More Darts History
Until 1978, there was no standard distance for throwing darts. Our floor mats at Rick’s Darts & Games had 6 throw lines! Different countries and even British counties had their own rules.
Then, in 1978, Tom Fleetwood of the American Darts Organization got together with Olly Croft of the British Darts Organization to form the World Darts Federation. The idea was to standardize rules and start having international competition.
Most of the USA used the 8 foot distance, while the most popular distance (of several) in England was 7’6″. An exact compromise would be 7′ 9″. But.. that would have been too simple.
England had just gone on the Metric standard, and the new WDF was chartered there.
So, the new throwing distance was set at 2.37 meters, or approximately 7′ 9-1/4″.
(We just say it is the British idea of an even number!)
Other big rule changes in the USA:
Cricket had been mostly played on numbers from 10 to 20. The new rules changed the number range to 15 to 20.
(Try the old 10-20 version some time!)
Also, in the H.A.D.A (changed in 1980 to HDA) we had several very vocal players who liked to pound the 19s. Until then, you had to hit 100 points to score an “All Star Point” in league stats.
This was changed to “Quality Points” that only required a score of 95. (This change was -very- hotly argued, especially by traditional darters who thought it just silly to have a high-score type award for throwing anywhere other than the 20 wedge.)
Anyway, 1978 was a year of many changes in darts, as interest in the game boomed and local leagues grew & became more formally organized.
Rick Osgood
Rick’s Darts & Games
“The Original Darts & Games Store, est. 1974”
