Darts
Darts is a recreational activity and sport that evolved in the 20th century from military training and a historical legacy of soldiering, combat, and armed engagement. Darts are now played virtually all over the world with the most competitive play often taking places in taverns and pubs,where in some nations, such as England, regular dart leagues meet several evenings per week.
History
Darts or “dartes”were in use as early as the Middle Ages. Archers used heavily weighted hand arrows in close combat and threw them at archery targets for recreation. Anne Boleyn gave a set of darts to her husband Henry VIII and, in the 16th century, a popular children’s game was “blow-point,” in which a type of arrow was forced through a pipe and directed at a numbered target. The Pilgrims shipped darts on board the Mayflower.
Darts as a sport is primarily a modern, 20th-century activity.The sport took off as a result of one of the most celebrated cases in “sports law.” In 1908 at Leeds Magistrates’ Court, England, the judicial system focused on the nature and function of darts. Was it a game of chance or skill? If the former it would be prohibited from the domain of licensed premises. However, if it could be proved that the key ingredient was skill then it would be legally admitted into pubs. In a dramatic moment, “Foot” Anakin, the publican who had allowed games of darts inside his pub, turned in a bravura performance. He put three darts in the single 20 and followed this up by throwing three double 20s. The case against Anakin was dismissed and darts in British pubs became not only legal but also the premier pub sport.
The National Darts Association of Great Britain (NDA) was founded in 1953. The country’s first major competition was inaugurated in 1938-1939 and players sought the Lord Lonsdale Trophy. Since 1962 the NDA has supervised this trophy competition as well as three pairs championships (men’s, women’s, and mixed) and two individual championships (one open, the other for women). The World Darts Federation World Cup was inaugurated in 1977. A year later that same body instituted the Europe Cup. Both championships are held biennially.
Darts is regularly played by 6 million people in Great Britain, making it the country’s leading participation sporting pastime. There are pub and club competitions, and tournaments at league, super league, and professional levels.
The traditional setting of darts-a closed space in which alcohol flows freely and smoking is not discouraged- has created several misconceptions about the sport and its participants.Darts players are serious and intense, though the returns for success are slight compared to other sports. Rhythm and confidence are said to be the keys to success.
Rules and Play
Dart boards are made of bristle, cork, or elm wood.The standard match board is numbered 1 to 20 in the following clockwise sequence: 1, 18, 4, 13, 6, 10, 15, 2, 17, 3, 19, 7, 16, 8, 11, 14, 9, 12, 5, and 20. The board is split into 20 triangular sections, which meet two center rings. The outer ring scores 25, and the inner ring (the bull’s-eye) scores 50. The dart board design suggests that the ends of tree trunks were the probable model for dart boards.
The outer ring is divided into sections called “doubles.” A dart landing in one of these sections scores exactly double the value of the respective triangular section. This is also the traditional finish to a game of darts. Each player must conclude on an exact double of the number required to win the game. The only exception is if 50 is needed, when a “bull’s-eye” counts as double 25. The inner ring is known as the “treble.” All darts landing here score three times the value of the respective triangular section. All the other areas of the triangular sections of the dart board, between the double segment and the treble segment, and between the treble segment and the outer ring score the relevant number.
A standard dart board has a diameter of 45.7 centimeters (18 inches). Each player is allocated three darts. The average length of a dart is 15.3 centimeters (6 inches) long. While the point is made of steel, the barrel or midsection of the dart is plastic, wood, or brass. The tail portion is of feathers, paper, or plastic. Dart players search fastidiously for the perfect amalgamation of weight and balance in a dart.
In competitions the board is hung so that the center is 1.72 meters (5 feet, 8 inches) above the floor. The darts are flighted in, and fired from, a distance of 2.43 meters (8 feet), 2.59 meters (8 feet, 6 inches), or 2.74 meters (9 feet).
Games begin with a high number and go to zero with competitions opening (and closing) with a double. Standard starting totals are 1001, 501, and 301. Variations on the standard game include “Darts Baseball,” “Fives,” “Halve It,” “Closing,” “Scram,” and “Shanghai.” A traditional pub favorite and one that lends itself to an informal recreational activity rather than a “serious” sport is “Around the Clock,”which can be played with an unlimited number of players. Players take turns, after scoring a double, trying to place a dart in each sector beginning at 20 and working their way down to 1.
World Darts
Although primarily a British sport, darts enjoys some cosmopolitan exposure, especially in Commonwealth countries. The Australian Darts Council was founded in 1927. The Darts Federation of Australia was created in 1976 to facilitate Australia’s entry to the World Darts Federation, which had been set up in 1975. Australia hosted the World Cup in 1985 and has won the Pacific Cup four times. Over 100,000 “darters”practice in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Guam.The American Darts Organization hosted the 1979 World Cup (the first major championship held outside of the United Kingdom) and controls a circuit of professional tournaments worth over $1 million a year in purse money. Darts organizations continue to lobby for acceptance of darts as an Olympic sport-so far without success. Perhaps there is still a question whether darts is truly a sport or merely a pastime.
