Steel Tip vs Soft Tip Darts: Which Should You Choose? | Oche

When you buy your first set of darts you’ll hit a fork in the road: steel-tip or soft-tip? They share the same board layout and the same 1.73 m bull height, but they differ in throwing distance, board type and dart weight — and the choice decides how you set up your space.

The one measurement that changes

The throwing distance is the only number that differs between the two formats:

• Steel-tip oche: 2.37 m (7 ft 9¼ in)
• Soft-tip oche: 2.44 m (8 ft)

That’s about 7 cm further back for soft-tip. The bull stays at 1.73 m for both. These figures come from the WDF and PDC specifications. Our steel-tip vs soft-tip guide and height and distance page cover the setup detail.

Board and points

Steel-tip darts have a fixed metal point thrown at a sisal (bristle) board — the self-healing surface used in professional play. Soft-tip darts have a flexible plastic point thrown at an electronic board dotted with holes that detects each dart and scores automatically.

Never mix them. A steel point will wreck an electronic board, and a plastic point won’t hold in bristle. Match the dart to the board.

Weight

Steel-tip darts run heavier — typically 18–26 g, with a regulation maximum of 50 g under WDF/PDC rules. Soft-tip darts are lighter, usually 16–20 g, so the plastic point doesn’t snap on impact.

Which should you choose?

If a quiet electronic board that scores itself and is safe around the house appeals, go soft-tip. If you want the game the pros play on a bristle board — and the route into competitive darts — go steel-tip.

Scoring either way

Whichever format you pick, you’ll want to track averages and checkouts to improve. The Oche X01 scorer works for both — score every leg by tapping the segments you hit and let it handle the maths, no electronic board required. For the rules differences on the soft-tip side, see our soft-tip darts rules guide.