How to Improve Your Dart Accuracy: 7 Drills That Work

Accuracy in darts isn't a talent you're born with — it's a skill you build through focused, deliberate practice. The difference between a player who lands three darts in a tight cluster and one who scatters across the board usually comes down to practice habits, not natural ability.

This guide covers the technique fundamentals that make accuracy possible, then gives you seven specific drills to sharpen it. If you already have the basics of how to throw darts down, these drills will help you take the next step.

Why Your Darts Miss

Before diving into drills, it helps to understand what causes inconsistency. Most misses come from one of three sources:

• Inconsistent release point — releasing the dart a fraction of a second early or late sends it high or low
• Body movement — swaying, leaning, or shifting weight mid-throw changes your entire trajectory
• Rushing — throwing before you've settled into your aim, especially under pressure

The fix for all three is the same: slow down, build a repeatable routine, and practice with intention.

The Pre-Throw Checklist

Accurate throwers do the same thing before every single dart. Build a short routine and stick to it:

1. Plant your feet — same position every time, dominant foot forward, weight steady
2. Find your sight line — bring the dart up to eye level, line it up with your target
3. Pause — one beat of stillness before you throw, not a rushed snap
4. Throw and follow through — your hand should finish pointing at the target, fingers extended

This takes about three seconds. It sounds mechanical at first, but it becomes automatic quickly — and it eliminates the random variation that comes from rushing or changing your setup between throws.

7 Drills to Improve Your Accuracy

Each drill includes what it trains, how to do it, and a benchmark to aim for. Start with drills 1-3 if you're newer to focused practice.

Drill 1: The Three-Dart Cluster

What it trains: Grouping consistency — landing darts close together regardless of where they hit.

How to play: Throw three darts at T20. Don't worry about whether they hit the treble. Instead, measure how close the three darts are to each other. If you can cover all three with your hand, that's a tight group. If they're spread across three different segments, there's work to do.

Do this: 10 rounds (30 darts total). After each round, mentally rate your grouping: tight, medium, or scattered. Track how many "tight" rounds you get.

Drill 2: The Single Number Challenge

What it trains: Precision aiming at a specific segment.

How to play: Pick a number (start with 20). Throw 30 darts at the single segment only — not the treble or double, just the large single bed. Count how many hit.

Why it matters: The single 20 is a large target, but most players have never actually measured their hit rate on it. This drill gives you a baseline accuracy number you can track over time.

Progression: Once you consistently hit 60%+ on 20, move to smaller segments — the single 19, then 18, then try the treble beds.

Drill 3: Left-Right Sweep

What it trains: Adjusting aim horizontally across the board.

How to play: Throw one dart at each of these targets in order: single 11, single 14, single 9, single 12, single 5. That's five darts, one round. Play six rounds (30 darts total). Score one point for every dart that hits its intended single segment.

Why it matters: Real games — especially Cricket — require constant aim adjustments. Players who only practice at T20 struggle when they need to move to the other side of the board. This drill builds your ability to recalibrate between throws.

Target score: 15+ out of 30 is solid. Hitting 20+ means you can relocate your aim quickly and accurately.

Drill 4: The Quadrant Drill

What it trains: Full-board accuracy and target switching.

How to play: Divide the board into four quadrants:

• Top right: 20, 1, 18, 4, 13
• Top left: 6, 10, 15, 2, 17
• Bottom left: 3, 19, 7, 16, 8
• Bottom right: 11, 14, 9, 12, 5

Each round, throw three darts at one quadrant — one at each of three different numbers in that quadrant. Rotate quadrants each round. Play four rounds (12 darts). Score a point for each dart that hits its target number (any bed — single, double, or treble).

Target score: 6+ out of 12 is good. This drill is harder than it sounds because you're constantly switching targets.

Drill 5: Bullseye Ladder

What it trains: Centre-board accuracy and scoring under pressure.

How to play: Start at the outer bull (25 ring). Throw three darts. If you hit at least one outer bull or inner bull, move up the ladder. If you miss all three, move down.

The ladder:

1. Outer bull (25) — hit any bull
2. Outer bull — hit two bulls in three darts
3. Inner bull (50) — hit the inner bull
4. Inner bull — hit two inner bulls in three darts

Start at rung 1. Reach rung 4 and you're done. Track how many total darts it takes.

Why it matters: The bullseye is the highest-value single-dart target on the board and finishes many checkouts. Dedicated bull practice is something most pub players skip entirely.

Drill 6: Pressure Tens

What it trains: Accuracy under self-imposed pressure.

How to play: Give yourself exactly 10 darts to score as many points as possible on a single target — pick T20, T19, or Bull. No warmup throws, no resets. Whatever you score in those 10 darts is your result.

Benchmarks for T20:

Why it matters: This simulates the mental pressure of a real match, where you don't get unlimited attempts. Ten darts is short enough that every single throw feels significant — one bad dart noticeably drops your average.

Drill 7: The Mirror Drill

What it trains: Consistency on your weakest targets.

How to play: Identify the three numbers you miss most often (for most players, it's targets on their non-dominant side of the board). Throw 10 darts at each one and record your hit rate. Next session, repeat and try to beat your score.

Common weak spots:

• Left-handed players: numbers on the right side (1, 18, 4, 13, 6)
• Right-handed players: numbers on the left side (5, 12, 9, 14, 11)

Why it matters: Every player has a natural "comfort zone" on the board. In Around the Clock, you'll have already noticed which numbers slow you down. This drill attacks those weak spots directly.

Building a Weekly Accuracy Routine

You don't need to do all seven drills every session. A focused 20-30 minute session three to four times a week beats a marathon session once a month.

Sample weekly plan:

Tracking Your Progress

The biggest mistake players make with accuracy training is not tracking results. Without numbers, "I feel like I'm getting better" is all you have — and feelings plateau before real improvement does.

For each session, record:

• Which drills you did
• Your scores or hit rates
• One observation — something you noticed about your throw, stance, or rhythm

You'll start to see patterns: maybe your accuracy drops after 20 minutes of fatigue, or you're consistently stronger on the right side of the board. These insights let you adjust your training instead of just repeating the same habits.

Summary

Accuracy isn't magic — it's built through consistent, focused repetition on specific targets. Start with the Three-Dart Cluster to assess your grouping, work on full-board coverage with the Quadrant Drill and Left-Right Sweep, and add pressure with the Bullseye Ladder and Pressure Tens.

Track your scores. Be honest about your weak spots. And practice in short, focused sessions rather than long, unfocused ones.

If you're looking for more structured practice games or want to put your improved accuracy to use in a real game, start a session on Dartsy and see the difference focused training makes.