Target Archery
In target archery the shooting line is fixed and the targets are set out at known distances on a flat field. There are a variety of rounds that may be shot, with each round consisting of a set number of dozen arrows at several distances. Several ends of 3 or 6 arrows are shot and scored until the requisite number of dozen have been accomplished and then the targets are moved in to the next distance and so on until the round has been completed.
Rounds shot are chosen according to the standard of proficiency, the age and sex of an archer. Several different rounds can be shot on the same field allowing all ages and sexes to compete at the same time though each only competes against others in their own group.
Taking Part
Archers can take part in the sport at many levels from Club to International, and there are lots of awards badges and records you can go for. There are many tournaments available all over the country, and Scotland has a very full calendar. Many archers go to tournaments just for enjoyment, others compete to win a medal and to score enough points to get a County, Regional or National ranking and selection to a training squad and team. There are several annual competitions where Scottish archers can get representative honours. These events are detailed on our Senior and Junior Pages.
Disabled archers compete alongside able bodied archers, shooting the same rounds with archers on their target scoring and pulling arrows for them as neccessary. There is a special round for visually impaired archers where the target stays fixed at 30 metres distance and the target face is increased in size instead of the target changing distance. You can read more about archery for the Blind at British Blind Sport Archery
In 2006 Scottish Teams competed at the Commonwealth Cup in Jamshedpur in India and brought back three Bronze medals from the team events and two individual silver medals. In 2010 at Delhi, archery will once more be included in the Commonwealth Games and Scotland hope to be able to participate. Over the years there have frequently been Scottish archers on the Great Britain Teams taking part and winning medals in the European Grand Prix Circuit, and at events run under the auspices of the International Paralympic Committee(IPC).
Equipment
There have been many developments in archery equipment over the years with the the innovation of the flat bow limb leading to the modern bows in use today, the Olympic take down recurve with its computer machined riser and also the compound bow. This mean today that Longbows, Olympic Recurves and Compound Bows all take part in archery today. Only the Olympic Recurve bow is shot at the Olympics, but the compound bow is used in a divison of the Paralympics.
Scoring
An early form of archery practise consisted of shooting at a small white disc placed on a purpose built mound of turf called a butt. To save measuring the distances arrows fell from the disc, through time what we would recognise as a modern day target was developed with its five colour zones. In GNAS rounds today the 5 zone scoring system laid down by the Prince Regent in the 1750's with the Gold scoring 9, Red 7, Blue 5, Black 3 and white 1, is still in use. For FITA rounds the coloured rings are halved by a black line and scored from 10 for an inner gold to 1 for an outer white.