I always have music blaring when I practice. It helps prepare me for noisy venues.

Hitting trebles is a confidence thing, the more you can hit them, the more you will hit them. So shooting at the bigger trebles isnt that bad a thing.

Skyblueadam wrote:

True. Just doesn't really appeal to me with the bigger trebles either.

But you have to hit them from further back. And if you watch Dartslive at all, it's not as easy as it looks.

Soft tip made me an all around better dart player. A lot can be learned form both types.

I'm tempted by it but haven't got the space for the oche I don't think.

I think most of us do prefer steel but soft tips is challenging also. A lot of people that never played it bad mouth it. I was one of those too long ago. Like JDs post said darts is darts they are both great fun in my opinion. That includes the noise! I've made a lot more $ playing soft tip- the girls are prettier too! Lol

spat66 wrote:

I think most of us do prefer steel but soft tips is challenging also. A lot of people that never played it bad mouth it. I was one of those too long ago. Like JDs post said darts is darts they are both great fun in my opinion. That includes the noise! I've made a lot more $ playing soft tip- the girls are prettier too! Lol

I was the same way Spat. I used to say all the negative things I hear all the time. I was very negative about soft tip. Then I moved where it was soft tip only. So it was either play or sit home and do nothing. Took me awhile to get the hang of it. I will be the 1st to tell you it's not as easy as you think. Took my beatings at first. But as i got into it I started making really good money at tournaments. Went to a regional Bullshooter and won the non pro singles and doubles. Also won the triples. Went home with several hundred more than I came with. Been hooked ever since.

I had never heard of soft tip until mid last year.

For fun, I will use n01 at lvl 8 and throw at the soft tip board from steel tip oche. It lets you feel like what its like to be a pro and throw those 30 averages.

JD wrote:

spat66 wrote:

I think most of us do prefer steel but soft tips is challenging also. A lot of people that never played it bad mouth it. I was one of those too long ago. Like JDs post said darts is darts they are both great fun in my opinion. That includes the noise! I've made a lot more $ playing soft tip- the girls are prettier too! Lol

I was the same way Spat. I used to say all the negative things I hear all the time. I was very negative about soft tip. Then I moved where it was soft tip only. So it was either play or sit home and do nothing. Took me awhile to get the hang of it. I will be the 1st to tell you it's not as easy as you think. Took my beatings at first. But as i got into it I started making really good money at tournaments. Went to a regional Bullshooter and won the non pro singles and doubles. Also won the triples. Went home with several hundred more than I came with. Been hooked ever since.

Yea that's pretty much my story exactly- I moved to an area where soft tip was all there was. There was a big league and I was asked to play. It took awhile to get used to and I had my ass handed to me a lot! Worked real hard at practice because I couldn't stand getting whipped! Worked my way up and now I'm the one on top in this area. The leagues have really gone downhill now. You used to be able to go to a blind draw every night of the week somewhere. I would play in 4 or 5 a week. Money was good, most had mystery outs of $1000 or $500. It was great

Soft tip machines are expensive. Some bars/pubs around here only have a machine or 2. So on league night when it's your turn to play the game usually starts automatically. This gives you zero warm up darts. I've always found it difficult to get a few extra darts before a game starts.

And I'll say it again, I HATE all the fist bumping in soft tip. Americans who play soft tip will understand this. Seems like everyone wants to fist bump on any decent shot. I will not do it during a match. Maybe because of my steel tip background, we just never did the fist bump thing after a good throw. I'm talking about the opponent here, not your partner.

omg agreed. hate fist bumps. and im chastized for not doing it. ill shake hands before and after the game

I usually stand with my back to the board when my opponent is throwing so they wouldnt get a chance to want a fist bump. I will make the odd "nice darts mate" comment but that will depend on my mood.

Jimbo, I wish I could show you a state soft tip tourney or even a Bullshooter regional here in the USA. Some people want to give you a fist bump for hitting a 3 mark in cricket. More out of habit than anything. I'm one of the nicest players you could meet. Doesn't matter if I win or lose badly. I'll always do a handshake before and after the match. But all these fist bumps have got to go. If I know an opponent likes to fist bump I will go out of my way when walking back from the board to avoid doing it.

Where was soft or plastic darts first introduced and when ???

paddydub wrote:

Where was soft or plastic darts first introduced and when ???

Taken from here.... [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Soft Tip Darts started in America in 1975. A small machine shop owner named Rudy Allison was travelling through Ireland when he stayed in a town called Wicklow. He spent some time playing steel tip darts with the locals but notice the flow of play was interrupted by the marking of the score on a chalk board. He thought why someone hadn’t thought of away of scoring the game electronically as per pin ball machines. This thought consumed Rudy and on his way back to America he had developed a rough idea how a new style dartboard could calculate the scores automatically.

Over a period of a year Rudy experimented, refined his idea and gained financial backing to develop his idea into a business. He produced a dart board made from a plastic / latex that had thousands of holes in. The steel tip of the dart was replaced with a plastic tip, so when the dart entered the board the tip would trigger a circuit which recorded the score. This invention meant there was no need for manual marking of the game. The boards these days come in a variety of quality, finishes and pre installed games such as American Cricket and the standard ’01 games to name just two. The darts used for this board are the same as a standard dart we use on a steel tip (bristle /sisal) board with one major exception, the tip!

Soft tip darts is so called because of the material the dart point is made from: plastic. Most boards also have a weight restriction limit of 18grms, this is purely to protect the board from breaking, however there are more robust boards that will take a higher weight dart up to 24grms.
League soft tip darts usually have a dart weight restriction of 18grms but your local league will advise. Throwing heavier darts than allowed will get you disqualified.

Soft tips have been around in the US for years, I first played on a commercial game in the late 70's in a bar in Michigan, then in Florida in the early 80's. Back then and up until about the last 10 year the game was lightly regarded. For many reason, but for me it was the crappy darts - before the common 18 gram weight limit, it was 16 gram. Steel tip players were using darts averaging over 25 grams so the gap was very large. Most soft tip darts were cheap brass, I remember buying my dad the best soft tip darts I could find since his favorite bar had a game and it was popular, compared to the steel tips I was throwing they were a joke. Up until recently the 3 major commercial dartboard manufactures had changed little over the years. Innovation in design was geared to making these board reliable and serviceable (which they did , these boards last forever) but did not advanced the sports. American players owe the success overseas to resent advancement. Credit of the current darts - can be shared, as the sheer volume of soft tip players across the US, I think also the fact that these new players demanded a higher quality of dart. All major dart manufactures jumped at the new market.

The tips themselves I think have been the final piece, even though bounce out shots score - nobody likes picking here darts off the floor. Again 6 or 7 years ago new tip made the game playable - current offering make the game great.

I think the early commercial games ,that you can still find in some bars even today (games made in the 80's) gave many players a very bad first impression. It's taken years, along with some updating in all aspect of the Soft tip game to bring the game to it current level.

I think most of the current advancements in darts accessories and darts themselves are because of soft tip. If Dartslive start bringing their machines to the Uk I think it will be a huge boost for the soft tip game. Think its just a matter of time but the end is nigh for steel tip.

From my experience with both, soft tip darts is similar to steel tip in the equipment used but quite different mentally. Yes, plastic vs steel point, but otherwise....tungsten barrel, shaft, flight.
Yes, scoring areas are bigger. So what. The pressure in steel tip is to score big to get ahead. The pressure in soft tip is not to fall behind.
Mentally, if you're the guy throwing 45's in steel tip while your opponent throws 100's....it's no different to you throwing 101 in soft tip and your opponent throwing 150's.

Think of it like this.....in steel, you hit-you win. In soft, you miss-you lose.