Dart Tennis
(Rules amended 09 July 2002)

Dart Tennis was invented by Steve Avery in January 2002 while viewing the World Championship Darts tournament on television. Steve is also a keen tennis watcher, and was flicking between the darts on one channel, and tennis on another. Suddenly the thought occurred that the dartboard was well suited for the rules of tennis.

The scoring method, shown below, and the result of throwing a dart into a certain bed, have been carefully thought through, to simulate the risks and likelihood of events on a tennis court. So, now, with a little imagination, we can play a fairly realistic tennis match without breaking into a sweat, or being rained off. If you want to organise local championships, you can simulate the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments: Australian, French, British (Wimbledon), and US, with singles, doubles, and mixed doubles matches.

Rules

Players: Singles or doubles.

Equipment: Tennis is played best on a wide fives or narrow fives dart board (from London's East End). This configuration was often found on the reverse side of a standard dart board, as shown in Figure 1, but is now very hard to find. In the absence of a wide fives or narrow fives dart board, a standard dart board can be used (Figure 2), although the game then requires greater skill. Wide fives dartboards are obtainable from The Games Forum (e-mail for details).

Figure 1      Wide fives and narrow fives dartboards

The wide fives or narrow fives dart board layout is similar to the standard configuration, the only exception being that, instead of the numbers 1 to 20, the numbers are, clockwise from the top, 20 - 5 - 15 - 10 - 20 - 5 - 15 - 10 - 20 - 5 - 15 - 10. If you play with a standard dart board, just substitute the references to the beds thus:

Figure 2         Standard dartboard

The Tennis Match: Best of three sets (women and mixed doubles) or five sets (men).

Play: The ball is in play, when the required number is hit inside the treble ring, i.e., between the treble ring and the outer bull. The required number varies, depending on the current score (see Table 3). As soon as the ball is in play, it is the turn of the next player to throw.

The rules of tennis apply for the order of play, when serving and receiving. This means that, in singles, one player serves throughout a game, while the other receives, alternating at the end of each game. In tie-breaks, after the first point, each player has two serves.

Special attention should be given to the order of play in doubles, because the receiver changes after each point. This is particularly complex during a doubles tie-break. Consult the rules of tennis, if you are unsure of the correct procedure. (Unlike tennis, the dart players should throw in turn, not at random.)

Serving: (Two consecutive faults = loss of point)

Receiving, and during a rally:

Tie-break:

General: