The more wind there is, the lower the score, independently of temperature

The summary today

The most solid count on real competitions is a single one: across 3,196 Chinese professional archers between 2010 and 2016, with temperature held constant, wind speed lowers the average score per arrow and reduces the share of arrows in the 10. It has to be read knowing that events are postponed when the wind is too strong, so the observed range tops out at 5.38 metres per second and is the range in which archers actually shoot. A single event, the 2013 World Championships, gives a figure: in about 3 to 5 metres per second in the afternoon, men's recurve lost about 5 points over 36 arrows at fifty metres against what the morning scores predicted, though there the wind is estimated and temperature changes with the time of day. More on the size of the loss comes from a flight model checked against target photographs from a World Cup: at about two metres per second the first arrow at seventy metres lands twelve or thirteen centimetres from the centre, and the correction the archers make by eye does not bring it back in. The control for temperature therefore remains an association on one circuit, with wind taken from weather stations rather than from the shooting line, and with a loss that is an average over a round rather than over an end.

Also phrased as: "wind costs you points"; "how much does wind cost in score"; "windy days and low scores"; "wind and competition score"

Evidence

• 2011
  Context Archers Published later

  In a study of arrow drift the author reports an impression from competition: from 3 m/s, and above all in gusts, top compound archers lose points, while below 1 m/s drift can be ignored except at the longest distances. At the 2008 Australian national championships, for example, with little wind at 90 m the best archers were just short of the world record, and later, with gusts above 3 m/s, they scored well below expectation. The author himself calls it a subjective check, with no count of points.

  Minimizing wind drift of an arrow · J L Park

• 2014
  For Archers Published later

  The 2013 World Championships in Antalya, men's recurve: 90 m and 70 m were shot in the morning in little wind, 50 m and 30 m in the afternoon in a moderate wind of about 3 to 5 m/s. At 70 m the scores were within half a point of those expected from 90 m, at 50 m they were about four skill-level index points below expectation, and the author puts the difference down to the wind, about 5 points over the 36 arrows at 50 m. It is a single event, the wind is estimated rather than measured at the shooting line, and morning and afternoon also separate the temperature, which is not controlled here.

  Modelling archers’ scores at different distances to quantify score loss due to equipment selection and technique errors · James L Park

• 2021
  For Archers Published later

  3,196 Chinese professional archers, competitions from 2010 to 2016, with fixed effects and temperature in the model: the main effect of wind speed on the average score runs from -0.0736 (p < 0.10) to -0.184 (p < 0.05) depending on the specification, and on the share of arrows in the 10 it is -0.0224 (p < 0.05) and -0.0443 (p < 0.01). The sample holds no extreme wind, because events are postponed: the observed maximum is 5.38 m/s. The figures come from the working paper deposited on SSRN: the published version is not open access and may differ.

  Adaptation and the distributional effects of heat: Evidence from professional archery competitions · Yun Qiu, Jinhua Zhao

• 2025
  Context Model Published later

  An arrow flight model compared with target photographs from a World Cup stage in Shanghai: with crosswind and headwind of about 2 m/s the first arrows at 70 m land 0.12 and 0.125 m from the centre, and after the athletes' own correction deviations of 0.08 and 0.13 m remain, while the model says 0.06 m would be attainable. No archer was measured in a trial.

  Influences of an Arrow’s Aerodynamic Pressure Center on Recurve Bow Shooting · Wenfeng Shen, Liang Hu, Jing Hu, Yiming Xu, Xixia Xu, Jieqing Zheng

Status history

1. 2011 Not studied A study of arrow drift contains the first observation from competition: from 3 metres per second top compound archers lose points, and at the 2008 Australian championships the best archers, close to the record in little wind, scored well below that once gusts passed the threshold. The author himself calls it a subjective check, with no count of points, so the loss on the scorecard is still to be measured.
2. 2014 Reported The first count in points comes from a single event, the 2013 World Championships: men's recurve shot 90 m and 70 m in the morning in little wind and 50 m and 30 m in the afternoon in about 3 to 5 metres per second, and at 50 m lost about 5 points over 36 arrows against what the morning scores predicted. It points the way of the claim, but it is one event, the wind is estimated and temperature is not separated, since it too changes between morning and afternoon: reported.
3. 2021 Reported The first count across many competitions with temperature in the model, published online in 2021 and then in the 2022 issue: across 3,196 Chinese professional archers, wind speed lowers the average score per arrow and reduces the share of arrows in the 10, with temperature held constant. It has to be read knowing that events are postponed when the wind is too strong, so the observed range is the range in which archers actually shoot. With the 2013 event there are two studies in favour, but only this one separates wind from temperature, as the claim requires: reported.
4. 2025 Reported A flight model checked against target photographs from a World Cup gives the order of magnitude of the loss: at about two metres per second the first arrow at seventy metres lands twelve or thirteen centimetres from the centre, and the correction the athletes make by eye does not bring it back in. It is a model, not a measurement on archers, so it stands as context and the status stays reported.

Related

Related articles

• Wind and weather conditions in archery: how to read and manage themHow far the wind moves an arrow and why, how many points it costs, how to read and correct for it, and what the data say about rain, cold and heat.
• Shooting in the heat: how many points go, who loses most and what reduces the lossHow many points heat costs in competition, where the loss begins, who loses most and what reduced it across 3,196 professional archers.
• Indoor vs outdoor archery: key differences and seasonal adaptationsIndoor vs outdoor archery: what changes between 18 and 70 metres, what the only study of the shot at both distances found, and what research says about moving between distances.

Related studies

• Theoretical workIl pavimento (The floor): how much of archery is real

Research lines

• 12 studiesWind and heat in archery: research since 2011
• 21 studiesDistance, group size and score

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