Brothers develop device they say improves darts accuracy

Brothers David and Stuart Needham from Oldham established DartSight Ltd and developed a small plastic device that fits on the player’s finger and is lined up with the target on the dartboard, using the alignment systems.

They say that the device, called a 'sighter', can fit any hand and anchors the player’s aiming position while lining up the launch and follow-through of the dart.

Once the player has used the device for a while, the brothers say the player's muscle memory allows them to maintain accuracy.

David and Stuart Needham are both from Oldham (Image: DartSight)

Stuart Needham said: "The problem in darts is to keep it straight from when it leaves your hand to whichever target you are aiming at on the dartboard.

"With our DartSight training and alignment system and following  the short exercise and demonstration videos in the Tutorial section of our web site, where we don’t just show you what to do, we actually show you how to do it.

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"And with some perfect practice, a dart player can develop a reliable and repeatable action that is more aligned and a bit more accurate.

"With DartSight, what you see is what you hit."

The sighter sits on the player's finger and helps them aim (Image: DartSight)

Kevin Kennedy, from Gorton in Manchester, recently acquired a DartSighter training kit and said: “I’ve watched Stuart when he’s been practicing with the DartSight and alignment system, and I’ve seen him group the darts really close”.

“So I thought I would give it a go. I’m not really a darts player, but I wanted to see if it would help me enjoy the game a bit more if I could just be a bit more accurate.”

“It takes a bit of working out how to get the DartSight positioned properly on a finger of your throwing hand, and get it so you can see the target through the sighter, but once that was in place, and by following the instructions and exercise videos in the tutorial section of their web site, I did my first ever ‘Robin Hood’ where my 3rd dart went into the flight of my 2nd dart, so it must be going straight.”

As they have looked to build their business of the training and alignment system, the brothers have been supported by the Greater Manchester Business Growth Hub as well as from the Build a Business in GM Libraries team at Oldham Council.

Stuart Needham runs a non-profit training and skills development foundation in Oldham focused on Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme training, while David is now Professor Emeritus at Duke University in the United States where he is continuing to work on treating and curing cancers, with particular focus on brain cancer.