Finding the perfect darts: When should you change and test different sets of darts and how do we know we have the right ones?

In his latest column, former major winner Paul Nicholson, who is also a leading coach in the game, explains why finding the right set is so important for all players at any level while he also takes you through each segment of the dart and the benefits of various styles.

The Asset hopes his advice can help you work out what’s best for you – and how to go through the testing process.

How often should a player change their darts

This all depends on how much the individual plays darts. If it’s someone who goes down to the club once or twice a week or does a bit of practice at home here and there, they won’t be doing anywhere near as much damage to the tungsten, stems and flights as a professional would.

Any of the world’s top players will be practicing for many more hours in comparison to a local league player but this is why tungsten is used for darts because it’s very durable.

A top pro’s darts can last 10-15 years and we’ve seen that with someone as high profile as Michael van Gerwen before he went to Winmau and we all know how much of a challenge that was for him choosing a new set to rely on.

His old barrel was exactly the same for 10 years and won him so many trophies – it’s no wonder he didn’t ever change them in that time. He didn’t get a newer version of the same barrel – it was literally the same barrel for all that time.

We compare it to the Scotty Cameron putter that Tiger Woods used for so many of his major wins.

It was a mental thing for Michael because they felt so natural in his hands and he believed they would win him trophies.

By contrast many other players will change their darts once every three or four months. At one point in my career I was changing them once every three weeks because the grip structure eroded very quickly and I wanted a fresh set all the time.

How do you know what dart is right for you?

Obviously there are lots of different styles of darts out there so for many casual players it’s going to be difficult to try many of them out and truly discover what works best for them. After all, buying lots of sets of darts isn’t cheap, especially if you don’t end up using some of them!

It’s hard enough as a pro and they obviously have access to a lot more!

Everyone has to go through a trial and error process, working out what feels best and how much grip they need. Then you have to experiment and track your practice performance.

The biggest problem, however, is when casual players will just go and buy what their favourite player uses, like a football fan buying their team’s replica shirt.

It probably doesn’t suit them.

Eric Bristow’s dart in the 1980s was probably the most popular ever produced and many darts have since mimicked it. That dart was pencil style with a cylindrical barrel, weighs about 22g and doesn’t have a lot of grip on it so many people feel they can use that one.

Over the last 10-15 years we’ve overcomplicated the dart because everyone has got more picky. So we’ve got so many different grip structures, shapes and weights. It’s confused what a beginner should use.

Do enough players try to discover if they are playing with the right darts?

I think there are a lot of players out there who aren’t sure that they ‘should’ use.

They might think they are using the right darts but if there was a workshop available to them to use for an hour, they might find something more suitable.

Luke Humphries looked into it a lot and knew exactly what he needed two years ago – barrel, points, stems - and when he found that, his career started to soar.

I think Peter Wright is confused because he can throw so well with lots of different types of darts, he struggles to stick with one set!

I’m convinced that if James Wade went to a workshop and looked at all elements of his darts one more time, he might unlock something – even if very subtle - that would help him become even more formidable than he already his.

He’s not playing badly at all, but he’s never changed anything in his darts and our throws all evolve over time. Just look at Phil Taylor and how he found another level with a different style of darts when he analysed his throw more.

Grip and barrels

My grip pattern was very sharp and thin so collisions would chip away at it quite easily whereas someone like van Gerwen has a smoother barrel that didn’t erode in the same way. Smooth barrels last a lot longer.

Grip structure is predominantly on the barrels but these days some players will have some on the points – or even the stems – if they prefer their fingers positioned there.

Choosing smooth or grippier barrels is all personal preference because a lot of it depends on what your hands are like. A lot of players who have manual jobs might have rougher hands and prefer something different to someone with smoother hands. There’s no right or wrong choice to make.

How long should a dart be?

We tend to have a normal length of darts and most of them are the same.

However, Phil Taylor used shorter fatter darts towards the end of his career while someone like Peter Wright uses a longer one. It’s about ¾ of a cm longer than mine at the end, which for a dart is quite a difference.

It all depends on how you throw the dart and what weight you want in the middle portion. There is a lot of science surrounding the length of barrel and weight of barrel but it’s not easy to find what works for you.

I don’t think I found the right barrel until I was 29 – and even then it was by accident. I was at the Australian Masters with my friend Paul Bithell in 2007 and he’d got a set of James Wade’s new darts and said I should have a go. The moment I threw them I knew I needed my own set and I firmly believe they changed my life.

I found a level of comfort with the barrel, stem and flight that gave me the confidence I needed to believe I could be a world class player. Because of those darts I wouldn’t have moved back to England, wouldn’t have made it as a professional and wouldn’t be writing this column!

It’s life-changing to find the right darts and you can’t reach the same standards with every different type of darts.

Some players wouldn’t have stayed at the top of the game if they hadn’t had access to certain manufacturers giving them expertise and a wide variety of equipment to try. Or would they have found their best level of darts had they stuck with an inferior model? I don’t think so.

Phil Taylor wouldn’t have hit those two nine-darters in the 2010 Premier League had he not gone to the shorter stumpier barrel and the smaller flight. The expertise he got from the boffin at unicorn who gave him the insight into ballistics to try this dart - AFTER he’d already fiddled with a set of John Lowe darts – was integral and the level he reached was incredible.

That was the best part of his career and he wouldn’t have enjoyed so much success with the pencil darts, because they were more unpredictable.

They ain’t heavy, they’re my darts

Everyone talks about weight and it is a big thing. I changed from 20g to 22g last year because I felt I needed a bit extra weight in the air for the dart to carry. It took around six months to adjust but I felt I needed it.

Most players’ darts will weigh around 22g but there will be some who go for very light or heavy. The hand must have the right weight in it for the throw to be natural – it can’t be forced and you can’t be holding back. You shouldn’t ever need to put any extra body weight into it.

A 32g dart feels very natural to Ryan Searle and if you put Stephen Bunting’s darts in his hands, for example, it wouldn’t! And vice versa – Stephen would struggle with a heavy dart.

It’s all a process of elimination so you must start in the middle at 22g, then work your way up or down.

Don’t forget the real point of the points

Points didn’t used to be such a big thing. It was just a point and they were pretty much all the same for every dart.

Now they’re a hot topic thanks largely to Simon Whitlock, who has been making points with various household items.

It was actually Gary Anderson who brought the grip point to market about 15 years ago. It was a black point with a few white rings at the top and it allowed him to put his finger on the point and get a bit of grip. It was revolutionary.

Now we have so many different points to choose from for many different reasons.

However, in my opinion, they are just fashion items. If you don’t hold the point with any part of your hand, you don’t need grip on it. I’ve always had my middle finger on the point so having grip has helped me.

If you don’t have problems getting the darts to stick in the board then you don’t need grip on it.

Young kids coming into the game have loads of fancy points and they don’t need them! It’s pointless.

Stemming the tide

Michael Smith doesn’t have any grip on his stem but I wouldn’t be surprised if he puts some on one day because he holds a bit of it as well as the barrel.

He’s not the only one who does this and Winmau have put three rings at the bottom of their Prism stem to allow people to have that grip.

Stems aren’t just about length and grip, they’re about weight too.

There’s different types made out of plastic, carbon fibre and aluminium so if you change them, you will affect the whole weight of the darts structure and the balance.

The longer the stem, you are putting more weight at the end of the dart and it affects the flight.

Ryan Murray is known for a small dart with a long stem and a small flight. His darts go in really steep. But Peter Wright has long barrel, short stem and a big flight.

Which flight club are you in?

The smaller the flight, the faster it flies. As simple as that.

If you look at someone with a kite, slims or pear-shaped flight, it will go really fast.

Most of the players with a PDC Tour card will have a standard shaped larger flight. Why? Because they want more forgiveness in the air and give it a chance to become stabilised. The bigger flight gives them that.

The best players can use the smaller flights – like Jonny Clayton - because they have more control than other players but they will generally opt for the standard larger ones.

How long should you stick with one set when trialling them?

Three months. It’s that simple. You could easily switch darts and in the first two weeks score really heavily but it will take six to eight weeks before the doubling and combinations start to embed themself into your game.

In order for you to change something fundamental like equipment and find out if improvements are sustainable, then three months is essential, and you’ve got to stick with it. Don’t change back after a week if it’s not instantly going well. I say that to my clients.

However, there are lots of parts of a dart you might want to trial – like we’ve discussed. The weight, the length, the barrel and stems. That’s a lot of testing time.

The elite will have the right access and expertise available to them to stand a better chance of finding the right darts, but not the casual player.

It’s amazing the big manufactures in this country are yet to open a big darts superstore where you can walk in a try lots of different darts – like you can in the leading golf stores when deciding what clubs you want.

In Japan they have a culture where you walk into a darts shop and don’t leave until you’ve found the right one! There are dartboards in there where you can have fun and stay as long as you like practicing. It’s similar in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands but not over here. Vincent van der Voort has a darts shop where you can do all of this!

The darts shop culture in this country is embarrassing in comparison for me.

There’s more people who play darts in this country than golf – I think – but there’s hardly any custom fitting for amateurs. The professionals get their darts custom fitted, but everyone else buys the darts that have been custom fitted for them! I see local players using the wrong kit all the time.

Phil Taylor’s darts were so unusual at times throughout his career and you thought ‘nobody will want to use this?’ But they were really popular in shops because people just assumed that if he could play well with them, so would they. But I can’t use a Phil Taylor dart to save my life! I stumbled across a James Wade dart that worked for me – so just how much better would people be with the right dart in their hand.

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