How to Calculate Dart Averages (Dart Average Calculator)

The primary focus when playing darts should always be a focus on winning the game. Too many people get obsessed with averages and while they can be a very good indication of how good a player is, the most important thing is hitting a double before an opponent to win the game.

With that said, everyone that’s beyond the level of a casual darts player will want to know their darts average. It’s a good indication of your playing standard and it can also be used as a progression guide during practice and competition.

Not every player is aware of how they get their dart average though. Therefore, the below is a quick guide on how to calculate dart averages and we’ll also give a useful darts average calculator so that you can quickly see what standard you are playing to.

Table of Contents

What are Darts Averages

A darts average is the average number of darts that it takes you to checkout in a game of 501 darts. Dart averages are calculated as a 1-dart average and a 3-dart average with a 3-dart average of 75+ considered to be the minimum standard needed to play professionally.

Note – For those that play cricket darts, there is a different system used to calculate averages known as Points Per Dart (PPD) and Marks Per Round (MPR). To calculate these, check out our related article here: what is MPR in darts

A good 3-dart average is 70-80 which means you consistently check out on a 19-21 dart leg.

To play professionally, you need to maintain a minimum of 80 for a 3-dart average and to play within the top 10 of the world, you’ll need to have averages as high as 90-100 on a consistent basis in tournaments.

Dart averages are used to determine how highly players score within a set as well as how accurate they are when it comes to finishing. Though, it’s worth saying that they are a guide and only a small component of how good a player truly is.

Some players might not have the best averages but they are clinical under pressure and always hold their leg when they have the darts whilst being able to win a game against the darts. Ability to handle pressure and checkout doubles when you have the opportunity is truly the sign of a great player and is what will lead to tournament and league wins.

As the great Bobby George once said:

“Trebles for show, doubles for dough”

Which is slang for meaning trebles and heavy scoring looks good but if you can’t hit a double, you won’t be winning any prize money!

How to Calculate Dart Averages

To calculate dart averages use the following formula:

1-dart average = 501/number of darts in a leg
To calculate a 3-dart average, multiply your 1-dart average by 3.

Example: 501/21 gives a 1-dart average of 23.85 for a 21 dart leg

23.85 x 3 = 71.57 (3-dart average)

For each leg played, you’d then add all of the 3-dart averages together and divide them by the number of legs played to give a true 3-dart average for a practice session or a game.

I’ve tested this before with my own custom dart average spreadsheet. I track the number of darts for each leg played during a practice game and have my average darts thrown for the session.

I then take this average number of legs and run the formula above to see what my 3-dart average is for the playing session. This helps me track performance and see where my darts average is tracking in terms of competitive standards.

On the 08/03 you can see I averaged 23 dart legs over 10 legs which was my best for the week. An average of 23 gives me a 1-dart average of 21.78 and a 3-dart average of 65.34.

Spoiler – That’s a decent standard but It’s not good enough to consider entering Q-School!

Dart Average Calculator

The below table gives a useful reference and calculation for dart averages from a minimum 9-dart leg to a 50-dart leg.

For any scores of 51 darts or more in a leg, simply use the calculation provided early to work out the averages.

Number of Darts (per leg)	1-Dart Average	3-Dart Average
9	55.67	167.01
10	50.1	150.3
11	45.55	136.65
12	41.75	125.25
13	38.54	115.62
14	35.79	107.37
15	33.4	100.2
16	31.31	93.93
17	29.47	88.41
18	27.83	83.49
19	26.37	79.11
20	25.05	75.15
21	23.86	71.58
22	22.77	68.31
23	21.78	65.34
24	20.88	62.64
25	20.04	60.12
26	19.27	57.81
27	18.56	55.68
28	17.89	53.67
29	17.28	51.84
30	16.7	50.1
31	16.16	48.48
32	15.66	46.98
33	15.18	45.54
34	14.74	44.22
35	14.31	42.93
36	13.92	41.76
37	13.54	40.62
38	13.18	39.54
39	12.85	38.55
40	12.53	37.59
41	12.22	36.66
42	11.93	35.79
43	11.65	34.95
44	11.39	34.17
45	11.39	34.17
46	11.13	33.39
47	10.89	32.67
48	10.66	31.98
49	10.44	31.32
50	10.22	30.66

Final Thoughts

Dart averages are a calculation to determine the general standard of a dart player. These can be measured as a 1-dart average, indicating how many points you score each leg with a single dart, or a 3-dart average, indicating how many points you score on each throw of a leg.

Dart averages take into consideration the points scored with each dart as well as the double hit to win the game. Dart averages for 501 or 301 darts are done by calculating the starting points divided by the number of darts thrown in a leg. The calculation is as follows:

1-dart average = 501 / number of darts thrown in a leg
3-dart average = 1-dart average x 3

Example

1-dart average – 501 / 21 = 23.85
3-dart average – 23.85 x 3 = 71.57

These averages can then be used to give yourself a guide as to your throwing standard at present and allows you to compare this against industry averages for pub players right the way through to the professional standard of the game (PDC dart averages here for reference).

To avoid calculating dart averages manually, you can get an electronic dart scoreboard which will calculate these for you. They can be a great practice tool for dart players so check out our round up of the best dart scorers here.