The board is at 1.73m and the oche is fixed at 2.37m from the board but why is that the case? 'Doctor of Darts' Patrick Chaplin explains.

Chaplin is a darts historian nicknamed Doctor of Darts. He gives us an insight into a number of regulations within the sport of darts.

“The National Darts Association was founded in the 1920's. They decided that the board should hang at 1.73m because it was the average height of a man at the time, ”Chaplin said.

The fact that the oche is 2.37m from the board is a much longer story. “When the regulations were established in the 1920s, the length from the oche to the board was set at 2.74m. However, when the British National Darts Organization was founded in 1954, they wanted their own rules. They came with an oche of 2.29m. That rule lasted until the 1978 Embassy World Championship. ”

“The BDO was founded in the mid-1970s and they wanted a different length for the oche. There was a lot of discussion about it and it was even debated within the WDF. During a meeting in 1977 it was finally decided to raise the height to 2.37m. ”