If you’re buying your first set of darts, the sheer number of options is overwhelming, weights, materials, grips, brands, and price ranges from a few dollars to well over a hundred. The good news: as a beginner, you don’t need to get it perfect. You need a sensible starting point that won’t hold you back while you develop your throw. Here’s how to buy your first set without overspending or overthinking, from a shop that’s outfitted beginners since 1978.
First, Match the Board
Before anything else, decide where you’ll play. Throwing at a traditional bristle board at home or in a league? You need steel tip darts. Playing on an electronic machine at a bar or in a soft tip league? You need soft tip darts. This one decision comes first because it determines everything else, weight range, tip type, and which board you’ll buy. If you’re unsure which game is yours, our guide on steel tip vs. soft tip breaks it down in detail.
What Actually Matters for a Beginner
Ignore the marketing and focus on these three things. Get these right and everything else is refinement you can chase later.
1. Weight: go middle-of-the-road
For steel tip, start around 23g to 24g. For soft tip, around 18g. These middle weights suit the widest range of throwing styles and give you a stable, forgiving baseline. You can refine later once you know your throw, but starting in the middle means you won’t be fighting a weight that’s badly wrong for you while you’re still learning.
2. Material: tungsten if you can, brass to start cheap
Tungsten darts are slimmer at the same weight, which makes it easier to group your darts tightly, a real advantage as you improve. A quality entry-level tungsten set is the best value for someone who’s serious about the game. That said, there’s no shame in a brass set to see if the game sticks, brass is cheaper and perfectly playable, just bulkier at the same weight. Our honest advice: if you already know you’ll keep playing, go straight to a modest tungsten set and skip the brass step. If you’re just testing the waters, brass is a fine, low-cost start.
3. Grip: moderate, not extreme
As a beginner, avoid the most aggressive shark-grip barrels, they can feel sticky and mess with your release before you’ve developed a consistent throw. A moderate ring or knurled grip gives you control without fighting you. Grip is one of the most personal parts of a dart, so once you’ve thrown for a while and know what you like, you can chase a more specialized grip. Starting moderate keeps your options open.
What You Don’t Need to Worry About Yet
Plenty of specs matter to advanced players but are noise for a beginner. Barrel shape nuances, exotic shaft materials, premium flight brands, movable points, none of that will make or break your first year. Get a sensible set and spend your energy on throwing consistently. You’ll learn far more from a hundred practice throws than from any spec sheet, and your preferences will only become clear once you’ve actually played. Buying the “perfect” advanced setup before you have a throw is a common, expensive beginner mistake.
Don’t Forget the Board and the Extras
A great set of darts needs a proper home. If you’re setting up at home, you’ll want a quality dartboard mounted at regulation height (5 feet 8 inches to the bullseye, with the throw line 7 feet 9.25 inches away for steel tip). A few inexpensive extras save you headaches and keep you playing:
- Spare flights and shafts, they wear out and tear, so having backups means you never stop mid-session over a broken flight.
- A dart case to protect your set and keep everything, darts, spare flights, tools, together in one place.
- Replacement tips if you’re playing soft tip, they snap off with normal use and you don’t want to be caught short.
A Realistic First-Set Budget
You do not need to spend a fortune. A solid entry-level tungsten set, a decent bristle board, and a handful of spare flights and shafts will get you fully set up for less than you’d expect, and it’s gear you won’t outgrow in a month. Spending more mostly buys refinement and personal preference, not raw “better,” once you’re past the cheapest brass sets. Put your money into a decent barrel and a good board; economize on flights and shafts, which are consumable and cheap anyway.
Common Beginner Mistakes to Avoid
- Buying the most expensive set first. You don’t yet know your preferences, so premium features are wasted money at this stage.
- Choosing extreme weights or grips. Very light, very heavy, or very aggressive-grip darts make learning harder.
- Skipping the board quality. A cheap, worn board holds back your game more than mid-range darts do.
- Not buying spares. Running out of flights mid-session is a needless interruption.
Get It Right the First Time
The fastest way to a good first set is to tell someone how and where you’ll play and let them point you to the right gear. That’s exactly what we do, every day, for players at every level. Call us at 602-279-1917 or stop by, and we’ll set you up with darts you’ll actually enjoy throwing, at a price that makes sense for a beginner.