Archery Basics

Archery is a sport played by millions of people around the world, dating back to 350 years ago. Archers use a bow to shoot an arrow towards a target to score points. Their goal is to land the arrow as close to the center of the target as possible.

Archers gain points based on how close to the center they shoot the arrow, with 10 points awarded for a perfect bullseye and fewer points received for hitting farther away from the center. Each competition will see competitors shooting arrows in different rounds called ends. A typical end will consist of 6 attempts, and an archer will shoot 12 separate ends, meaning they will shoot 72 arrows in a competition. The archer with the most points at the end will win the match.  

Important Strategies

Pick the Right Bow: An archer cannot just pick up a random bow and expect to do well. Archery bows require customization and adjustments by the archer. The archer must adjust the draw length and weight to fit their body.

Aim Well: An archery target consists of ten circles, each worth a different amount of points. The closer the circle is to the center, the more points it will be worth.

Timing: Archers do not have an unlimited amount of time to shoot their arrows at their target. Typically, an archer has two minutes to shoot an end of three arrows and four minutes for an end of six arrows.

Basic Rules

All archers must use the same type of bows in a competition. Since some types of bows shoot arrows farther than others, all bow types must be the same to keep the playing field level on an equipment basis. Archers in the Olympic Games must use bows called recurve bows.

Archers cannot add anything to their equipment that other archers do not utilize. Every archer must be on the same starting level.

A target has ten circles, the ones being closer to the center being worth more points than those on the outer ring. The highest amount of points one arrow can get an archer is 10. If the archer misses the target completely, they earn 0 points.

Archers have to stand a specified distance away from the target. At the Olympic Games, that is 70 meters away. Typically, archers stand about 18 to 25 meters away from their targets during indoor matches. For outdoor events, they stand anywhere from 30 to 90 meters away.

If an archer misfires and the arrow falls within their reach, they can shoot that arrow again.