One element of technique in a well thrown dart is grip - how you hold the dart with your fingers. Most players use a pencil grip, with the middle finger wedged between the front of the dart barrel and the base of the point. The dart is balanced on the thumb and held in place by the forefinger with this grip. This is a good way to grip a dart because it is easily repeatable, and anything that encourages automatic repetition will put you on the road to consistency.

That said, any grip that is easy to repeat and fosters a clean release of the dart as it leaves the fingers would work. A firm, but relaxed grip will also keep the dart parallel with the floor, and pointed at the dartboard. When the dart leaves your fingers, it has a much better chance of finding it's target if it's already pointed on a straight line to the dartboard. If the dart is pointed down, or to the side because of the grip, the drag of the flight may straighten it out before it hits the dartboard, but this adds a variable and it will cause the dart to yaw. To play winning darts, minimize the variables.

I use a modification of the pencil grip. Instead of anchoring the head of the barrel on my middle finger, I use the ring finger. This lets me rest my thumb on the taper where dart shaft and barrel meet, and makes for a consistently repeatable grip perfectly suited to the length of my dart and the size of my hand. I try to have the dart level during the release to minimized fishtailing of the dart in flight.

Fingers and hands obviously come in different sizes, and fortunately, so do darts. To play winning darts, match the dart to your hand, and master a grip that keeps the dart parallel to the ground and in line with the target.

Until Next Time!
Tony