About Archery
Archery is amongst the oldest sports. This sport dates back to thousands of years possibly even as far as the stone age of 20,000 BC when bows and arrows used by numerous peoples. Archery is the skill of shooting arrows with a bow.
The word comes from the Latin arcus meaning ‘bow’ or ‘arch’. Before the discovery of guns and long-distance weapons, archery was the main long-distance weapon used by soldiers and huntsmen.
In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity. Archery was first included as an Olympic sport in 1900 for men and 1904 for women. Later this sport was dropped from the Olympics for a few decades but was reintroduced again in 1972 and has been a part of the Olympics since then.
As a sport, archery requires skills of precision, control, focus, repetition and determination. This sport can be practised by all, no matter age, gender or ability and is a widespread pastime in both developed and developing countries.
Archery is a year-round sport. It goes indoors for winter (October through March), with archers shooting targets at 18 meters (about 20 yards). The outdoor season kicks off in April, with competitors shooting targets at 20 to 70 meters (about 76.5 yards), depending on their age and equipment type.
Archery is a great sport for building confidence quickly. The feeling of shooting a bow and accomplishing your goal – whether it’s drilling a bull’s eye or executing a great shot – helps you build self-esteem and enjoy a sense of accomplishment.
World Archery (WA) is the governing body of archery with over 160 member associations. They formulate the rules and organise archery tournaments throughout the world.
Archery Olympic 2020 logo : 
Objective
Target archery is the most recognisable format of modern archery. It takes place both outdoors and indoors, over distances of up to 90 metres and using the traditional five-colour, 10-ring target.
The archers aim at the target set 70 metres away that is about 122cm in diameter having 10 rings Each ring are separated by 12.2cm from the inner ring. The rings are coloured and counting of the rings start from the outer ring, the innermost ring is marked as 10.
Archers are required to shoot the arrows as close as possible to the centre of the target ring. Points are calculated based on the ring the arrow shot by the archer strikes. The archer scoring the highest points wins.
Equipments
Recurve Bows: Recurve bows are used in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. They consist of a riser and two limbs that curve back away from the archer, linked by a bowstring that is drawn with the fingers as described by the World Archery Federation.
Stabilisers are used in recurve bows, which is a rod and weight system mounted to the bow to balance it during aim and absorb vibration during release.
Archers use a leather tab to protect their fingers from the bowstring when drawing the bow. A quiver can be tied to the waist of the athlete that holds the arrows.
Arrows: Arrows are usually made of a light but strong material like carbon or aluminium that provides better aerodynamic and projectile qualities. The arrow has a metal tip at the front of the arrow that pierces the target.
Each arrow used by the athlete during an event must be identical having a demarcator like colour or initials in the arrow or the arrow tail having a distinctive colour so that the arrow shot by the athlete can be identified easily.
Armguard: Armguard can be used by athletes during the competition that protects the arm from the string when an arrow is released they are usually made up of plastic or leather. A chest guard can also be used by the archer that covers the side of the athlete chest closest to the bow, keeping archer’s clothes out of the path of the bowstring.
Other Informations
Celestial Bows
In Hindu mythology, the capabilities of different celestial bows are mentioned in ancient scriptures. These celestial bows were guarded by sacred mantras and possessed enormous power.
Best Recurve Bows
Recurve bows curve out towards the target at both their tips. These bows provide more energy efficiency to the arrows. They are easy to carry and do not have too many mechanical parts. Check out thefive best recurve bows.
Strategy
Archery is a physical sport that has mental demands. Archers must be physically fit and mentally strong.
The basic strategy for archery is the trajectory. The speed of the arrow, the distance of the target the weight of the arrow also plays an important part in determining the trajectory of the arrow.
Archers must also keep in mind the velocity of the wind and the direction of the wind while aiming. Position of the source of light also plays a part as it may hinder the vision of the archer and prevent the player to take a nice aim at the target.
Stamina, speed, grip are also important factors to help the archer achieve their target. Breathing and concentration level of an archer must be very high to take a good shot. Archer should be calm and composed. A slight distortion or imbalance of the body may result in an arrow missing the target.
Archers must have a good posture and body mechanics with a consistent grip, stance and anchor point. They also follow a strict regime and train in cardiovascular fitness to lower their heart rate.
Archer must gain experience through regular practising. Practice makes a sport perfect.
Archery in Olympics
Archery was first included as an Olympic sport in 1900 for men and 1904 for women. Later this sport was dropped from the Olympics for a few decades but was reintroduced again in 1972 and has been a part of the Olympics since then.
In the Olympics, archers use a recurve bow to propel arrows towards targets set 70 metres away. The targets measure 122cm in diameter and have 10 concentric scoring rings, separated into five colours. The inner colour rings of the target are golden in colour and scores 10 or nine points.
These rings are followed by red colour rings that score eight or seven points, these are further followed by blue coloured rings that score six or five points, followed by black rings scoring four or three points.
The outer layer of rings is white in colour and scores two or one points. The inner ring measures 12.2cm in diameter and the consecutive rings are at an increasing diameter of 12.2 cms as compared to the inner ring.
Individual Event
Each archer is allowed to shoot 72 arrows, in ends of six, in a ranking round. The total score of the archer after 72 arrows are used to rank the athletes from one to 64 and give each a seeding for the knock-out bracket.
These 64 archers then compete in head-to-head, elimination matches. The seeding of the archer is used to decide their playoffs. Archer ranked No.1 shoots against archer No. 64, archer ranked No. 2 vs. No. 63; and so forth.
The loser leaves the competition and the winner advancing to the next phase. These phases continue until two athletes remain to contest the gold medal final. The two semifinal losers compete for the bronze medal.
The Individual matches are decided by using a set system. Each set consists of three arrows. An archer with the highest score in the set receives two set points. There are five sets but the first archer to achieve six set points wins the match.
Archers have a time limit of 20 seconds to shoot each arrow. Out of the two competing archers, the highest-seeded archer shoots first in the first set. The archer with the lowest set score shoots first in subsequent sets.
If the scores of archers are tied, it reverts to the original shooting order. In case there is a tie even after five sets, each archer gets to shoots a single arrow. The archer scoring the highest points wins the match. In case of the same points, the arrow of the archer that lands closest to the middle of the target wins the match.
Team Event
The team competition is open only to those countries with three men shooting in the men’s division, and/or three women in the women’s division. The cumulative individual qualifying scores will be used to rank the teams.
The top 12 teams advance. Each team consists of three athletes of the same gender and from the same nation. The combined ranking round score of the three archers comprising a team is used to rank the teams from one to twelve and are provided with seeding for the knock-out brackets.
Team matches are also decided using the set system, but each set consists of six arrows, rather than three. The team with the highest score in the set – the total of the six arrows – receives two set points. If the teams are tied, each receives one set point. The first team to five set points wins the match.
Teams shoot their sets in groups of three arrows, alternating between each group member. Each archer in a team is required to shoot an arrow in each group of three arrows, but they may shoot in any order. The procedure for choosing which team shoots first depends upon seeding.
The highest-seeded team shoots first in the first set, the team with the lowest set score shoots first in subsequent sets. If scores of the team are tied, it reverts to the original shooting order. In case of a tie after five sets, each archer of each team shoots a single arrow, alternately.
The team that has an arrow closest to the middle wins the match. If the closest arrows are the same distance from the middle, then the second arrows are compared, then the third.
Rules of Archery
- Archers must adhere to all the official rules. They should not use any equipment or accessories that would give an unfair advantage over an opponent.
- The maximum time permitted for an archer to shoot an end of three arrows is two minutes. The maximum time permitted for an archer to shoot an end of six arrows is four minutes.
- In the event of an equipment failure the archer shall call a Judge while stepping back from the shooting line.
- An arrow shot before the start signal or after the stop signal, or out of sequence in alternating shooting, will cause the archer or team to lose the highest scoring arrow of that end. The arrow shall be scored as a miss.
- Archer may not raise the bow arm until the signal to start shooting is given.
- Archers should shoot from a standing position and without support, with their body above the shooting line except for persons with disabilities.
- Archer cannot re-shoot an arrow under any circumstances. However if the arrow falls from the bow or is mis-shot and a part of the arrow shaft lies within the zone between the shooting line and the 3m line, and provided the arrow has not rebounded, the arrow may be considered as not been shot by the judge.
- Archers are not allowed to touch the equipment of another without the latter’s consent. Serious cases may lead to penalties being applied.
- In case of damaged equipment, appeals can be made to the judge for such equipment to be replaced or fixed, and any time allowances will be at the judge’s discretion.
- Archer may receive non-electronic coaching information from the team management, provided that this does not disturb the other athletes. In Team Event the archers and the coach may assist each other verbally whether they are on the shooting line or not.
- Archer are not entitled to draw their bow, with or without an arrow, except when standing on the shooting line.
- While an athlete is on the shooting line they may receive non-electronic coaching information from the team management, provided that this does not disturb the other athletes.
- An arrow from the archer that rebounds or hangs from the target would still have a score based on the mark it makes on the target face. Arrows that stick – Robin Hood-style – in the nock of another shall score the same as the arrow in which they are embedded.
World Rankings
- Kim Woojin of Korea holds the world and Olympic record. He scored 700 out of a possible 720 points for the ranking round at the Rio 2016 Olympic archery competition. It is the first recurve score of 700 or more in history.
- The previous world record was set at 699 points by Im Dong Hyun, also from Korea, at London 2012.
- Olympic team title was introduced in Korea in 1988, South Korea’s women have never lost the team gold medal. They’ve earned eight gold medals in the team competition, and South Korean female archers are also awarded a large portion of the individual gold medals.
- World Rankings - Men
- BRADY ELLISON
- KIM WOOJIN
- STEVE WIJLER
- World Rankings - Women
- KANG CHAE YOUNG
- TAN YA-TING
- SUGIMOTO TOMOMI
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