Guide to Scoring
Rounds - Competition is organised so that you shoot a set number of arrows at specified distances, at a specified size of target face, this is known as a ‘round’. For example:
A New Western round consists of shooting:
- 4 dozen arrows at 100 yards
- and 4 dozen arrows at 80 yards
- on a 122cm target face
A Junior Western round consists of shooting:
- 4 dozen arrows at 40 yards
- and 4 dozen arrows at 30 yards
- on a 122cm target face
There are a great number of different rounds, of varying distances and number of arrows. This can be a little confusing to begin with, but you will soon get used to them. Your club coach or fellow members will help you choose a round suitable for you.
Outdoor Scoring
In target archery there are two scoring methods, 5 Zone (‘Archery GB’) and 10 Zone (‘World Archery’). Both methods use the same target face but have different scoring zones. In both scoring methods an arrow that is touching a line separating zones (a ‘line cutter’), scores the value of the higher scoring zone.
GNAS/Imperial Round Scoring Outdoor
For Imperial (GNAS) rounds, five zone scoring is used, and is illustrated opposite. The gold scores 9, red 7, blue 5, black 3, and the white 1.
World Archery/Metric Outdoor
For metric rounds, ten zone scoring and is illustrated opposite. The inner gold scores 10, outer gold 9, inner red 8, outer red 7, inner blue 6, outer blue 5, inner black 4, outer black 3, inner white 2 and the outer white 1. Within the 10 ring (inner gold) there is another ring which scores 10 but is recorded as an 'X'.
Indoor Scoring
Again, most of the Metric (shown in metres) and Imperial (shown in yards) are shot on the standard 5 colour face. The face may be 80cm, 60cm or 40cm depending on the round.
There are also two variations of this face:
- The FITA/World Archery three spot used for some FITA/World Archery rounds.
- The Vegas face used for one specific round.
Both these faces have three targets which include only the inner blue to gold rings of the standard target. The possible score range is therefore 6-10. Each of three arrows is shot at a different one of the three targets, primarily to prevent arrow damage from “Robin Hood” shots.
There is also a special black and white face which is only ever used in shooting the Worcester round. This has a possible score range of 1-5 (see below).
Indoor - Recurve and Longbows
All indoor rounds shot with a recurve or longbow use the above 1-10 scoring system where the both the inner and innermost golds count as 10.
Indoor - Compound Bows Only
Indoor rounds shot with a compound bow use the above scoring system where both the outer and inner golds count as 9 and only the innermost gold counts as 10.
Indoor - Worcester Round (all bows)
The indoor Worcester round is an exception to the coloured scoring faces. It is shot on a special target with 4 black outer rings and a white inner ring. The outer rings score 1-4 with the inner ring scoring five. It is also the only round where you shoot 5 arrows per end.
