip darters may benefit from using slim flights because soft tip darts are generally lighter, thus requiring a harder throw to stick in the board. Additionally, if your darts stick in the board at a high, upward angle (greater than 10 degrees) you may want to switch to a smaller flight like a slim. Smaller flights will help reduce drag in the air, allowing the end of the dart to drop slightly in flight. Finally, slim flights will help reduce the chances of bounce-outs and damaged flights from tight groupings, especially if your darts have short shafts.

Kite Flights - Has a smaller area, thus giving the dart faster flying speed. 

Teardrop / Pear Flights - Allows maximum lift from a small flight and helps keep the tail of the dart down.

Lantern / Fantail Flights - Similar to the kite shape, slightly more back heavy trajectory.

Other Flight Shapes - There is a large variety of flight shapes including Combat, Heart, Triad, V-Wing, Shape or Small Standard, Vortex, etc. These shapes range from larger than standard to smaller than slim.

When choosing from the less common flight styles just remember:
-  Larger flights are better for: softer throws or "lobs" heavier darts longer shafts steel tip darts
-  Smaller flights are better for: harder or straighter throws lighter darts shorter shafts soft tip darts

Smooth vs. Textured Flights - Smoother flights will drag less through the air while textured flights will drag more heavily through the air. If you find that your darts are flying just a tiny bit differently than what you want, you might try changing to a coarser or smoother texture while staying with the same shape.

Remember to properly spread your flights before throwing your darts. You will want the fins of all your flights to stand at exactly 90 degrees to one another, otherwise you will not enjoy the full benefit of the flight!

We hope this information has been helpful and gives you an idea of what to look out for when choosing your darts. Ultimately experimentation will still be the best way to discover the perfect set of darts for your style!

Happy darting with SG Happy Darts! :)