So you’ve got your new dartboard, and you’re getting pretty good at darts. By now, you’ve probably noticed that you’re hitting a few spots far too frequently. To prevent wear and tear on specific sections of your dartboard, you’ll need to rotate it frequently to even out the wear.
But how do you rotate your dartboard, and how frequently should you do it? Let’s take a look at these questions and more in this article that will explore everything you need to know about rotating your dartboard. Read on.
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Table of Contents
Why Should You Rotate Your Dartboard?
Rotating your dartboard helps to prevent wear and tear on specific areas of the dartboard. The majority of players will aim for high-scoring areas of the dartboard, such as the treble 20 or treble 19.
Unfortunately, hitting these spots repetitively causes wear and tear on the specific area of the dartboard.
On the one hand, the damage to wood, paper, or plastic dartboards may be irreversible. It’s possible that rotating these dartboards may only get you a few extra months.
However, bristle dartboards made of sisal fibers are a popular type of dartboard that recovers quite well from rotating. These sisal fibers are self-healing and frequently bounce back after the dart is removed from the board.
While self-healing may keep your board from developing bumps, lumps, or holes in the short term, even sisal fibers will lose tenacity after repeated hammering, especially if you hit the same spots repeatedly.
Eventually, the lifespan of your dartboard will deteriorate dramatically, forcing you to replace it.
Why should you rotate your dartboard? Well, you must rotate your dartboard on a regular basis to avoid premature damage to a newly acquired dartboard.
When you rotate the dartboard, the areas of the board prone to wear and tear take fewer hits, resulting in evenly distributed wear and tear throughout the dartboard.
Adopting the habit of rotating your dartboard will help ensure that it stays in good shape for months or years longer than players who do not rotate their boards.
How to Rotate Your Dartboard
Although rotating your dartboard may seem like a stressful thing to do regularly, you’ll be surprised to find out that it only takes a minute to get done. So to ensure your board stays in good shape for longer than a few weeks, here’s a quick guide on how to rotate your dartboard.
- First, confirm the design or build of your dartboard. It should be of the bristle type. Because of their design, most other dartboard types, such as plastic or wood boards, cannot be rotated.
- Then, unclip the outer metallic number ring of the board and set it aside. These are the numbers around the board. If these numbers are painted onto the board, then the board can’t be rotated.
- Once you’ve removed the ring, rotate the dartboard clockwise or anti-clockwise, either by one, two, or six segments. For consistency, always rotate the board in the same direction and with the same number of spaces.
- Lastly, clip the number ring back onto the board.
Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent wear and tear on the bullseye. The bullseye will always take the same amount of damage no matter how you rotate your board.
If you consistently hit the bullseye, first and foremost, congratulations; secondly, you may have to replace your board when the bullseye wears out.
How Often Should You Rotate Your Dartboard?
There is no set number of times to rotate your dartboard. The frequency with which you rotate your dartboard largely depends on how often you play, the accuracy of your shots, and the condition of your darts.
Here’s a breakdown of the factors to consider.
How Often You Play
If you play darts frequently, you should rotate the board more often. Most dartboard manufacturers recommend that you rotate your dartboard once a week. If you feel you play more frequently, say a few hours per day, every day, you may want to consider rotating the dartboard at the beginning or end of each session. Once you’ve found a routine that works for you, make sure to keep your rotations consistent.
How Accurate Your Hits Are
If you find yourself consistently making accurate hits in the same spots, you may need to rotate your board more frequently. Similarly, if you feel your hits are less accurate, you can reduce the number of rotations you make.
The Condition Your Darts Are In
The condition of your darts is the last important factor to consider. Blunt, hooked, or grooved tips frequently cause more aggressive and extensive damage to the board. If you have abrasive darts, consider taking the time to sharpen the tips or rotating the board more frequently.
Overall, an average player may rotate their board once a week or biweekly.
Avid players should consider a more rigorous schedule, such as every day or every two days.
Rotate Your Dartboard Regularly
Rotating your dartboard on a regular basis helps to ensure your board remains in good condition. Depending on how frequently you play, how accurate your hits are, or the condition of your darts, it’s important to pay attention to the areas of the board that have the most hits and rotate the board as frequently as possible to ensure that the wear is distributed evenly across the board.
Spreading out the wear evenly allows the sisal fibers of bristle dartboards to self-heal and return to their original fit, preventing holes or bumps in your board.
If you’re not sure how frequently to rotate your board, a good rule of thumb is that rotating too frequently won’t hurt.
However, failing to rotate the board as many times as necessary may result in irreversible damage. It may shorten the lifespan of your board and cause you to incur additional costs to replace it more frequently than usual.
While there are many other ways to properly maintain your dartboard, evenly distributing wear and tear goes a long way toward ensuring your dartboard lasts longer.
Next, check out how long dartboards last.
Sources
https://www.dartsnutz.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=34937
https://indoorgamebunker.com/how-often-should-you-rotate-a-dartboard/
Sue has been playing darts since her 20’s when she played in weekly tournaments and she enjoys writing about darts. She’s also a great teacher, and she enjoys helping others learn how to play the game well. When Sue isn’t throwing darts, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends.
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