In compound at 50 metres, archers shooting at the upper target face are at a disadvantage

1 study · 99 archers measured

There is a single estimate, and it comes from a model. In the compound qualification round at fifty metres each archer has an individual target face, and the faces sit in two rows with their centres at least half a metre apart; because the boss is tilted back by ten to fifteen degrees, the upper face is about ten centimetres further away than the lower one. Using the group model the same author applies to scores, twenty centimetres closer is worth between 0.25 and 0.38 points over 72 arrows in compound, and by his reckoning the extra ten centimetres of the upper face cost about a third of a ranking place. That is small, but in the men's compound rankings a place is worth less than half a point. Nobody has compared the actual results of archers who shot at the upper and the lower faces.

Also phrased as: "the top face is further away"; "better to shoot at the lower face"; "target face position on the boss and score"; "tilted boss and distance"

In practice

Among compound archers it is often said that the upper face on the boss is the worst one to be given, because it is slightly further away than the others.

Evidence

2019
For Model Published later

A calculation from a model of the arrow group, applied to the qualification scores at major international events. In compound at 50 m the individual faces sit in two rows with their centres at least 500 mm apart, and the boss is tilted by 10 to 15 degrees: the upper face is about 100 mm further away than the lower one. Moving 0.2 m closer is worth between 0.25 and 0.38 points over 72 arrows in compound, depending on division and level (16th and 32nd place), and in men's compound a ranking place is worth 0.39 points. For the 100 mm of the upper face the author estimates a disadvantage of 30 to 35 per cent of a place and concludes that, given the choice, archers should take the lower face. There is no comparison of archers who actually shot at the upper and lower faces.

Optimising an archer’s foot position to obtain a competitive advantage · James L Park

Status history

1990 Not studied Nobody in the registry's bibliography has yet estimated whether the position of the face on a tilted boss matters in the rankings.
2019 Transferred A paper on foot position on the shooting line also does the sum for the target face. In compound at fifty metres, with the boss tilted by ten to fifteen degrees and the face centres at least half a metre apart, the upper face sits about ten centimetres further away than the lower one. With the author's group model, twenty centimetres are worth between 0.25 and 0.38 points over 72 arrows, and the disadvantage for an archer given the upper face is estimated at about a third of a ranking place. It is an estimate, not a measurement of real shots: transferred.

Research lines

Cite

APA

Campagna, M. (2026). In compound at 50 metres, archers shooting at the upper target face are at a disadvantage (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/upper-target-face-compound-50-metres

BibTeX

@misc{campagna2026_visualealtasvantaggiocompound,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {In compound at 50 metres, archers shooting at the upper target face are at a disadvantage},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/upper-target-face-compound-50-metres},
  note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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