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How to improve your three-dart average
In short
A three-dart average is what a player scores on average, for each three darts thrown: the total scored, divided by the darts it took, times three. It rises first through consistency in the 20, treble or single, rather than through the occasional big visit. Around the clock to land in a chosen bed, one small numbered target each session, a warm-up and a settled stance do the rest.
9 min read
18 May 2026
Updated 26 September 2026
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What the average actually is
Your three-dart average is what you score, on average, for every three darts you throw. It is the reference figure in darts because it compares two players whatever the length of the game — unlike who won.
Working it out
- Take the total you scored in a leg — 501, if you finished it.
- Count the darts you threw.
- Average = (total ÷ darts) × 3. Five hundred and one in eighteen darts is 83.5.
Five markers
- 20–30 — you are learning the basics.
- 40–50 — you play regularly.
- 60–70 — a good player: you know what you are doing.
- 80–90 — you enter tournaments.
- 100+ — you play at the top level.
What moves it
- Consistency in the 20 first, treble or single. A steady single 20 beats an occasional treble with two misses either side.
- Around the clock, so you can land in a bed you chose rather than the one that happens to be there.
- Watch your own throw — film it if you can. Two weeks with no movement in the average usually means something mechanical.
- One small target per session: ten visits above 60, say.
- Warm up, and keep your stance. Both cost nothing and both count.
Drills
- A hundred darts at the 20 — count the trebles, the singles and the misses.
- A solo 501 — play it out and write the average down.
- Double in, double out — a rule you impose on yourself at the board, to put the finish under pressure. DartSync offers double out, master out and straight out; double in is not in it yet, so you count that one by hand.