Why You Should Start Playing Darts Today

Posted: 03.07.20 in Darts Performance Centre Blog category

We take a look at the benefits of playing darts!

The modern darts game that we know today was first played in the English county of Lancashire 1896 and its invention has been credited to a carpenter called Brian Gamlin. For most of its history, it has been played in pubs, with most traditional English pubs still having a dartboard for its patrons to use. 

Its association with drinking culture, and the fact that previous generations of professional darts players were typically seen practising unhealthy habits while they competed, gave darts a negative image. Today things are very different, with success in darts achieved through a careful training and nutrition programme, just like in other sports. 

Yet, it’s actually a great game that’s fun to play and will help you develop many important skills. Here’s why you should start playing darts today. 

Darts Increases Your Hand/Eye Coordination

This is one of the most obvious benefits of darts since success in the game comes from being able to throw your dart at the designed spot on the board. Beginners can sometimes struggle with this, with their darts often being stuck in the nearby wall having missed the dartboard by quite some distance. 

Having strong hand/eye coordination is important in many areas of life. Simple tasks like cooking, cleaning and DIY are much easier when your hands and eyes are working together seamlessly. 

Darts Improves Your Arithmetic Skills

Darts requires you to add up your score on the fly. You'll be doing many simple calculations in your head as you play, including doubling or tripling your points and adding them to your running tally. Darts is not the only classic game that requires you to do some basic arithmetic calculations, as you'll also need to do basic additions when you play card games like blackjack and puzzles like sudoku.

Darts Gives You the Opportunity for Social Interactions

Although you can practice on your own, darts is a game that’s best played with others. Therefore, playing darts is a great opportunity to meet with friends and bond while you compete with each other. 

This was what made darts so popular in pubs since it brought people together through friendly competition and gave them a chance to mix with new people. 

Darts Improves Your Concentration

In the modern world of instant gratification, it can be hard for some people to maintain a high level of concentration. Darts forces you to concentrate since you must be able to add up your score, calculate where you want your darts to land, throw them accurately and drown out any distractions from your surroundings.

This can be difficult to do since pubs can be very noisy places filled with clinking glasses, chiming slot machines and lots of people talking loudly. It’s even more difficult for professional darts players since these events like the World Darts Championship are some of the rowdiest events in the world. 

Darts is Good Physical Exercise

Ok, you might not burn as many calories as someone who’d done an hour’s jogging around the park, but darts is still good physical exercise. You’ll be doing a lot of arm movements as you repeatedly throw your darts and you’ll do plenty of steps as you walk to and from the dartboard to collect them. 

Darts may not be enough for your entire exercise regime, but it certainly beats sitting on the sofa. 

Darts Can Relieve Stress

There’s no denying that modern living is stressful. Ever-increasing pressures from work, combined with trying to balance growing societal demands can make even the toughest of people struggle. 

It’s important to find ways to manage stress levels. Many people turn to playing games as a way to do this, and darts is a great option. 

The combination of social interaction, high levels of concentration, and the repetitive nature of the game can help you to blow off some steam and forget about the things that are making you feel stressed.

Darts is a fun game that offers many physical and mental benefits. It’s no wonder that it’s been enjoyed by generations of people across the world for well over a century.