When I throw my darts they do not spin at all while in flight. I heard recently that several professional dart players spin their darts in flight. I wondered if spinning my darts was the secret to becoming a better dart player. I did some research and here is what I found.
Should Darts Spin When Thrown? It is okay if darts spin. If your natural grip and throw consistently puts spin on your dart in flight, then that’s fine. If your throw does not naturally put spin on a dart, then it is not recommended to make your darts spin intentionally. The increased risk of an inconsistent dart throw outweighs any benefit to a spinning dart.
It’s common knowledge that a spinning object in flight can add stability and make its trajectory more accurate. This is best seen in the rifling of a gun or tank barrel. What if you were to apply those principles to a dart? Is spinning your dart the secret to becoming a better dart player? If you read further, I will attempt to answer that.
Why Do Darts Spin?
Darts can spin when thrown because the release of the dart from the hand is not leaving the thumb and fingers at the same time. If your dart spins naturally no matter the type of dart, and your grip and release of the dart are comfortable, then it is widely recommended that the dart player should not adjust anything unless other problems exist.
If your natural release of a dart does not induce spin and then all of a sudden, you started spinning your darts, then this would mean that you potentially have a grip and release problem. There could be several reasons behind this, such as you are gripping your dart with your thumb and index finger top to bottom of the barrel instead of the sides of the barrel or your wrist isn’t aligned with your throw. If this is the case, it is recommended the dart player experiment with adjusting their grip to another position (Front of the barrel, middle of the barrel, or rear of the barrel).
Is There An Advantage To Spinning Your Darts?
The consensus of dart players around the internet says that inducing your dart to spin during its flight to the dartboard does not help or hurt the dart.
The issue that comes into play is that if your natural release of your dart does not spin the dart and you want to add spin, there is danger in adding inconsistent spin and tweaking your dart release so that you are less accurate overall.
Additionally, by concentrating on adding spin with your release, you might pay less attention to how you release, your throw, or follow thru and decrease dart precision.
If you are purposely inducing your darts to spin, it can be hard to do it consistently. This is why when it’s your normal throw to naturally spin a dart while in flight, this is much easier to do consistently. The secret to throwing the perfect dart is about throwing each dart every time consistently.
The secret to throwing the perfect dart is about throwing each dart every time consistently.
There is a commonly held belief that inducing spin in your darts will cause them to be more stable and accurate. The idea usually references the rifling of a gun and tank barrel as proof. The thing to keep in mind is that bullets from gun and tank barrels are traveling at immense speeds, whereas a dart is thrown at a much slower rate.
To summarize, If you already have a comfortable repeatable grip and release of the dart and you are moderately accurate, then any benefit to spinning your darts is negligible and not worth your time. Running through different practice routines will be a much better use of your time than trying to learn how to spin your darts accurately.
What Gives – I’ve Heard That Phil Taylor Spins His Darts…
You’ve heard right. Phil Taylor, the most successful professional dart player in history, does spin his darts while they are in flight. This spinning is caused by Phil’s grip of the darts between his thumb and fingers and when he releases the dart.
See the slow-motion video below that shows this action happening. Notice how Phil’s thumb goes slightly down and his fingers go out and up away from the thumb. This motion causes his darts to spin.
The fact that Phil Taylor spins his darts while in flight does not mean that everyone needs to go out and start applying intentional spin to their darts.
Case in point, the current number one professional dart player, Michael van Gerwen, does not spin his darts while in flight. See the following slow-motion video of Michael’s dart in flight. The slow-motion appears 10 seconds into the video.
What About Spinning Flights and Shafts – Will They Improve Your Dart Game?
Generally, spinning flights or spinning shafts do not add spin on a dart in flight. Spinning flights and spinning shafts allow the flight of the dart that is already in a dartboard move out of the way for an incoming dart.
The advantage of a spinning flight or spinning shaft is that it can decrease your chance of a bounce out on a tight grouping on your second or third dart thrown.
The advantage of a spinning flight or spinning shaft is that it can decrease your chance of a bounce out on a tight grouping on your second or third dart thrown.
Additionally, with the spinning flights I use, I have noticed my flights are more durable and stay on the shaft. I have yet to have a flight pop off with spinning flights versus regular flights with compression rings.
After breaking many shafts and having flights pop off, I upgraded my darts to the Cosmo Darts Fit Flight System of spinning flights and shafts.
You can get the flights and shafts in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Check out some of the spinning flights and shafts I’m using from Amazon.com.
Cosmo Darts Fit Flight Standard Flight – Link to check the price on Amazon.
Cosmo Darts Fit Flight Spinning Dart Shafts – Link to check the price on Amazon.
Related Questions
Why do my darts wobble? Generally, darts wobble while in flight because of a grip and release error caused by the dart leaving the thumb and fingers at different times. Experiment with loosening your grip and where you grip the dart (Front of the barrel, middle of the barrel, or rear of the barrel) and focus on releasing the dart from your thumb and fingers at the same time.
Why do my darts go left or right? Normally, darts that fly to one side or another could be because of an aiming error with your hand-eye coordination or could be because of an induced pressure or release timing of your dart. Focus on your release timing and the alignment of your wrist. Your wrist should be aligned with your throw. Your follow thru will be an indication of your wrist alignment. Make sure your follow thru is still aligned to where you were initially aiming.