Every darts player knows that sinking moment when you throw your third dart and have no idea what your total is. You stare at the board, count on your fingers, and hope the number in your head matches reality. It breaks your rhythm, slows down the game, and can even affect your next visit to the board.
Score counting is one of the most overlooked skills in darts. It doesn’t matter how good your throw is if you can’t calculate your remaining score quickly enough to plan your next shot. Professional players do it instantly, and with practice, so can you.
Why Score Counting Matters
In any 501 or 301 game, knowing your score is essential for checkout planning. If you don’t know what you’re left on, you can’t set up your double. You waste valuable mental energy on arithmetic instead of focusing on your technique.
Fast scorers also keep the game flowing. Nothing kills momentum like pausing after every throw to work out the maths. When you can calculate totals instantly, you maintain your rhythm and keep the pressure on your opponent.
Beyond match play, quick counting helps during practice. Tracking your scores accurately means better data, and better data means more effective training.
Common Three-Dart Combinations to Know
Certain combinations come up repeatedly, and recognising them instantly saves valuable seconds.
The maximum 180 is straightforward: three treble twenties equals 60 + 60 + 60 = 180. But the patterns around the treble 20 and treble 19 are where most scoring happens, and knowing these by heart speeds up your game considerably.
Treble 20 combinations:
- T20 + T20 + 20 = 140
- T20 + T20 + T20 = 180
- T20 + 20 + 20 = 100
Treble 19 combinations:
- T19 + T19 + T19 = 171
- T20 + T19 + 20 = 117
- T19 + T19 + 19 = 133
Bull combinations:
- Bull + Bull + Bull = 150
- T20 + T20 + Bull = 170
- T20 + Bull + Bull = 160
Once these patterns become automatic, you’ll find yourself calculating totals without conscious effort.
How to Improve Your Score Counting
Practice is the only answer, but how you practice matters. Random arithmetic drills help, but darts-specific training is more effective because it uses the actual numbers you’ll encounter during matches.
Start by reviewing your common throws. What do you usually hit? If you’re aiming for treble 20 and regularly land in the 20, 1, or 5, practice adding combinations from those segments. If you favour treble 19, work on those numbers instead.
Flash cards work well for some players. Write common combinations on one side and the total on the other. Shuffle and test yourself until the answers come instantly.
Playing against the clock adds pressure that mimics match conditions. Set a timer and see how many three-dart combinations you can correctly calculate in two minutes. Track your score and aim to beat it each session.
Breakdown of Single, Double, and Treble Values
Having these values memorised removes the need to calculate them during play.
Singles are straightforward: the number on the segment equals the score. Hit a 17, score 17.
Doubles are worth twice the segment value. Double 20 scores 40. Double 16 scores 32. Double bull (the inner circle) scores 50.
Trebles are worth three times the segment value. Treble 20 scores 60, making it the highest-scoring single-dart target on the board. Treble 19 scores 57, and treble 18 scores 54.
The outer bull is a special case. It scores 25 points and counts as a single, though in some formats it can be used as a checkout double.
Common Mistakes That Slow You Down
Counting from scratch every time is inefficient. Instead, learn to build on running totals. If your first two darts are treble 20 and single 20 (80 points), you only need to add your third dart to that subtotal.
Ignoring doubles and trebles trips up many beginners. Seeing a dart in the red or green ring and forgetting to multiply causes errors. Train yourself to automatically apply the correct multiplier based on where the dart lands.
Rushing leads to mistakes. It’s better to take an extra second and get the correct total than to announce the wrong score and look foolish. Accuracy matters more than speed when you’re learning. Speed comes naturally with practice.
Putting It Into Practice
Like any skill, score counting improves with repetition. A few minutes of targeted practice each day adds up quickly. Within a few weeks, you’ll notice yourself calculating totals without thinking about it.
Start with easy combinations and build up to more difficult ones. Focus on accuracy first, then work on speed. Track your progress to stay motivated.
The best players make counting look effortless because they’ve put in the work to make it automatic. There’s no shortcut, but the payoff is worth it.
Ready to train? Try our free Score Counting practice game to test your mental arithmetic against the clock and track your improvement over time.
Related Guides
- How to Play 501 Darts – The rules and format of the most popular darts game
- Darts Checkout Chart – Essential finishing combinations to memorise
- 121 Checkout Practice – Drill your finishing under pressure
Ready for a full game? Try our Play Darts game or work on accuracy with Around the Clock.