The 2026 darts season is on track to become a record year for nine-darters, with the Players Championship already witnessing six perfect legs in its first six events and the Premier League seeing one in its opening four weeks. Data from Ochepedia reveals that in this year's Players Championship, a nine-darter has occurred on average once every 1,167 legs, 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. This follows a trend of increasing frequency, with 58 nine-darters in 2024, 55 in 2025, and 19 already in the first two months of 2026.
Premier League Darts debutant Josh Rock recorded a perfect leg last week during his first outing in his native Northern Ireland, marking the first in the 2026 Premier League season after the 2025 season set a record with five nine-darters. However, the 2026 World Darts Championship did not contain any in over 2,200 legs, despite being the most fixtures played at a single World Championship. World number two Luke Humphries also hit a nine-darter in January against Luke Woodhouse in the Winmau World Masters.
Two-time world champion Dennis Priestley attributes the rise to higher standards and more frequent competition, noting, "The standard is better and they're playing competitively nearly every weekend." He also points to thinner wires around the trebles bed, explaining, "They can see more of the treble now because the wires are so thin. The trebles are no bigger than when I was playing, but you can just see more because the wiring is so thin." Priestley, who hit his only PDC-recognised perfect leg against Mensur Suljovic in 2011, emphasizes the mental challenge, adding, "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. The consummate professional probably more than 50% lose rather than win after hitting a nine-darter."
This pattern is evident in recent matches: Rock's perfect leg in Belfast came during a defeat to Gian van Veen, who himself hit a nine-darter in a loss to Luke Littler in the final of last month's Poland Darts Open. The last two nine-darters in the World Championship, by Christian Kist and Damon Heta during the 2025 edition, both occurred during losing performances. Despite this, tournaments often award separate prizes for perfect legs, such as Kist and Heta each receiving £60,000 for their World Championship nine-darters, and Rock winning a custom-made set of gold darts worth £30,000 in the Premier League. Priestley dismisses the idea that players target perfect legs over wins, stating, "The first thing is getting the match won."
In total, 597 nine-darters have been officially recognised by the Professional Darts Corporation since 1992, with Dutch darting great Michael van Gerwen leading at 30, eight more than 16-time world champion Phil Taylor. Women's world number one Beau Greaves also made history by hitting a perfect leg during a Players Championship event, becoming the first female player to do so in a victory over Mensur Suljovic. As the season progresses, the surge in nine-darters highlights both the sport's evolving standards and the unique challenges players face in maintaining focus after achieving perfection.
