What height is a dartboard? What weight darts do players use?
Image source, Getty ImagesLuke Littler was runner-up at the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship in January
Emma Middleton
BBC Sport journalist
“You don’t have to be good at maths to be good at darts,” Luke Littler told BBC Sport.
The teenager became a household name at the start of the year by reaching the World Championship final aged just 16 years and 347 days.
And with the help of Luke ‘the Nuke’, we’ve wrapped up some more of your top darts questions.
What weight darts do professionals use?
We typically see players use darts weighing between 18-26 grams.
But there are always outliers. Ryan ‘Heavy Metal’ Searle is known to use much heavier darts that weigh 32 grams.
Players don’t always stick to the same weight either. Two-time world champion Peter Wright sometimes changes his darts, even within the same tournament.
So, choosing the weight is largely a matter of personal preference – with some restrictions.
The PDC World Championship is governed by the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA). The DRA sets out the rule book., external
This says that darts cannot be longer than 200mm or weigh more than 40 grams.
The point (or tip) of the dart cannot have any grooves or ridges within 15mm of the point end, and cannot be wider than 2.5mm.
What weight dart does Luke Littler use?
Luke Littler – who made the PDC World Championship final on his first attempt in January – told us he plays with a 23 gram dart. He says he’s tried weights above and below this, but they feel slightly too light or too heavy.
His ‘Luke Littler Gen 1 Darts’ were produced exclusively for him by manufacturer Target Darts.
Littler told us that players pick the weight largely based on what feels most comfortable.
What height is a dartboard?
For professional tournaments, the dartboard is fixed at 1.73m (5ft 8in) – measured from the floor to the centre of the bullseye.
The 20 segment is always at the top of the dartboard.
The oche (the line behind which a player must throw from) should be 2.37m (7ft 9.25in) from the board.
Image source, Getty Images
The PDC World Darts Championship is held annually at Alexandra Palace in London
Can players drink alcohol?
The DRA rule book says players cannot consume alcoholic drinks, external “outside the designated practice area”.
But that hasn’t always been the case. Before 1989, drinking alcohol on the stage was allowed.
The current rule book doesn’t stop players drinking before the event.
Many studies have shown that even low levels of alcohol can impair motor skills and spatial reasoning. Despite this, some people claim that small amounts can help with tournament nerves.
Why do players lick their fingers before they throw?
Littler isn’t one for doing it, but you may have spotted other pros licking their fingers before taking a throw.
And it’s more than a superstition.
Adding moisture to your fingers – by either licking them or blowing air on to them – increases friction with the surface, and could help provide extra grip.
What is a checkout?
This is when a player hits the exact combination of numbers on the board that brings the score to zero – winning that leg.
How much do players make at the World Championships?
A toal prize pot of £2.5 million is up for grabs at the PDC World Championships.
A first-round appearance earns a player £7,500, with the money going up incrementally per round. The winner will take home £500,000, and the runner-up £200,000.
Players that hit an elusive ‘nine darter’ – finishing a leg using the minimum number of nine darts – get an extra £60,000.
Is there a separate women’s world championship?
No. Both men and women can play at the PDC World Championship.
Players qualify via the ‘Order of Merit’ – the official rankings,, external which are calculated based on the amount of prize money won over a two-year period in ranking tournaments.
There is a separate men’s and women’s Order of Merit. The top two players from the Women’s Series Order of Merit qualify for the PDC World Championship.
For the 2024/25 tournament, Beau Greaves topped the women’s Order of Merit. However, Greaves chose to play in the WDF Women’s World Championship instead, looking to defend her title.
Players that take part in the WDF Championship are then ineligible to play in the PDC World Championship.
Three-time WDF champion Beau Greaves has called it “stupid” that women are not able to play in both, and has called for a separate PDC World Championship for women.
The PDC did not respond to our request for comment.
That meant Noa-Lynn van Leuven and Fallon Sherrock, ranked second and third respectively, qualified.
Fallon Sherrock made history in 2019 when she became the first woman to win a match at the PDC World Championship.
The Netherlands’ Van Leuven was the first transgender player to compete at the tournament.
