Steel-tip vs soft-tip darts: what's the difference?
Down the pub, you often throw plastic-tipped darts at a flashing electronic board. At the club or on TV, it's steel points sinking into a bristle board. Both are called darts, but they're really two closely related sports. Here's what sets them apart, so you can work out which one is for you.
The board: bristle or electronic
In steel-tip, the board is made of sisal (usually called a bristle board): compressed plant fibres that the point slips into and that close back up when you pull it out. The beds are separated by metal wires. It's the board you see in the televised championships.
In soft-tip, the board is electronic: a plastic face drilled with thousands of small holes. The tip lodges in a hole, the segment shifts very slightly and a sensor registers the hit. Depending on the model, the rings can be wider than on a bristle board.
Distance and height
| Steel-tip | Soft-tip | |
|---|---|---|
| Throw line distance (face of the board to the oche, along the floor) | 2.37 m (7 ft 9¼ in) | usually 2.44 m (8 ft) |
| Height of the bullseye | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
The height stays the same, only the oche moves back a little for soft-tip. To get your own board set up properly, all the measurements are in dartboard height and throw distance.
Dart weight
Soft-tip darts are lighter, usually under 20 g: a heavy dart would damage the electronic board and bounce out more. In steel-tip, the usual range runs from about 18 to 30 g (the rules allow up to 50 g). So the throw isn't quite the same, and switching between the two takes a little getting used to. For choosing a steel-tip set, see how to choose darts.
Scoring
This is where electronic boards shine: the board scores itself, shows the total, runs the game and calls the next player.
In steel-tip, traditionally, you score by hand: someone works out the totals and chalks them up on a scoreboard. It's good for you (mental arithmetic comes quickly in x01), but it's also the most tedious part, especially when you're practising alone.
These days there's a third option: a camera watching your bristle board. Some systems use several cameras mounted around the board. Throw only uses your phone, stood off to the side: it sees each dart land and keeps the score for you, for free, with no hardware to fit. You keep the real sound and feel of steel-tip without doing the sums.
Noise
- Steel-tip: a dart going into sisal makes a fairly dull thud. Most of the noise comes from misses hitting the wall or the floor, which is why a surround is worth having.
- Soft-tip: every hit clacks on the plastic, and the board adds its own sounds and announcements. Lively in a bar, less discreet at home late in the evening.
Cost and upkeep
A bristle board needs no power and no batteries. To make it last, rotate it now and then to spread the wear and never get it wet (more in dartboard care). Steel points blunt slowly and can be sharpened.
An electronic board needs plugging in, and a good one generally costs more than a good bristle board. As for the darts, soft tips snap regularly and need replacing. In pubs and bars, electronic boards are usually pay-per-game.
Competitions
The two worlds have their own circuits. The big televised championships, the ones on over Christmas in the UK, are played steel-tip on bristle boards. Soft-tip has its own leagues and tournaments, hugely popular in bars in many countries. A competition is one discipline or the other, never a mix.
Which one should you pick?
- You want to play at the pub with friends without worrying about the score: soft-tip does the job nicely.
- You want to improve, aim for treble 20 and play like they do on TV: steel-tip, no question. Thin wires and narrow beds reward accuracy.
- You play at home: a bristle board is simple, durable and quiet. The only real downside used to be the scoring, and a phone sorts that out.
Throw is built for steel-tip darts on a bristle board: x01, Cricket, Halve It or Shanghai, the score keeps itself while you play. The rules of each game are on the rules page.