JDC Darts Practice Routine: What Is the JDC Challenge?

While there are a number of practice routines to get better at darts (most of which you can find under our practice game section on the site), one that’s boomed in popularity in recent years is the JDC Darts Challenge. 

The JDC Challenge was started in the junior darts division as a way to determine the ability of youth players rather than looking at averages. It of course doesn’t determine how good a player really is but it’s a fun way to practice and test your ability levels. 

Well, it wasn’t long before senior players wanted to get involved and the JDC Challenge is something of a viral practice game within the darts world now. Read on to learn about the JDC darts practice routine covering what it is, how to play it, and most importantly – what’s considered to be a good score to aim for…

What Is the JDC Challenge in Darts

The JDC Challenge is one that has come from the Junior Darts Development League. 

This challenge involves trying to amass a score by playing various different games on the board and thus achieve a shirt based on the score you achieve. The higher the score, the different colours of the shirt you’ll achieve (similar to martial arts), ranging from white to black, with the latter being the highest rank of scores of 850 and above.

The lowest ranking shirt in the challenge (white), will be achieved if you score 0 to 149, but if you keep on achieving higher scores the colour changes accordingly – Usually by about 150 points difference, but slightly more when you reach the higher targets. 

It’s a tough challenge, but one that will measure your game and see where you can improve on.

How to Play the JDC Challenge

Rules

The challenge is a 3 part challenge.

The first part consists of playing Shanghai darts from numbers 10-15. For those who are not familiar with the term Shanghai, it means that you have to hit a single, double, and treble of that designated number to achieve that.

The second part of the challenge is throwing a single dart at each of the doubles from 1 to 20 and a dart at the bull. 

Thirdly, the last challenge is playing Shanghai on numbers 15 to 20.

Scoring

To start with players play Shanghai on numbers 10-15.

You score with each dart you hit in that particular number, but should you hit Shanghai (single, double, and treble) you will get a 100 points bonus.

On the second challenge, you have one dart to throw at each double from 1 to 20, you get 50 points for each double thrown. Thirdly, you go back to Shanghai but on numbers 15-20 where you have bonuses available as before of 100 points if you achieve Shanghai on any number you throw for.

So challenge 1, Player 1 throws 3 darts at number 10 and hits it twice scoring him 20 points. Player 2 throws, but he hits single double and treble 10, giving him a total of 60 points plus a 100 points bonus for Shanghai, so 160 points.

Challenge 2 Player 1 throws a single dart at numbers 1, 2, and 3 aiming for those respective doubles and hits all 3 of them, giving him 150 points (50 for each double) whilst player 2 misses all 3 numbers and so does not add to his score

The third challenge sees player 1 throw 3 darts at number 15 and hits it once for a score of 15, Player 2 though hits single double and treble 15 giving him a total of 90 points plus 100 points for achieving Shanghai so 190 points.

Whilst the challenge is a way of practicing your dart skills, its different challenges within can give you the most rewards, especially the third challenge where the biggest points are available and can boost your overall score significantly. 

And it’s this challenge that you should make sure you rely on to make significant scores, but also do not overlook the need to hit those doubles as they score 50 points a throw, and missing them will seriously hamper your total. 

Serious players will hope to achieve 850 and above on a regular basis but for the amateurs and learners of the game, it’s a good way of seeing how much you can advance up the scale or shirt colour by throwing consistently. 

JDC Darts Challenge Grades

After playing each round, you should total up your scores and these will give you the colour shirt grading for your overall score. The below ranges will show you which point total you have based on your scores: