Darts Safety

Darts is a popular sport in many countries, especially in the UK, Holland, Scandinavia and the USA. It can be played by almost all age groups and dartboards can still be found in many pubs in Britain. You can play darts as a recreational sport and even set up a dartboard to play at home, and the equipment is relatively cheap compared to other sports.

There is a professional darts circuit with prize money in the tens of thousands of pounds range for the top professionals. For many years the image of a professional darts player was one of an overweight man who downed as many pints during a game as they threw darts. In the last few years the sport has worked hard to get rid of this image and while some pro darts players still look more like Robbie Coltrane than Robbie Williams in stature, the heavy drinking that was once synonymous with the sport has all but disappeared.

So darts must be a safe sport then, nobody can get injured just playing darts surely?

Well surprisingly there are a number of injuries suffered every year that involve darts and dart players. So here are some tips on how you can play the game safely without causing injury to yourself or anyone else.

Children

• Very young children should never be allowed to play with darts. Darts can cause serious injuries to a toddler if they poke themselves in the eye.
• Older children should be supervised at all times when playing the game.
• It's a good idea to buy youngsters a set of soft tipped darts and board. The board is made of plastic and has small holes cast into it. The soft tip darts stick to the board in the small holes. This type of dart is a lot safer than metal tipped ones and are less likely to cause an injury if they strike anyone. .
• Never leave flights lying around as a toddler can put them in their mouth and choke on them.
• Keep your darts somewhere that is out of reach of small children.

Dart Safety

• Never set up your dartboard on the back of a door. Anyone who is not aware that you are playing could easily be struck if they opened the door.
• Make sure the dartboard is securely fitted to the wall. There have been cases when small children, and some adults, have suffered head injuries when a dart board has fallen on them. Darts also rebound more easily if the board is not secured.
• Never point, or throw a dart at anyone.
• Don't stand near a dartboard when someone is throwing. A dart might rebound and hit you.
• Don't walk in front of a dartboard when people are playing.
• Make sure the dartboard is set up well away from any busy areas, or anywhere people might be passing.
• If watching or playing always stand behind the player.
• Make sure anything that is breakable is moved away from the surrounding area. Darts have a habit of rebounding at some strange angles.

If you follow these guidelines then you will be playing safe and hopefully have loads of fun.