TARGET ARCHERY

OBJECTIVE OF TARGET ARCHERY: Shoot the target with an arrow to get as many points as possible.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2+ player(s)

MATERIALS: Bow, arrow, support equipment, target board

TYPE OF GAME: Sport

AUDIENCE: 10+

OVERVIEW OF TARGET ARCHERY

Archery has a long history, dating back thousands of years – possibly even as far back as the Stone Age as a means of hunting and warfare. The ancient Egyptians, the Assyrians, and other cultures throughout history widely used archery. In modern times, it is still quite popular for recreation, hunting, and sport.

SETUP

There are 10 scoring rings on a target, ranging from 1 to 10 points. From inner to outer circles, the points are as follows:

  • Gold rings: 10 and 9 points
  • Red rings: 8 and 7 points
  • Blue rings: 6 and 5 points
  • Black rings: 4 and 3 points
  • White rings: 2 and 1 points

In recurve archery, the target is roughly 48 inches in diameter (122 centimeters), placed approximately 230 feet (70 meters) from the archers. And in compound archery, the target is around 31.5 inches in diameter (80 centimeters), placed around 164 feet (50 meters) from the archers.

The difference between compound and recurve archery lies in the bow. In the Olympics, only the recurve bow is used.

GAMEPLAY

Archery can be competed as both an individual and as a team sport. 

In both recurve and compound matches, archers stand a designated distance away from the target. Archers cannot raise their bows until the signal to start is given, at which point they have 2 minutes to shoot 3 arrows or 4 minutes to shoot 6.

At no point during the match is an archer allowed to re-fire an arrow. Any arrows shot by mistake or any arrows that fall from the bow are considered unshot, and no points are awarded. But if a piece of equipment is damaged, an archer can request a replacement or repair of the equipment.

SCORING

Scoring differs according to whether it is a recurve or a compound match.

RECURVE

The scoring method for recurve matches is best described as a knockout competition where each archer must go head-to-head with another archer. The two archers must simply try to score more points than the other to move on to the next round and the next archer.

In Olympic archery, archers first shoot 72 arrows to determine the rankings for the actual competition. After which, archers go head-to-head in a best-of-five scenario. In each of the 5 sets, 2 points are awarded to the archer that wins and 1 point is awarded to each archer if the set ends in a tie.

For an individual match, 3 arrows constitute a set. For a mixed team match, 4 arrows. And for a team match, 6 arrows.

If a match is tied, it goes to a tiebreak. In an individual match, the two archers try to shoot a single arrow closest to the target. The archer that gets their arrow closest wins.

In mixed team or team archery, all archers shoot, and the team with the highest total point wins and moves on to the next round.

COMPOUND

Compound matches are scored according to cumulative points. The objective is to score more points than the other archers. An individual match consists of 15 bows, 16 for mixed team, and 24 for team.

In the case of a tie, the match goes to a tiebreak in which a shoot-off occurs, like the recurve tiebreaker.

END OF GAME

In recurve archery, the winner of each match moves on to the next round until there is one overall winner.

In compound archery, the archer that scores more points than any other archer in the competition wins.

Lev
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