Make sure you have read the section on 'The Throw' before proceeding with this. Grip follows the requirements of the throw. You will benefit more when you know the connections.

The grip is the most variable part of the darting technique. In general you can use here what's most comfortable for you, but there are only a few Don'ts you have to be aware of.

The basic grip: Put the dart in your open palm. Balance it and find the centre of gravity. Now with your thumb roll the dart to your fingertips. Place the thumb a bit behind the centre of gravity; hold it with a many fingers as you like, then move your arm to the aiming position. Most grips are only slight variations of this standard grip.

Basic requirements:

• Point up! As you know from the previous section, your grip's main objective must be to keep the tip of your dart pointing up in each of the throwing phases. If yours doesn't meet this requirement, change it immediately!
  
  
• Solid but not tensed. The grip must be firm, but it must not strain your finger muscles. If your fingers get white from pressure or the knurling (the engravings on the barrel) digs into your fingertips, this is too much. If your muscles are that strained, you will have problems all along the throw and in the release. Darts is a game of touch, not force. To maintain your touch hold the dart loose enough so that it doesn't slip away, but firm enough to keep control when accelerating. A typical error is rather holding the dart too firm than too loose.
  
  
• How many fingers? A frequently asked question and it can't be answered in general. At least three fingers (thumb + two) and at the maximum, all five. All fingers in use should touch the barrel or the tip of the dart. ON NO ACCOUNT SHOULD ANY FINGER TOUCH THE SHAFT OR EVEN THE FLIGHT! A 2 finger (thumb + 1) grip doesn't give enough control, so make it at least three. More fingers give more control in acceleration and more touch, but it makes the release more difficult as more fingers have to be co-ordinated. Finger co-ordination in release is the key point for a grip. You have to make sure that no finger can give the dart an unlucky 'kick' in release to cause it to slip out of position at the last moment. This leads directly to the next point:
  
  
• Barrel shape: Not all kinds of grips are usable on different kinds of barrels. So it's obvious that longer barrels force a more finger grip, while less fingers must be used for short barrels.
  
  
• No fist! What to do with the fingers not involved in the grip? The best thing to do is spread them away. It's bad if you hold the dart with (for example) 4 fingers (thumb + 3) and the small finger touches the palm as if making a fist. What happens is that the other fingers will suffer from muscle strain and will tend to fist more than to open the hand, which is required for a nice release. This will improve the chance of the unlucky finger 'kick' mentioned earlier, and it also tends towards pointing the dart downwards, which we have already discussed as being very bad.