Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed projectiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard .
122-431: Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the board, though unlike in sports such as archery , these areas are distributed all across the board and do not follow a principle of points increasing toward the board's bullseye . Though a number of similar games using various boards and rules exist, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules. Darts
244-443: A game of chance at the time, it was not allowed on licensed premises. The landlord was supported in his case by the best darts player in the region, William 'Bigfoot' Anakin. A dartboard was hung in the court and Anakin proved that darts was not a game of chance by hitting three double 20s in a row. The original target in the game is likely to have been a section of a tree trunk, its circular shape and concentric rings giving rise to
366-512: A shaft , with an arrowhead at the front end, and fletchings and a nock at the other end. Arrows across time and history have normally been carried in a container known as a quiver , which can take many different forms. Shafts of arrows are typically composed of solid wood , bamboo , fiberglass , aluminium alloy , carbon fiber , or composite materials . Wooden arrows are prone to warping. Fiberglass arrows are brittle, but can be produced to uniform specifications easily. Aluminium shafts were
488-466: A board with a "quad" ring between the triple ring and the bullseye appeared, which gave quadruple points, meaning a 240 maximum (three quad-20s), a 210 maximum checkout (Q20-Q20-Bull) and a seven-dart finish (five quad-20s, triple-17, bullseye) were possible. One make of this board was the Harrows Quadro 240. The board was used during the short-lived WDC UK Matchplay . Although no seven dart finish
610-433: A bowstring exist, such as the 'endless loop' and 'Flemish twist'. Almost any fiber can be made into a bowstring. The author of Arab Archery suggests the hide of a young, emaciated camel. Njál's saga describes the refusal of a wife, Hallgerður, to cut her hair to make an emergency bowstring for her husband, Gunnar Hámundarson , who is then killed. Most modern archers wear a bracer (also known as an arm-guard) to protect
732-541: A brand named Jarts, the darts weighed about 1/4 pound, were 12 inches long, and had a pointed tip, the better to stick into the ground. On December 19, 1988, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission introduced an outright ban on metal-tipped lawn darts in the US after publicity of thousands of injuries and several deaths. Round the Clock (also called Around the World, 20 to 1, and Jumpers)
854-486: A bright and powerful sound quality; an additional benefit is that the metal is harder and more corrosion resistant than brass. Because of its hardness, it is used for most clarinet, flute, oboe and similar wind instrument keys, normally silver-plated. It is used to produce the tubes (called staples) onto which oboe reeds are tied. Many parts of brass instruments are made of nickel silver, such as tubes, braces or valve mechanism. Trombone slides of many manufacturers offer
976-419: A double or bullseye, the highest possible finish with three darts is 170 (T20, T20, inner bull). Finishes are also known as "check outs". Regular players become familiar with the combinations needed to check out a particular number. For instance, a player on 138 could hit T20, T18, D12. Most numbers can be checked out with more than one combination (for 138, a player could also hit T19, T19, D12). Good arithmetic
1098-433: A heavier dart will require a larger flight. The choice of barrel, shaft, and flight will depend a great deal on the individual player's throwing style. For competitive purposes, a dart cannot weigh more than 50 g (1.8 oz) including the shaft and flight and cannot exceed a total length of 300 mm (12 in). The World Darts Federation uses the following standards for play: The regulations came about owing to
1220-411: A leg of 501 is nine. The most common nine-dart finish consists of two 180 maximums followed by a 141 checkout (T20-T19-D12), but there are many other possible ways of achieving the feat. Three 167s (T20-T19-Bull) is considered a pure or perfect nine-dart finish by some players. There are several regional variations on the standard rules and scoring systems. American darts is a regional U.S. variant of
1342-417: A life and the following player tries. Once a player succeeds at hitting the target, they then become the target setter and throw a dart to set a new target. The initial target setter swaps places with the new target setter. The games carry on until every players' lives have been used, the last man standing is the target setter whose target was not hit. For less experienced players, doubles and trebles as part of
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#17328521670931464-563: A main shaft and a 15–20 cm (5.9–7.9 in) fore shaft with a flint point. There are no definite earlier bows; previous pointed shafts are known, but may have been launched by spear-throwers rather than bows. The oldest bows known so far comes from the Holmegård swamp in Denmark. At the site of Nataruk in Turkana County , Kenya, obsidian bladelets found embedded in a skull and within
1586-595: A mass weapon rather than an individual one. Significant victories attributable to the longbow, such as the Battle of Crecy and Battle of Agincourt resulted in the English longbow becoming part of military lore. Tribesmen of Central Asia (after the domestication of the horse ) and American Plains Indians (after gaining access to horses by Europeans) became extremely adept at archery on horseback . Lightly armoured, but highly mobile archers were excellently suited to warfare in
1708-409: A mechanism to pull the string. Directly drawn bows may be further divided based upon differences in the method of limb construction, notable examples being self bows , laminated bows and composite bows . Bows can also be classified by the bow shape of the limbs when unstrung; in contrast to traditional European straight bows, a recurve bow and some types of longbow have tips that curve away from
1830-467: A nonprofit scientific organization, the Club was patterned after the prestigious Boone and Crockett Club and advocated responsible bowhunting by promoting quality, fair chase hunting, and sound conservation practices. From the 1920s, professional engineers took an interest in archery, previously the exclusive field of traditional craft experts. They led the commercial development of new forms of bow including
1952-463: A number, each player takes it in turn to get their number five times with their three darts (doubles count twice, and triples three times). Once a person has reached 5, they become a 'killer'. This means they can aim for other peoples numbers, taking a point off for each time they hit (doubles ×2, triples ×3). If a person gets to zero they are out. A killer can aim for anyone's numbers, even another killer's. Players cannot get more than 5 points. The winner
2074-472: A paper flight. This type of dart continued to be used into the 1970s. With the widespread use of plastic, the shaft and flight came to be manufactured separately, although one-piece moulded plastic shaft and flight darts were also available. According to the Darts Regulation Authority, a regulation board is 451 mm (17.8 in) in diameter and is divided into 20 radial sections. Each section
2196-413: A pre-determined tension. Stabilizers are mounted at various points on the bow. Common with competitive archery equipment are special brackets that allow multiple stabilizers to be mounted at various angles to fine tune the bow's balance. Stabilizers aid in aiming by improving the balance of the bow. Sights, quivers, rests, and design of the riser (the central, non-bending part of the bow) make one side of
2318-496: A professional event since. Assuming standard scoring, the optimal area to aim for on the dartboard to maximize the player's score varies significantly based on the player's skill. The skilled player should aim for the centre of the T20, and as the player's skill decreases, their aim moves slightly up and to the left of the T20. At σ = 16.4 mm the best place to aim jumps to the T19. As
2440-411: A quarter of an inch (6.35 mm) wide. Mathematically, removing the rotational symmetry by placing the "20" at the top, there are 19 factorial , or 121,645,100,408,832,000 possible dartboards. Many different layouts would penalise a player more than the current setup; however, the current setup actually does the job rather efficiently. There have been several mathematical papers published that consider
2562-401: A range of shapes and sizes. The three most common shapes in order of size are the standard, the kite, and the smaller pear shape. The less surface area, the less stability but larger flights hamper close grouping. Some manufacturers have sought to solve this by making a flight long and thin but this, in turn, creates other problems such as changing the dart's centre of gravity. Generally speaking,
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#17328521670932684-403: A reduction in flight size which in turn can lead to closer grouping; but, they also shift the weight towards the rear causing the dart to tilt backwards during flight, requiring a harder, faster throw. The flight stabilizes the dart by producing drag , thus preventing the rear of the dart from overtaking the point. Modern flights are generally made from plastic, nylon, or foil and are available in
2806-567: A similar motif is present in the Turkic Iranian heroic archeheroic poem Alpamysh . The Nymphai Hyperboreioi ( Νύμφαι Ὑπερβόρειοι ) were worshipped on the Greek island of Delos as attendants of Artemis , presiding over aspects of archery; Hekaerge ( Ἑκαέργη ), represented distancing, Loxo ( Λοξώ ), trajectory, and Oupis ( Οὖπις ), aim. Yi the archer and his apprentice Feng Meng appear in several early Chinese myths, and
2928-434: A special glove is used that has a ridge to assist in drawing the string. A release aid is a mechanical device designed to give a crisp and precise loose of arrows from a compound bow. In the most commonly used, the string is released by a finger-operated trigger mechanism, held in the archer's hand or attached to their wrist. In another type, known as a back-tension release, the string is automatically released when drawn to
3050-477: A stock or other mounting, such as the crossbow . Crossbows typically have shorter draw lengths compared to compound bows. Because of this, heavier draw weights are required to achieve the same energy transfer to the arrow. These mechanically drawn bows also have devices to hold the tension when the bow is fully drawn. They are not limited by the strength of a single archer and larger varieties have been used as siege engines . The most common form of arrow consists of
3172-489: A strip of lead for weight and fitted with flights made from split turkey feathers. These darts were mainly produced in France and became known as French darts. Metal barrels were patented in 1906, but wood continued to be used into the 1950s. The first metal barrels were made from brass which was relatively cheap and easy to work. The wooden shafts, threaded to fit the tapped barrel, were either fletched as before or designed to take
3294-542: A time of political tension in Europe. The societies were also elitist, and the new middle class bourgeoisie were excluded from the clubs due to their lack of social status. After the Napoleonic Wars , the sport became increasingly popular among all classes, and it was framed as a nostalgic reimagining of the preindustrial rural Britain. Particularly influential was Sir Walter Scott 's 1819 novel, Ivanhoe that depicted
3416-542: A type of agave, to make dartboards. Small bundles of sisal fibres of the same length were bundled together. The bundles were then compressed into a disk and bound with a metal ring. This new dartboard was an instant success. It was more durable and required little maintenance. Furthermore, darts did little or no damage to the board; they simply parted the packed fibres when they entered the board. The earliest darts were stubs of arrows or crossbow bolts. The first purpose-made darts were manufactured from solid wood, wrapped with
3538-422: A very popular high-performance choice in the latter half of the 20th century, due to their straightness, lighter weight, and subsequently higher speed and flatter trajectories. Carbon fiber arrows became popular in the 1990s because they are very light, flying even faster and flatter than aluminium arrows. Today, the most popular arrows at tournaments and Olympic events are made of composite materials. The arrowhead
3660-479: Is four-fletched , two opposing fletches are often cock feathers, and occasionally the fletches are not evenly spaced. The fletching may be either parabolic cut (short feathers in a smooth parabolic curve) or shield cut (generally shaped like half of a narrow shield), and is often attached at an angle, known as helical fletching, to introduce a stabilizing spin to the arrow while in flight. Whether helical or straight fletched, when natural fletching (bird feathers)
3782-431: Is 'the last man standing'. Another version of "Killer" is a "knock-out" game for three or more players (the more the better). To start, everyone has a pre-determined number of lives, (usually 5) and a randomly chosen player throws a single dart at the board to set a target (i.e. single 18) and does not play until that target is hit. The next player up has 3 darts to try and hit the target (single 18), if they fail, they lose
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3904-526: Is a darts game based on the sport of golf and is regulated by the World Dolf Federation (WDFF). It is played on both special golf dartboards and traditional dartboards. Scoring is similar to golf. This is a regional variant still played in some parts of the East End of London. The board has fewer, larger segments, all numbered either 5, 10, 15 or 20. Players play down from 505 rather than 501, and stand
4026-431: Is a game involving any number of players where the objective is to hit each section sequentially from 1 to 20 starting after a starting double. Shanghai is played with at least two players. The standard version is played in seven rounds. In round one players throw their darts aiming for the 1 section, round 2, the 2 sections, and so on until round 7. Standard scoring is used, and doubles and triples are counted. Only hits on
4148-450: Is a technique eschewing sights and is often preferred by traditional archers (shooters of longbows and recurves). In either the split finger or three finger under case, the string is usually placed in the first or second joint, or else on the pads of the fingers. When using a mechanical release aid, the release is hooked onto the D-loop. Another type of string hold, used on traditional bows, is
4270-561: Is both a professional throwing sport and a traditional pub game . Darts is commonly played in the British Isles , and recreationally enjoyed around the world. In 1908 darts was declared to be a game of skill and was thus allowed to be played in pubs. This came about after the landlord of the Adelphi Inn in Leeds was prosecuted for allowing darts to be played in his pub. As darts was considered
4392-406: Is conductive . Better quality keys and lock cylinder pins are made of nickel silver for durability under heavy use. The alloy has been widely used in the production of coins (e.g. Portuguese escudo and the former GDR marks ). Its industrial and technical uses include marine fittings and plumbing fixtures for its corrosion resistance, and heating coils for its high electrical resistance. In
4514-408: Is helpful, as in the event of missing a target number players need to quickly recalculate their new score and which number they now need to hit. For instance, if a player on 93 (T19, D18) hits single-19 with their first dart, they can still finish, but will now need to check out 74 (T14, D16). Checkout charts detailing which numbers are required for each particular finish are widely used. In the 1990s,
4636-459: Is played over a fixed number of games, known as legs. A match may be divided into sets , with each set being contested as over a fixed number of legs. Although playing straight down from 501 is standard in darts, sometimes a double must be hit to begin scoring, known as "doubling in", with all darts thrown before hitting a double not being counted. The PDC's World Grand Prix uses this format. The minimum number of thrown darts required to complete
4758-522: Is separated with metal wire or a thin band of sheet metal. Quality dartboards are still made of sisal fibres from Eastern Africa, Brazil, and China; less expensive boards are sometimes made of cork or coiled paper. Modern darts are made up of four components: the points, the barrels, the shafts and the flights. The points come in two common lengths, 32 and 41 mm (1.3 and 1.6 in) and are sometimes knurled or coated to improve players' grip. Others are designed to retract slightly on impact to lessen
4880-472: Is the Penobscot bow or Wabenaki bow, invented by Frank Loring (Chief Big Thunder) about 1900. It consists of a small bow attached by cables on the back of a larger main bow. In different cultures, the arrows are released from either the left or right side of the bow, and this affects the hand grip and position of the bow. In Arab archery , Turkish archery , and Japanese archery . The arrows are released from
5002-543: Is the metal of choice among contemporary Kiowa and Pawnee in Oklahoma . Many of the metal fittings on modern higher-end equine harness and tack are of nickel silver. Early in the twentieth century, German silver was used by automobile manufacturers before the advent of steel sheet metal. For example, the famous Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost of 1907. After about 1920, it became widely used for pocketknife bolsters , due to its machinability and corrosion resistance. Prior to this,
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5124-512: Is the primary functional component of the arrow. Some arrows may simply use a sharpened tip of the solid shaft, but separate arrowheads are far more common, usually made from metal, stone, or other hard materials. The most commonly used forms are target points, field points, and broadheads, although there are also other types, such as bodkin, judo, and blunt heads. Fletching is traditionally made from bird feathers, but solid plastic vanes and thin sheet-like spin vanes are used. They are attached near
5246-512: Is used it is critical that all feathers come from the same side of the bird. Oversized fletchings can be used to accentuate drag and thus limit the range of the arrow significantly; these arrows are called flu-flus . Misplacement of fletchings can change the arrow's flight path dramatically. Dacron and other modern materials offer high strength for their weight and are used on most modern bows. Linen and other traditional materials are still used on traditional bows. Several modern methods of making
5368-550: Is very brittle, however, so an alloy is commonly used, with between 80 and 95 percent tungsten and the remainder usually nickel, iron, or copper. Nickel-silver darts offer a compromise between density and cost. Barrels come in three basic shapes: cylindrical, ton, or torpedo. The shafts are manufactured in various lengths, and some are designed to be cut to length. Shafts are generally made from plastics, nylon polymers, or metals such as aluminium and titanium; and can be rigid or flexible. Longer shafts provide greater stability and allow
5490-486: The Amazons was that they had one breast removed to solve this problem. Roger Ascham mentions one archer, presumably with an unusual shooting style, who wore a leather guard for his face. The drawing digits are normally protected by a leather tab , glove, or thumb ring . A simple tab of leather is commonly used, as is a skeleton glove. Medieval Europeans probably used a complete leather glove. Eurasiatic archers who used
5612-553: The East Indies ", despite a government ban on the export of nickel silver. It became known in the West from imported wares called baitong ( Mandarin ) or paktong ( Cantonese ) ( 白 銅 , literally "white copper"), for which the silvery metal colour was used to imitate sterling silver . According to Berthold Laufer , it was identical to khar sini , one of the seven metals recognized by Jābir ibn Hayyān . In Europe, consequently, it
5734-788: The Kongsberg attack . Deities and heroes in several mythologies are described as archers, including the Greek Artemis and Apollo , the Roman Diana and Cupid , the Germanic Agilaz , continuing in legends like those of Wilhelm Tell , Palnetoke , or Robin Hood . Armenian Hayk and Babylonian Marduk , Indian Karna (also known as Radheya/son of Radha), Abhimanyu , Eklavya , Arjuna , Bhishma , Drona , Rama , and Shiva were known for their shooting skills. The famous archery competition of hitting
5856-561: The Latin arcus , meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity. A person who practices archery is typically called an archer , bowman , or toxophilite . The oldest known evidence of the bow and arrow comes from South African sites such as Sibudu Cave , where the remains of bone and stone arrowheads have been found dating approximately 72,000 to 60,000 years ago. Based on indirect evidence,
5978-583: The Levant , artifacts that could be arrow-shaft straighteners are known from the Natufian culture , (c. 10,800–8,300 BC) onwards. The Khiamian and PPN A shouldered Khiam-points may well be arrowheads. Classical civilizations, notably the Assyrians , Greeks , Armenians , Persians , Parthians , Romans , Indians , Koreans , Chinese , and Japanese fielded large numbers of archers in their armies. Akkadians were
6100-616: The Suhl metalworks were able to produce a similar alloy. In 1823, a German competition was held to perfect the production process: the goal was to develop an alloy that possessed the closest visual similarity to silver. The brothers Henniger in Berlin and Ernst August Geitner in Schneeberg independently achieved this goal. The manufacturer Berndorf named the trademark brand Alpacca , which became widely known in northern Europe for nickel silver. In 1830,
6222-593: The bow and arrow obsolete in warfare, although efforts were sometimes made to preserve archery practice. In England and Wales, for example, the government tried to enforce practice with the longbow until the end of the 16th century. This was because it was recognized that the bow had been instrumental to military success during the Hundred Years' War . Despite the high social status, ongoing utility, and widespread pleasure of archery in Armenia, China, Egypt, England and Wales,
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#17328521670936344-435: The drawing hand or string hand . Terms such as bow shoulder or string elbow follow the same convention. If shooting according to eye dominance, right-eye-dominant archers shooting conventionally hold the bow with their left hand. If shooting according to hand dexterity, the archer draws the string with the hand that possesses the greatest dexterity, regardless of eye dominance. To shoot an arrow, an archer first assumes
6466-471: The "optimal" dartboard. Before World War I, pubs in the United Kingdom had dartboards made from solid blocks of wood, usually elm. But darts pocked the surface of elm such that it was common for a hole to develop around the treble twenty. The other problem was that elm wood needed periodic soaking to keep the wood soft. In 1935, chemist Ted Leggatt and pub owner Frank Dabbs began using the century plant ,
6588-681: The 15th century BC. The Welsh longbow proved its worth for the first time in Continental warfare at the Battle of Crécy . In the Americas archery was widespread at European contact. Archery was highly developed in Asia. The Sanskrit term for archery, dhanurvidya , came to refer to martial arts in general. In East Asia, Goguryeo , one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea was well known for its regiments of exceptionally skilled archers. The medieval shortbow
6710-444: The 1970s did not feature a treble section, and according to host Fred Trueman during the first episode, this is the traditional Yorkshire board. Various games are played using the standard dartboard. However, in the official game, any dart landing inside the outer wire scores as follows: The highest score possible with three darts is 180, commonly known as a "ton 80" (100 points is called a ton), obtained when all three darts land in
6832-669: The Americas , India, Japan, Korea, Turkey and elsewhere, almost every culture that gained access to even early firearms used them widely, to the neglect of archery. Early firearms were inferior in rate-of-fire, and were very sensitive to wet weather. However, they had longer effective range and were tactically superior in the common situation of soldiers shooting at each other from behind obstructions. They also required significantly less training to use properly, in particular penetrating steel armor without any need to develop special musculature. Armies equipped with guns could thus provide superior firepower, and highly trained archers became obsolete on
6954-574: The Central Asian steppes, and they formed a large part of armies that repeatedly conquered large areas of Eurasia. Shorter bows are more suited to use on horseback, and the composite bow enabled mounted archers to use powerful weapons. Seljuk Turks used mounted archers against the European First Crusade , especially at the Battle of Dorylaeum (1097) . Their tactic was to shoot at the enemy infantry, and use their superior mobility to prevent
7076-718: The German process of manufacture was introduced into England, while exports of paktong from China gradually stopped. In 1832, a form of German silver was also developed in Birmingham, England . After the modern process for the production of electroplated nickel silver was patented in 1840 by George Richards Elkington and his cousin Henry Elkington in Birmingham, the development of electroplating caused nickel silver to become widely used. It formed an ideal, strong and bright substrate for
7198-547: The Grand National 11 times in a row and published a highly influential guide to the sport in 1856. Towards the end of the 19th century, the sport experienced declining participation as alternative sports such as croquet and tennis became more popular among the middle class. By 1889, just 50 archery clubs were left in Britain, but it was still included as a sport at the 1900 Paris Olympics . The National Archery Association of
7320-570: The Toxophilite Society in London in 1781, with the patronage of George, the Prince of Wales . Archery societies were set up across the country, each with its own strict entry criteria and outlandish costumes. Recreational archery soon became extravagant social and ceremonial events for the nobility, complete with flags, music and 21-gun salutes for the competitors. The clubs were "the drawing rooms of
7442-474: The United Kingdom and the rest of the world playing at different lengths, with 2.37 m (7 ft 9 in) being the compromise length. The standard dartboard is divided into 20 numbered sections, scoring from 1 to 20 points, by wires running from the small central circle to the outer circular wire. Circular wires within the outer wire subdivide each section into single, double and treble areas. The dartboard featured on The Indoor League television show of
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#17328521670937564-468: The United States was organized in 1879, in part by Maurice Thompson (the author of the seminal text “ The Witchery of Archery ”) and his brother Will Thompson . Maurice was president in its inaugural year and Will was president in 1882, 1903, and 1904. The 1910 President was Frank E Canfield. Today it is known as USA Archery and is recognized by United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee . In
7686-584: The United States, primitive archery was revived in the early 20th century. The last of the Yahi Indian tribe, a native known as Ishi , came out of hiding in California in 1911. His doctor, Saxton Pope , learned many of Ishi's traditional archery skills, and popularized them. The Pope and Young Club , founded in 1961 and named in honor of Pope and his friend, Arthur Young, became one of North America's leading bowhunting and conservation organizations. Founded as
7808-472: The Yorkshire and Manchester Log End boards differ from the standard board in that they have no triple, only double and bullseye. The Manchester board is smaller than the standard, with a playing area of only 25 cm (9.8 in) across, with double and bull areas measuring just 4 mm (0.16 in). The London Fives board is another variation, with only 12 equal segments, with the doubles and triples being
7930-550: The addition of zinc . The usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc. Nickel silver does not contain the element silver . It is named for its silvery appearance, which can make it attractive as a cheaper and more durable substitute. It is also well suited for being plated with silver. A naturally occurring ore composition in China was smelted into the alloy known as paktong or báitóng ( 白銅 ) ('white copper' or cupronickel ). The name German Silver refers to
8052-503: The archer when the bow is unstrung. The cross-section of the limb also varies; the classic longbow is a tall bow with narrow limbs that are D-shaped in cross section, and the flatbow has flat wide limbs that are approximately rectangular in cross-section. Cable-backed bows use cords as the back of the bow; the draw weight of the bow can be adjusted by changing the tension of the cable. They were widespread among Inuit who lacked easy access to good bow wood. One variety of cable-backed bow
8174-431: The arrow). This step is called "nocking the arrow". Typical arrows with three vanes should be oriented such that a single vane, the "cock feather", is pointing away from the bow, to improve the clearance of the arrow as it passes the arrow rest. A compound bow is fitted with a special type of arrow rest, known as a launcher, and the arrow is usually loaded with the cock feather/vane pointed either up, or down, depending upon
8296-511: The artificial recreation of the natural ore composition by German metallurgists. All modern, commercially important, nickel silvers (such as those standardized under ASTM B122) contain zinc and are sometimes considered a subset of brass . Nickel silver was first used in China , where it was smelted from readily available unprocessed ore. During the Qing dynasty , it was "smuggled into various parts of
8418-418: The base of an abbey tower to dislodge a wood pigeon placed approximately 30 m (98 ft) above.) The Royal Company of Archers was formed in 1676 and is one of the oldest sporting bodies in the world. Archery remained a small and scattered pastime, however, until the late 18th century when it experienced a fashionable revival among the aristocracy . Sir Ashton Lever , an antiquarian and collector, formed
8540-555: The battlefield. However, the bow and arrow is still an effective weapon, and archers have seen military action in the 21st century. Traditional archery remains in use for sport, and for hunting in many areas. Early recreational archery societies included the Finsbury Archers and the Ancient Society of Kilwinning Archers. The latter's annual Papingo event was first recorded in 1483. (In this event, archers shoot vertically from
8662-614: The bow also seems to have appeared or reappeared later in Eurasia, near the transition from the Upper Paleolithic to the Mesolithic . The earliest definite remains of bow and arrow from Europe are possible fragments from Germany found at Mannheim-Vogelstang dated 17,500 to 18,000 years ago, and at Stellmoor dated 11,000 years ago. Azilian points found in Grotte du Bichon , Switzerland, alongside
8784-449: The bow and draws the string, with varying alignments for vertical versus slightly canted bow positions. This is often one fluid motion for shooters of recurves and longbows, which tend to vary from archer to archer. Compound shooters often experience a slight jerk during the drawback, at around the last 4 cm (1.6 in), where the draw weight is at its maximum—before relaxing into a comfortable stable full draw position. The archer draws
8906-494: The bow heavier. One purpose of stabilizers are to offset these forces. A reflex riser design will cause the top limb to lean towards the shooter. In this case a heavier front stabilizer is desired to offset this action. A deflex riser design has the opposite effect and a lighter front stabilizer may be used. Stabilizers can reduce noise and vibration. These energies are absorbed by viscoelastic polymers, gels, powders, and other materials used to build stabilizers. Stabilizers improve
9028-404: The bow in the left hand.) Therefore, if one is right-eye dominant, they would hold the bow in the left hand and draw the string with the right hand. However, not everyone agrees with this line of thought. A smoother, and more fluid release of the string will produce the most consistently repeatable shots, and therefore may provide greater accuracy of the arrow flight. Some believe that the hand with
9150-410: The chance of the dart bouncing out. The barrels come in a variety of weights and are usually constructed from brass, nickel-silver , or a tungsten alloy. Brass is cheap but light and therefore brass barrels tend to be very bulky. Tungsten, on the other hand, is twice as dense as brass; thus a tungsten barrel of equivalent weight could be thirty percent smaller in diameter than a brass one. Pure tungsten
9272-416: The correct stance. The body should be at or nearly perpendicular to the target and the shooting line, with the feet placed shoulder-width apart. As an archer progresses from beginner to a more advanced level other stances such as the "open stance" or the "closed stance" may be used, although many choose to stick with a "neutral stance". Each archer has a particular preference, but mostly this term indicates that
9394-539: The early Crusades , with models having a range of 274 m (899 ft) and being able to penetrate armour or kill a horse. During the late medieval period the English army famously relied on massed archers armed with the longbow . The French army relied more on the crossbow. Like their predecessors archers were more likely to be peasants or yeomen than men-at-arms. The longbow had a range of up to 270 m (890 ft). However its lack of accuracy at long ranges made it
9516-553: The ends of the limbs to achieve this. A typical let-off is anywhere from 65% to 80%. For example, a 27 kg (60 lb) bow with 80% let-off only requires 53 N (12 lb f ) to hold at full draw. Up to 99% let-off is possible. The compound bow was invented by Holless Wilbur Allen in the 1960s (a US patent was filed in 1966 and granted in 1969) and it has become the most widely used type of bow for all forms of archery in North America. Mechanically drawn bows typically have
9638-655: The enemy from closing with them. Empires throughout the Eurasian landmass often strongly associated their respective "barbarian" counterparts with the usage of the bow and arrow, to the point where powerful states like the Han dynasty referred to their neighbours, the Xiong-nu , as "Those Who Draw the Bow". For example, Xiong-nu mounted bowmen made them more than a match for the Han military, and their threat
9760-620: The eye of a rotating fish while watching its reflection in the water bowl was one of the many archery skills depicted in the Mahabharata . Persian Arash was a famous archer. Earlier Greek representations of Heracles normally depict him as an archer. Archery, and the bow, play an important part in the epic poem the Odyssey, when Odysseus returns home in disguise and then bests the suitors in an archery competition after hinting at his identity by stringing and drawing his great bow that only he can draw,
9882-410: The farthest 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) away from the board of any mainstream variation. "Halve it" is a darts game popular in the United Kingdom and parts of North America where competitors try to hit previously agreed targets on a standard dart board. Failure to do so within a single throw (3 darts) results in the player losing half their accumulated score. Any number of players can take part and
10004-420: The final turn; the game can be finished on any of the three darts. When two teams play, the starting score is sometimes increased to 701 or even 1001; the rules remain the same. A throw that reduces a player's score below zero, to exactly one, or to zero but not ending with a double or bullseye is known as "going bust". The player's score is reset to its value at the start of that turn, and any remaining throws in
10126-491: The first to use composite bows in war according to the victory stele of Naram-Sin of Akkad . Egyptians referred to Nubia as "Ta-Seti," or "The Land of the Bow," since the Nubians were known to be expert archers, and by the 16th Century BC Egyptians were using the composite bow in warfare. The Bronze Age Aegean Cultures were able to deploy a number of state-owned specialized bow makers for warfare and hunting purposes already from
10248-435: The forgiveness and accuracy by increasing the moment of inertia of the bow to resist movement during the shooting process. Lightweight carbon stabilizers with weighted ends are desirable because they improve the moment of inertia while minimizing the weight added. The standard convention on teaching archery is to hold the bow depending upon eye dominance. (One exception is in modern kyūdō where all archers are trained to hold
10370-420: The game (most U.S. dart players play the traditional games described above). This style of dartboard is most often found in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and parts of New York state. Beer darts is a drinking game that involves throwing darts at opponents' beer cans. The resulting drinking actions depend on how and where the beer can was hit with the dart. The original name of this sport
10492-422: The game can vary in length depending on the number of targets selected. The game can be tailored to the skill level of the players by selecting easy or difficult targets. "Killer" is a 'knock-out' game for two or more players (at its best at 4–6 players). Initially, each player throws a dart at the board with their non-dominant hand to obtain their 'number'. No two players can have the same number. Once everyone has
10614-422: The great country houses placed outside" and thus came to play an important role in the social networks of the local upper class. As well as its emphasis on display and status, the sport was notable for its popularity with females. Young women could not only compete in the contests but retain and show off their sexuality while doing so. Thus, archery came to act as a forum for introductions, flirtation and romance. It
10736-406: The greatest dexterity should therefore be the hand that draws and releases the string. Either eye can be used for aiming, and the less dominant eye can be trained over time to become more effective for use. To assist with this, an eye patch can be temporarily worn over the dominant eye. The hand that holds the bow is referred to as the bow hand and its arm the bow arm . The opposite hand is called
10858-466: The ground, though archers with hyper extendable elbows tend to angle the inner elbow toward the ground, as exemplified by the Korean archer Jang Yong-Ho . This keeps the forearm out of the way of the bowstring. Nickel-silver Nickel silver , maillechort , German silver , argentan , new silver , nickel brass , albata , or alpacca is a cupronickel ( copper with nickel ) alloy with
10980-626: The heroic character Lockseley winning an archery tournament. The 1840s saw the second attempts at turning the recreation into a modern sport. The first Grand National Archery Society meeting was held in York in 1844 and over the next decade the extravagant and festive practices of the past were gradually whittled away and the rules were standardized as the 'York Round' - a series of shoots at 55 m (180 ft), 73 m (240 ft), and 91 m (299 ft). Horace A. Ford helped to improve archery standards and pioneered new archery techniques. He won
11102-528: The historical character of Zhou Tong features in many fictional forms. Jumong , the first Taewang of the Goguryeo kingdom of the Three Kingdoms of Korea , is claimed by legend to have been a near-godlike archer. Archery features in the story of Oguz Khagan. Similarly, archery and the bow feature heavily into historical Korean identity. In West African Yoruba belief, Osoosi is one of several deities of
11224-433: The hunt who are identified with bow and arrow iconography and other insignia associated with archery. While there is great variety in the construction details of bows (both historical and modern), all bows consist of a string attached to elastic limbs that store mechanical energy imparted by the user drawing the string. Bows may be broadly split into two categories: those drawn by pulling the string directly and those that use
11346-446: The inside of the bow arm from being hit by the string and prevent clothing from catching the bowstring. The bracer does not brace the arm; the word comes from the armoury term " brassard ", meaning an armoured sleeve or badge. The Navajo people have developed highly ornamented bracers as non-functional items of adornment. Some archers (nearly all female archers) wear protection on their chests, called chestguards or plastrons. The myth of
11468-402: The leading edge of the oche, but may stand on any other portion and/or lean forward over it if desired. A game of darts is generally contested between two players, who take turns. The most common objective is to reduce a fixed score, commonly 301 or 501, to zero ("checking out") with the final dart landing in either the bullseye or a double segment to win. Not all three darts need to be thrown on
11590-411: The leg furthest from the shooting line is a half to a whole foot-length from the other foot, on the ground. To load, the bow is pointed toward the ground, tipped slightly clockwise of vertical (for a right handed shooter) and the shaft of the arrow is placed on the arrow rest or shelf. The back of the arrow is attached to the bowstring with the nock (a small locking groove located at the proximal end of
11712-762: The modern recurve and compound bow . These modern forms are now dominant in modern Western archery; traditional bows are in a minority. Archery returned to the Olympics in 1972. In the 1980s, the skills of traditional archery were revived by American enthusiasts, and combined with the new scientific understanding. Much of this expertise is available in the Traditional Bowyer's Bibles (see Further reading). Modern game archery owes much of its success to Fred Bear , an American bow hunter and bow manufacturer. In 2021, five people were killed and three injured by an archer in Norway in
11834-453: The modern spin vanes. This fletch is called the "index fletch" or "cock feather" (also known as "the odd vane out" or "the nocking vane"), and the others are sometimes called the "hen feathers". Commonly, the cock feather is of a different color. However, if archers are using fletching made of feather or similar material, they may use same color vanes, as different dyes can give varying stiffness to vanes, resulting in less precision. When an arrow
11956-626: The most common metal was iron . Musical instruments, including the flute , saxophone, trumpet , and French horn , string instrument frets, and electric guitar pickup parts, can be made of nickel silver. Many professional-level French horns are entirely made of nickel silver. Some saxophone manufacturers, such as Keilwerth , offer saxophones made of nickel silver (Shadow model); these are far rarer than traditional lacquered brass saxophones. Student-level flutes and piccolos are also made of silver-plated nickel silver, although upper-level models are likely to use sterling silver . Nickel silver produces
12078-487: The nineteenth century, particularly after 1868, North American Plains Indian metalsmiths were able to easily acquire sheets of German silver. They used them to cut, stamp, and cold hammer a wide range of accessories and also horse gear. Presently, Plains metalsmiths use German silver for pendants, pectorals, bracelets, armbands, hair plates, conchas (oval decorative plates for belts), earrings, belt buckles, necktie slides, stickpins, dush-tuhs , and tiaras . Nickel silver
12200-478: The nock (rear) end of the arrow with thin double sided tape, glue, or, traditionally, sinew. The most common configuration in all cultures is three fletches, though as many as six have been used. Two makes the arrow unstable in flight. When the arrow is three-fletched , the fletches are equally spaced around the shaft, with one placed such that it is perpendicular to the bow when nocked on the string, though variations are seen with modern equipment, especially when using
12322-446: The opponent closes that number with three marks on it of their own, each additional hit by the owner/opener scores points equal to the number of the target (which may also be doubled and tripled, e.g. a triple-20 is worth 60 points). The outer bullseye counts as 25 points and the inner as 50. Dartball is a darts game based on the sport of baseball . It is played on a diamond-shaped board and has similar scoring to baseball. Dart golf
12444-454: The outside ring are: 5 - 10 - 15 - 20 - 25 - bullseye 50. Cricket is a widely played darts game involving a race to control and score on numbers between 20 and 15 and the bullseye, by hitting each of these targets for three marks to open or own it for scoring. A hit on the target counts as one mark, while hits in the doubles ring of the target count as two marks in one throw, and on the triples ring as three. Once opened in this manner, until
12566-450: The plating process. It was also used unplated in applications such as cutlery. Nickel silver first became popular as a base metal for silver-plated cutlery and other silverware , notably the electroplated wares called EPNS (electroplated nickel silver). It is used in zippers , costume jewelry , for making musical instruments (e.g., flutes , clarinets ), and is preferred for the track in electric model railway layouts, as its oxide
12688-409: The player's skill decreases further, the best place to aim curls into the centre of the board, stopping a bit lower than and to the left of the bullseye at σ = 100 mm. Many games can be played on a dartboard, but the term "darts" generally refers to a game in which one player at a time throws three darts per turn. The throwing player must stand so that no portion of their feet extends past
12810-515: The remains of both a bear and a hunter, with flint fragments found in the bear's third vertebra, suggest the use of arrows at 13,500 years ago. Other signs of its use in Europe come from the Stellmoor [ de ] in the Ahrensburg valley [ de ] north of Hamburg , Germany and dates from the late Paleolithic , about 10,000–9000 BC. The arrows were made of pine and consisted of
12932-403: The right hand side of the bow, and this affects construction of the bow. In western archery, the arrow is usually released from the left hand side of the bow for a right-handed archer. Compound bows are designed to reduce the force required to hold the string at full draw, hence allowing the archer more time to aim with less muscular stress. Most compound designs use cams or elliptical wheels on
13054-419: The same number can be counted, i.e. a target of treble 20 can still be counted as a success if the double or single 20 is hit and vice versa. Lawn darts (also called yard darts and garden darts) is an outdoor game, with gameplay and objective similar to horseshoes , in that the darts are thrown to land in a circle target on the ground. The darts are similar to the ancient Roman thrown weapon plumbata . For
13176-453: The standard dartboard pattern in use today. An older name for a dartboard is " butt "; the word comes from the French word but , meaning "target" or "goal". The standard numbered point system is attributed to Lancashire carpenter Brian Gamlin, who devised it in 1896 to penalise inaccuracy, though this is disputed. Many configurations have been used, varying by time and location. In particular,
13298-399: The string hand towards the face, where it should rest lightly at a fixed anchor point . This point is consistent from shot to shot, and is usually at the corner of the mouth, on the chin, to the cheek, or to the ear, depending on preferred shooting style. The archer holds the bow arm outwards, toward the target. The elbow of this arm should be rotated so that the inner elbow is perpendicular to
13420-622: The thoracic cavity of another skeleton, suggest the use of stone-tipped arrows as weapons about 10,000 years ago. Bows eventually replaced the spear-thrower as the predominant means for launching shafted projectiles , on every continent except Australasia , though spear-throwers persisted alongside the bow in parts of the Americas, notably Mexico and among the Inuit . Bows and arrows have been present in Egyptian and neighbouring Nubian culture since its respective predynastic and Pre-Kerma origins. In
13542-539: The thumb or Mongolian draw protected their thumbs, usually with leather according to the author of Arab Archery , but also with special rings of various hard materials. Many surviving Turkish and Chinese examples are works of considerable art. Some are so highly ornamented that the users could not have used them to loose an arrow. Possibly these were items of personal adornment, and hence value, remaining extant whilst leather had virtually no intrinsic value and would also deteriorate with time. In traditional Japanese archery
13664-409: The triple 20. In the televised game, the referee frequently announces a score of 180 in exuberant style. Once a player reaches a low enough score, they are considered to be "on a finish", meaning they can win the game/leg with their remaining darts. In professional matches, the match referee will usually tell the player which score they require once on a finish. As the winning dart in a game must be
13786-598: The turn are forfeited. In some variants, a player who busts has their score reset to its value before the individual dart that caused the bust. This rule (referred to as a "Northern Bust" in London) is considered by some players to be a purer version of the game. Under the standard rules above, a player left with a difficult finish (e.g. 5 and one dart remaining) might deliberately bust in order to revert to an earlier score that would allow an easier finish. Under Northern Bust rules, though, doing so would leave them on 5. A darts match
13908-533: The type favoured by the Mongol warriors, known as the "thumb release", style. This involves using the thumb to draw the string, with the fingers curling around the thumb to add some support. To release the string, the fingers are opened out and the thumb relaxes to allow the string to slide off the thumb. When using this type of release, the arrow should rest on the same side of the bow as the drawing hand i.e. Left hand draw = arrow on left side of bow. The archer then raises
14030-403: The type of launcher being used. The bowstring and arrow are held with three fingers, or with a mechanical arrow release. Most commonly, for finger shooters, the index finger is placed above the arrow and the next two fingers below, although several other techniques have their adherents around the world, involving three fingers below the arrow, or an arrow pinching technique. Instinctive shooting
14152-402: The wedge for that round are counted. The winner is the person who has the most points at the end of seven rounds (1–7); or who scores a Shanghai, which wins instantly, a Shanghai being throws that hit a triple, a double and single (in any order) of the number that is in play. Archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows . The word comes from
14274-493: Was at first called paktong , which is about the way baitong is pronounced in the Cantonese dialect. The earliest European mention of paktong occurs in the year 1597. From then until the end of the eighteenth century there are references to it as having been exported from Canton to Europe. German artificial recreation of the natural paktong ore composition, however, began to appear from about 1750 onward. In 1770,
14396-571: Was at least partially responsible for Chinese expansion into the Ordos region, to create a stronger, more powerful buffer zone against them. It is possible that "barbarian" peoples were responsible for introducing archery or certain types of bows to their "civilized" counterparts – the Xiong-nu and the Han being one example. Similarly, short bows seem to have been introduced to Japan by northeast Asian groups. The development of firearms rendered
14518-483: Was called Vogelpik. Vogelpik is the early version of the modern game of Belgian darts. Belgian darts has remained a very popular game in the Belgian community since the 18th century. It is not only relaxing but also helps to develop coordination skills, precision and self-control. Each player has a set of four darts. Four thrown darts equals a turn. Five turns by each player constitutes a game. The dart board score starting from
14640-405: Was ever scored on the board, John Lowe did come close to a 9 dart finish in the 1993 PDC UK Matchplay. He scored 200 (T20-T20-Q20), then 160 (20-T20-Q20), and got his final T20 and T15, only to miss D18 on his final throw. Several players did score a 240 maximum during the event and Phil Taylor hit a 188 checkout (Q20-Q20-D14). The tournament was discontinued in 1996 and the board has not been used in
14762-424: Was often consciously styled in the manner of a Medieval tournament with titles and laurel wreaths being presented as a reward to the victor. General meetings were held from 1789, in which local lodges convened together to standardise the rules and ceremonies. Archery was also co-opted as a distinctively British tradition, dating back to the lore of Robin Hood and it served as a patriotic form of entertainment at
14884-430: Was technically identical with the classical era bows, having a range of approximately 91 m (299 ft). It was the primary ranged weapon of the battlefield through the early medieval period. Around the tenth century the crossbow was introduced in Europe. Crossbows generally had a longer range, greater accuracy and more penetration than the shortbow, but suffered from a much slower rate of fire. Crossbows were used in
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