Choose darts in this order: the tip first (steel tip for bristle boards, soft tip for electronic boards), then the weight within your rule set's limit, then the barrel (material, shape and grip), then shafts and flights. There is no "best dart for beginners" that a rule book or study backs up. What works is throwing a few sets and keeping the one you score best with, and a scoring app can measure that for you.
| Rule set | Tip | Maximum weight | Maximum length |
|---|---|---|---|
| WDF (1.01), ADO (56), DDV (§3(3)) | steel ("metallic needle shaped point") | 50 g per dart | 12 in (30.5 cm) |
| NDA, US soft tip leagues | plastic tip | 20 g, "total weight includes the flight, tip, shaft, barrel" | 8 in from tip to end of flight |
| DSAB, German soft tip leagues | "elastische Kunststoffspitzen" (flexible plastic) | 21 g including 5% tolerance (since season 2/2019) | 16.8 cm (6.6 in) |
Steel tip or soft tip: the board decides
Steel tip darts are for bristle boards (and the cheaper cork and paper boards); soft tip darts are for electronic boards. The NDA's soft tip rules also require "plastic-tip darts" that are "standard factory issue for electronic darting". Which board you play on is covered in types of dartboards, and how the two games differ in steel tip vs soft tip.
If you play on both, keep two sets. The weight limits differ, so a soft tip set is lighter by rule.
How to pick a dart weight
The rule books set a ceiling, not a recommendation. None of the documents we read (WDF, DRA, DDV, ADO, NDA, DSAB) suggests a weight for beginners, and we found no study that shows one weight works best. So test instead of guessing:
- Throw two or three different weights if you can: borrow sets at a club or pub, or try them in a shop.
- Keep everything else the same: same board, same routine, same number of darts.
- Compare your numbers, not your feeling after five darts. A set that feels good at first is not always the one you score best with.
Wikipedia notes one link between the parts: "Generally speaking, a heavier dart will require a larger flight."
Barrel material: brass, nickel-silver or tungsten
According to Wikipedia, barrels "are usually constructed from brass, nickel-silver, or a tungsten alloy":
- Brass is cheap but light, so brass barrels "tend to be very bulky".
- Tungsten "is twice as dense as brass", so a tungsten barrel of the same weight is slimmer, which lets darts sit closer together in the board. Pure tungsten is brittle, so darts use an alloy of "between 80 and 95 percent tungsten", the rest usually nickel, iron or copper.
- Nickel-silver is "a compromise between density and cost".
A higher tungsten share (for example 95 instead of 90 percent) means a denser alloy, because tungsten is the densest part of it, so the barrel can be a little slimmer at the same weight.
Barrel shape and grip
Wikipedia describes three basic shapes:
| Shape | What it is | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Cylindrical | the same diameter all along | long and thin, center of gravity further back |
| Ton | thin at both ends, thicker in the middle | thicker, center of gravity further forward |
| Torpedo | widest at the point end, tapering back | weight as far forward as possible |
The surface of the barrel differs too: smooth, or cut with rings or knurling so your fingers do not slip. None of the rule books regulates grip. Hold the dart the way you throw it and check that your fingers find the same place every time; grip and stance are covered in how to throw darts.
Steel points also vary: Wikipedia gives two common lengths, 32 and 41 mm, some "knurled or coated to improve players' grip", and some designed to retract slightly on impact so the dart bounces out less often.
Shafts and flights
- Shafts come in different lengths and in plastic, nylon, aluminum or titanium, rigid or flexible. Longer shafts give more stability and allow smaller flights, but shift the weight back (Wikipedia).
- Flights stabilize the dart. The three most common shapes, from large to small, are standard, kite and pear. Less surface means less stability, but large flights make close grouping harder (Wikipedia).
Shafts and flights are cheap and easy to swap, so they are the simplest way to fine-tune a set you already own. Check the NDA's flight limits if you play soft tip in the US: no wider than ¾ inch and no more than four wings.
A checklist before you buy
- [ ] Tip matches your board (steel for bristle, soft for electronic).
- [ ] Weight is within your rule set's limit (see the table above).
- [ ] You have thrown the weight at least once, not only held it.
- [ ] You know the material: brass, nickel-silver or a tungsten alloy with its percentage.
- [ ] The grip of the barrel suits the way you hold a dart.
- [ ] Spare flights and shafts fit the set.
We do not recommend brands or models: we have not tested them, and the rules only set limits, not quality.
Test your sets with Darts Counter
Numbers beat feelings when you compare darts. In Darts Counter you can set this up in a minute:
- Create one player per set, for example "Alex 22 g" and "Alex 24 g".
- Play the same routine with each, for example a series of 501 legs, and enter every dart.
- Open Statistics and pick both players. The app shows them side by side: 3-dart average, darts per leg, highest score, 60+, 100+ and 140+ visits, and darts on doubles and trebles.
- Check where the darts land in the hit heatmap, part of Advanced statistics (unlock with a short video, a one-time purchase or Darts Counter Plus).
Give each set enough legs before you decide: over a handful of legs, a gap of a few points in the average can be chance. Darts Counter calculates the average as the mean of your leg averages, which is fine for comparing two sets against each other; how to calculate your darts average explains the difference to the total-points method.
You can count all games for free.
Sources
Written by FLAME Apps, maker of Darts Counter since 2015. Checked 2026-09-25.
- WDF Playing and Tournament Rules, 20th revised edition, rule 1.01
- ADO Tournament Rules Booklet, rule 56
- DDV Sport- und Wettkampfordnung, §3(3) (German)
- NDA Rules, dart equipment specifications
- DSAB-Liga-Regeln 2016, rule 1.4.2 with the 2019 weight change (German)
- Wikipedia: Darts, section "Equipment: Darts"
- Keep reading: types of dartboards, darts rules
