dart-booklet

...our little dart booklet

1. Tip or Point
There is a wide variety of tips, consisting of plastic (Soft) or steel. Steel tips, which can be screwed on to soft darts, are also available. Among soft dart tips there are many different forms and lengths. They differ from one another in flexibility, design and handling.

There are two different tip threads now. "2ba" (British Association Standard Thread) with an outer diameter of 4.70 mm, which is often wrongly quoted as 6 mm. "1/4 inch" with an outer diameter of 6.35 mm, which is also often wrongly quoted as 8 mm. If you want to produce slender darts, you obviously need a slender tip too (2ba). Now, approx. 95% of all darts are produced with slender tips. Most likely this trend will increase in the following years. The reason for this is the constant demand for increasingly finer and slimmer darts. Please, while buying replacement tips always ensure you take the correct thread thickness (2ba or 1/4").

2. Barrel - Grip
It differs between "brass", "tungsten", and "nickel". In tungsten barrels, the proportion of tungsten is given in percent. The higher the percentage, the thinner the barrel can be built at the same weight, which allows for a tighter placement on the board. Barrels are available in various shapes and weights. Apart from the normal barrels, there are so-called M3 barrels that have their threads on the outside, this produces a higher weight and the barrel can be made thinner..

The collection here is simply huge. We can say with certainty, that everybody can find what suits him or her. Please take note of the following: The quoted weight refers only to the barrel. If you want an 18-gram dart, you should take a 16 to 17 gram barrel. You must calculate an additional 1 to 1.5 grams for the shaft, point and flight in order to reach the complete weight of the dart..

2.1. Tungsten = Wolfram
Tungsten is the high-quality material, which is most important for stability in the barrel. This means, the higher the proportion of tungsten in a barrel, the more qualitatively high-grade the barrel will be. For instance, a brass barrel without a proportion of tungsten will twist slightly due to frequent plunges. Mostly this can almost not be seen with the naked eye, but it has an enormous effect while aiming at the board.

For ambitious or club players we recommend barrels with a tungsten content of 70% and above. With this, you have a competition-ready dart..

3. ORing - Rubber ring
The O-Ring is a small rubber ring, which is placed on the thread of aluminum shafts. Thus by screwing it down, you prevent the shafts from loosening or slackening while playing and thus impairing the stability of flight.

4. Shaft
Shafts come in many variations. The most widespread are plastic and aluminum shafts. While building it, the most important thing is length. A longer shaft shifts the center of gravity to the back and serves to stabilize the trajectory. Both materials have benefits and drawbacks; aluminum shafts are more expensive and heavier than plastic shafts, for which reason they do not break when they fall.

Man hat die Qual der Wahl; soll man einen Alu-Schaft nehmen oder einen Kunststoff-Schaft. Der Alu-Schaft kann so gut wie nicht kaputt werden, jedoch sieht man die Verbiegung am Schaft nicht und das wirkt sich natürlich sehr auf das Dartspiel bzw. den Wurf aus. TIPP: Probiere Titan- oder Carbonschäfte.

5.Slot lock ring, position ring, spring washer or collar (crown)
What does slot-lock mean? This is a subsequently engraved hole/slot in the flight, in which a spring washer is fixed. (works only with plastic shafts) You use slot-lock rings only with plastic shafts, if the flights were perforated with a punching machine. There are three different types; the purpose is the same in both cases. The rings should fix the end of the nylon shaft to the flight in such a way, that it does not slip out again immediately. The ring also prevents damaging the shaft, if a dart comes up and hits it from behind. The shaft crown occupies a special position here. This also serves to fix the flight on the shaft better. A punched hole is not required here, but instead small pliers for pressing the four sides of the crown together, which in turn hold down the flight. .

6. Flight
The flight is the last big part at the rear end of the dart. Flights are primarily supplied in polyester or nylon. We make a difference between shapes, which are all different in their flight characteristics. Since darts have short flight paths, the flight ability is only slightly influenced by the flight. The most-used flight shape is "standard". The solider or thicker the flight is, the better its flight path. The dart does not go into a spin so quickly. .

6.1. New Flight-Shaft System
The demands on a fly are getting bigger and bigger. Therefore, the Cosmo-Darts brand has developed a special system and manufacturing process with a push-in (click system) system. After long trial and test periods, we rated this fly / shaft series as “very good”. - to be found under the category COSMO

7. Flight Protector
The protector is pinned to the end of the flight. This serves as protection from following darts and helps to maintain the shape of the flight.

8. Dartboards
Bristle dartboards made of sisal fiber The various qualities of these boards are derived from the sisal (fibers from the sisal agave) and the spider. The spider is made of steel and it comes in two different designs ("round wire" or "triangle-steel spider/DSS"). More professional boards always have a DSS, - with this form, almost no darts bounce off the board. The advantage of this board lies in the fact, that apart from steel points, all plastic point hold too!
Electronic boards
Here there are two different board types, "2-hole = European board" and "3-hole = American board". These boards are available in every conceivable design and version. Paperboards This variant consists of paper tightly pressed together. Such boards should only be considered, if you want to get yourself something very cheap just for the fun of it. Due to the manufacture, these boards do not last long.


The Throw:

Now you can merge all learned components (easier said than done). The dart should be positioned horizontally in the hand. Even dry runs are very helpful. In order to get a stable throwing motion, the throwing arm should be fully used. Move the lower arm as far as possible forward during acceleration, so the full power of the arm can be exploited. *** Background information from the open web & Wikipedia and from personal knowledge *** .

- Leg position and body posture
- Arm, hand or finger position
- Throwing movement

Leg and body posture:
Players often get cramps while still searching for the right stance. However, the rules here are very simple. It is important, as it is with many other sports, to assume a comfortable posture and to try to maintain equilibrium as much as possible. In addition many players tilt their torsos slightly forward in order to be closer to the floor or because they have learnt it that way. .



Arm movement:
In the evolution of darts, an ideal upper arm to torso position of 90 degrees has established itself. If possible, the shoulder should be in a straight line with the throwing arm. This posture gives the advantage of making the whole throwing motion very stable.

The hand-finger posture is the most important aspect of dart throwing. Since there are so many finger positions, it is difficult to give a perfect recommendation on this. The more fingers do touch the dart, it is getting s lot more difficult to find a constant throwing style. Each finger simulates its own direction; this coordination is amongst the most difficult. The center of gravity should always be taken care of. The fingers should always lie around or directly at the center of gravity.

The Throw:
Now you can merge all learned components (easier said than done). The dart should be positioned horizontally in the hand. Even dry runs are very helpful. In order to get a stable throwing motion, the throwing arm should be fully used. Move the lower arm as far as possible forward during acceleration, so the full power of the arm can be exploited. *** Background information from the open web & Wikipedia and from personal knowledge *** .