Target archery
Encyclopedia
Modern competitive archery
is governed by the World Archery Federation, abbreviated WA (formerly FITA - Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc). Olympic rules are derived from WA rules. WA is the International Olympic Committee
's (IOC) recognized governing body for all of archery.
Currently 142 nations are represented by WA archery governing bodies. The largest of these are the FFTA (French archery federation) with approximately 60,000 members, FITARCO (Italian federation), DSB (German federation), AJAF (All-Japan archery federation), and the GNAS (Grand National Archery Society
) of Great Britain, with approximately 30 000 members. In the United States the WA affiliated governing body is USA Archery (National Archery Association of the United States), which dates to the 1870s, making it the third oldest archery governing body after GNAS and FITARCO, which dates to the 1860s.
Target archery is the most popular form of archery
, in which members shoot at stationary circular targets at varying distances. All types of bow - longbow, barebow, recurve and compound - can be used. In Great Britain, Imperial
rounds, measured in yards, are still used for a lot of tournaments and these have slightly different rules to WA (metric
) rounds, which are used internationally. Archers are divided into seniors and juniors, with juniors being those under the age of 18.
Since archery involves the use of potentially lethal equipment, much attention is paid to order and safety. All competitors must wait for the command to start shooting and are not allowed to collect arrows while other people are shooting. These rules apply to all forms of target archery. Other rules, or points of etiquette, include:
, 70m is used.
Competition is divided into ends. An archer shoots either 3 or 6 arrows per end, depending on the type of round. After each end, the competitors walk to the target to score and retrieve their arrows. There are 20 ends of 3 arrows in a standard round of indoor competition (i.e. the FITA 18 or the FITA 25).
Archers have a set time limit in which to shoot their arrows. For indoor competition, under FITA rules this is 2 minutes for 3 arrows. Signaling devices such as lights and flags inform the archers when time is up.
Competition is divided into ends. An archer shoots either 3 arrows per end (indoors) or 6 arrows per end (outdoors). After each end, the competitors walk to the target to score and retrieve their arrows.
At all record status tournaments, archers must adhere to the GNAS dress code, which consists of wearing dark green and white clothing, or 'club colours'. Club colours are unique to a club, and registered on the GNAS shooting colour register.
In a tournament, awards are normally split into categories according to sex and, for juniors, age. All registered GNAS archers also have an indoor and an outdoor classification, and classification awards may also be presented - this allows archers to only shoot against those of the same ability.
The Grand National Archery Society
runs two systems of classification: the main Classifications (for indoor and outdoor shooting) and Handicaps. To do this, they produce tables of scores for all recognised rounds and an archer's classification and handicap can be worked out from their scores, normally by a club's Record Officer.
For indoor rounds, an archer has a classification represented by a letter from A to H, with A being the best and H the worst. This applies for both seniors and juniors.
Standard FITA targets
are marked with 10 evenly spaced concentric
rings, which generally have score values from 1 through 10 assigned to them, except in outdoor Imperial
rounds under GNAS
rules, where they have score values 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. In addition, there is an inner 10 ring, sometimes called the X ring. This becomes the 10 ring at indoor compound
competitions. Outdoors, it serves as a tiebreaker with the archer scoring the most X's winning. The number of hits may also be taken into account as another tiebreaker. In FITA archery, targets are coloured as follows:
Archers score each end by summing the scores for their arrows. An arrow just touching a scoring boundary line, known as a Line Breaker or Line Cutter, is awarded the higher score. Values scored by each arrow are recorded on a score sheet and must be written in descending order (e.g. if an archer scores 5, 7, 6, 10, 9, 8, this must be recorded as 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5). During and before scoring no one is allowed to touch the arrows. This is so that if there is disputed arrow score then a judge may be called and the judge makes a ruling on how the arrow lies. The archer in charge of scoring on a target at a tournament is known as theTarget Captain and in larger tournaments, they may be assisted by a Target Lieutenant ; a Target Captain makes an initial judgment on all disputed arrows. Under FITA rules, in major tournaments, after scoring, each hole is marked before arrows are retrieved. In the event of a "pass through" (the arrow passes straight through the target) or "bouncer" (arrow hits the target and bounces out), points may be awarded to an unmarked hole. Under GNAS rules, and in some smaller tournaments, in the case of a bouncer, the archer must step off the shooting line and hold their bow in the air. A judge then decides whether the archer is permitted to shoot a replacement arrow. If an archer accidentally shoots more arrows than allowed, the highest scoring arrow is not counted.
Different rounds and distances use different size target faces. Common sizes (and example rounds they are used in) are:
122 cm faces are used in Olympic competition. There are also versions of the 40 cm and 60 cm targets known as the "3 Spot". The targets contain 3 instances of the inner 5 rings of the 40 cm and 60 cm faces arranged in a line or an equilateral triangle. This is to stop competitors from damaging their own arrows by shooting a "robin hood".
rounds (measured in yards) are mainly shot in the United Kingdom. Metric
rounds, also known as FITA rounds, measured in metres, are used for most other tournaments. These are the main rounds that are able to be shot in target archery:
How to use the tables
Go down the first column of the relevant table until you get to the round you require. Go across this row to find out how many arrows you shoot at each distance (yds=yards, m=metres, doz.=dozen). An – means no arrows are shot at this distance.
[Source for tournament rounds: Dave Pritchard and Phil Hale, Bowmen Of The Tors: Handbook For New Archers DRP Publications, 2001]
.
The only type of bow allowed to be used at Olympic level is the recurve bow
. Since the 1984 Games at Los Angeles, South Korea has dominated the women's event. At the Sydney 2000 games, the Korean women won bronze, silver and gold in the individual competition and won gold in the team event. They also won the gold team medals in the 2004 Athens games, and in the 2008 Beijing games. However recently China, Chinese Taipei and Japan have emerged as serious challengers to the domination of the Korean women.
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
is governed by the World Archery Federation, abbreviated WA (formerly FITA - Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc). Olympic rules are derived from WA rules. WA is the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
's (IOC) recognized governing body for all of archery.
Currently 142 nations are represented by WA archery governing bodies. The largest of these are the FFTA (French archery federation) with approximately 60,000 members, FITARCO (Italian federation), DSB (German federation), AJAF (All-Japan archery federation), and the GNAS (Grand National Archery Society
Grand National Archery Society
The Grand National Archery Society is the governing body for the sport of archery in the United Kingdom. Under this main body are 8 Regional Societies and then many different county societies. It is affiliated to FITA, the Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc and is a member of the British...
) of Great Britain, with approximately 30 000 members. In the United States the WA affiliated governing body is USA Archery (National Archery Association of the United States), which dates to the 1870s, making it the third oldest archery governing body after GNAS and FITARCO, which dates to the 1860s.
Target archery is the most popular form of archery
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
, in which members shoot at stationary circular targets at varying distances. All types of bow - longbow, barebow, recurve and compound - can be used. In Great Britain, Imperial
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
rounds, measured in yards, are still used for a lot of tournaments and these have slightly different rules to WA (metric
Metric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
) rounds, which are used internationally. Archers are divided into seniors and juniors, with juniors being those under the age of 18.
Rules
Archery competitions may be held indoors or outdoors. Indoor rounds are normally shot at one distance, whereas outdoor competitions normally consist of several distances. For lists of tournament rounds, see section entitled Tournament Rounds.Since archery involves the use of potentially lethal equipment, much attention is paid to order and safety. All competitors must wait for the command to start shooting and are not allowed to collect arrows while other people are shooting. These rules apply to all forms of target archery. Other rules, or points of etiquette, include:
- The command Fast means stop shooting immediately and return the unshot arrow to the quiver. It is used when the situation becomes suddenly and unexpectedly dangerous
- Do not distract another archer when they are shooting. If an archer is at full draw, wait before taking your place on the shooting line.
- If an archer damages another archer's arrows (or other equipment), they must offer to pay for any damages.
FITA Rounds (WA rules)
For FITA rounds, standard indoor distances are 18m and 25m. Outdoor distances range from 30m to 90m for senior archers, with juniors being able to shoot closer distances. In the Olympic GamesArchery at the Summer Olympics
Archery had its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics and has been contested in 13 Olympiads. Eighty three different nations have appeared in the Olympic archery competitions, with France appearing the most often at 11 times. It is governed by the International Archery Federation...
, 70m is used.
Competition is divided into ends. An archer shoots either 3 or 6 arrows per end, depending on the type of round. After each end, the competitors walk to the target to score and retrieve their arrows. There are 20 ends of 3 arrows in a standard round of indoor competition (i.e. the FITA 18 or the FITA 25).
Archers have a set time limit in which to shoot their arrows. For indoor competition, under FITA rules this is 2 minutes for 3 arrows. Signaling devices such as lights and flags inform the archers when time is up.
Imperial Rounds (GNAS rules)
For Imperial rounds, the standard indoor distance is 20 yd (18.3 m), with 5 dozen arrows being shot in a round known as a Portsmouth round. Outdoor distances range from 40 yd (36.6 m) to 100 yd (91.4 m), for seniors, and 10 yd (9.1 m) to 80 yd (73.2 m) for juniors.Competition is divided into ends. An archer shoots either 3 arrows per end (indoors) or 6 arrows per end (outdoors). After each end, the competitors walk to the target to score and retrieve their arrows.
At all record status tournaments, archers must adhere to the GNAS dress code, which consists of wearing dark green and white clothing, or 'club colours'. Club colours are unique to a club, and registered on the GNAS shooting colour register.
In a tournament, awards are normally split into categories according to sex and, for juniors, age. All registered GNAS archers also have an indoor and an outdoor classification, and classification awards may also be presented - this allows archers to only shoot against those of the same ability.
GNAS Classifications
| Senior | Junior |
|---|---|
| 3rd Class | 3rd Class |
| 2nd Class | 2nd Class |
| 1st Class | 1st Class |
| Bowman | Junior Bowman |
| Master Bowman | Junior Master Bowman |
| Grand Master Bowman | |
The Grand National Archery Society
Grand National Archery Society
The Grand National Archery Society is the governing body for the sport of archery in the United Kingdom. Under this main body are 8 Regional Societies and then many different county societies. It is affiliated to FITA, the Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc and is a member of the British...
runs two systems of classification: the main Classifications (for indoor and outdoor shooting) and Handicaps. To do this, they produce tables of scores for all recognised rounds and an archer's classification and handicap can be worked out from their scores, normally by a club's Record Officer.
For indoor rounds, an archer has a classification represented by a letter from A to H, with A being the best and H the worst. This applies for both seniors and juniors.
Scoring
Bullseye (target)
The bullseye, or bull's-eye, is the centre of a target , and by extension the name given to any shot that hits the bullseye...
are marked with 10 evenly spaced concentric
Concentric
Concentric objects share the same center, axis or origin with one inside the other. Circles, tubes, cylindrical shafts, disks, and spheres may be concentric to one another...
rings, which generally have score values from 1 through 10 assigned to them, except in outdoor Imperial
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
rounds under GNAS
Grand National Archery Society
The Grand National Archery Society is the governing body for the sport of archery in the United Kingdom. Under this main body are 8 Regional Societies and then many different county societies. It is affiliated to FITA, the Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc and is a member of the British...
rules, where they have score values 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. In addition, there is an inner 10 ring, sometimes called the X ring. This becomes the 10 ring at indoor compound
Compound bow
A compound bow is a modern bow that uses a levering system, usually of cables and pulleys, to bend the limbs.The limbs of a compound bow are much stiffer than those of a recurve bow or longbow. This limb stiffness makes the compound bow more energy-efficient than other bows, in conjunction with the...
competitions. Outdoors, it serves as a tiebreaker with the archer scoring the most X's winning. The number of hits may also be taken into account as another tiebreaker. In FITA archery, targets are coloured as follows:
- 1 ring & 2 ring - white
- 3 ring & 4 ring - black
- 5 ring & 6 ring - blue
- 7 ring & 8 ring - red
- 9 ring, 10 ring & inner 10 ring - gold
Archers score each end by summing the scores for their arrows. An arrow just touching a scoring boundary line, known as a Line Breaker or Line Cutter, is awarded the higher score. Values scored by each arrow are recorded on a score sheet and must be written in descending order (e.g. if an archer scores 5, 7, 6, 10, 9, 8, this must be recorded as 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5). During and before scoring no one is allowed to touch the arrows. This is so that if there is disputed arrow score then a judge may be called and the judge makes a ruling on how the arrow lies. The archer in charge of scoring on a target at a tournament is known as the
Different rounds and distances use different size target faces. Common sizes (and example rounds they are used in) are:
- 40 cm (18 m FITA Indoor)
- 60 cm (25 m FITA Indoor)
- 80 cm (30 m and 50m FITA)
- 122 cm (70 m and 90m FITA)
122 cm faces are used in Olympic competition. There are also versions of the 40 cm and 60 cm targets known as the "3 Spot". The targets contain 3 instances of the inner 5 rings of the 40 cm and 60 cm faces arranged in a line or an equilateral triangle. This is to stop competitors from damaging their own arrows by shooting a "robin hood".
Tournament rounds
ImperialEmpire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
rounds (measured in yards) are mainly shot in the United Kingdom. Metric
Metric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
rounds, also known as FITA rounds, measured in metres, are used for most other tournaments. These are the main rounds that are able to be shot in target archery:
How to use the tables
Go down the first column of the relevant table until you get to the round you require. Go across this row to find out how many arrows you shoot at each distance (yds=yards, m=metres, doz.=dozen). An – means no arrows are shot at this distance.
Imperial rounds
These rounds use 5-zone scoring, as opposed to the usual 10-zone scoring. The points are awarded as follows: 9 for a gold, 7 for a red, 5 for a blue, 3 for a black and 1 for a white. Arrows are shot at increasingly closer distances - for example, in a York round, an archer shoots six dozen at 100 yards (91.4 m), followed by four dozen at 80 yards (73.2 m), followed by two dozen at 60 yards (54.9 m). Senior rounds are for archers aged 18 and over and junior rounds are for archers under the age of 18.| Round | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| York | 6 doz. | 4 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – |
| Hereford | – | 6 doz. | 4 doz. | 2 doz. | – |
| St. George | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | – | – |
| Albion | – | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | – |
| Windsor | – | – | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | 3 doz. |
| New Western | 4 doz. | 4 doz. | – | – | – |
| Long Western | – | 4 doz. | 4 doz. | – | – |
| Western | – | – | 4 doz. | 4 doz. | – |
| American | – | – | 2 ½ doz. | 2 ½ doz. | 2 ½ doz. |
| New National | 4 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – | – |
| Long National | – | 4 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – |
| National | – | – | 4 doz. | 2 doz. | – |
| New Warwick | 2 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – | – |
| Long Warwick | – | 2 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – |
| Warwick | – | – | 2 doz. | 2 doz. | – |
| Round | Distance | No. of arrows | Target face diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | 20 yd (18.3 m) | 5 doz. | 60 cm |
| Worcester | 20 yd (18.3 m) | 5 doz. | 16 inches |
| Round | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol 1 | 6 doz. | 4 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – | – | – | – |
| Bristol 2 | – | 6 doz. | 4 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – | – | – |
| Bristol 3 | – | – | 6 doz. | 4 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – | – |
| Bristol 4 | – | – | – | 6 doz. | 4 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – |
| Bristol 5 | – | – | – | – | – | 6 doz. | 4 doz. | 2 doz. |
| Short Windsor | – | – | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | – | – | – |
| Junior Windsor | – | – | – | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | – | – |
| Short Western | – | – | 4 doz. | 4 doz. | – | – | – | – |
| Junior Western | – | – | – | 4 doz. | 4 doz. | – | – | – |
| Short Junior Western | – | – | – | – | 4 doz. | 4 doz. | – | – |
| St Nicholas | – | – | – | 4 doz. | 3 doz. | – | – | – |
| Short National | – | – | 4 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – | – | – |
| Junior National | – | – | – | 4 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – | – |
| Short Junior National | – | – | – | – | 4 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – |
| Short Warwick | – | – | 2 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – | – | – |
| Junior Warwick | – | – | – | 2 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – | – |
| Short Junior Warwick | – | – | – | – | 2 doz. | 2 doz. | – | – |
Metric rounds
These rounds use standard 10-zone scoring. For outdoor rounds, arrows are shot at increasingly closer distances - for example, in a Gents FITA round, an archer shoot three dozen at 90 metres, followed by three dozen at 70 metres, then three dozen at 50 metres, then three dozen at 30 metres.| Round | 1st | 2nd | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distance | Arrows | Distance | Arrows | ||
| FITA | FITA 18 | 18 m | 5 doz. | – | – |
| FITA 25 | 25 m | 5 doz. | – | – | |
| Combined FITA | 18 m | 5 doz. | 25 m | 5 doz. | |
| Bray I | 20 y | 2 ½ doz. | – | – | |
| Bray II | 25 y | 2 ½ doz. | – | – | |
| Stafford | 30 m | 6 doz. | – | – | |
| Vegas | 18 m | 5 doz. | – | – | |
| Round | 90 m | 70 m | 60 m | 50 m | 40 m | 30 m | 20 m | 15 m | 10 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gents FITA | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | – | 3 doz. | – | 3 doz. | – | – | – |
| Ladies FITA | – | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | – | 3 doz. | – | – | – |
| Metric II | – | – | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | – | – | – |
| Metric III | – | – | – | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | – | – |
| Metric IV | – | – | – | – | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | – | 3 doz. |
| Metric V | – | – | – | – | – | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | 3 doz. | 3 doz. |
[Source for tournament rounds: Dave Pritchard and Phil Hale, Bowmen Of The Tors: Handbook For New Archers DRP Publications, 2001]
Olympics
Archery was in the Olympics (and the 1906 Intercalated Games) between 1900, the second modern Olympics, and 1920. The sport was dropped from the program because there were no internationally recognized rules for the sport- each Olympics through 1920 held a different type of event. With the creation of FITA in the 1930s, set international rules were created. However, it was not until 1972 that Archery was re-introduced with the individual event, and in 1988 the team event was added to the program. Further competition rules changes were made for the 1992 Olympic Games, which introduced match play to the program in the form of the Archery Olympic RoundArchery Olympic Round
The Olympic Round was introduced to target archery so that it could become watchable as a competitive sport. The Main focus of this being for the Olympics when shown on television. The round was developed by the International Archery Federation FITA...
.
The only type of bow allowed to be used at Olympic level is the recurve bow
Recurve bow
In archery, the shape of the bow is usually taken to be the view from the side. It is the product of the complex relationship of material stresses, designed by a bowyer...
. Since the 1984 Games at Los Angeles, South Korea has dominated the women's event. At the Sydney 2000 games, the Korean women won bronze, silver and gold in the individual competition and won gold in the team event. They also won the gold team medals in the 2004 Athens games, and in the 2008 Beijing games. However recently China, Chinese Taipei and Japan have emerged as serious challengers to the domination of the Korean women.
See also
- Target World ChampionshipTarget World ChampionshipThe Target World Championship has been played since 1931 and it's organized by the International Archery Federation . One championship is held in each of the disciplines of archery, the three main ones that FITA recognized are:...
- Field ArcheryField archeryField archery involves shooting at targets of varying distance, often in woodland and rough terrain.One goal of field archery is to improve the techniques and abilities required for bowhunting in a more realistic outdoor setting...
- Clout ArcheryClout archeryClout is a form of archery in which archers shoot arrows at a flag from a relatively long distance and score points depending on how close each arrow lands to the flag....
- History of ArcheryHistory of archeryThe bow and arrow are known to have been invented by the end of the Upper Paleolithic.Projectile points on are known from earlier prehistory, dating to the Middle Paleolithic...
- ArrowArrowAn arrow is a shafted projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.An arrow usually consists of a shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other.- History:...
- BowBow (weapon)The bow and arrow is a projectile weapon system that predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.-Description:A bow is a flexible arc that shoots aerodynamic projectiles by means of elastic energy. Essentially, the bow is a form of spring powered by a string or cord...
- ArcheryArcheryArchery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...