Sports

Archery

Two archers, one target, three arrows at a time: archery's matches are short, close and easy to follow once you know how the points work.

An archery evening

One path through the page, in order. Nothing is saved: it is only the order of this page's parts.

  1. Get it: how a match works, in about 2 minutes.
  2. A final to watch: none of the rights holders' finals is listed here yet. Watch shows what they post, as it comes.
  3. A round of the body game: a match in the set system, with your camera or without it.
  4. The videogames: others about archery.

Get it

Answered from this page's own claims, words and competitions, word for word, with their sources. Nothing about your question is kept.

New to archery about 2 minutes

What you are watching

  • Archers shoot at a target face of ten rings: gold (yellow), red, blue, black and white from the centre out, two rings to each colour.1
  • The centre ring scores 10, the outer ring 1, and an arrow that misses the face scores nothing.1
  • An arrow touching the line between two rings scores the higher of the two.6
  • Recurve archers shoot from 70 metres at a face 122 cm across, whose 10 ring is 12.2 cm across. The recurve has been the Olympic bow; a compound event joins it in 2028.149
  • Compound archers shoot from 50 metres at a face 80 cm across with an 8 cm 10 ring; the outer rings are usually left off.1
  • Indoors, both bows shoot from 18 metres at a face 40 cm across, usually as three small spots in a line so that archers do not damage their own arrows.2

How a recurve match is won

  • A match is played in sets of three arrows each. The higher total wins the set and 2 set points; a drawn set gives each archer 1.111
  • The first archer to 6 set points wins, so a match lasts three to five sets.111
  • At 5–5 after five sets, each archer shoots one more arrow, and the one closest to the centre wins: the shoot-off. If the judge cannot tell which is closer, they may call another.111

How a compound match is won

  • Compound matches have no sets: each archer shoots 15 arrows and the higher total wins.1
  • A tie after 15 arrows goes to a shoot-off of one arrow each, closest to the centre.1

What to watch for

  • The draw: the string hand comes back to the same place on the face every time, the anchor point, often the chin or the corner of the mouth.78
  • The bow arm stays out towards the target while the archer aims, then the fingers let the string go: the release.7
  • The scoreboard's set points, not the arrows' total, decide a recurve match: a set lost by one point counts as much as one lost by ten.1
Following it about 4 minutes

From qualification to the final

  • Outdoors, every archer first shoots 72 arrows; the totals rank them and seed a knockout bracket, usually of up to 104 archers.1
  • Indoors, the qualification is 60 arrows, and the bracket is usually cut at 32.2
  • In the bracket the winner of each match goes on and the loser is out, up to the bronze and gold medal matches.111

Teams and mixed teams

  • A team is three archers of the same gender with the same bow; a mixed team is one woman and one man.1
  • In recurve, a team set is six arrows and a mixed team set four, and the target is 5 set points; a tie at 4–4 after four sets goes to a shoot-off.1
  • In compound, a team match is 24 arrows and a mixed team match 16, shared equally, highest total wins.1
  • A team shoot-off is one arrow per archer: the higher total wins, and on equal totals the arrow closest to the centre decides.1

The inner ten

  • Inside the 10 ring is a smaller ring, the inner ten or X. Outdoors it breaks ties: the archer with more Xs ranks higher.6
  • Indoors, the compound 10 ring is half the size of the recurve one, 2 cm across instead of 4 cm.2

Recurve and compound, side by side

  • A compound bow's cams let off near full draw, so the archer holds much less weight than the bow's peak and can take more time to aim.10
  • Compound archers often release with a mechanical release aid clipped to the string; a recurve archer's fingers let the string go, protected by a tab.108
  • Simulations of Olympic arrows take a recurve arrow's launch speed as about 57 m/s, and compound arrows as faster than 80 m/s.12

Wind

  • Arrows shot at 70 m are in the air for less than one and a half seconds, and a side wind pushes them off line: in a simulation of the Tokyo 2020 venue's winds, arrows drifted about 11 to 15 cm.12
  • Heavier and faster arrows drift less, which is part of why the arrow an archer chooses matters.12

The season

  • The outdoor season usually runs from April to September, and the indoor season from October to March.3
  • The World Archery Championships are held every two years; the Archery World Cup is the yearly circuit for national teams; indoors, the Indoor Archery World Series is open to all archers.3

Kinds and bows

Target archery
Arrows at a fixed distance to a ten-ring target: the Olympic discipline.1
Field archery
Targets of different sizes at varying distances, heights and angles around a course.3
3D archery
Foam targets in the shapes of animals, set at varying distances.3
Recurve
The bow of the Olympic Games: the energy stored in its limbs sends the arrow off at more than 200 km/h.4
Compound
Pulleys and cables make it easier to hold at full draw; archers use magnifying sights and mechanical release aids.4
Barebow
Mechanically a recurve, but without aiming or stabilising accessories.4
The words
Anchor point
Where the draw hand or the string touches the face at full draw, the same each time.87
End
A round of arrows shot together, rarely more than six; in a recurve match, each set of three arrows.81
Set point
Two for winning a set, one each for a drawn set; six win an individual recurve match.1
Shoot-off
One arrow each to break a tie; the one closest to the centre wins.1
Inner ten (X)
The smallest ring inside the 10, used to break ties.6
Line cutter
An arrow touching a ring's line, which scores the higher ring.6
Clicker
A device on a recurve bow that tells the archer the right draw length has been reached.87
Kisser
A button on the string that marks the same height of draw each time.8
Release aid
A handheld trigger clipped to the string that a compound archer releases with.810
Let-off
How much less a compound bow takes to hold at full draw than at its peak, as a percentage.8
Draw weight
The force needed to draw a bow to its draw length, often given in pounds.8
Riser
The handle section of a bow, which the limbs fit into.8
Stabiliser
A weighted rod on the bow that balances it and steadies the aim.87
Nock
The notch at the back of an arrow that clips onto the string.84
Tab
A small patch that protects a recurve archer's fingers on the string.8
Spine
How stiff an arrow shaft is; a more powerful bow needs a stiffer one.84
Robin Hood
An arrow that splits another already in the target.8
Qualification round
The arrows every archer shoots before the matches, 72 outdoors and 60 indoors, whose totals seed the bracket.12

Sources

Facts from the governing body's pages are stated in this site's own words. The claims that cite Wikipedia are adapted (changed) from the cited articles, and those claims are offered under CC BY-SA 4.0.

  1. Target archery, World Archery (© World Archery; facts stated in this site's own words), read 2026-10-30
  2. Indoor archery, World Archery (© World Archery; facts stated in this site's own words), read 2026-10-30
  3. Disciplines, World Archery (© World Archery; facts stated in this site's own words), read 2026-10-30
  4. Equipment, World Archery (© World Archery; facts stated in this site's own words), read 2026-10-30
  5. World Archery Rulebook, World Archery (The official rules; nothing of it is copied here), read 2026-10-30
  6. Target archery, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), read 2026-10-30
  7. Archery, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), read 2026-10-30
  8. Glossary of archery terms, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), read 2026-10-30
  9. Recurve bow, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), read 2026-10-30
  10. Compound bow, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), read 2026-10-30
  11. Archery at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Women's individual, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), read 2026-10-30
  12. Numerical Simulation of Wind Drift of Arrows on the Olympic Venue for Tokyo 2020 (J. Ortiz, M. Ando, T. Miyazaki), Athens Journal of Sports 7(1): 1–20, Athens Institute for Education and Research (Cited for its measurements), read 2026-10-30
  13. archery (Q108429), Wikidata (CC0), read 2026-10-30

Watch

From the channels of archery's own rights holders: bodies whose Wikidata record names the sport, each checked by the rights holders' rule. Their videos play in YouTube's player, with YouTube's ads, on each video's own page once you press Play.

Times are in UTC.

No rights holder's channel is listed yet.

Do: shoot a match

A match in the recurve set system against the game's own simulated archer, at 18 m indoors or 70 m outdoors in the wind. It plays here with a pointer, touch, the keyboard or a TV remote; your camera is used only if you press Use my camera, and then its picture is read in this browser alone: nothing of it leaves your device.

Distance
Opponent
Drawing the bow

Press Start the match to play.

The camera follows your bow arm and your draw hand: hold your bow arm out towards the camera, pull your other hand back to your chin, then open it to shoot. Nothing is sent or kept.

How to play without a camera
  • Pointer or touch: press and hold on the target to draw, move to aim, let go to shoot.
  • Keyboard: hold Space or Enter to draw, the arrow keys aim, let go to shoot.
  • TV remote: choose Press to draw, press again to shoot; OK draws, the arrows aim, OK again shoots.
  • The longer you hold at full draw past a few seconds, the more the aim drifts; a steadier hold groups tighter. A short draw sends a slower arrow, which lands low.

How an arrow flies here: launched at 57 m/s from a full draw, slowed by the air and pulled down by gravity, pushed by the wind outdoors; the sight is set for the distance, so a full draw in still air lands where you aim. The numbers are from Ortiz, Ando and Miyazaki (2020); scoring and the set system are World Archery's.

Play: the videogames

None of the site's own games is about archery.

Elsewhere

Videogames whose Wikidata record names archery as their sport or subject, as their records state them (read 2026-10-30). Information only: each links to its official page where its record names one. They are not played here.

Follow: what's on next

The next competitions, at the dates where they are held. The international ones are World Archery's, with the dates its calendar gives (read 2026-10-30: the names, days and places only, each linked to its page there); others are from their own Wikidata records. Add one to your calendar: the file is made here and nothing is asked of you.

Later, dates to come

The full calendar, national competitions included, is World Archery's calendar.