Accurately tossing darts at a dartboard is often challenging, but correctly setting up a regulation space for the board is often just as difficult. If you want to host a darts tournament or attract serious players, you will need to be certain that your dartboard is set up according to professional standards. A dartboard needs to be hung with the bull’s-eye at 5 feet, 8 inches, but the distance from the board to the toe line is also incredibly important in competitive play.

1.Measure the dartboard to ensure it is the correct height. If it is hung incorrectly, you cannot find the toe line with a diagonal measurement.

2.Have a friend secure one end of the tape measure to the bull’s-eye on the board.

3.Stretch the tape measure out and walk away from the dartboard.

The world's best players demand bristle dartboards, and so should you. Applying regular care and maintenance to your dartboard will keep the darts flying and the players happy.

1.Every two weeks, remove the metal number ring from your dartboard.

2.Move the "20" through to the next blank segment. The "20" now becomes the "12," and so on.

3.Repeat the procedure more often or less often as use and wear dictate.

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The dartboard that you have in your local bar, pub or home isn’t that different from those that were first used when the sport of darts was invented. They're both backed and filled with cork and fronted with sisal fibers packed closely together. Sisal fibers come from a large shrub with a thick central trunk called an agave and are closely related to hemp fibers. They are incredibly tough, long lasting and resilient. They're the most effective material for making dartboards, as they can take being pierced or pushed aside countless times by darts. But after a decade of faithful service, that dartboard might be looking a bit worn out. The front of the board may be faded and holes in the front might be visible. But you needn't go out and buy yourself a new dartboard. All you need do is clean the old one.

1.Remove your dartboard from its place on the wall and bring it either outdoors or to a workbench.

2.Remove the wire covering on the front of the dartboard. All bristle dartboards have the scoring zones and point values delineated by wire rims and numbers. Remove it with a screwdriver or it spring it free by working the rim over the metal catches on the sides.

3.Set the wire aside and douse a few rags with some liquid wood polisher, the same kind you would use to polish wood furniture.

4.Work the liquid wood polisher into the front of the board with firm circular strokes. The reason your board may be faded and have holes in it is because the sisal fibers have lost all their moisture. With the loss of moisture they lose their ability to spring backinto place after being compressed or pushed aside by a dart. What you're doing is replacing the fibers' lost moisture. Don't use water for this task as it often causes sisal fibers to swell and will destroy the playing surface of the board. Water on your board can also promote smelly molds and mildews that give off a strong odor.

5.Let the board sit for a day. The next day push a toothpick into the board's face and inspect it. if the board comes out dry then it will require another polishing. Don't polish the board more than once a day or the wood polish will not have chance to soak into the board's fibers and simply leak or sweat out.

6.Repeat polishing the surface as many times as is necessary until the toothpick comes out moist or damp.

7.Place the wire rims back on the dartboard and rehang it back in it original spot. Your dartboard should shine like new.

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Hard-tip darts, with metal points, require a board that will allow the metal points to penetrate and remain in a scoring area. Metal tip darts are usually thrown at bristle boards. Proper care will extend the life of an expensive bristle board and keep it in top condition whether it's used for competitions or just leisurely fun at home.

1.Understand how bristle boards are made. Bristle board construction begins with long ropes of tightly bound sisal fibers 2-inches in diameter, wrapped in light-weight paper.Biscuits about 1 1/2-inches thick are sliced from the ropes. Many biscuits are glued to a round sheet of particle board and tightly compressed with a permanent metal band. This process arranges the sisal fibers at right angles to the backer board. The face of the biscuits is sanded and painted in a prescribed pattern. A movable wire divider called a “spider” delineates scoring areas is attached to the face of the board.

2.Rotate the bristle board frequently. This reduces and distributes the wear in the highest scoring areas of the dart board. Remove the wire number ring. A bristle board is mounted on a centered pivot point. Rotate the board clockwise so the next black section is at the top of the board. Replace the number ring with 20 at the top and the bristle board is ready for play. Rotate as often as once a week, depending on the amount of play on your board.

3.Brush the face of the bristle board daily with a soft paintbrush to remove dust and bits of sisal that are pulled from the board.

4.Spray the surface of the board very lightly about once a week. In climates with very hot, low humidity, bristle boards tend to dry out. Do not over-spray as this will cause the board to swell up and cause the spider to bind.

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Playing virtual darts requires only that you have a virtual darts video game to play on your computer or online. You can purchase one at your local electronics store or online,or you can play for free online, with no downloads or software installation needed.

1.Go to Free Downloads Center or File Buzz for free downloadable virtual darts games. 2D Play and Ababa Soft both offer online virtual darts games that do not require an account or any downloads. If you choose to download a game, download the game and install it onto your computer.

2.Open your downloaded game. To play one of the online games, you don't need to open any extra programs. With the 2D Play game, you'll have to press the "Play" button to start playing.

3.Throw the dart onto the board. Where the dart lands on the board will determine your score. For example, with the Ababa Soft game, you'll throw the dart by clicking and holding the mouse, dragging the dart in the direction that you want to throw it, and then releasing the mouse. The Ababa Soft game starts you with 501 points, and you throw your darts until that score reaches 0. With the 2D Play game, you throw the dart by placing your cursor in the direction you want to aim the dart. Click on the mouse to get a power bar, then click again when the power bar fills to your liking. Then the dart will fly out toward the board. You have a target, such as the number 10, and you want to get that target to score.

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Dart players often complain that they have been very tensed at crucial points of a match and have therefore been unable to take what after all seemed to be a big opportunity for a win or a good chance to fight back. You all know these ugly situations of being on this nice double 16 in the deciding leg, three darts in your hand, but it simply must be in 'cause you are down and out if you fail. Nerves are coming in. Your hand is shaking, your knees feel like melted butter in the sun, and you praise God or Buddha for just this dart to go in - but God is out for dinner at the moment, Buddha is having a meditation on his own, and so you blunder. Your opponent goes on with a smile on his face and kills his dirty 60 points left with two straight darts.

Later you think what was going on with you. If you would have been up with two legs you would have hit that double 16 nearly blind. Bloody nerves you say, and you are right. It's all a matter of thinking.

If you go there with the thought on your mind that you HAVE TO HIT 'cause else you will be lost, the chance is big that you will miss. It's that simple and that hard: Don't think of winning or losing. Simply think of PLAYING. When I got to such an important point in a match I quietly said to myself: simply play. Don't waste one single thought in the whole match on losing. Strike out this word in your mental dictionary, you won't need it in play. Learn to control your thinking. Whenever you get aware of such a *negative* thought during a game give yourself a short mental rest and say "Stop!". Raise your shoulders, take a breath and stand up the ochy in full concentration with only one thing on your mind: Play. That's enough for most situations where you feel tensed.

But sometimes your hand won't stop shaking and you can't find a focus on the board. If the situation is that hard I want to introduce you to a simple relaxation exercise which only requires a little practice. It is called "The Quiet Place".

Take yourself ten minutes of time, as often as you can. The best would be each day, at least once a week. Sit down and relax. Now with one hand press the thumb of the other hand. Think about a quiet place you like. This can be a tropical island where you lay down in the sun, that confortable chair in your living room or anything else you find quiet and relaxing. Keep this thought for about five or ten minutes, and keep your thumb pressed during this time. If you repeat this exercise regularly you will later only need to press the thumb of your hand at these nerve - shaking moments in a match and all tension will be gone.

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In every point of the throw you must stay perfectly balanced. This will be tricky for beginners and force them to start at a lower angle without leaning forward much.

Weight distribution: Your weight will mainly rest on your forward foot (stance foot), while your behind foot (balance foot) will, well, just hold enough weight to perfectly balance your stance. Remember, no matter which weight distribution you use, your stance must be rock-solid. Don't jump with your forward foot, it must always stay flat on the floor.

 Leaning forward: The more you lean forward the nearer you will get to the board (think that's why we do it, huh?), but the more physically demanding and unstable your throw will be. If you lean forward too much you will soon find yourself with serious back problems, especially when you combine it with sharp hip-bend. To keep yourself healthy use leaning forward wisely. Most pros have found a good compromize on this, and so should you. For advice just ask Bob Anderson about his back surgery.

Balance: Your balance leg is responsible for this work. Lifting it during the throw is not recommended, although it does by some pros, but these players have such a perfect balance they will still beat you with only one foot on the ground. Again, don't 'jump' when throwing - 'one foot on the floor' is not only a billiards rule. Highly recommended for darts players, too. Your balance foot shouldn't be flat on the ground (only okay for beginners), just the toes should touch it.

Torso: Your stance must guarantee that your body doesn't move at all when throwing. Remember the fixed shoulder joint of chapter 1. Don't arch your back, keep your spine straight. Your body must be strained, but your arm must stay relaxed.

As a summary, stance is the least difficult, but an important matter. Don't start with a frontal stance, this will disturb all other technical necessities, and you will find yourself struggling sooner or later.

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We get this when we look at the aiming position. When we aim we put the target, the dart and the eye in one line. When we throw we should try to put the 3-lever system of the arm in a 2-dimensional plain. This reduces the margin of error by eliminating sideway movements of the arm. Thus it's easy to work out that we won't get happy with a frontal stance whith both feet touching the throwing line. Maybe this would be more comfortable, but we can't use it.

In an optimum stance the soulders and the board form a 90 degrees angle, and so does the line from the forward foot to the behind foot. But most people find this highly uncomfortable or even impossible. So we have to find a compromise.

The shoulder angle: It defines the stance. You should try to get close to the perfect 90 degrees, but not with an absolute sacrifice of throwing comfort. Proper angles start from approx. 50 to 80 degrees. The exact value here is your personal compromise.

The feet angle: The feet angle simply follows the shoulder angle, otherwise you will fall on the floor. Bang!

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To illustrate the wide variaty of grips, some examples from the pros. Note that the grip, as written above, also partly results from the preferred barrel shape, and vice versa:

Pencil - Phil Taylor: Phil holds the dart in the common pencil-grip. This grip is as good or as bad as any other one, as long as you can keep the dart pointing forward and not too much sideways. The pencil grip is the second most used after the lot of basic grip variations. It usually requires a thin cylindrical barrel, like used by Phil.

  Wide open hand - Dennis Priestley: Dennis used to keep his fingers in a nearly vertical shape and does all the required stabilization only by his thumb. He closed the hand a bit more when I last saw him an video, but he is still the one with the most open hand I know. The grip looks very loose, a good advantage when it comes to exact release, but also a good chance to lose control in accelerating. How he maintains his touch with this grip is a complete miracle to me and seems to be only known by him. When I tried this grip I actually had problems hitting the board. He is either naturally gifted with it, or he has worked on it for years. A grip on the extreme side. Dennis uses a thicker more ton shaped barrel, somewhere between Phil Taylor and John Lowe.

Small finger on the tip - Eric Bristow: Eric in his brilliant years used to keep his small finger wide away from the others, touching the tip of the dart. Long cylindric barrel. His grip is one variation of the basic grip, not the best, not the worst. Less talented players might struggle with it.

Three fingers - John Lowe: John uses a ton shaped rather thick and short dart, so the 3 finger grip develops natural because more fingers hardly find the space to touch the barrel. Should be considered as a standard grip for this kind of darts.
Small finger spread away - Rod Harrington: Rod uses a long and thin barrel as it becomes usual more and more when standards and accuracy of the game improve. He uses the basic grip and spreads his small finger away vertically, while the others touch the barrel. A grip that seems very logic to me, I use a similiar one, on quite the same barrel.

Holding the dart on the front end - Bob Anderson: Bob holds the dart way before the center of gravity, just a bit behind the tip. This is unusual, as most players will struggle to develop a good touch for the throw when doing this. Bob 'pulls' the dart more than he throws it. His overall throw is faster than most others and it actually seems as if he permanently is in a hurry. Lots of wrist action. He uses a pencil derived grip which seems logic with this extreme technique, and a pretty long cylindric barrel. Not the grip to recommend, but a sophisticated technique for a man who throws a very dynamic dart.

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Solid but not tensed. The grip must be firm, but it must not strain your finger muscles. If your fingers get white from pressure or the knurling digs into your fingertips, this is too much. If your muscles are that strained you have problems in release and all along the throw, this is too much. Darts is a game of touch, not force. To maintain your touch hold the dart loose enough it doesn't slip away, but hold it firm enough to keep control when accelerating. Typical error is rather holding the dart too firm than too loose.

How many fingers? An often asked question, and it can't be answered in general. At least 3 fingers (thumb + 2), maximum all 5. All fingers should touch the barrel or the point, no finger shall touch the shaft or even the flight. A 2 finger (thumb +1) grip gives not enough control, so 3 at least. More fingers give more control in acceleration and more touch, but it makes the release more difficult as more fingers have to be coordinated. Finger coordination in release is a key point for a grip. You have to make sure that no finger can give the dart an unlucky 'kick' in release to slip it out of position at the last moment. This leads directly to the next point:
Barrel shape: Not all kinds of grips are usable on different kinds of barrels. So it's obvious that longer barrels force a more finger grip, while less fingers must be used for short barrels (well, that's just simple-minded reasoning). Not only do you have to find your right grip, you also have to find your right barrel. These things can of course only be seen combined, and reversely. Just another issue of personal preference.

No fist! What to do with fingers not involved in the grip? The best is to spread them away, or keep them in the same position as the other fingers. It's bad e.g. if you hold the dart with 4 fingers (thumb + 3) and the small finger touches the palm like when making a fist. What happens is that the other fingers will suffer from muscle strain and will tend to a fist more than to the open hand required for a nice release. This will improve the chance of the unlucky finger 'kick' mentioned above, and it also tends to pointing the dart downwards, which we have already discovered as very bad.

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