Theres been some mention on the forum regarding members from other countries buying soft tip darts so this begs the question will they catch on in the uk ?
Personally i dont think so ! And to be honest i would rather it didnt , Its the tradition of the english pub with the bristle dartboard and the what seems compulsory brass darts behind the bar
The biggest change in darts in the uk in my memory was the change from brass to tungsten , I just cant see it edging out the steel tip darts .
I look forward to the forums thoughts on this


Mav

I agree Mav. Steel tip will always be popular in the UK. It has "roots" there. Unfortunately here in the states darts has seen a decline since the Lucky Strikes events many decades ago. My very 1st tournament was the 1996 Witch City open. A $30,000 event back then. Fast forward over 15 years and there's really nothing like it now. Steel tip has kind of faded out as far as I'm concerned. Our local steel tip league that was once ADO sponsored and featured many nationally ranked players folded up a couple years ago. It's gone.

On the other hand, soft tip tourney's seem to be the wave of the future here in the states. I was at the NY state championships a couple months ago and it was HUGE!!!! They gave away a BRAND NEW CAR!!! What steel tip event has done that I ask?
Also, with Dartslive coming here in September with a 1st place payout of $13,000 will draw massive crowds. It certainly sparked my interest. I believe if Dartslive continues on course it will ignite a passion for darts here in the states like we've never seen before. The same as it's doing in Asia, Japan and many other countries.

But to stay on topic... NO, soft tip darts will not catch on in the UK. They already have everything you could imagine. Sponsors, massive crowds, tv coverage, and most importantly... the average person LOVES to watch the pro's play. We couldn't fill an arena here in the states giving away FREE tickets to watch darts. Yet in the UK it's a sold out event every time the PDC puts on show. 2 completely different worlds.

Damn you soft tip! I hate you!!!!!!!

i would love to give soft tip a go

Its a fun game .

I hope it never takes hold in the UK but I think it will eventually, it will sooner or later appeal to the younger generation with its techy video game style nature. Its also possible that the two may merge in some way, may steel tip boards will be like the soft tip with the automatic scoring etc?

That could be something grip.

There already is steel tip machines, I've played on them. I didn't care for it, one you have to put quarters in and if you have a bounce out it still counts. They would back the board up to subtract the bounce out dart. The boards worked really good though- they would also tell you what your out shot was wich I didn't care for. That's a big part of the game.

Interesting Shawn, the bounce out darts counting is a bad idea though, I think only darts that stay in the board should be valid.

I think putting money in the machines is one of the factors why the soft tip machines have become so prevalent, the pubs/bars etc can make money from them.

I'd like to give soft tip a go at some point in time, but I can't see it overtaking steel tip in pubs and clubs over here in my lifetime.