Indoor archery will be the first competition season of each year and often is an archer's first experience in a tournament setting. That being said here is a quick description of Indoor archery: The archers will be lined up on a shooting line all together at one time to start. They will then shoot 5 arrows at an NFAA target face that is 10yds away for Jr. Eagles(8yrs and under) and Eagles(9-11), or 20yds away for all older classes. They will then all walk down and score their arrows as a group. If there are more archers than there are lanes at the tournament site then they may be split into an A group and a B group. Where A group shoots first at their target and then B group shoots before they all go down to score together. This is referred to as (1 End), This is repeated 6 times to score a Round. So 6 Ends add up to 1 Round. A Regional tournament consists of 1 round while State and National Tournaments consist of 2 rounds.
Scoring for indoor archery can be done on different target faces but are scored against each other. The large single spot is traditionally used for Barebow and Recurve archers while the 5 spot target is Traditionally used by Compound archers. That being said archers may choose either target face for a tournament. The single spot target is scored from the outside ring in 1,2,3,4 and all the white area in the center is scored a 5. If an archer hits the center X ring that is Tallied as well and used as a tie-breaker for equal scores. For the 5 spot target, an archer may choose to shoot one arrow at each spot or may elect to shoot any combination of 5 arrows into any combination of spots. ( Example 2 in one spot 3 in another). A 5 spot is scored that both dark blue rings are counted as a 4 and both white center rings are counted as 5. Misses in the void between rings is a 0. If an archer hits the center X of a Spot then that is tallied as well and used as a tie-breaker.
(Just a note about the target faces. The 5 rings on both the one spot and 5 spot targets are the same size as are the 4 rings so when one archer shoots a 5 spot and another shoots a Single spot it is fair to compare scores.) Scorecards are filled out horizontally for each end. Each arrow is scored individually and the X count is marked last. After 6 ends the total score is added for the round.
Each end has a maximum score of 25 points with 5Xs. A perfect score for a Round would be 150 with 30Xs - this is the equivalent of 1 regional tournament. A perfect State or National Tournament would be 300 with 60Xs. My goal for a first-time competitor is for them to be able to score 75 points per Round and hopefully get at least 1 X. I know that may sound low, but nerves and distraction in a tournament setting can derail even the best archers. I have definitely seen lower scores than that and that is fine. Everyone starts somewhere - the biggest hurdle is getting through your first Tournament and setting your baseline to improve upon. Generally, I have found that in the first few tournaments an archer takes part in they see a solid increase in score one over the next until the improvements become smaller as their scores begin to approach their true current potential. An indoor tournament is run by whistle commands for consistency. First archers will hear 2 blasts, which is to call them "To the line". Then they will hear 1 Blast to let them know it is safe to nock an arrow and "Shoot". Finally, once all the archers have finished their arrow count there will be 3 blasts which mean "Go Score Arrows". The last whistle command which I hope we do not have to hear is 5 blasts which mean "Stop Now We Got Problems". This is a safety command meaning someone is doing something unsafe and archers need to freeze and not shoot their arrow until given the all safe.
An average indoor tournament can take a couple of hours so having snacks and a drink are important. It is really a game of focus and endurance in the end. Hopefully, this has been informative and allows parents a little more understanding of what to expect and what will be going on at their Indoor shoots. Anytime, you have questions please feel free to reach out to one of our coaching staff to help you understand what is happening and why. We want everyone to be as comfortable as possible in knowing the events we take part in so they are enjoyable for all. On a final note, archery is a complex and difficult sport to master. For an archer to be successful they must be able to perform a series of tasks in order exactly the same way every time. While this often works out in the archer's favor, there are times when things fall apart for various reasons. It is in those times they need the most support possible and not a critical analysis of what may be happening. The archers have prepared all they can for an event beforehand and during and immediately after focus should be kept on the things that went well. There will be time at practice to evaluate and decide what could be worked on in the future, but at the tournament and after archers need a cheer team. Thank you so much for being a part of the archery experience! We hope you find a passion for it as strong as our shooters!
Coach Jonas
Comments