When the distance is unknown, judging error grows with distance
1 study · 28 archers measured
The summary today
There is only one study, South African, from 2010, and it concerns field archery, 3D and bowhunting, where the distance is not marked, not target archery. Twenty-eight archers of three styles, eleven compound, eight recurve and nine traditional, from beginners to experts and aged 12 to 58, estimate in yards the distance of four tennis balls in open ground, with thirty seconds for each. The study gives reference bands rather than a mean, and the upper limit of the average band grows with distance: 2.8 to 5.1 yards of error at 17 yards, 2.0 to 6.8 at 22, 5.6 to 10.1 at 32 and 19.3 to 31.5 at 55 yards, about 50 metres. At 55 yards the typical error is between a third and more than half of the distance itself, a far bigger jump than those between the nearer targets. It is a single descriptive study, building visual norms and looking at neither the shot nor the score: reported.
Also phrased as: "judging distance in 3D archery"; "unmarked distances in field archery"; "estimating target distance"; "distance judging error"
In practice
In field and 3D archery it is said that short distances can be judged by eye while long ones are much harder to guess, and that the error matters more on far targets, where the trajectory drops more.
Evidence
-
2010
For Archers Published later
28 archers (11 compound, 8 recurve, 9 traditional; aged 12 to 58) estimate in yards the distance of four tennis balls in open ground, checked with a rangefinder. Average error bands (Table 7): 2.80 to 5.05 yd at 17 yd, 2.01 to 6.75 at 22, 5.61 to 10.06 at 32, 19.25 to 31.50 at 55. The best band does not rise steadily (below 0.55 at 17 yd, below 2.02 at 22, below 1.16 at 32, below 7.00 at 55).
The role of vision and visual skills in archery* · B. Strydom, J. T. Ferreira
Status history
- 2010 Reported The first and only data: in twenty-eight archers of three styles the average error band when estimating the distance of objects in open ground goes from 2.8 to 5.1 yards at 17 yards to 19.3 to 31.5 yards at 55, growing far faster than the distance on the farthest target. A descriptive study, building norms and not testing the effect on the score: reported.
Related
Related articles
- Draw weight and score in the research: how much do the pounds matter?What studies have measured on draw weight and score: a small effect tied to skill level, top archers' draw weights over time, speed and control.
- Why do my arrows go left, right, high or low?Where your arrows land is a report: how to read impact patterns, and what the measurements say about the sight, the grip, bow torque and launch speed.
- 3D archery vs target archery: technical and tactical differences3D and target archery compared: unmarked distances and judging them, walking between stations, equipment, the mental side and fitness, with registry data.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). When the distance is unknown, judging error grows with distance (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/judging-unknown-distances
@misc{campagna2026_stimadistanzeerrore,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {When the distance is unknown, judging error grows with distance},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/judging-unknown-distances},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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