Bristle Dartboard Setup & Measurements
Until the late 1970’s, darts suffered from a lack of standardization, with many different throwing distances, and for that matter, many different styles of dartboards. In 1978 darts organizations in England and the USA agreed to the current International standards.
Bristle Dartboards should be mounted with the center of the Bull at 5 feet 8 inches from the floor. The dartboard’s mounting bracket is screwed to the wall, and that is also the height at the center of the “U”-shaped bracket, where the dartboard’s mounting screw will rest.
The throwing distance is 7 feet, 9-1/4 inches, (2.37 meters) as measured along the floor, from the plane of the face of the dartboard.
In other words, if you dropped a line straight down to the floor from the face of the dartboard, you would then measure the throwing distance from that point.
Here is an easy way to find the location for the throw line:
First, mount the dartboard on the wall. The center of the bracket, and thus the dartboard, will be at 5’8″ above the floor.
The image shows a typical traditional metal dartboard bracket. Some recent dartboards use a similar plastic bracket.
Then measure the diagonal distance of from the center of the dartboard, down & out to the floor. That measurement is 9 feet, 7-3/8 inches. This is the third side of the right-triangle formed by the three measurements. If the height is correct, the diagonal measurement will touch the floor at exactly the spot where you need to mark the throw line.
When playing darts, no part of either foot may go over that line. Leaning over the line is permitted.
Dartboard Height: Floor to Bull – 5 feet 8 inches
Throwing Distance:
Steel-Point Darts – 7 feet 9-1/4 inches
Soft-Tip Darts – 8 feet
More information on dartboards is available at this Rick’s Darts & Games site, or at Dartboard.com.
