Why are nine-darters on the rise? — and more

The numbers of nine-darters taking place in the world of professional darts seems to be on the rise, with 2026 on track so far to become a record year for perfect legs.

The Players Championship has already seen six in the first six events. and there has been one within the opening four weeks of the Premier League Darts campaign.

Televised nine-darters are also becoming more frequent, but this is largely due to the increasing number of competitions being broadcast in recent years.

"It's a special feeling," two-time world champion Dennis Priestley told BBC Sport.

"It's like kids starting up today you know getting their first 180, it is such a milestone for them and then if they're just good enough to go on and play on TV and they do a nine darter.

"It's the perfect darts."

But are nine-darters really on the up? What are the potential reasons for it if so, and can they actually be a curse in disguise?

The numbers behind the rise of nine-darters

There have only been two full months of the 2026 darts season, but there are already early signs that nine-darters are on the up.

In the Players Championship, there have been six perfect legs from as many meetings so far this term, compared to five at this stage 12 months ago.

Last year's Players Championship had a record 33 perfect legs across the campaign and all of the previous five full campaigns had at least 20 perfect legs.

Data from Ochepedia shows that on average, a nine-darter has taken place once every 1,167 legs in this year's Players Championship, making it fractionally the most common season for them of all-time, edging ahead of 1,195 in 2021 and 1,200 from last year.

The Premier League did not have any in its opening four weeks of the 2025 season, but the 2026 season saw Josh Rock find the first in week four in Belfast.

In the 2025 season, there were a record five Premier League nine-darters, making it the first campaign to consist of more than two.

However, the 2026 World Darts Championship did not contain any in over 2,200 legs, in what was the most fixtures played at a single World Championship.

More tournaments and thinner wires

Some players go without landing many, if any, nine-darters in their professional careers.

Others make a habit of it, with 597 being hit that have been officially recognised by the Professional Darts Corporation since their formation in 1992.

Dutch darting great and current world number four Michael van Gerwen leads the way at present with 30, eight more than the next highest and 16-time world champion Phil Taylor.

Prior to 2018, there had never been 30 or more nine-darters in a single year. But the last couple of years have seen their frequency significantly increase, with 58 in 2024, 55 in 2025 and 19 already in the first two months of 2026.

"The standard is better and they're playing competitively nearly every weekend," explained Priestley. "That's a big help."

"When I won the [World Championship] in 1991 in January, I didn't play another competitive game until April. So there's a big difference.

"You're attuned and you're ready mentally and physically when you're playing week in, week out at a tough level."

As well as an increased rate of tournaments and higher standard across the sport of darts, Priestley says that a slimmer set of wires around the trebles bed allows players to aim for a larger target, with eight trebles often needed as part of a nine-darter.

"They can see more of the treble now because the wires are so thin. That's a big help," the 1992 and 1994 world champion explained.

"The trebles are no bigger than when I was playing, but you can just see more because the wiring is so thin."

A blessing or a curse?

Among the players to hit a perfect leg in recent history is women's world number one Beau Greaves, doing so during a Players Championship event to become to first female player to hit a perfect leg, during a victory over Mensur Suljovic.

Fifteen years ago, Priestley hit his only PDC-recognised perfect leg against the same player, but went on to lose the match.

It is a pattern that is common in players hitting perfect legs.

Rock's perfect leg in Belfast a week ago against Gian van Veen came during a defeat, with Van Veen himself doing the same during a loss to Luke Littler in the final of last month's Poland Darts Open.

The last two nine-darters in the World Championship, hit by Christian Kist and Damon Heta during the 2025 edition, both came during losing performances.

"It's a mental barrier, they are still overjoyed about it in the nine-darter and the standard just seems to drop that little touch," Priestley adds.

"The consummate professional probably more than 50% lose rather than win after hitting a nine-darter."

Given the celebration and rarity there is for nine-darters, many tournaments award separate prizes for players who can achieve perfection.

Kist and Heta were both awarded £60,000 each for their World Championship perfect legs, prize money that was significantly higher than what both earned for their progression in the competition.

Rock's perfect leg in Premier League Darts saw him win a custom-made set of gold darts worth £30,000, triple the £10,000 prize won by Stephen Bunting for winning last week's final.

But does the extra incentive mean players are targeting perfect legs over tournament wins?

"I wouldn't have thought so," said Priestley.

"The first thing is getting the match won. It didn't help me [against Suljovic in 2011].

"John Lowe won £102,000 in 1983, so that was a big incentive. Because there are more and more being hit, obviously they are not prepared to offer that sort of money now."

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.

More questions answered...

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• How do players get picked for Premier League Darts?
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