The oche , also the throw line or toe line, in the game of

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

is the line behind which the throwing player must stand. For steel tipped darts, it is generally from the face of the dartboard, measured horizontally. This is the recognized world standard as set by the

World Darts Federation The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body and (along with the PDC) a tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1974 by representatives of the original fourteen founding members. Membership is open to the natio ...

and is used in most areas. The diagonal distance from the bull's eye to the oche, , may also be used. In soft tipped darts, the horizontal distance is 8 feet (2.4384m), as set by the American

National Dart Association National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. This was the original distance first standardized by the

British Darts Organisation The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder ...

for all darts. The throwing player must stand so that no portion of either foot extends past the edge of the oche closest to the dartboard. One or both feet may touch any other portion, and the player may lean forward over the oche if desired.

Origin

The origin of the term is unknown, though it probably came into use in the 1920s. It was originally spelled ''hockey'', only becoming ''oche'' in the late 1970s. There is a popular (but unsubstantiated) theory that there was a brewery called "S. Hockey and Sons" in the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

of England whose beer crates were used to measure out the from the dartboard. This tale is also sometimes associated with the phrase "toeing the hockey". However, according to a statement made by the Brewery History Society in the 1990s, no records of such a brewery can be found. Another theory traces the term's origin to darts competitions held in the 1920s by an English newspaper, the ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...

''. This newspaper used the word ''hockey'' for the throwing line in their tournament rules, and may have been the first to do so. ''Hockey'' might be derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

word which meant 'to spit'. It is said that spitting competitions were held in the bars of English public houses, and that the "hockey line" was determined by the length that a given player could spit from a position with his back to the dartboard.

Eric Partridge Eric Honeywood Partridge (6 February 1894 – 1 June 1979) was a New Zealand–British lexicographer of the English language, particularly of its slang. His writing career was interrupted only by his service in the Army Education Corps and ...

suggested that the term comes from ''hoggins line''. Other unproven notions are that it stemmed from the Turkish word meaning an arrow or dart and ''an ock'' or ''a

nock Nock may refer to: Archery * In a bow and arrow, two notches near the bow's respective ends, for attaching the bowstring * Nock (arrow), in an arrow, the notch in the fletched (feathered) end of the arrow, for engaging the bowstring People *H ...

'' in archery might be from the same origin.

References

{{darts-stub Darts terminology