In studies of competitive archers the mean score per arrow sits around seven points, not nine

The summary today

Archers who measure themselves alone take the nine points per arrow of the world's best as their reference, and the comparison does not hold. Six independent samples of competing archers, in five countries, all sit between 5.9 and 7.65 points per arrow and mostly around seven: the most complete is a group of sixty Indian archers with national competition experience who start from about 7.4 over seventy-two arrows, and the lowest, 5.9 in compound archers at eighteen metres, is also the one to trust least. The highest figures come from the easier formats, up to 8.75 in Indonesian juniors at thirty metres, and even the French elite at seventy metres send one arrow in three to eight or less. These figures cannot be compared with one another to the decimal, because the distance, the face and the number of arrows all change; what holds is the second half of the sentence, that archers are not at nine, and nine remains the level of those shooting for a national squad.

Also phrased as: "what should my average per arrow be"; "seven points per arrow is normal"; "is my score low or normal"; "average score of a competitive archer"

Evidence

• 2017
  Context Archers Published later

  Thirty-two young Malaysian archers from a development programme in Terengganu, 24 boys and 8 girls aged thirteen to twenty, with three to six years of practice, a single end of six arrows at fifty metres shot while wearing sensors: 44.1 ± 10.9 points out of 60, with a minimum of 17 and a maximum of 57, about 7.4 per arrow. The study measured muscles and sway rather than level: six arrows are not a round, and the size of the face is not given. The figure falls inside the band of the other measurements but remains context.

  Analysis of biological and mechanical related performance parameters of Malaysian senior youth archers · Zahari Taha, Mainul Haque, Rabiu Muazu Musa, Mohamad Razali Abdullah, Ahmad Bisyri Husin Musawi Maliki, Siti Musliha Mat-Rashid, Norlaila Azura Kosni, Aleesha Adnan

• 2023
  For Archers Published later

  Sixty Indian archers from four academies, recurve and compound, with at least three years of practice and medals at or entries in national competitions, seventy-two arrows under World Archery rules (recurve at seventy metres on the 122 centimetre face, compound at fifty on the eighty centimetre face) before a strength programme: the four groups start between 531.20 ± 14.96 and 536.13 ± 8.68 points out of 720, which is between 7.38 and 7.45 per arrow. The scores were taken at the usual training venue rather than in competition, and the two divisions are not reported separately.

  Isolated and Combined Effect of Strength Training and Specific Strength Training on Performance Levels Among Archers · Arun Kumar Chatla, K Venkata Narasimha Rao, Deepak Pandey, Laishram Shila Devi, Vaddepalley Satyanarayana

• 2025
  Context Archers Published later

  One twenty-one year old Indonesian archer with a year of practice, thirty-six arrows at fifteen metres: eighteen arrows out of thirty-six off the target before a programme with resistance bands and sixteen out of thirty-six after, for a total of 116 and then 124 points. It serves to fix the bottom end of the scale, the starting point: this is not a competing archer.

  Resistance Band Shoulder Training and 15 Meter Archery Gains · Khumairo Hardiyanti Rukmana, Widi Arti

• 2026
  For Archers Published later

  Ten Brazilian archers with competitive experience, a simulated sixty-arrow indoor competition at eighteen metres under World Archery rules, ends of three arrows in ninety seconds: 435.6 ± 47.0 points out of 600 in one condition and 433.9 ± 64.7 in the other, so an overall mean of 434.8 out of 600, that is about 7.2 points per arrow. The study set out to measure the effect of social media use before shooting and finds no difference between the two conditions (p = 0.791): the score is the baseline level, measured over a full format.

  Efeitos do uso das redes sociais no desempenho do tiro com arco · Willyan Pagliuso Mafra, Otávio Joaquim Barrato de Azevedo, Loiane Cristina de Souza, Guilherme Torres Vilarino, Suzana Matheus Pereira

• 2026
  For Archers Published later

  Thirty-eight Indonesian competitive club archers aged eighteen to twenty-five, measured before a twelve-week programme: 7.1 ± 1.2 points per arrow in the experimental group and 7.0 ± 1.1 in the control. The second figure is interesting too: the standard deviation between arrows from the same archer is 2.4 and 2.5 points, so at this level individual arrows swing by more than two points around the mean.

  From play to performance: effects of fun-based circuit training on muscular strength, endurance, and competitive performance in Indonesian archery athletes · Rifky Riyandi Prastyawan, Yudik Prasetyo, Fathurahman Arjuna, Sabda Hussain As Shafi

• 2026
  For Archers Published later

  Twenty Indonesian university archers aged nineteen to twenty-two, ten in recurve and ten in standard bow, seventy-two arrows at thirty metres on an eighty centimetre face: a median score of 551.5 out of 720 on water, with a range from 508 to 647, and 560.5 on the isotonic drink, from 505 to 663. The median on water works out at 7.65 points per arrow. The format is easier than a seventy metre competition, and the score still stays below eight.

  Comparison Of Isotonic Beverage And Mineral Water Consumption On Archery Score And Hydration Status Of Archery UKM Athletes At State University Of Surabaya · Syifa' Itmi'nanil Qolbi, Satwika Arya Pratama, Cleonara Yanuar Dini, Ratna Candra Dewi

• 2026
  For Archers Published later

  Twelve licensed Turkish university recurve archers with six and a half years of practice, thirty arrows at eighteen metres indoors: 198.58 ± 36.09 points out of 300 in the session without caffeine, that is 6.61 ± 1.20 per arrow. This value is used here as a snapshot of the level and not as an effect, because the study has neither a placebo nor randomisation: the two sessions are one without and one with two hundred milligrams of caffeine seventy-two hours apart, and the second rises to 8.33 per arrow, a jump too large for that design.

  An ergogenic approach to enhancing performance in archery: the acute effects of caffeine · Üstün Türker, Zeynep Hazal Ateş, Mümine Görgülü, Fatih Kıyıcı, Serdar Bayrakdaroğlu

• 2026
  For Archers Published later

  Thirty national-level compound archers in Cyprus, with four to eight years of practice, five ends of three arrows at eighteen metres with their own bows: 88.62 ± 12.09 points out of 150 at the start, about 5.9 per arrow, and 104.60 ± 23.70 after twelve weeks of balance work, about 7.0. For compound at eighteen metres, 5.9 is so low that it suggests a problem in the way the scores were collected: it is reported here because it points the same way as the other measurements, but it is the one to rely on least.

  Associations between changes in postural control, shoulder proprioception, and shooting accuracy in professional compound archers · Sema Acaröz, Tuba Yerlikaya, Hüseyin Bilal Özkader, Yelda Kıngır Soykurt

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  Forty-five junior archers of the Indonesian national division, thirty-six arrows at thirty metres: a mean of 315.11 ± 13.89 points out of 360, that is 8.75 per arrow, with a minimum of 281 and a maximum of 345. It is the only competitive sample above eight points per arrow, and it sits in one of the easiest formats of the series, thirty metres; the size of the face is not reported. It stays context because it does not measure the same thing as the others: it reinforces the underlying reading, that the mean per arrow depends on the format before the level, and it is still below nine.

  Concentration Level and Arm Muscle Endurance Relationship to Archery Accuracy · Muhammad Fadhil Nurida, Mugiyo Hartono

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  A systematic review of five studies reports the threshold that separated high from low performance in one of the included samples, sixteen regional-level recurve archers averaging sixteen years of age: 285 points out of 360, that is a little under eight per arrow. It is a second-hand figure, taken from another study, and the journal has doubtful editorial standards: it does not decide the status.

  Impact of Kinematic Variables of the Draw Force Line on Performance in Recurve Archery: A Focused Systematic Literature Review Questionable venue · Namchan Norbu Bhutia, Atanu Ghosh, Snehunsu Adhikari, Awesh Khati

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  Eight French recurve archers in the national top twenty, four ends of nine arrows at seventy metres, 549 arrows analysed: 166 tens, 220 nines and 163 at eight or less, that is one arrow in three below the nine even at the top, with the number of tens running from seven to thirty-two out of about seventy-two arrows shot per archer. This is not a mean per arrow but a distribution: it is a reminder that nine is an average and not a floor.

  Analyse multidimensionnelle de la performance en tir à l'arc · Raphaël Jacquot

Status history

1. 2017 Not studied The first figure close to the question comes from the side, from a Malaysian sensor study: thirty-two young archers on a development programme, aged thirteen to twenty, average 44 points out of 60 with six arrows at fifty metres, about 7.4 per arrow. It is a single end, though, shot while wearing sensors in a study that was measuring something else, by archers still in training: it does not say what competing archers score over a full round, and no study has measured that yet.
2. 2023 Reported The first competitive sample measured over a full round arrives: sixty Indian academy archers with national competition experience shoot seventy-two arrows under World Archery rules and start between 531 and 536 points out of 720, a little under seven and a half points per arrow. It points the way of the claim, but it is a single study, it mixes recurve and compound and takes its scores in training: reported.
3. 2025 Reported The only figure of the year is a single case: an Indonesian archer with a year of practice misses the target with half her arrows at fifteen metres, both before and after a programme with resistance bands. It says how low the starting point is, not what a competing archer scores, so the status stays where 2023 left it: a single competitive sample, reported.
4. 2026 Corroborated Within one year five independent samples of competitive archers arrive, in four countries, and they all sit below eight points per arrow: 7.2 in a simulated indoor competition in Brazil, 7.1 in an Indonesian competitive squad, 7.65 over seventy-two arrows at thirty metres among Indonesian university archers, 6.6 over thirty arrows indoors among Turkish university archers, 5.9 at eighteen metres in compound archers presented as professionals. Around them come a second-hand figure on regional-level adolescents, a little under eight, and the only value above eight, 8.75 in Indonesian juniors at thirty metres. With the Indian sample of 2023 there are six studies on archers pointing the same way, and none reports a level close to nine: the status rises to corroborated.

Related

Related articles

• How many points does it take to tell two archers apart?Two identical top archers finish five points apart on average over 72 arrows, by chance alone. How big a gap you need, and how many competitions prove a gain.
• Archery distances, target faces and how arrows are scoredDistances, faces and scoring in World Archery and FITARCO target archery and IFAA and FIARC field archery: zones, the line, ties and shoot-offs.
• What a top archer scores per arrow, and what level your own score matchesHow many points per arrow top archers score, how many competitive archers in the studies score, and how many tens the best archers shoot: the ladder by level.

Research lines

• 102 studiesFrom the total on the scorecard to the arrow's coordinates
• 39 studiesPhysical training interventions: what has been tested

Other claims in this domain

• CorroboratedAbout 150 points on a FITA round separate a club archer from a national-team archer13 studies · 492 archers measuredStatus since 2003
• CorroboratedAn archer's arousal rises with what is at stake, and keeps rising as the competition goes on3 studies · 23 archers measuredStatus since 2011
• CorroboratedArchers are more aroused in competition than in training5 studies · 50 archers measuredStatus since 2025
• CorroboratedAt 70 metres a top archer averages about nine points per arrow7 studies · 72 archers measuredStatus since 2012
• CorroboratedEven in competition at the highest level, most arrows are not tens4 studies · 3,212 archers measuredStatus since 2024

See all claims on competition and scoring