Measure first, then practice one thing at a time, and check the number that belongs to it. Scoring shows in your 3-dart average and your 100+ visits; finishing shows in your darts per leg and how often you hit a double; your grouping shows in where your darts land. Change one thing, play the same format again, and compare over many legs, not one evening.
| You want to improve | Measure it with | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| Scoring | 3-dart average, 60+, 100+ and 140+ visits | visits at the treble 20 bed |
| Finishing | darts per leg, highest checkout | legs of 501 double out |
| Doubles | doubles hit against darts at doubles | one double at a time, then in legs |
| Darts math | busts, how often you leave an odd number | subtraction and checkout routes |
| Grouping | where your darts land (heatmap) | a single target, same stance every time |
No rule book or study we found prescribes a practice method, so the drills below are our suggestions, built on the rules and on arithmetic we checked. This is the starting page for practice on our site; if you are completely new, begin with darts for beginners.
1. Get the setup right
Practice at the distance you will play at, or your numbers will not compare: the bull 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) high and the throw line 7 ft 9¼ in (2.37 m) from the board face for steel tip (WDF 6.01, 6.02; ADO 62). How to measure it, and the soft tip figures, are on dartboard height and distance.
2. Take a baseline
Play a fixed block of legs in the standard format, 501 straight in and double out (WDF 2.01, 2.02), and write down three numbers: your 3-dart average, your darts per leg and your number of 100+ visits. We suggest at least 10 legs, because one leg alone says little. The US soft tip body NDA, which rates players by points per dart, only gives a skill rating after "a minimum of 24 league games" in a season (NDA, Official Skill Rating Procedure).
How the average is calculated, including busts and short checkouts, is in how to calculate your 3-dart average. Why we compare you with your own numbers rather than with published bands is in what is a good darts average?
3. Scoring: the treble 20 bed
Treble 20 is the highest single dart, 60, which is why 180 is the highest visit. Its neighbors on the board are 5 and 1 (ADO board diagram), so a dart that drifts sideways from the 20 costs points.
A scoring drill we suggest:
- Throw 10 visits of three darts at the 20 bed.
- Add up the points and divide by 10. That is your 3-dart scoring average for the drill.
- Repeat it at the start of each session and note the number.
Compare it with the 3-dart average from your legs: if the drill number rises and your leg average does not, look at your finishing next.
4. Doubles and checkouts
Every leg of 501 double out ends on a double or the bull (WDF 2.02), so your doubles decide how many darts a leg takes. Two things help.
Know which leaves forgive a miss. If you aim at a double and hit the single inside it, you are left with half the score. Some even numbers keep splitting into doubles; others turn odd after one miss. We worked it out for all even scores up to 40:
| You have left | Aim at | Missed into the single, you still have a double on |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | D16 | 16 (D8), then 8 (D4), 4 (D2), 2 (D1) |
| 16 | D8 | 8 (D4), 4 (D2), 2 (D1) |
| 8 | D4 | 4 (D2), 2 (D1) |
| 40 | D20 | 20 (D10), 10 (D5) |
| 24 | D12 | 12 (D6), 6 (D3) |
| 4 | D2 | 2 (D1) |
| 36 | D18 | 18 (D9) |
| 28 | D14 | 14 (D7) |
| 20 | D10 | 10 (D5) |
| 12 | D6 | 6 (D3) |
| 38, 34, 30, 26, 22, 18, 14, 10, 6 | the half | none: the single leaves an odd number |
| 2 | D1 | none: the single 1 leaves 1, a bust under double out |
Practice one double at a time. A doubles drill we suggest: pick one double, throw 30 darts at it, and write down how many hit. That hit rate is your measuring stick for that double. Then play legs and watch whether your darts per leg come down. In matches the same idea is called checkout percentage.
Every double out route from 170 down is in our checkout chart, and how to think about finishes is in darts checkouts explained.
5. Darts math
You do not have to be fast at mental arithmetic to score well, but you do need to know what you leave. Two rules cover most mistakes:
- Avoid busts. Scoring too much, leaving 1 or reaching zero without a double wipes out the whole visit, and it still counts as three darts for your average (WDF 2.05). The edge cases are in what is a bust in darts.
- Leave an even number. On an odd score you need a single first. On 41, a 9 leaves 32; a 20 leaves 21, which needs yet another single.
For practice, chalk a few legs by hand and check each subtraction; the method and tips are in how to keep score in darts.
6. Keep what works the same
We will not tell you one correct grip or stance; no rule book defines one, and the rules only say where your feet must be (behind the oche, WDF 6.04 and 6.05). What makes practice measurable is consistency: the same stance, the same grip, the same distance, so that when you do change one thing, the numbers show whether it helped. Where your darts land is the most direct feedback for this. Stance, grip, aim and release step by step are in how to throw darts.
7. Practice like a match
In competition you get only a few practice darts before a match: 6 under WDF rules (WDF 13.01) and in DDV events (DDV §15(1)), and 9 at PDC events unless another number is set (DRA 6.14.1). A warm-up with the same number of darts, followed by legs in your league's format, makes your practice closer to the real thing. If your league plays master out or single out, practice that; the rules are in double out, master out and straight out. Routines for staying calm under pressure are in the mental game in darts.
Your stats in Darts Counter
We checked which numbers the app keeps, so you know what to watch:
- During a leg: each player's 3-dart average and darts thrown, and a checkout suggestion from 170 down.
- Statistics screen: Average Ø, Darts/leg, Max. Checkout, Max. Score, darts on doubles and triples ("On Double", "On Triple"), and your 60+, 100+, 140+ and 180 visits, with legs and sets won.
- Advanced statistics: heatmaps of where your darts land and where you check out, checkout statistics and more. They unlock by watching an ad video, with a one-time purchase or with a subscription.
The match average in the summary and statistics is the mean of your leg averages, so every leg counts the same (explained in how to calculate your 3-dart average). There is no first 9 average and no training game mode yet: you practice drills on the board and play legs in the app.
Play your baseline legs in Darts Counter, then come back to the same numbers after a few weeks of practice.
Sources
Written by FLAME Apps, maker of Darts Counter since 2015. Checked 2026-09-25.
- WDF Playing and Tournament Rules, 20th revised edition, rules 2.01, 2.02, 2.05, 6.01 to 6.05 and 13.01
- DRA Rules 2026, rule 6.14.1 (Darts Regulation Authority)
- ADO Tournament Rules Booklet, rule 62 and the board diagram
- DDV Sport- und Wettkampfordnung, §15(1) (German)
- NDA Rules, Official Skill Rating Procedure
- The table of doubles after a miss is our own calculation.
- Keep reading: how to calculate your 3-dart average, checkout chart, darts for beginners
