Darts Rockingham
Rockingham has always had a strong darts culture. It's a working city with a real community feel, and darts fits right into that - it's a sport that doesn't care about your income, your fitness level, or your age. You can be eighteen or eighty, a tradie or a teacher, and the dartboard treats you the same. That's part of why the sport has such deep roots here, and why Aim Straight Darts is proud to call Rockingham home.
Rockingham's Darts Community
The Rockingham darts scene is more active than most people outside of it realise. There are club competitions running throughout the year, social nights that attract players of all skill levels, and a growing number of people setting up serious home practice rigs after watching the PDC on TV and deciding they want to give it a proper crack.
The sport has had a genuine resurgence nationally over the last decade, driven partly by the profile of players like Simon Whitlock - the Port Kennedy local known as The Wizard, who has represented Australia at the highest level of professional darts for years. Having a world-class player come from this region has given Rockingham darts players something to be proud of, and it's brought a lot of new players into the sport.
Whether you play in a league, you're practising at home, or you're just looking for a fun addition to your games room, the Rockingham darts community has room for you.
Steel Tip vs Soft Tip: What Rockingham Players Choose
The most common question from new players is whether to go steel tip or soft tip. Here's the honest answer: it depends on where and how you play.
Steel tip darts are the standard for competitive play. Every professional tour uses steel tip, all major clubs use steel tip, and if you ever want to compete seriously, you'll need to play with steel. They require a bristle dartboard - the traditional circular board made from compressed sisal fibre - and they reward technique because the tip doesn't flex on impact. Steel tip is the authentic darts experience.
Soft tip darts are designed for electronic dartboards, which display automatic scoring and often have built-in game modes. They're popular in social settings and venues where you want a scoring system that does the work for you. The plastic tips are safer in environments with kids around, and the electronic boards add a fun competitive element through their automatic statistics tracking.
Most Rockingham players who are serious about the sport end up with both - a bristle board and steel tips for practice and competition, and a soft tip electronic setup for social games. If you're buying your first setup and you're not sure yet, starting with steel tip is our recommendation. It builds better technique from the ground up.
The Right Barrel for Your Throw
Darts barrels come in three main materials: brass, nickel silver, and tungsten. For new players, brass is a perfectly serviceable starting point - it's affordable, durable, and widely available. As you develop your throw and figure out what grip and weight suits you, upgrading to tungsten becomes worthwhile.
Tungsten is denser than brass, which means a heavier dart can be made in a slimmer profile. Slim barrels group tighter on the board, which matters enormously when you're going for treble 20s - a bulky dart can physically block your second and third throw. Professional players almost universally use high-percentage tungsten (80-97%) for this reason.
Weight is the other major variable. Most players settle between 21 and 26 grams, but the right weight is personal. A heavier dart suits a slower, pushing throw. A lighter dart suits a faster, more flicked release. If you're unsure, starting at 23-24 grams gives you a neutral midpoint to work from.
Browse our full range of dart barrels to compare weights, grip styles, and tungsten percentages.
Setting Up a Home Dartboard in Rockingham
Setting up a dartboard at home is simpler than most people think. The official playing distance is 2.37 metres from the front of the board to the throwing line (known as the oche), and the bullseye height is 1.73 metres from the floor. These measurements are standard across all levels of play from backyard to world championship.
For the board itself, we recommend a quality bristle board from brands like Winmau, Target, or Shot. A decent bristle board will last years with regular rotation - shifting the wiring ring periodically distributes wear across the full surface. Cheap boards with thin fibres wear out fast in the high-scoring zones and end up looking rough within months.
A dartboard surround - a foam or rubber ring that mounts around the board - is worth the small investment if you're setting up on a good wall or in a finished room. Stray darts happen to everyone, and a surround protects your wall from the inevitable misses.
See our range of dartboards and surrounds for home and club setups.
Darts Gifts for Rockingham Players
Darts equipment makes excellent gifts, particularly for players who've been using borrowed or shared gear and haven't yet invested in their own set. A quality set of darts - properly weighted, with fresh flights and shafts - is a noticeable upgrade from whatever the venue provides.
For players who follow professional darts, signature sets from PDC players are always popular. We stock sets associated with professional players, including designs inspired by Australian talent. These are collectable as much as they are functional, and for a darts fan they make a genuinely thoughtful present.
If you're not sure what to get, a gift card takes the guesswork out entirely and lets the recipient choose exactly what they need.
Visit Us in Person - Shop, Try, and Practice
Aim Straight Darts has a physical shop at 5 6/8 Bakewell Drive, Port Kennedy - a short drive from Rockingham city centre. Local players can come in and browse the full range in person, handle equipment before committing to a purchase, and get genuine advice from staff who play the sport. The try-before-you-buy experience is something no online store can replicate: picking up two different barrels at the same weight and realising they feel completely different in your hand is exactly the kind of discovery that leads to buying the right dart rather than the wrong one.
We also operate a competition-standard practice facility on site - correct oche measurement, quality bristle boards, and proper lighting that matches what you'd find at a serious competition venue. Whether you're warming up before a big night, working through a weakness in your game, or trialling a new set before deciding to buy, the facility is there for you. Book a lane online to reserve your session.
We want to be clear about our relationship with the Rockingham darts community. Right now, we are a shop and practice facility - not a club. We have no interest in drawing players away from the existing clubs and associations that have built the local scene over many years. The practice facility is a training resource - a place to improve between competitions and club nights. If the demand is there from the community, we'd love to add our own leagues and competitions in the future - but that's not where we're starting. Everything we do right now is aimed at making the local darts scene stronger, not at taking anything from it.
Shop Aim Straight Darts Online
We ship to every suburb in the Rockingham area and across Australia. Our online store is stocked with everything from entry-level starter packs to professional-grade competition equipment.
Visit, Book, or Shop
- Book a Practice Lane - Reserve your session at our competition-standard facility in Port Kennedy.
- Darts Membership - Regular access for players who want to practice consistently. Enquire online.
- Shop the Full Range - Browse darts, boards, flights, shafts, and accessories from Target, Shot, and Winmau.
Explore our full product range, or read our local guides for nearby areas including darts in Warnbro, darts in Baldivis, darts in Kwinana, and our Rockingham dart shop guide. See the full regional hub at local darts in Perth's South West.