Regulation Dartboard Setup

Before you start dragging out the tools, consider the area you are looking at for mounting your dart board. Will you have electricity available for good lighting? Will you have at least ten feet from the board to where you will be standing and shooting?

The throw line is almost eight feet from the front of the dartboard (exact measurements will be discussed below), so make sure you aren't in a tight space or small room where you may be backed up against a wall or some furniture.

Lighting is also a critical element. Even in the brightest of indoor spaces, seeing the dartboard clearly can become challenging. I recommend using a separate light or lights for illuminating the board. Track lighting is good, even a single spot light style can suffice.

My preference has become this three light setup I found at Home Depot (pictured right). I have one setup in my home as well as a few dart bars where I have installed dartboards, and they really do the trick! This particular light leaves no shadows from the wires or darts, as the three spots illuminate the board equally.

You might also consider installing a backboard or using a dart cabinet. It's not all that often that a player will miss the board entirely, however even some of the best can allow one to slip when aiming at a double.

You can shop online for a backboard or dart cabinet using the links below, or you can easily build your own backboard that is effective. In my garage setup I am building one using Styrofoam insulation, which I intend on wrapping in felt which will hide any holes from missed darts (seen in the pic with the light). I also built one for a girlfriend out of MDF which I glued a Texas Flag rug to for a unique backboard. I had the rug, MDF, contact adhesive and hardware so why not? If you are building one yourself, use creative license and have fun with it!

• Dart-Stop Backboards - "State of D'art Equipment". Premium Quality Darting Equipment Manufactured in the USA by Dart-Stop


• Custom Dart Cabinets - If it's a dart cabinet you prefer, you MUST check this web site out. I highly recommend it!

Regulation height for a dartboard is simple. The center of the bullseye is 5' 8" from the floor. Using a tape measure - or your wife if she stands 5' 8" - mark a spot on the wall or backboard where you will be mounting your dartboard. This will clearly show you where to mount the bracket for hanging the board at regulation height.

Depending on your mounting surface you might also consider what hardware you may need. If you are using a backboard or cabinet that is mounted securely to the wall, the screws that came with your mounting bracket should do the trick.

If you are hanging the board on sheet rock or in an apartment where you want to leave yourself an easy patch up for the day you may move, I recommend going to your local hardware store and purchasing some drywall anchors. The style pictured left are my favorites, as they hold massive amounts of weight and are super easy to use.

Your dart board should have a pilot hole pre-drilled on the back directly behind the bullseye, and hopefully came with a screw to install there for hanging on the bracket. If you do not have a screw, make sure you find one that has a head big enough to grab the bracket securely, and that is not too long as to penetrate all the way through to the sisal where you will be planting darts on the front side of the board.

The measurement from the dart board to the throw line (or Oche, pronounced like Hockey without the "H") can be done one of two ways.

The easiest way is to measure 7' 9 1/4" from the FACE of the dartboard. This is easily done by taking the measurement from the face of the board to the wall and adding 7' 9 1/4" to that measurement. Then take that total, and measuring from the wall you can then place your throw line.

You can also measure 9' 7 3/8" DIAGONALLY from the bullseye to the front of the throw line. This however requires an extra set of hands. In a pinch, you could cut some string to the length of 9' 7 3/8" and hold it in the bullseye with a push pin or a dart.