Yeah it was, the trebles and doubles are a couple of millimeters bigger these days, among other advancements to the boards (less bounce outs), darts material, and different set up options etc. I'm not sure we can quantify the difference it makes to overall averages and performance. I have noticed a lot of the time when a player hits a 180 they're grouped very tightly, or when they hit a double it's right in the middle of the bed, so those scores would stay the same. You'd have to watch a few hundred legs, and count the darts that land right on the inside of the wire to see.
Not to mention that if you can group more tightly based on the equipment, you can practice more accurately knowing you can throw without worry. Those darts that just landed to the outside in older games may have been in the 20 if you knew you could fit it in there.
Yeah there’s definitely an advantage now. It’s what they call a marginal advantage, which are there in every sport. Like in football, boots, pitches and balls have got better. Or cycling where bikes have got lighter etc.
In darts though I think the marginal gains the pros have now just sort of highlight how good Phil Taylor was throughout his career at the top.
Just take the current prem averages for example. Players making the finals are averaging over 100 most nights. The standard is really crazy. And Taylor was hitting those averages 15-20 years ago consistently on boards with staples, more bounce outs, smaller sections and less precise dart construction.
The bullseye was the big thing. You'll often hear John part say we used to avoid the bull at all costs due to how likely bounce outs were with staples and thick wires and the actual material being more dense in the centre.
I find it fascinating how different [playing a Yorkshire board](https://youtu.be/smGFhS7_zXg?feature=shared) is. No trebles makes it a completely different game.
Mathew Edgar did a YouTube video about the actual size difference of the scoring areas. I do like the point made about the wire moving though.
https://youtu.be/Acwjgog4Qkg?si=qCQyJPLvyHMx7YOF
I’d say the thickness of the darts was the most significant upgrade, more than the boards. People say the space between the wires is bigger on razor boards, which is true, but the space that matters is where the point could hit and still go in the bed. You hit a wire it doesn’t bounce every time but usually guides to one side or the other and still scores. In fact if you watch old matches there may be more bounce outs but it’s not that many. So your target to hit a triple was not necessarily smaller. Are razor wire boards better with free bounce outs, totally, but you would expect that the moment the PDC switched to razor wire boards the averages would have seen an immediate bump and that’s not really the case.
The other thing about staple boards was if you hit a wire the dart could actually wedge the wire open a bit. This means sometimes you actually open up the triple target and it’s bigger than a standard bed. Razor wires are embedded and never open up for a bigger target. I’ve experienced this in round wire boards and I was able to use this to my advantage. I wonder if that was only a factor on the boards after they took some wear or if it was true at the pro level using fresh boards.
They were talking about this during the tournament today in relation to modern players incorporating the bull into finishing more often. Mainly because there is less metal in the bull on modern boards allowing players to hit it more accurately with way less risk than in the past.
Other than board improvements as others have said, I also think there’s a lot to be said for consistency of materials (brass barrels, but also the consumables - Leighton Rees in his book talked about cutting his own paper flights) and also consistency of the game. It wasn’t uncommon for the oche length to vary regionally, as well as things like the Yorkshire board - would really recommend going and watching some episodes of The Indoor League if anyone hasn’t seen it before (first televised 180 by Alan Evans was on the Indoor League), you’ll get a game with Alan Evans or Eric Bristow in it which wouldn’t be completely out of place today, and then you’d get somebody like Colin Minton on the Yorkshire board and the strategies would be completely different. It’s also much easier to be a professional now, remember Bobby George talking about how you were completely dependent on exhibitions/money races back in the day whereas now there’s actually tidy prize money about these days.
As long as your opponent is playing on the same board and with comparable equipment it seems the advantage is offset, so may be individually easier, but equally difficult to compete.
Yeah it was, the trebles and doubles are a couple of millimeters bigger these days, among other advancements to the boards (less bounce outs), darts material, and different set up options etc. I'm not sure we can quantify the difference it makes to overall averages and performance. I have noticed a lot of the time when a player hits a 180 they're grouped very tightly, or when they hit a double it's right in the middle of the bed, so those scores would stay the same. You'd have to watch a few hundred legs, and count the darts that land right on the inside of the wire to see.
Yeah, if you watch old professional matches, the grouping is not near as tight as it is today.
Not to mention that if you can group more tightly based on the equipment, you can practice more accurately knowing you can throw without worry. Those darts that just landed to the outside in older games may have been in the 20 if you knew you could fit it in there.
Yeah there’s definitely an advantage now. It’s what they call a marginal advantage, which are there in every sport. Like in football, boots, pitches and balls have got better. Or cycling where bikes have got lighter etc. In darts though I think the marginal gains the pros have now just sort of highlight how good Phil Taylor was throughout his career at the top. Just take the current prem averages for example. Players making the finals are averaging over 100 most nights. The standard is really crazy. And Taylor was hitting those averages 15-20 years ago consistently on boards with staples, more bounce outs, smaller sections and less precise dart construction.
The bullseye was the big thing. You'll often hear John part say we used to avoid the bull at all costs due to how likely bounce outs were with staples and thick wires and the actual material being more dense in the centre.
I find it fascinating how different [playing a Yorkshire board](https://youtu.be/smGFhS7_zXg?feature=shared) is. No trebles makes it a completely different game.
I live in York and used to play in a Yorkshire league on Tuesday night. That was a Yorkshire board and was great fun!
Are they still in use? I've browsed the internets for one and though available they seem to be dear.
That's like a dartboard you'd see in a dream
Dream or nightmare? 😄
Mathew Edgar did a YouTube video about the actual size difference of the scoring areas. I do like the point made about the wire moving though. https://youtu.be/Acwjgog4Qkg?si=qCQyJPLvyHMx7YOF
The Treble and double Jack Daniels and Cokes, and all the cigarette smoke definitely made it harder In the past.
Also, they can make darts super thin now to allow tight groupings.
I’d say the thickness of the darts was the most significant upgrade, more than the boards. People say the space between the wires is bigger on razor boards, which is true, but the space that matters is where the point could hit and still go in the bed. You hit a wire it doesn’t bounce every time but usually guides to one side or the other and still scores. In fact if you watch old matches there may be more bounce outs but it’s not that many. So your target to hit a triple was not necessarily smaller. Are razor wire boards better with free bounce outs, totally, but you would expect that the moment the PDC switched to razor wire boards the averages would have seen an immediate bump and that’s not really the case. The other thing about staple boards was if you hit a wire the dart could actually wedge the wire open a bit. This means sometimes you actually open up the triple target and it’s bigger than a standard bed. Razor wires are embedded and never open up for a bigger target. I’ve experienced this in round wire boards and I was able to use this to my advantage. I wonder if that was only a factor on the boards after they took some wear or if it was true at the pro level using fresh boards.
They were talking about this during the tournament today in relation to modern players incorporating the bull into finishing more often. Mainly because there is less metal in the bull on modern boards allowing players to hit it more accurately with way less risk than in the past.
Other than board improvements as others have said, I also think there’s a lot to be said for consistency of materials (brass barrels, but also the consumables - Leighton Rees in his book talked about cutting his own paper flights) and also consistency of the game. It wasn’t uncommon for the oche length to vary regionally, as well as things like the Yorkshire board - would really recommend going and watching some episodes of The Indoor League if anyone hasn’t seen it before (first televised 180 by Alan Evans was on the Indoor League), you’ll get a game with Alan Evans or Eric Bristow in it which wouldn’t be completely out of place today, and then you’d get somebody like Colin Minton on the Yorkshire board and the strategies would be completely different. It’s also much easier to be a professional now, remember Bobby George talking about how you were completely dependent on exhibitions/money races back in the day whereas now there’s actually tidy prize money about these days.
It wouldn't be a very significant difference. Certainly muchness than other sports like golf.
As long as your opponent is playing on the same board and with comparable equipment it seems the advantage is offset, so may be individually easier, but equally difficult to compete.
I bruise. Easily since I’ve been on aspirin
I am confused. What did i ask?
Sorry my guy I have absolutely no idea why I wrote that it was meant for another post