Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target (dartboard) fixed to a wall.[2] Though various different boards and games have been used in the past, the term darts usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules. As well as being a professional competitive activity, darts is a traditional pub game, commonly played in the United Kingdom , across the Commonwealth, the Netherlands, Ireland, the Scandinavian countries, the United States and elsewhere.
Before the First World War, pubs in the United Kingdom had dartboards made from solid blocks of wood, usually elm. They had to be soaked overnight to heal the holes made by the darts, and it was a messy business for the publican, although darts was a popular game. This changed when a company called Nodor, whose primary business was making modelling clay (which has no odor, hence the name Nodor), made a dartboard. Their model of dartboard was not a great success until someone came up with the idea of making a dartboard from sisal fibres. Small bundles of sisal fibres of the same length were bundled together. The bundles were then compressed into a disk and bound with a metal ring. It was an instant success, as the darts did little or no damage to the board—they just parted the fibres when they entered the board; this type of board was more durable and required little maintenance.
A regulation board is 17i 3⁄4 inches (451 mm)[3] in diameter and is divided into 20 radial sections. Each section is separated with metal wire or a thin band of sheet metal. The best dartboards have the thinnest wire, so that the darts have less chance of hitting a wire and bouncing out. The numbers indicating the various scoring sections of the board are also normally made of wire, especially on tournament-quality boards, but may be printed directly on the board instead.
Also, people have different hand and finger sizes, so darts are not one-size-fits-all. That is another reason why it is often hard to pick just the right dart from a catalog or online site. You really need to try the darts before buying. When buying darts, visit a darts shop that has boards setup for trying out the various darts styles available.
