Grip guide

How Does Your Dart Grip Affect Which Darts You Should Use?

Your dart grip is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing equipment. But grip isn't simply about whether you hold the dart at the front, middle or rear.

How many fingers you use and how those fingers interact with the barrel can also influence which dart shapes feel natural through the throw and release.

Front, Middle and Rear Dart Grips

The easiest place to start is grip position.

A front gripper naturally places most of their grip towards the point end of the barrel.

A middle gripper holds around the central section.

A rear gripper naturally holds closer to the stem.

That position matters because dart barrels aren't all shaped in the same way.

Why Barrel Shape Matters

Imagine a dart with a pronounced scallop towards the rear.

For a rear gripper, that indentation can provide an excellent physical reference point. The fingers naturally locate the same area on each throw.

For a front gripper, the same feature may offer no benefit because their fingers never interact with it.

That's why choosing a barrel based purely on appearance or popularity can be misleading.

How Many Fingers Do You Use to Grip a Dart?

Grip position isn't the complete picture.

A player using four fingers towards the front of the dart interacts with the barrel differently from somebody using two fingers towards the rear.

The amount of barrel surface being contacted changes.

The position of the fingers changes.

And the way those fingers leave the barrel during the release can change.

Two players who both describe themselves as “front grippers” can therefore require different equipment.

Should You Change Your Grip to Suit Your Darts?

Generally, equipment selection should start with understanding what you naturally do.

If you have a comfortable, repeatable throwing action, forcing your hand into an unnatural position simply because a particular dart was designed to be held there may not be the best approach.

Instead, identify the characteristics of your natural grip and use those characteristics to narrow the enormous number of darts available.

Find Darts That Match Your Natural Throw

This is the idea behind DartsDNA.

Rather than starting with a brand, professional player or price point, DartsDNA starts with characteristics of you.

Where do you grip?

How do you grip?

How do you release the dart?

Those answers help narrow down which equipment characteristics are more likely to complement your natural throw.

Because the question isn't simply: “What are the best darts?”

It's: “What are the best darts for the way I throw?”