The Dartboard Sequence The Dartboard Sequence The arrangement of the numbers around the circumference of a standard dart board is as shown below 20 1 18 4 13 6 10 15 2 17 3 19 7 16 8 11 14 9 12 5 Oddly enough, no one seems to know for sure how this particular arrangement was selected. It evidently dates back at least 100 years. Some say the pattern was devised by a carpenter named Brian Gamlin in 1896, while others attribute it to someone named Thomas William Buckle in 1913, but both of these attributions are relatively recent, and neither can be traced back to a contemporary source. Also, although it's clear that the numbers are ordered to mix the large and small together, and possibly to separate numerically close values as far as possible (e.g., 20 is far from 19), no one seems to know of any simple criterion that uniquely singles out this particular arrangement as the best possible in any quantitative sense.

It may be just an accident of history that this particular arrangement has been adopted as the standard dart board format. It's interesting to consider various possible criteria for choosing a circular arrangement of the first n positive integers. In order to get as "flat" a distribution as possible, we might try to minimize the sum of the squares of each k consecutive terms. For example, setting k = 3, the standard dard board sequence gives (20+1+18)^2 + (1+18+4)^2 + (18+4+13)^2 + ... + (5+20+1)^2 = 20478 Apparently the standard board layout described above is called the "London" dart board, and there is another, less common, version called the "Manchester" dart board, which has the sequence 20 1 16 6 17 8 12 9 14 5 19 2 15 3 18 7 11 10 13 4 for which the sum of squares of each set of three consecutive numbers is 20454, just slightly less than the London arrangement.

In contrast, if we were to arrange the numbers by just inter-weaving the largest and smallest numbers like this 20 1 19 2 18 3 17 4 16 5 15 6 14 7 13 8 12 9 11 10 the resulting sum of squares of each 3 consecutive elements is 20510, so the standard dart boards are, in this sense, more flat distributions. Needless to say, all of these arrangements are much more flat than the natural monotonic sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 which has a sum of 24350. By the way, note that if the sum of the squares of every sum of three consecutive numbers for a given arrangement is S, then we can form another arrangement with the same sum simply by taking the "21-complement", i.e., subtracting each number from 21.

For example, the complement of the standard London arrangement is 1 20 3 17 8 15 11 6 19 4 18 2 14 5 13 10 7 12 9 16 which has the same sum (20478) as the London arrangement. This works because if we begin with an arrangement a,b,c,d,... having the sum S = (a+b+c)^2 + (b+c+d)^2 + (c+d+e)^2 + ... and replace each of the numbers a,b,c,... with 21-a, 21-b, 21-c,... respectively, the sum S' of this complementary arrangement is S' = [(21-a)+(21-b)+(21-c)]^2 + [(21-b)+(21-c)+(21-d)]^2 + ... = [63-(a+b+c)]^2 + [63-(b+c+d)]^2 + ...

= S + 20(63)^2 - 2(63)[(a+b+c)+(b+c+d)+...] Each of the numbers from 1 to 20 appears three times in the summation inside the square brackets in the last term, so that summation equals 630, and hence S' = S. (The same identity applies to the N+1 complement for sums of squares of every sum of k consecutive terms of a circular arrangement of the first N integers.) How would we go about finding the circular arrangement of the integers 1 to 20 that gives the smallest sum of squares of every sum of three consecutive numbers? One possible approach would be to begin with the monotonic arrangement and then check each possible transposition of two numbers to see which one gives the lowest result. Then make that change and repeat the process, at each stage always choosing the transposition that gives the steepest reduction in the sum.

This "greedy algorithm" produces arrangements with the following sums (of squares of each 3 consecutive terms around the cycle): 24350 21650 20678 20454 20230 20110 19990 19970 19950 19946 19938 19936 19930 19926 19918 Once it reaches the arrangement with the sum 19918, no further transposition of two numbers gives any reduction in the sum. Of course, this doesn't imply that 19918 is the minimum possible sum, it simply means that it is a "local" minimum. We might try to make our search algorithm more robust by considering all possible permutations of THREE numbers at each stage.

(This includes permutations of two, since some of the permutations of three numbers leave one of the numbers fixed.) Applying the greedy algorithm to permutations of any three numbers gives dartboard arrangements with the sums 24350 21542 20362 20098 19978 19954 19942 19930 Once we reach 19930, no further permutation of three numbers gives any reduction in the sum. Interestingly, this doesn't even produce as low a result as the simple transpositions, and it illustrates the fact that a local minimum need not be a global minimum. By applying permutations of three elements, the algorithm is too greedy and enters a region of the configuration space that cannot be extended by such permutations, whereas the transpositions follow a less-steep path that leads them ultimately to a lower level.

Expanding our algorithm to examine all permutations of FOUR numbers, we get a sequence of dartboard arrangements with the following sums: 24350 20678 20190 19974 19932 19918 19910 19908 19902 19900 19896 19894 Thus we arrive at the lowest sum we've seen so far, but of course this is still just a local minimum, with no guarantee that it is the lowest possible sum.

Expanding our algorithm to take the best of all the permutations of FIVE number at each stage, we get the sequence of dartboard arrangements 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 6 2 19 4 5 16 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 3 17 18 1 20 1 2 19 9 5 18 7 8 16 10 11 12 4 14 15 3 17 13 1 20 10 2 19 9 5 18 7 8 16 6 11 15 4 14 13 3 17 12 1 20 These arrangements have the sums 24350, 20406, 1999

2, and 19874 respectively.

By applying various combinations of these algorithms to various initial arrangements, we can often arrive at the ultimate sum 19874, but never to any lower sum. However, there appear to be three distinct arrangements with this sum (up to rotations and reflections). Each of them has 1 adjacent to 20, so to compare the arrangements directly we will rotate and reflect them if necessary so that they begin with 20 and 1.

With this convention, the three minimal sequences, labeled (a), (b), and (c), are (a) 20 1 11 19 2 12 16 3 14 13 5 15 10 6 17 7 8 18 4 9 (b) 20 1 11 18 2 13 15 4 14 12 5 16 9 7 17 6 8 19 3 10 (c) 20 1 12 17 3 13 14 4 15 11 6 16 8 7 18 5 9 19 2 10 The differences between the (a) and (b) sequences, and between the (c) and (b) sequences, are shown below: 0 0 0 1 0 -1 1 -1 0 1 0 -1 1 -1 0 1 0 -1 1 -1 0 0

 1 -1 1 0 -1 0 1 -1 1 0 -1 0 1 -1 1 0 -1 0 Interestingly, if we reverse the order of the lower differences and then rotate two places to the right, the result is exactly the negative of the upper differences.

This is because the (a) and (c) arrangements are the 21-complements of each other (as defined above). The (b) arrangement is "self-dual", i.e., it is its own complement. We also note that (a) and (b) differ by the transpositions (3,4) (6,7) (9,10) (12,13) (15,16) (18,19) whereas (b) and (c) differ by the transpositions (3,2) (6,5) (9,8) (12,11) (15,14) (18,17) Thus the three minimal sequences differ from each other by permutations of six numbers, and no permutations of just five or fewer numbers can transform one of these to the others using the greedy algorithm, if we require the sum to drop or remain constant on each permutation. But if we allow permutations of six numbers it becomes possible to oscillate between these three arrangements in steps with constant sums. This is an interesting example of "symmetry breaking".

At lower "energies" (permutations of fewer terms) every sequence of arrangements progresses to one of several different possible stable limiting arrangements, but at higher "energies" (permutations of more terms) these asymptotic arrangements can transform into each other, so the sequence can oscillate between them. (Of course, if we allow permutations of all 20 terms at once, then any arrangement can be transformed to any other in a single step.) Despite the extensive numerical evidence, and the apparently unique symmetry of the (a), (b), and (c) arrangements, one could still question whether our search algorithm based on permutations of five elements is guaranteed to find the global minimum. To prove that the three arrangements (a),(b),(c) presented above are indeed the absolute minimal solutions, note that the sum of the sums of three consecutive elements must be 630, which is three times the sum of the integers from 1 to 20. If we didn't require integer values, the minimal solution would be given by uniformly distributing this, so each sum of three consecutive terms would be 31.5, but since we require integer values, this is ruled out.

We could consider arrangements such that every sum of three consecutive terms is either 31 or 32, but it's easy to see that this cannot lead to an acceptable solution. Notice that the two consecutive 3-sums for the four elements n1,n2,n3,n4 are n1+n2+n3 and n2+n3+n4, so if the two 3-sums are equal, it follows that n4=n1, and hence this is not an acceptable solution (the 20 elements are distinct). Similarly we can show that two 3-sums can't alternate more than twice. Hence the flattest possible arrangements that are not ruled out by these simple considerations must have more than two distinct values for the 3-sums Indeed the solutions with 19874 consist of the 3-sum values 30, 31, 32, and 33 with valences 6,4,4,6 respectively.

These 3-sums for the (a), (b) and (c) arrangements are as shown below (a) 32 31 32 33 30 31 33 30 32 33 30 31 33 30 32 33 30 31 33 30 (b) 32 30 31 33 30 32 33 30 31 33 30 32 33 30 31 33 30 32 33 31 (c) 33 30 32 33 30 31 33 30 32 33 30 31 33 30 32 33 30 31 32 31 By examining each sequence of the values 30, 31, 32, and 33, checking to see which ones correspond to 3-sums of the integers 1 to 20,

 we find that indeed the only viable sequences are those corresponding to the arrangements (a), (b), and (c).

Thus these are the circular arrangements of the integers 1 through 20 such that the sum of squares of every 3 consecutive terms has the smallest possible value, namely 19874. (If we evaluate the sum of squares of every three consecutive elements of these 3-sum sequences we find that they yield 178614, 178618, and 178614 respectively.) The (a), (b), and (c) sequences each consist of three interleaved arithmetic progressions. If we designate the position of each number by the integers modulo 20, then the positions of the values are as shown in the table below.

positions modulo 20 values (a) (b) (c) 3k+1 -3k-3 6k 6k k = 0 to 6 3k+2 6k 6k+3 -3k-3 k = 0 to 6 3k+3 6k+3 -3k-3 6k+3 k = 0 to 5 By the way, to find the arrangement that maximizes (rather than minimizes) the sum, it's fairly intuitive that we would cluster the largest numbers together as tightly as possible. This leads to the arrangement 20 19 17 15 13 11 9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 which has the sum 25406.

Indeed this is the highest sum I've found using the greedy algorithm with permutations of 2, 3, 4, and 5 elements (selecting the highest rather than the lowest at each stage), although it's interesting that there are many initial arrangements from which this algorithm does not lead to this global maximum. In general if H(n,k) and L(n,k) are the highest and lowest sums of squares of every k consecutive elements in a circular arrangement of the first n positive integers, are the values of H(n,k) and L(n,k) well known and/or easily computed? Another possible way of "optimizing" the arrangement of the numbers 1 through 20 on a dart board would be to minimize the sum of the squares of every sum of TWO (rather than three) consecutive numbers. In general, I think the minimum sum of squares of every sum of two consecutive numbers in a cyclical arrangement of the integers 1 through N is S_min(N) = N^3 + 2N^2 + 2N - j where j is 1 if N is odd, and j is 2 if N is even. For the particular case N=20 this formula gives a minimum sum of 8838.

For even N the minimum arrangement has the odd and even numbers restricted to separate halfs of the cycle, as illustrated below for N=20 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 19 17 15 13 11 12 14 16 18 20 For odd N the minimum arrangement is very simple, as shown below for N=19. 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 This raises some interesting questions. Given any circular arrangement of the integers 0 through n-1, let S denote the sum of squares of every sum of two contiguous numbers, and let v(n) denote the number of distinct values of S for all n! possible arrangements.

Following is a table of the number of distinct values of v(n) n v(n) ----- --------- 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 3 5 8 6 21 7 43 8 69 9 102 10 145 Hugh Montgomery, A. M. Odlyzko, and Bjorn Poonen developed a very nice approach to this problem, showing that the general term with n>6 is given by / (n^3 - 16n + 27)/6 if n is odd v(n) = ( \ (n^3 - 16n + 30)/6 if n is even A whole family of interesting sequences can be produced by generalizing the definition as follows: Given any circular arrangement of the integers 0 through n-1, let S denote the sum of the qth powers of every sum of k contiguous numbers. Then let v(q,k,n) denote the number of distinct values of S for all possible arrangements. With this nomenclature, the previous sequence is denoted as v(2,2,n).

Of course, we have v(1,k,n) = 1 for all k and n, because the sum of the 1st powers is independent of the arrangement. We also have v(q,1,n) = 1 because the sum of any fixed power of the individual numbers is also independent of the arrangement. Also, for fixed values of q and n, the function v is PERIODIC in k. Another generalization is to add some constant integer j to each of the numbers 0 to n-1. Thus, the general function has four indices, v(q,k,j,n). Notice that v is independent of j for q<3, but for larger values of q, j becomes significant. Can v(q,k,j,n) be expressed in closed form as a function of the indices? Which other integer sequences are contained in this family? Which continuous functions (e.g., sin(x), cos(x), exp(x), etc) can be approximated by sequences of this form?

Information Dartboard Hanging Instructions for Steel and Soft Tip Darts Distance of the Throw line - Steel Tip The distance for throwing steel tip darts was standardized in the 1970’s for international competition and measures 7’ 9 1/4” from the face of the dartboard to the toe line not the wall. In order to conform to this standard, you first measure the height and hang the dartboard then drop a plumb line or string from the face of the dartboard to the floor then measure back to the front of the throw-line. An easier way to measure distance is to have someone hold the tape measure touching the double bulls-eye and stretching diagonally to the floor 9’7 3/8”. For those math wiz’, this is a right angle and the diagonal measurement is the hypotenuse (Pythagorean theorem). Always measure to the front of the toe line as everyone likes to stand on the line itself. Distance of the Throw line - Soft Tip The distance for setting up a soft tip dartboard is 8 feet from the face of the dartboard not the wall.

In order to do this you first measure the height then drop a plumb line or string from the face edge of the dartboard to the floor then measure back to the front of the throw line. An easier way to measure distance is to have someone hold the tape measure touching the double bulls-eye and stretching diagonally to the floor 9’9 1/2”. Always measure to the front of the toe line as everyone likes to stand on the line itself Winmau - The Force Behind Darts Lower School ï¿½ Friday 18th November 2016 The Room 180 Academy arrived at Trinity school on a cold November evening where 7 teams took part in a range of darting activities. Dart Board Height | Dart Board Regulations | Dartboard Measurements A set of three darts , either soft-tipped or steel-tipped . A safe, well lit place to play. Dartboard Measurements The standard international dartboard is known as the "clock" board. The standard dartboard measurement is 18 inches in diameter and has 20 numbered, pie-shaped segments of equal size, plus the bull's-eye.

Each numbered segment has a double ring on the outside perimeter of the scoring area and an interior triple ring (which count as double and triple of that number respectively). The bull's-eye has an outerbull area (also know as the single bull, which scores 25) and an inner bull (also known as a double bull's-eye, which scores 50). Dart Board Regulations Dart Board Height: 5 feet. 8 inches from floor to the center of the bull's-eye. Distance from front of the dartboard to the throwing line : Steel Tip: 7 feet 9 1/4 inches, Soft Tip: 8 feet 0 inches. To mark the throw line a simple piece of tape will suffice. Major tournaments, however, use a "hockey" which is a thin raised strip of wood approximately 1 1/2 inches high (see image diagram below). Mounting: Flush to the wall - not leaning like a picture - with the 20 at the top. Location: Since darts often bounce out of the dartboard , never put a dartboard up near windows or breakables or where anyone could walk between the throwline and the dartboard .

Also, if you have a hard floor, such as concrete or wood, you may want to consider getting a dart mat . The dart scoreboard should be mounted to left or the right of the dart board for easy access. How to set up a Dart Board and The Rules of darts Procedural ............� top Decisions regarding the prize structure and event schedule, the method of player registration, and the choice of the match pairing system, shall be left at the discretion of the local Tournament Organizers. Nine darts warm-up is the maximum allowance per player. Tournament boards are reserved for assigned match pairings only. Boards are not to be used for practice, unless so designated by the Tournament Organizers. Match pairings will be called 3 times only (minimum of 5 minutes between calls). Should a player/team fail to report to the assigned board within the 15 minute allotted time, a Forfeit will be called. NOTE: Should a player/team be called to matches in two concurrent events (e,g, a female playing in both a Ladies Only and an Open event), that player/team must choose in which event he/they wish to continue play.

A Forfeit will be called, unless that player/team can reach their assigned board within the regulation (15 minute) time period described above. Should a player's playing equipment become damaged, or be lost during the course of a throw, that player shall be allowed up to a maximum of 5 minutes in which to repair/replace the playing equipment. A maximum time limit of 5 minutes, under exceptional circumstances subject to the permission of a Tournament Official, shall be allowed in the instance of a player requiring to leave the playing area, during the course of match play. Players and Scorers ONLY are allowed inside the playing area. Opposing players must stand at least 2 feet behind the player at the Hockey. Throw ............� top All darts must be thrown by, and from, the hand. A Throw shall consist of three darts, unless a Leg/Match is completed in a lesser amount. Should a player touch any dart, which is in the dart board, during a throw, that throw shall be deemed to have been completed. Any dart bouncing off, or falling out of the dart board, shall not be re thrown. Starting and Finishing (All Events) ............� top All Matches will be begun by THROWING THE CORK.

The player throwing the Cork 1st will be decided by a coin flip, with the winner having the option of throwing 1st or 2nd. The player throwing closest to the Cork shall throw first in the 1st Leg. The Loser of the 1st Leg has the option of throwing the Cork first in the 2nd Leg. If a 3rd Leg is necessary, the Cork will again be thrown, with the loser of the original coin flip having the option of throwing first for the Cork. The second thrower may acknowledge the first dart as an inner or outer Bull (Cork) and ask for that dart to be removed prior to his throw. Should the first dart be removed without the request of the 2nd thrower, a re throw will occur; with the 2nd thrower now having the option of throwing first. The dart must remain in the board in order to count. Additional throws may be made when throwing the Cork, until such time as the player's dart remains in the board. Should the 2nd thrower dislodge the dart of the 1st, a re throw will be made with the 2nd thrower now throwing first.

re throws shall be called if the scorer cannot decide which dart is closest to the Cork, or if both darts are anywhere in the inner bull, or both darts are anywhere in the outer bull. Decision of the scorer is final. Should a re throw be necessary, the darts will be removed and the person who threw 2nd will now throw 1st. In all events, each Leg shall be played with a Straight Start (no double required), and a double will be required to finish, unless otherwise stated by the local Tournament Organizers. For the purpose of starting and finishing a Leg/Match, the INNER BULL is considered a double 25. The 'BUST RULE' shall apply, (if the player scores one less, equal, or more points than needed to reach zero, he has "busted". His score reverts back to the score required prior to the beginning of his throw.) Fast finishes such as 3 in a bed, 222, 111, shanghai, etc., do not apply. A Leg/Match is concluded at such time as a player/team hits the 'double' required to reduce their remaining score to zero.

Any and all darts thrown subsequently, shall not count for score. Doubles/Team Events ............� top It is permissible for the Doubles/Team player finishing a Leg, to throw the Cork and start the subsequent Leg. It is also permissible for one member of a Doubles or Team to throw the Cork 1st, and have his partner or teammate shoot first. It is permissible for a Doubles or Team to participate with fewer than the required number of players, provided that team forfeits a turn(s) in each rotation, equal to the number of missing players. The missing player(s) may NOT join a Leg in progress, but is allowed to participate in a subsequent Leg(s) of that Match. No player may participate on more than one Doubles or Team, in any respective darts event. There shall be NO recycling of players (either male or female) under any circumstances. No substitutes shall be allowed after the first round of Doubles/Team play. Scoring ............� top For a dart to score, it must remain in the board 5 seconds after the 3rd or final dart has been thrown by that player.

The tip of the dart point must be touching the bristle portion of the board, in order for that dart to be counted as score. No dart may be touched by the thrower, another player, scorer, or spectator, prior to the decision of the scorer. Should this occur, that throw shall be deemed to have been completed, per provisions set forth in Rule 19. A dart's score shall be determined from the side of the wire at which the point of the dart enters the board. Should a dart lodge directly between the connecting wires on the dart board, making it impossible to determine on which side of the wire the dart resides, the score shall always be the higher value of the two segments in question. This includes the outside double ring for the game shot. Determination as to whether the dart is directly between the wires shall be made in accordance with Rule 33. It is the responsibility of the player to verify his score before removing his darts from the board. The score remains as written if one or more darts has been removed from the board. Errors in arithmetic must stand as written, unless corrected prior to the beginning of that player's next throw.

In case of Doubles/Team matches, such errors must be rectified prior to the next turn of any partner/player on that team. In Doubles/Team events, no player may throw (during a Leg) until each of his teammates has completed his throw. The FIRST player throwing out of turn shall receive a score of ZERO points for that round and his Team shall FORFEIT such turn. The Scorer shall mark the board so that scores made are listed in the outer columns of the scoreboard, and the totals remaining are listed in the two middle columns. The scoreboard/sheet must be clearly visible in front of the player at the Hockey. The Scorer may inform the thrower what he has scored and/or what he has left. He MAY NOT inform the thrower what he has left in terms of number combinations. It IS permissible for a partner, teammate, or a spectator to advise the thrower during the course of a Match. Equipment ............� top Darts Darts used in tournament play shall not exceed an overall maximum length of 30.5cm (12in.), nor weigh more than 50gm per dart. Each dart shall consist of a recognizable point, barrel, and flight.

dart board The dart board shall be a standard 18" bristle board, of the type approved by the ADO (Sportcraft/Nodor), and shall be of the standard 1 - 20 clock pattern. International dart board Double Score (Twice the number) Single Score (Face Value) Triple Score (Triple the number) Inner Bull Double 25 or (50 points) Outer Bull (25 points) Out of Play Area (No score) Standard Dimensions Double and Triple rings inside width measurement. = 8mm.

(5/16 ins) Inner Bull Inside diameter = 12.7mm.(O.5ins) Outer Bull Inside diameter = 31mm.(1.25ins) Outside edge of Double wire to Center Bull = 170mm.(6.75ins) Outside edge of Triple wire to Center Bull = 117mm.(4.25ins) Outside edge of Double wire to Outside edge of Double wire = 342mm.(13.5ins) Overall dart board diameter = 457mm.(18.Oins) Spider wire gauge (Maximum Standard Wire Gauge) = 16SWG � The scoring wedge indicated by 20 shall be the darker of the two wedge colors and must be the top center wedge. No alterations/accessories may be added to the board setups. The inner narrow band shall score 'Triple' the segment number and the outer narrow band shall score 'Double' the segment number. The outer center ring shall score '25' and inner center ring shall score '50' and shall be called the 'Bull'. The minimum throwing distance shall be 7' 9 1/4".

The board height shall be 5' 8" (floor to center bull; 9' 7 1/2" measured diagonally from the center bull to the back of the raised hockey at floor level). Lighting ............� top Lights must be affixed in such a way as to brightly illuminate the board, reduce to a minimum the shadows cast by the darts, and not physically impede the flight of dart. Hockey ............� top Whenever possible, a raised hockey, at least 1 1/2" high and 2' long, shall be placed in position at the minimum throwing distance, and shall measure from the back of the raised hockey 7' 9 1/4" along the floor to a plumb line at the face of the dart board. In the event the hockey is a tape or similar 'flush' marking, the minimum throwing distance shall be measured from the edge (front) of the tape closest to the dart board. Should a player have any portion of his feet or shoes over the hockey line during a throw, all darts so thrown shall be counted as part of his throw, but any score made by said darts shall be invalid and not counted.

One warning by the official shall be considered sufficient before invoking this rule. A player wishing to throw a dart, or darts, from a point either side of the hockey line, must keep his feet behind an imaginary straight line extending from either side of the hockey line. Center Bull Height = 1.73 metres (5ft - 8ins) Minimum Throwing Distance = 2.37 metres (7ft - 9 1/4ins) Diagonal - Center Bull to back of Hockey = 2.93 metres (9ft - 7 1/2ins) Height of raised Hockey = 38mm (1 1/2ins) Length of raised Hockey = 610mm (2ft - 0ins) Conversion factor = 1cm. (0.3937ins) How to choose the right dart How to choose the right set of darts. First of all, when it comes to choosing what weight and style of darts there isn’t a wrong answer. The only thing to keep in mind is to not spend a lot of money on your first set of darts .

Typically you will change darts after your first year of throwing, so don’t spend a lot until you know which dart fits you perfectly. Ultimately, it all comes down to what makes you feel most comfortable when you’re at the line. Here are a few guidelines to review: Overview of dart types. There are many different darts to choose from: wooden darts, brass darts, nickel/silver darts and tungsten darts. The most popular dart for dart league throwers is the tungsten dart because a high-density tungsten dart will resist wear and creates a smaller barrel that allows tighter groupings of darts. Brass and nickel/silver darts are cheaper and are made from softer metal darts meaning the knurling can wear down quickly from skin oils, friction and contact from other darts. When buying tungsten darts make sure to pay attention to the packaging because the percentage of tungsten is very important to the quality of the dart. The higher the percentage the better, and more expensive, the dart. The main benefit of a high-quality tungsten dart is that the barrel will be smaller so you will be able to throw tighter groupings of darts, minimizing bounce outs. Try out multiple dart weights.

Your owe it to yourself to try out all of the different options that are available. Darts are available in weights from 12 grams to 50 grams. It is rare to see someone throwing with darts heavier than 30 grams, but most dart organizations allow for darts up to 50 grams. Make a visit to your local dart store and throw the same dart style in each weight class. The speed in which you throw the dart will help determine which weight to choose. The lighter the dart the harder/faster you have to throw it. The location of the weight on the dart barrel is also important. Some darts are heavier towards the front of the dart (front-loaded) and others are back-weighted. Try them all and you’ll develop a feel for what works best for you and your throwing style . Try out the different dart barrel grips. Your next step is to try out different barrel grips that are available in the weight you have chosen. Some dart barrels have heavy knurling and others are smooth. Typically, the heavier the knurling the easier it is to grip the dart. However, extremely heavy knurling can cause darts to stick to your fingers and mess with your accuracy.

For the typical dart player, there is more than one dart barrel that will work. Just make sure to choose the one feels the best and run with it. Try out different flights. There are many different sizes and styles of flights, including smooth and dimpled surfaces. Try them all out. The size and style of your flights can impact your game. Dimpled surfaces, for example, will help slow down and stabilize your darts. Try out all dart flight sizes and styles until you feel comfortable with your final configuration, but don’t be afraid to experiment as time goes by.

Question: On a standard dartboard, what is immediately to the right of the number 20?
Answer: 1