Two Games with The Same Name. Which One Should You Play?

There are two types of dart sets you can play, steel-tip darts and soft-tip darts. 

Whilst each shares the name of darts and you score the same way for each. There are important factors that make them different.

Let’s find out how they differ.

Steel Tips Darts

Steel-tip darts are the original form of dart set and date from when darts first originated in medieval times. 

You throw your steel tip darts into, usually, a sisal bristle dartboard (cheaper versions include cork or wood, even paper!). 

Darts evolved from when a pin used as the tip was inserted into a wooden stick, which had real goose feathers attached to the back as flights. You can still find versions of these old darts put there, but they are a far cry from today’s dart materials.  

It’s a little-known fact is that modern darts can often cost, gram/pound, more than a golf club does.

The steel tip section of the dart is metal and “reasonably” soft and can be sharpened quite easily hello tips are also replaceable and can easily be changed if they were to get bent or even snap.

It’s a good idea to have a sharp steel tip dart to make sure that it’s going to stick in your board because if they don’t stick they don’t score.

How much do steel tip darts weigh?

Steel tip darts can weigh anything up to 50 g. It is important in darts because the heavier the dart the straight of the flight and the less arc you have to include in your throw towards the board.

In theory, a heavier dart is more accurate. However, this is largely dependent on your throwing style and personal preference. 

How to play steel darts

The principle of throwing into the board is that the metal points wedge into the bristles in regions of the board with varying scores attached.

Steel-tip darts are the most common form of the game (particularly in the UK which is thought of as the home of darts as a sport).

You can say with some conviction that Steel tip darts are the traditional way in which the game was played and evolved.

I know people who just aren’t interested in soft tip darts because their mindset is that steel tip darts are the only way to go, those guys are very traditionalist.

Steel tip measurement

Floor to Bullseye: 5’8”

Face of Board to Throw Line: 7’ 9 3/4“

Soft Tip Darts

Soft-tip darts are relatively new compared to steel tips and are just what they sound like. Where steel tip darts have stiff metal points, soft tips are made of molded plastic and are designed to enter holes that are pre-made on the face of soft tip dart boards. 

By their very nature, this makes them safer to play with. The chances of being injured by a soft tip dart compared to a steel tip dart are greatly minimized. 

Are Soft tip darts better?

Due to the safety aspect of Soft tip darts, it’s easy to see why they are popular.

They are a good choice to buy for young children who are keen on learning to play darts or who you know would like to get into playing darts.

Similarly, if you are ultra cautious or you cannot play at home without your pet being in the same room as your dartboard then soft tips are probably the best choice for you.

Do soft tip darts damage walls?

The main advantage to soft tip darts from my perspective (or rather from my wife’s…) is that they are not going to stick into your walls.

Now there is no guarantee that soft tips won’t damage your wall but if they do it will be minimal.

Soft tips certainly won’t stick into your furniture if you have a bounce out (or like me when I started playing darts… you just have bad aim).

How much do soft tip darts weigh?

Soft tip darts generally weigh between 16g and 20g.

This is another reason why they won’t stick in your wall or furniture.

Soft tip darts have a dart weight limit of around 20 g whereas your standard dartboard for steel tips has no weight limitations.

Soft tip dartboard can only weigh 20 grams because the board has to absorb all the force of the darts being thrown.

Soft tip measurement

Floor to Bullseye: 5’8”

Face of Board to Throw Line: 8’

Soft tip board

The soft-tip board has individual synthetic floating segments. There is one segment for each bed of the dartboard. Each segment is perforated with many holes. The soft-tip dart points fit into the holes in a segment. The effort required to slow down and stop the dart causes a segment to be momentarily depressed by an individual throw so the dart can find a home in the board.

How does a soft tip dartboard work?

Soft tip dartboards have holes in their face which hold the soft tip of the dart.  The beds of the dartboard face are movable inside the segment. 

When the soft tip dart hits the bed, it moves and the dart finds its way into one of the holes. 

Soft tip darts still suffer from bounce-outs mainly because there is the material between each of the holes in the beds.

So if the dart hits the materials square on, it could bounce right off the face of the board.

Can soft tip darts be used on a bristle board?

Yes. Soft tip darts can be used on bristle boards. But, because they are lighter they need to be thrown with a greater arc to get them to the board.

Another problem with the weight of soft tips is that you need to throw them with more force to ensure they stay in the face of the board as they won’t penetrate as far as steel tips do.

All in all, it’s better to use Steel tip darts for bristle boards.

Something to think about is that the size of doubles and triples on a bristle board are smaller than on a soft-tip board.

If you regularly play with soft tips you might find practicing on a bristle board useful for your game as it requires a great deal more accuracy.

Do pros use steel or soft tip darts?

Professional darts players use Steel tip darts. The weight of the darts is the prime reason for this –  anything between 20 and 30 g for pros.

The heavier the dart the more accurate and consistent the throw will be. 

Heavier darts can be thrown like this as they do not have to be thrown with as large an arc which happens to lighter darts and generally makes them less accurate.

Takeaways

• If you want to throw soft-tip darts well, throw them at a soft-tip board.
• If you want to throw steel-tip darts well, get real steel-tip darts and throw them at a bristle board.
• You can use soft-tip darts on a steel-tip bristle board to improve your soft-tip targeting.