'Spotter' explains how the camera knows exactly where the next dart is going before it lands during Premier League final

A darts 'spotter' has revealed how the camera can know exactly where a dart will land before it is even thrown.

When you watch darts on TV, you will quickly notice how the camera quickly moves from one section of the board to another when a player is throwing.

It is more pronounced during checkout attempts, when the camera will position itself on a particular double in anticipation for the dart to land somewhere close.

There is no delay to the footage, meaning the person assigned to be the 'spotter' - who prompts the camera - has to do multiple calculations in the space of mere seconds for every single throw.

Among the job requirements are to have an inside-out knowledge of every darts player's throwing style and their preferred checkout methods.

A good example of this is during the 2023 World Championship final, where Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen both took different routes in their nine-darter attempts in the same leg.

While the 'spotter' is its own role, it will generally be filled by qualified darts referees, who are already well-versed in being able to calculate scores quickly.

One of the 'spotters' on the circuit PDC circuit is Huw Ware, who officiated the 2025 World Championship final between Luke Littler and Van Gerwen.

Ware is playing a role on Premier League Darts Finals Night on Thursday, which is taking place at London's O2 Arena.

And back in a 2017 interview with the Irish News, Ware explained exactly how the role of a 'spotter' works - and how that translates onto your TV screens while you watch Littler, Luke Humphries, Nathan Aspinall and Gerwyn Price in action on Thursday.

"I'm in charge of telling the cameras where the next dart's going to land," Ware stated.

"I'm in contact with the director, the commentators and the cameramen telling them which ways the players are likely to go, and I take them through dart by dart as they're actually throwing on the oche.

"A lot of the time, the players surprise us. Particularly at the BDO, where a lot of the players do go with what they feel on instinct."

On the experience of spotting as a whole, Ware added: "I think spotting is more difficult than refereeing.

"There's more room for enjoyment as a referee. With the spotting you're very conscious of the fact that you're an integral part of what everybody at home and in the crowd can see, and you really don't want to go wrong once."