Merry Christmas Everyone!
The Holidays are great fun, and I think that they are upon us now. We’ve sold out of everything except for Widdy darts. If you’ve placed an order, it’s on a truck right now if it hasn’t landed yet.
There were some requests for Widdy Wood Boards that I couldn’t fill because we ran out of boards in stock. You’ve received a refund. Now, here is some news you can use . . .
Widdy Has Stopped Making Wood Boards
The company that supplies them with the wood blanks has gone out of business. So, Widdy won’t be making any new wood boards in the near future. Perhaps they’ll return to it if they find a new supplier. But for right now, they aren’t making any new wood boards.
If you can find a wooden Widdy board at a reasonable cost elsewhere, grab it now. After Darto stopped making darts, the people who had a supply of them upped the prices. Now, on eBay I can find Darto darts with colored flights at prices that are double what they were. I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens with Widdy wood boards as well.
Darto Darts on Hold
I know it’s been a while since we’ve posted anything on the “News and Updates” front, but now I have an Update.
Darto has been making darts for decades, and they usually run a couple of different feather colors. You can pick them up in . . .
- Traditional White
- Black
- Blue
- Red
- “Patriots” -a combination of one red feather, one white feather and one blue feather
For the moment, they are looking for a new supplier for the metal parts of the darts. As a result, they’ve stopped producing for the time being. I’ve sold out of all of the Darto stock we had, including the darts put aside to become part of the “Sampler” packs.
I’ve found them online elsewhere, but they are pricey. There is a set of Patriots on ebay for $42.99, plus shipping.
When they begin producing darts again, I’m sure we will be back to stocking all the different colors they make. In the meantime, that’s why we have a lot of “Out Of Stock” badges in the catalog.
Dart Etiquette
It’s not a big secret that there are fundamental differences between American Style darts and Pub darts. But, after having had three separate experiences with playing English darts in an English dart setting, it became apparent to me that not only the equipment and the games differ, but the etiquette between dart shooters is somewhat different as well.
Some things almost go without saying, but for the sake of being thorough, here are a few no-brainers for anyone venturing out into the public to shoot darts . . .
- Don’t distract the shooter – and that means everything from being noisy to being in the line of sight, or just too dang close.
- Be prompt when it’s your turn to shoot – it’s not cool to have to constantly track down a teammate or opponent
- Fits of temper
- Intense celebrations – and that includes inappropriate trash talking
Those things are universal. But, there are subtle differences between how the players behave during the different games that you may not realize. Well, I didn’t realize them until I did some playing.
In English Darts, there is a whole list of do’s and don’ts for the scorekeepers. In American Darts, the scorekeeper is more of a bookkeeper. They don’t judge the scoring, they simply record it onto the scoresheet. And as a result, they are usually positioned behind the shooters at a table, writing onto a scoresheet. English scorekeepers stand near the dartboard itself, in plain view of the shooters and onlookers, writing on a scoreboard that hangs on the wall.
SCORING – In an American style game, Player A stands at the line and throws his three darts. Then he’s finished.
He can go directly to his beer (or anywhere else) after he throws the third dart. Player B goes to the board, and calls out the score so that everyone, especially thee scorekeeper, can hear. There is usually a set of hand signals that accompanies the called score, so there is less confusion in a crowded, noisy room. If there’s any doubt about the darts, the players can all walk right up to the board and inspect them.
Pub guys, read this: In American darts, players share the darts, so you do NOT shoot the darts and then go up to retrieve your darts, and then get out of the way for the next shooter. You shoot the darts, and leave them in the board.
If you’re shooting Pub darts, people generally bring their own darts. So, you take the line and shoot your darts. Someone calls out the score and marks it, and then you go pull your own darts. It’s different.
I was shooting pub darts recreationally, and as the beer flowed I slid back into a habit of taking the line, throwing the darts, and finding my barstool. Meanwhile people are looking at me like “what the hell? go get your darts out of the board, will ya?”
Team Celebrations – In an english dart setting, everyone seems to have darts in their hands. So, when a teammate throws a nice inning, they’re returning with a handful of darts. In that setting the high fives do not flow freely. In the most recent pub dart tourney, the hand slapping seemed to be replaced by this gentle fist bumping action.
I’m not sure if that’s standard everywhere, but I do know that in an American dart setting when the shooter does well, returning to the team he’ll get the same sort of greeting that someone who just hit a home run would receive – high fives, handshakes and hand slaps.
Chatter at the line – on this topic I have to say that some traditions are local. Some teams chatter when a teammate is at the line the same way little leaguers chatter when a batter is in the box. You’ll hear all sorts of lines “fill in the reds”, “follow that up”, etc. Some teams treat time at the line as if it were time at the altar, and you can hear a pin drop.
I’m sure I missed some, but those are the things that struck me when I noticed them. Feel free to add any dart etiquette rules in the comments section 
Beginner Practice Routines
We have some fellows who are shooting the dart league for the first time, and they qualify as beginners. Sure, they’ve shot before, somewhere in a past decade. Or, they’ve shot “English” darts, but they haven’t been shooting American darts regularly in some time. And, it shows.
Not that everyone has to be some sort of excellent shooter in order to play in a tavern beer league. They don’t. But these guys want to get back to where they feel like they’re shooting like they used to. And, in trying to get there, the topic of practice routines came up.
Obviously, the more you shoot, the better your chances of getting better. But, darts are like anything else. If you’re working at something, you’ll see results. If you’re playing around and passing time, you’ll spend a lot of time without any actual improvement. And remember, we’re not talking about shining up your game to take on Mark Weurstle, or Darin Young. It’s just a matter of going from maybe one red an inning to sometimes two reds an inning.
So, here is the practice routine that I was given when I started shooting, and later I’ll post some routines that are more advanced. I won’t be talking about improving any dart throwing technique, just practice routines. To start with . . .
ALL AROUND THE WORLD
Charlie Dusendshine told me to start out by setting a goal for the inning. The goal can be as simple as landing a dart anywhere in the inning and getting a point, or as complex as landing all three in the trips. I’ve never bothered with the trip shooting, but I do recommend being very interested in shooting the reds. So, I set a goal of landing a red.
You start at the first inning, and shoot at it until you hit your goal (for me, it was a red). Then you move to the second inning, and shoot at it until you hit your goal. And on and on until you reach the final inning for which you’d like to practice. For a lot of people that is the ninth inning because that’s how long a regulation “baseball” game of darts lasts. Others keep shooting through the tenth because they like to be familiar with the tenth inning in case the game goes into extra innings.
Other people want to become familiar with the entire dartboard, and shoot all 20 innings.
The great part about this routine is that you can set your own goal. Mine grew from hitting a red, to hitting three points. Then it grew to four points, then two reds (specifically - if i accidentally hit two trips, I’d have to reshoot the inning), and on to five or six an inning.
For anyone just shooting the innings one through nine, I recommend starting at the nine and going backwards as often as you start at the one and go forwards. If you only ever go in one direction, you risk becoming very good at the first few innings, and dropping off when the game draws near a close.
I think that if you’re learning to be good at a certain game of darts (like baseball), this is a good place to start. I’m sure after time you can spice it up with little twists like having to start over if you black out, or using it as a game to play against friends. Perhaps each time you need to reshoot an inning, you toss a dime in the cup. The first player to finish the appropriate amount of innings wins the contents of the cup.
The upside of this practice routine is that it gives you the chance to concentrate on a single inning until you are comfortable enough with it to proceed. That’s so much better than saying something like “i stink at the seven”, then throwing poorly at the seven and moving right on past the problem spot without actually ever improving.
December Updates
Winter is definitely here, and Christmas isn’t going to be far behind. I hope everyone is settling in for a festive holiday season!
Some of the things that have been happening around here lately include . . .
the new Natalie Style Dart Cabinet – one of the local fire companies needed a couple of dart cabinets. And, since the local dart scene has a preference of keeping score on a pegboard, as opposed to scoring wheels that are part of the traditional green tavern dart cabinets, he helped translate a design from an English dart backboard into an American dart cabinet.
The first two pieces came out well, and are in use at the fire company. I asked him to make a few more, so I now have two hand made dart cabinets that are available to new homes. They have solid wood framing, with a lacquered finish so the wood grain shows through. They also have a grey carpeted backing around the board for a pretty striking contrast. Actually, for full information on these two cabinets visit the Natalie Style American Dart Cabinet page.
On the Vintage Dart scene, I found two new sets of darts that would fall in line with what I would consider American Style darts. They have the full wood bodies, but differ slightly from the norm when it comes to flights and weighting. One of the sets was assembled in France, and the other comes from the Innovation Products Company out of Chicago – who probably ceased operations many moons ago.
You can check out the darts by visiting the Marksman Darts (made in France) page, and the Innovation Product’s V Dart which came out of chicago (and oddly, has a wood barrel but plastic flights).
Pool vs Darts
I’ve seen a dozen websites that are Pool ‘n Darts. Jim’s Pool ‘n Darts Emporioum, Pete’s Pool ‘n Darts Warehouse, Yahib Shabodnik’s Pool ‘n Darts Extravaganza.
While it’s true that along with poker, pool and darts are the main games of rec rooms across America, I haven’t seen anyone tackle the differences between the two games. And specifically, give the top 5 reasons that darts are better than pool.
So, I thought I’d do it . . .
Reason #5 : It Takes Less Room – A friend of mine has the ultimate man cave, complete with 8 person bar, televisions, bar sink, kegmeister, refrigerator, etc. Swap that dartboard out for a pool table, and you’ll be left with the tv’s. It’s no fun having a rec room where you have to stand.
And the same holds true for a lot of entertainment areas, after all a basic small bar-sized pool table takes up about 11ft x 14ft if you don’t want to poke holes in the walls.
Dartboards don’t hog up the floor space like a pool table does.
Reason #4 : It’s Quieter - Once the kids go to bed, smacking a rack of eightball for the break disturbs the peace and tranquility of the night.
In my house I can play darts ’till dawn, but the billiards stop when folks put on their pajamas.
Reason #3 : Dartboards Are Lighter - Did you ever carry a pool table up two flights of steps into the attic bedroom? Probably not. You can put a dartboard anywhere you want in a house. Not so with the pool tables.
Reason #2 : You don’t need quarters to play American Darts – I’ve never seen a corner tavern pool table that was free all the time, and I’ve never seen an American dartboard where you ever paid a dime to the owner to use.
Of course electronic darts are a different story, so my advice is to play American darts. 
Reason # 1 : It’s just plain silly to poke a potato with a pool cue between shots.
Should the inside of the widdy or darto dartboard be loose like that??
That’s a question I’ve gotten a few (not too many, mind you) times by now. And, with dart season starting again, and new darters taking up the game, I’m sure to hear it a few more times than usual over the upcoming months.
So, I thought I’d address how an american dartboard (widdy or darto) is put together, and show some examples of how they work and wear.
Two Pieces:
The first thing to note is that there are two distinct pieces to a dartboard. There is the outer “frame”, and an inner “shooting circle”. Better dartboards are designed so that you can rotate the inner shooting circle. That’s because we often shoot the same innings over and over, and if left to mother nature, the dartboard would wear out in the popular innings with the unpopular innings still being almost untouched.
Here’s a picture of a board that we recently rotated . . .
As you can see, there is heavy wear in the 15, the 17, and the 19. those areas used to be the 2, 3, and 7 (popular innings to shoot). So, by being able to rotate the inner section of the board, we can add a lot of life to it.
If the inner section of the board is not sufficiently loose, rotating it is a bother, and requires some honest muscle work. I’ve had boards that were too stubborn to rotate, so I’ve had to actually take them apart, rotate the inner circle, then put them back together. Here’s a video of one of those adventures . . .
So, the answer to the question of “should it be loose” is yes. It should be somewhat loose.
Of course, if anything has ever been too tight, it’s been too loose as well. When I feel there’s too much give in the dartboard when the darts hit it, I’ll add some shims in between the inner scoring section and the frame to eliminate any “wobble” that might exist.
In taverns I’ve seen players just insert a matchbook and keep on shooting. I use small thin pieces of wood because they look nicer. But, anything that I can insert to stop the wobble, and pull out easily when I want to rotate the board is fine. It’s not like a dart hits the board with much force, so I don’t have to do anything too elaborate.
And obviously, if you can knock the inner section out of the frame by throwing a dart at it, that’s TOO LOOSE.
PA State Dart Tournament Dates Released
It seems like the smell of darts really is in the air earlier this year than most. The dates for the State Dart Tournament have been released already!
The tournament will be staying in Treskow this year, at the Fire Company.
There are only Three Qualifying Dates – all of them Sundays.
January 25th, Feb. 8th, and Feb 15th.
the flyer states there will be 2 brackets of 16 teams each day. So that’s 32 teams per day total, times three days, equals a max of 96 teams in the event.
The Finals are scheduled for SATURDAY Feb. 21st – 10:00 AM.
Once again, Joe Hagany will be the man to speak to concerning entry, or anything else about the tournment. I’ll be posting more information, including copies of the flyers in the darts forums and on the PA State Dart Tournament page.
August website updates
About the time that footballs begin to fill the air on the high school practice fields, you can almost smell the darts in the air. Leagues are putting out sign up sheets, tournament directors are filling in calendar spots on Saturdays in the fall, and recreational players are saying things like “i haven’t picked these up in a while, let’s see if i still have it”
For anyone putting together a league or tournament, let me remind you that the dart forums will be up and running full speed shortly, so posting your information there is a good idea.
During the long days of summer, I took some time to surf the web and managed to come across some pictures of more vintage wooden darts and some boards from the 40′s. I’ve added some of the picts to the vintage darts page, and opened a new page dedicated to Deco – the Dart Equipment company that worked out of Philadelphia for decades.
We’ve also added Darto Dartboards to the line of products available, and I fixed some of the images on the scoresheets page that got out of line when we moved to our new computer host.
I hope that everyone has been having a great summer, and look forward to seeing people at the line starting next month!
Happy 4th of July !!
Today, we celebrate Independence Day here in the States. For many of us that means picnics and parades, ballgames and fireworks. No matter what you do on the 4th, please do it safely.
While I’m at the fireworks show tonight, I’ll be remembering why we have fireworks and festivities today. Our founding fathers got together and managed to finalize the Declaration of Independence on (or around) the 4th of July. 56 people, from the thirteen states signed the document, including John Hancock (he of the oversized signature).
Even though the United States of America wasn’t exactly safe and secure (the Revolutionary War raged for years after the signing), they were born – at the potential cost of the ”Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor” of the signees.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is in the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.
Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the Present King of Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let the Facts be submitted to a candid World.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People; unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.
He has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.
He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and Amount and Payment of their Salaries.
He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance.
He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislature.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
For imposing taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond the Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule in these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Powers to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.
He is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic Insurrections among us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.
Nor have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of the divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Signed by ORDER and
in BEHALF OF THE CONGRESS
JOHN HANCOCK,
PRESIDENT.
ATTEST.
CHARLES THOMSON,
SECRETARY.
PHILADELPHIA:
PRINTED BY JOHN DUNLAP.
Home Darts Page
Categories
Other Pages
Archives
- December 2011
- January 2011
- June 2009
- March 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
