{"id":48,"date":"2019-09-14T20:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-09-14T20:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archerymind.com\/?p=48"},"modified":"2022-05-07T22:29:30","modified_gmt":"2022-05-07T19:29:30","slug":"archery-competitions-the-definitive-beginners-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archerymind.com\/archery-competitions-the-definitive-beginners-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do Archery Competitions Work? (A Guide With Pictures)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
If you\u2019re going to watch an archery tournament or attend one yourself – it\u2019s a good idea to prepare yourself and learn the rules. It can definitely be a bit intimidating if you\u2019ve never seen archery competitions before. This guide is a good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this article, we\u2019re going to cover the main 3 types of archery tournaments – target archery, field archery, and 3D archery. We\u2019re going to fully explain the course of a typical competition, the rules, and the scoring system. After going through this post, you\u2019re going to understand everything that is happening around you<\/strong> and will be able to participate in a tournament or support a buddy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re thinking about attending your first archery tournament, I would suggest going to one that\u2019s hosted by a small club and avoiding big events<\/strong>. Smaller competitions tend to be a lot more laid back and chill, so you\u2019ll have a much more pleasant experience. When you\u2019ve practiced and already attended a few events, you can go to a big one, that usually offers a larger winning price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you imagine an archery competition, you probably think of this one. Archers standing on a distance marker in front of a target, trying to achieve maximal precision. This is the type of tournament that was popularized by the Olympics since it is the one that is shot there.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter what skill level you are on, usually, if you have the basic ability to consistently hit the target, you can join a target archery competition. Don\u2019t feel intimidated – even if you don\u2019t hit \u201cbullseye\u201d on every shot, most archery events encourage newer archers to join and compete. They usually have only a small fee to join and are a really good experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A target archery competition is split into rounds, each having its own distances and rules. Each of these rounds is then divided into \u201cends\u201d, which are short shooting phases. Each archer shoots between 3 to 6 arrows per end, depending on the round\u2019s rules. After each end, the competitors will approach their targets to check their scores and retrieve their arrows.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The names and rules of the rounds vary, depending on your country and competition operator. If you want to be prepared, try and check the online with the organization that oversees your competition for the exact details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In target archery, there are both outside and inside tournaments. Indoor rounds are usually shot at a constant distance (typically at 25 meters), whereas outside competitions are usually shot at multiple different distances (usually at 30-90 meters for men, and 30-70 meters for women). Intuitively, inside competitions are more common in the winter, while outdoors rounds are more common in the summertime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Common target face sizes for a tournament are between 40 cm to 122 cm in diameter, where each round and distance will come with a different target face size. Typically compound archers will use smaller face sizes than recurve archers, and outdoor rounds will use a larger face size than inside rounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In target archery competitions whistles are used to signal commands to the competitors, mainly for safety reasons. It\u2019s really important before you attend a tournament, you make sure to know what each whistle means, and to pay full attention to the while the shoot is going. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A two whistle <\/strong>command is used to signal to the competitors to approach the shooting line. When they are ready, the one whistle <\/strong>command will mark that they can start shooting. For their safety, they may not pass the shooting line until the three whistle <\/strong>command, which signals that they can approach the target, retrieve their arrows and check their score. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In most tournaments, archers who finished shooting before the three whistle command is signaled may step back from the shooting line and set their bow on the rack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are some commands that are not necessarily signaled by a whistle. The command \u201cfast\u201d means to stop shooting arrows immediately and to return any unshot arrow back to the quiver. It\u2019s only used in dangerous situations, for example, if someone passes the shooting line. In some tournaments, this is signaled by four or more whistles<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To avoid any unnecessary dangerous or uncomfortable situations, make sure to always pay attention to the commands and to the other archer and what they are doing. If you have any doubts about what you should do, look at people around you and act accordingly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A target used in a target archery tournament is made of rings with different color sections. In most competitions, the circles get assigned values through 1 to 10. The inner ring commonly referred to as \u201cbullseye\u201d is named \u201cthe X ring\u201d, and assigned the value 10. In AGB rules (UK) the values are assigned to the colored sections and are 1,3,5,7,9 points accordingly.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The score of each round is the sum of all arrow scores, where an arrow touching a boundary will be scored as the higher value. At the end of the competition, the scores of all ends will be added up to a final score – the archer with the highest score wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what happens in case of a tie? In the center of the X ring, there is a small X sign – that\u2019s how it got its name. If a case of a tie occurs, some competitions rule that the archer who scored the most X\u2019s wins. In others, the archer who shot closest to the X wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most target archery competition allows shooting a compound or a recurve bow. Some dedicated tournaments open other shooting groups. The shooting group you compete in determines what equipment you can use. In Olympic tournaments, they only allow for recurve archers to compete.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Compound shoots usually allow for all kinds of advanced equipment – release aids, stabilizers and the compound bow itself, for example. Recurve archer usually can\u2019t choose to use such a large variety of assistance – typically the can shoot the recurve bow with a sight and finger tabs, but not much more. A recurve archer that wishes to use more equipment can sometimes join the compound shooting group, even when using a recurve bow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A typical target archery competition will last between three to four hours, but some may take longer. A typical end can last around 2-4 minutes, depending on the number of arrows shot, and typical tournament will have around 20 ends. This means a large bulk of the competition is meant for scoring, waiting between rounds and waiting for the judges. Some competitions will have a short break halfway through the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTarget archery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Target archery competition course and rules<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Whistles and commands<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How are target archery tournaments scored?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What types of bows and equipment can you use?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How long does a competition typically last?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Field archery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n